Francisco Parra Galaz, Author at The Brazilian Report

President Jair Bolsonaro supported the 2018 truckers strike, but has done the impossible for a new such movement to happen during his administration. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

Power

How Bolsonaro tries to pander to truckers

Truckers are both vital to the Brazilian economy and a key support base for Jair Bolsonaro. The president has spared no expense to keep them happy, a challenging task as diesel prices soar

1 day ago • Cedê Silva

black Current and Former House Speakers Arthur Lira (standing) and Rodrigo Maia both self-declared mixed-race in 2018. Mr. Maia attributed it to a mistake in his application. Photo: Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress

Power

Black lawmakers ‘go white’ after being elected

Dozens of Brazilian lawmakers self-declared as black before getting elected, which grants them some benefits when financing their campaigns, only to change their status after taking office

3 days ago • Amanda Audi

Power

Senate committee hits deadlock on Biden nomination for embassy in Brazil

Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a longtime donor of the Democratic Party, failed to get a majority in the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee

6 days ago • Gustavo Ribeiro and Cedê Silva

Power

HMO moguls make massive donation to Workers’ Party

Lula is trying to lure support from big business. Official data shows he might have gotten major funding from a large-scale health group

1 week ago • André Spigariol

Supreme Court Justice Nunes Marques reportedly traveled on the dime of a shady lawyer. Photo: Marcos Oliveira/SF

Power

Brazilian Supreme Court justices invited to Senate grilling

The relationship between Brazil's Senate and Supreme Court has been sour for some time, and is only set to get worse as three justices are invited in for questioning in the Senate's Oversight Committee

1 week ago • Cedê Silva

Insider

Bank account ownership grew more in Latin America than in any other global region

Brazil experienced double-digit bank account ownership growth since 2017. Global Findex, a World Bank report produced with Gallup every three years, surveyed over 125,000 adults in 123 economies

14 hours ago • Fabiane Ziolla Menezes

Business

Petrobras board greenlights new CEO appointment

Petrobras workers who own shares of the company do not like the nomination and have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission

3 days ago • Ana Ferraz

President Jair Bolsonaro, Elon Musk, and Communications Minister Fábio Faria. Photo: Cleverson Oliveira/MCom

Business

What Elon Musk wants from Brazil

Reports that Elon Musk aims to provide internet to the Amazon may miss the deeper story: the tech mogul’s potential designs on Brazilian nickel

4 days ago • Cedê Silva

Business

Market roundup: Investor fears give Brazil a bear hug

Brazilian stock exchange felt the weight of the drop in commodities prices and was unable to follow the performance of American benchmarks

6 days ago • Ana Ferraz

fuel prices The government is sponsoring an effort to investigate Petrobras. Photo: Gabriel Bastos/A7 Press/Folhapress

Business

Brazilian government solutions for high fuel prices are no solution at all

The Jair Bolsonaro administration is all talk and no action when it comes to addressing the problems posed by surging fuel prices

1 week ago • Constance Malleret, Ana Ferraz and Cedê Silva

Tech

Tech Roundup: Government fails to set an example on data protection

The Brazilian government has been lackadaisical in adopting data protection protocols in government agencies

5 days ago • Ana Ferraz

Tech

Latin American research is in Google and Microsoft servers. That is a problem

With the pandemic, education institutions moved online en masse and started using ostensibly free systems provided by big tech companies. But not enough questions are being asked about data protection

4 weeks ago • Amanda Audi

Tech

Tech Roundup: Ten years of the Access to Information Law

Experts warn that Bolsonaro is chipping away and the effectiveness of the Access to Information Law, a crucial piece of Brazil's transparency structure

1 month ago • Ana Ferraz

Tech

Supreme Court to rule on its access to social media data

A long-running case on how Brazilian authorities can access data held by Big Tech firms is due to be tried in the Supreme Court. At stake is the celerity of Brazilian investigations into digital crimes

2 months ago • Amanda Audi

Tech

Tech Roundup: Chip shortage delays 5G

Implementation of 5G in major Brazilian cities is likely to take longer than first expected, as companies lack equipment amid semiconductor shortage

2 months ago • Ana Ferraz

bolsonaro Opposition senators file a request to investigate the Education Ministry. Photo: Geraldo Magela/SF

Podcast

Explaining Brazil #204: A second swing at Bolsonaro

The opposition failed to remove Bolsonaro from office with last year's Covid hearings. They want a new congressional investigation to hurt him at the ballot box

2 days ago • Euan Marshall

Podcast

Explaining Brazil #203: The president v. Petrobras

While the price of gas isn't exactly the best metric to understand the economy at large, the ubiquity of fuel and its direct impact on people's monthly budgets make it an easy shorthand for the broader economic scenario — especially when prices are going up

1 week ago • Euan Marshall

Podcast

Explaining Brazil #202: Where are Dom and Bruno?

It has been 11 days since journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were reported missing. The police are yet to find the two

2 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro

Podcast

Explaining Brazil #201: Is the Monroe doctrine dead?

A deflated Summit of the Americas won't bring many noteworthy resolutions, though it will be interesting to see what transpires from a bilateral meeting between Presidents Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Joe Biden of the U.S.

3 weeks ago • Caroline Coutinho

Podcast

Explaining Brazil #200: Hunger haunts Brazil again

Brazil thought the economic growth of the 2000s had rid the country of hunger. But this ghost of the past has returned to haunt the country

4 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro

Indigenous people hold a poster asking for justice for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, who were murdered earlier this month in a remote Amazon region. Photo: Bruno Rocha/Agência Enquadrar/Folhapress

Society

Data corroborates fears about growing lawlessness in the Brazilian Amazon

Brazil saw its overall murder rate decrease in 2021, but figures saw significant spikes in the Amazon region, highlighting an ongoing trend of violence in Brazil's North

2 days ago • Constance Malleret

Society

The (Danish) father of Brazilian paleontology

Peter Lund spent the majority of his life living in Brazil, helping lay the foundations for paleontology and archeology in the country. He also discovered the remains of the oldest hominid in Latin America

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves

VALE DO JAVARI dom phillips bruno pereira

Society

How Brazil’s far-right tries to muffle discussions about the Dom Phillips-Bruno Pereira murder

Far-right netizens are pushing online content about the legend of a long-lost Amazon civilization as a way of drowning out news of the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, which have reflected negatively on the Bolsonaro government

2 weeks ago • Amanda Audi

vale do javari Search parties at the riverside community of São Rafael, where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were last seen. Photo: Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress

Society

Exclusive: Brazilian government ignored warnings about “imminent dangers” at Vale do Javari

Journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing ten days ago in the Vale do Javari reserve. The government was warned about the lawlessness in the region at least four times

2 weeks ago • Amanda Audi

amazon disappearance Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira are missing since June 5. Photo: Brazilian Army via EFE

Society

Confusion over Amazon disappearances as Brazilian diplomacy relays misinformation

Members of the Brazilian Embassy in London wrongfully told relatives of British journalist Dom Phillips that authorities had found his body and that of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira

2 weeks ago • Euan Marshall

A fisherman slices the fin off of a shark at a beach in Manta, Ecuador. Photo: Guillermo Granja/Reuters

Environment

Unknowingly, Brazilians are big consumers of shark meat. That is a problem

Lax labeling means that Brazilians often don’t realize that widely consumed dogfish is actually shark or ray meat. A campaign is trying to change that and raise awareness around conservation issues

7 days ago • Constance Malleret

amazon Protests pay homage to Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. Journalists and activists fear that the outrage about the murders will wane, and the danger they face will continue. Photo: Francisco Alves/Fotoarena/Folhapress

Environment

The future of Amazon journalism after British reporter’s brutal murder

The murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in a remote area of the western Amazon have drawn attention to the criminal dynamics at play in the rainforest and highlight the challenges and risks of carrying out reporting there

1 week ago • Euan Marshall

satellite The main hydropower dam in the Belo Monte complex, in Altamira, Pará. Photo: Lalo de Almeida/Folhapress

Environment

The Belo Monte Dam is killing the Amazon’s ‘house of God’

Satellites over the Amazon capture the choking of the ‘house of God’ by the Belo Monte Dam – they can help find solutions, too

3 weeks ago • Pritam Das, Faisal Hossain, Hörður Bragi Helgason and Shahzaib Khan

The meandering Javari River, which forms the western boundary of the Vale do Javari indigenous reserve.

Environment

The tensions within the Amazon’s Vale do Javari reserve

A journalist and an on-leave government official have disappeared in a massive reserve coveted by wildcat miners, illegal fishermen, and drug gangs

3 weeks ago • Euan Marshall

View of two hikers climbing up Tronador hill and glacier Castaño Overo in the Andes mountains in Patagonia Argentina. Photo: Gonzalo de Miceu/Shutterstock

Environment

The Andes are melting, and what are we doing about it?

The imperious Andes region is home to 10 percent of the world's population, but melting glaciers could dramatically transform the area forever

4 weeks ago • Lucas Berti

Managua, Nicaragua Nicaraguan Army soldiers prepare to take part in a military parade in Russian tanks to mark the 42nd anniversary of the founding of the National Army on Bolivar Chavez Avenue in Managua, Nicaragua. Credit: Inti Ocon/dpa/Alamy Live News

Latin America

Nicaragua becomes a proxy battleground for Russia-U.S. tensions

The renewal of a decree allowing Russian — and American — armed forces to conduct exercises on Nicaraguan soil has drawn a harsh response from the White House, and more sanctions

3 days ago • Lucas Berti and Euan Marshall

Codelco's copper-smelting plant. Photo: Felipe Fredes Fernandez/Shutterstock

Latin America

Chile’s copper plant closure sets up clash between environmental and economic concerns

Miners and truckers go on strike after President Gabriel Boric announces the shutdown of a copper-smelting plant, following decades of concerns over pollution

5 days ago • Ignacio Portes

Part of the limestone mining by Vulcan Materials in Calica, in Quintana Roo state, Mexico. The government ordered a halt to Vulcan Materials, a producer of gravel and crushed stone, citing environmental concerns. Photo: Paola Chiomante/Reuters via Alamy

Latin America

Mexico’s AMLO willing to sue U.S. company over limestone extraction

Vulcan Materials has been operating in the eastern state of Quintana Roo for decades, but AMLO complains that its mining activities are leading to an "ecological disaster" in the famous tourist region

6 days ago • Lucas Berti

Latin America

The meaning of Gustavo Petro’s victory in Colombia

Leftist Senator Gustavo Petro ended two decades of right-wing dominance after a narrow runoff win over populist Rodolfo Hernández

2 weeks ago • Ignacio Portes

Rodolfo Hernández has become a force to reckon with thanks to his ubiquitous presence on social media. Photo: Marco Valencia/EFE via Folhapress

Latin America

Rodolfo Hernández, Colombia’s populist surprise

The anti-corruption candidate refuses to be ideologically typecast, but he is leaning on the country’s right-wing elites to win in the final stretch

2 weeks ago • Ignacio Portes

corruption "Bolsonaro stole from the education budget," reads a poster on iconic Paulista Avenue in São Paulo. Photo: Renato S. Cerqueira/Futura Press/Folhapress

Opinion

Latest scandal forces Bolsonaro into unfamiliar territory

The president was hoping to use corruption as kryptonite against former President Lula. But he may be throwing stones in a glass house

11 hours ago • Gustavo Ribeiro

BRICS leaders have an informal talk during the 2019 G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

Opinion

How BRICS can boost cooperation in renewable energy

As the BRICS summit begins against a tense global backdrop, energy could be one area for advances, write Plataforma CIPÓ analysts

1 week ago • Renata Albuquerque Ribeiro and Adriana Abdenur

Opinion

Coup or no coup, the damage to Brazil is done

The U.S hearings into the January 6 Capitol riot have offered Brazil a window of opportunity to address its own democratic risks with the 2022 election approaching. Whether it will heed the warnings or not is another matter

2 weeks ago • Filipe Campante

Former UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali makes a statement during a Rio-92 roundtable. He is sided by former Brazilian President Fernando Collor. Photo: Michos Tzovaras/UN Photo

Opinion

Thirty years after Rio-92, Brazil loses environmental protagonism

Rio-92 propelled Brazil to the forefront of the global environmental agenda. But the country has lost its clout due to recent mismanagement

3 weeks ago • Andre Pagliarini

Opinion

Latin America’s anti-incumbency sentiment shows no sign of abating

Irrespective of who wins the runoff in Colombia, the elections mark the 14th straight opposition victory in free and fair Latin American presidential elections

1 month ago • Oliver Stuenkel

Tourism

War in Ukraine slowing down long-awaited recovery of Brazil’s travel industry

High oil prices, a still-unfavorable exchange rate, and inflation that bites into consumers’ discretionary spending mean the sector still faces a hard post-Covid road ahead

3 months ago • Ana Ferraz

Tourism

Brazil is an emerging gay tourism hotspot, but the government doesn’t want to know

Actions to promote gay tourism in the country have been actively ignored since Jair Bolsonaro came to power, despite Brazil having some of the world's best LGBTQ+-friendly spots

4 months ago • Amanda Audi

Marshal looking for survivors in Petrópolis

Tourism

Petrópolis disaster leaves a scar on Brazil’s historical landmarks

With hundreds dead and much physical destruction, evidence emerges of authorities’ negligence in preparing prevention and mitigation strategies

4 months ago • Renato Alves and Ana Ferraz

Tourism

Idyllic canyon region tries to keep tourism alive after deadly disaster

A deadly cliff collapse in Capitólio has left tourists scared to return, and locals afraid they will lose their revenue

5 months ago • Renato Alves

Tourism

While Brazil dithers on vaccine requirements, flights keep arriving

The government has clashed against regulators over vaccine mandates. Meanwhile, dozens of flights arrived in Brazil from Omicron hotbeds

6 months ago • Janaína Camelo

Guide to Brazil

Brazil creates a visa for foreign “digital nomads”

The country follows in the footsteps of dozens of nations around the world, offering temporary residence to people working remotely for foreign countries. Justice Ministry officials say it will attract foreign capital and boost tourism

5 months ago • Iure Pontes Vieira

october 12 People light candles to celebrate the day of Our Lady of Aparecida. Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2016. Photo: Nelson Antoine/Shutterstock

Guide to Brazil

October 12: a celebration of Brazil’s patron saint

According to legend, fishermen were inundated with fish to catch soon after finding an image of a black Virgin Mary. Since then, Our Lady of Aparecida has become Brazil's most popular and important saints

9 months ago • Euan Marshall

Rio's Christ the Redeemer. Photo: Ricardo Cohen/Shutterstock

Guide to Brazil

The story of Christ the Redeemer, 90 years old

Brazil's most popular tourist attraction, the story of how Christ the Redeemer came about is a fascinating one. This week's Rio celebrates the statue's 90th anniversary

9 months ago • Renato Alves

Guide to Brazil

The lesser-known story of the Brazilian Inquisition

After terrorizing much of Spain and Portugal, the inquisition spread to many of these countries' colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas — including to Brazil

9 months ago • Renato Alves

Guide to Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha leaves behind incomparable legacy in Brazilian architecture

Among the most influential modernists in Brazilian history, Paulo Mendes da Rocha designed many of São Paulo's most famous tourist attractions and left a legacy of devoted followers

1 year ago • Renato Alves

Francisco Parra Galaz

Francisco Parra Galaz is a Chilean freelance journalist

What are Chilean presidential candidates’ environmental plans?

Chileans will choose Sebastián Piñera's successor in November, with decarbonization, the ongoing water crisis, and the signing of the Escazú Agreement all set to be priorities

How Bolsonaro tries to pander to truckers

Truckers are both vital to the Brazilian economy and a key support base for Jair Bolsonaro. The president has spared no expense to keep them happy, a challenging task as diesel prices soar

Black lawmakers ‘go white’ after being elected

Dozens of Brazilian lawmakers self-declared as black before getting elected, which grants them some benefits when financing their campaigns, only to change their status after taking office

Senate committee hits deadlock on Biden nomination for embassy in Brazil

Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a longtime donor of the Democratic Party, failed to get a majority in the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee

HMO moguls make massive donation to Workers’ Party

Lula is trying to lure support from big business. Official data shows he might have gotten major funding from a large-scale health group

Brazilian Supreme Court justices invited to Senate grilling

The relationship between Brazil's Senate and Supreme Court has been sour for some time, and is only set to get worse as three justices are invited in for questioning in the Senate's Oversight Committee

Brazil’s unemployment rate below 10-percent for the first time in six years

Decision on Education inquiry request comes next week

Caixa boss out following sexual harassment allegations

Accounts Court approves Bolsonaro’s 2021 books but raises concerns

Bolsonaro conviction for offending journalist sustained

CoronaVac vaccines will no longer be produced in Brazil

Pfizer files for approval of boosters for children aged 5 to 11

Data issues mask new Covid rise in Brazil

Over-50s to be offered fourth Covid vaccine throughout Brazil

São Paulo’s Covid committee recommends masks again

Former Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva to run for House seat

Bolsonaro promises former Defense Minister as running mate

New Datafolha polls shows stability in presidential race

São Paulo electoral court benefits former Bolsonaro minister

Lula launches new manifesto amid cyberattacks

Bank account ownership grew more in Latin America than in any other global region

Brazil experienced double-digit bank account ownership growth since 2017. Global Findex, a World Bank report produced with Gallup every three years, surveyed over 125,000 adults in 123 economies

Petrobras board greenlights new CEO appointment

Petrobras workers who own shares of the company do not like the nomination and have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission

What Elon Musk wants from Brazil

Reports that Elon Musk aims to provide internet to the Amazon may miss the deeper story: the tech mogul’s potential designs on Brazilian nickel

Market roundup: Investor fears give Brazil a bear hug

Brazilian stock exchange felt the weight of the drop in commodities prices and was unable to follow the performance of American benchmarks

Brazilian government solutions for high fuel prices are no solution at all

The Jair Bolsonaro administration is all talk and no action when it comes to addressing the problems posed by surging fuel prices

Tech Roundup: Government fails to set an example on data protection

The Brazilian government has been lackadaisical in adopting data protection protocols in government agencies

Latin American research is in Google and Microsoft servers. That is a problem

With the pandemic, education institutions moved online en masse and started using ostensibly free systems provided by big tech companies. But not enough questions are being asked about data protection

Tech Roundup: Ten years of the Access to Information Law

Experts warn that Bolsonaro is chipping away and the effectiveness of the Access to Information Law, a crucial piece of Brazil's transparency structure

Supreme Court to rule on its access to social media data

A long-running case on how Brazilian authorities can access data held by Big Tech firms is due to be tried in the Supreme Court. At stake is the celerity of Brazilian investigations into digital crimes

Tech Roundup: Chip shortage delays 5G

Implementation of 5G in major Brazilian cities is likely to take longer than first expected, as companies lack equipment amid semiconductor shortage

Explaining Brazil #204: A second swing at Bolsonaro

The opposition failed to remove Bolsonaro from office with last year's Covid hearings. They want a new congressional investigation to hurt him at the ballot box

Explaining Brazil #203: The president v. Petrobras

While the price of gas isn't exactly the best metric to understand the economy at large, the ubiquity of fuel and its direct impact on people's monthly budgets make it an easy shorthand for the broader economic scenario — especially when prices are going up

Explaining Brazil #202: Where are Dom and Bruno?

It has been 11 days since journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were reported missing. The police are yet to find the two

Explaining Brazil #201: Is the Monroe doctrine dead?

A deflated Summit of the Americas won't bring many noteworthy resolutions, though it will be interesting to see what transpires from a bilateral meeting between Presidents Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Joe Biden of the U.S.

Explaining Brazil #200: Hunger haunts Brazil again

Brazil thought the economic growth of the 2000s had rid the country of hunger. But this ghost of the past has returned to haunt the country

Data corroborates fears about growing lawlessness in the Brazilian Amazon

Brazil saw its overall murder rate decrease in 2021, but figures saw significant spikes in the Amazon region, highlighting an ongoing trend of violence in Brazil's North

The (Danish) father of Brazilian paleontology

Peter Lund spent the majority of his life living in Brazil, helping lay the foundations for paleontology and archeology in the country. He also discovered the remains of the oldest hominid in Latin America

How Brazil’s far-right tries to muffle discussions about the Dom Phillips-Bruno Pereira murder

Far-right netizens are pushing online content about the legend of a long-lost Amazon civilization as a way of drowning out news of the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, which have reflected negatively on the Bolsonaro government

Exclusive: Brazilian government ignored warnings about “imminent dangers” at Vale do Javari

Journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing ten days ago in the Vale do Javari reserve. The government was warned about the lawlessness in the region at least four times

Confusion over Amazon disappearances as Brazilian diplomacy relays misinformation

Members of the Brazilian Embassy in London wrongfully told relatives of British journalist Dom Phillips that authorities had found his body and that of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira

Unknowingly, Brazilians are big consumers of shark meat. That is a problem

Lax labeling means that Brazilians often don’t realize that widely consumed dogfish is actually shark or ray meat. A campaign is trying to change that and raise awareness around conservation issues

The future of Amazon journalism after British reporter’s brutal murder

The murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in a remote area of the western Amazon have drawn attention to the criminal dynamics at play in the rainforest and highlight the challenges and risks of carrying out reporting there

The Belo Monte Dam is killing the Amazon’s ‘house of God’

Satellites over the Amazon capture the choking of the ‘house of God’ by the Belo Monte Dam – they can help find solutions, too

The tensions within the Amazon’s Vale do Javari reserve

A journalist and an on-leave government official have disappeared in a massive reserve coveted by wildcat miners, illegal fishermen, and drug gangs

The Andes are melting, and what are we doing about it?

The imperious Andes region is home to 10 percent of the world's population, but melting glaciers could dramatically transform the area forever

Nicaragua becomes a proxy battleground for Russia-U.S. tensions