Search Login Free trial
Brazil Daily

Petrobras in the spotlight

Sep 14, 2021 8:31 6 min read ( Updated: Sep 14, 2021 12:45 )

Good morning! As the price of gas keeps on rising in Brazil, lawmakers will demand answers from Petrobras. Brazil is not out of the woods yet on 5G. High fuel costs becoming a roadblock for ride-hailing apps. The strategy of Brazil’s Prosecutor General.

Petrobras CEO to be grilled on fuel prices

fuel petrobras prices
App drivers in Rio de Janeiro protested in August: “When gas goes up, Brazil stops!” Photo: Jorge Hely Veiga/Shutterstock

This morning, Petrobras CEO Joaquim Silva...

Access all of The Brazilian Report
Start your 7-day free trial.
Free trial
Bolsonaro off-script speech leaves Brazilian diplomats fuming
Power

Bolsonaro off-script speech leaves Brazilian diplomats fuming

By depicting an unreal Brazilian reality, Jair Bolsonaro undermined diplomatic efforts to restore Brazil’s credibility at the United Nations

6 days ago • André Spigariol
impeachment miguel reale
Power

Mr. Impeachment

Former Justice Minister Miguel Reale Jr. has penned impeachment requests which ousted two presidents. He’s now aiming at a third

6 days ago • Gustavo Ribeiro and Janaína Camelo
President Bolsonaro and Senator Davi Alcolumbre, who is sitting on the president's Supreme Court nomination. Photo: Alan Santos/PR
Power

Supreme Court seat remains vacant amid political tug-of-war

Jair Bolsonaro appointed André Mendonça to a Supreme Court vacancy in July, but the Senate is stalling his confirmation hearing for as long as possible — a move led by Brazil's answer to Mitch McConnell

1 week ago • André Spigariol
vaccines for teenagers
Power

Brazilian Health Minister sows distrust in vaccines for teenagers

In a surprise move, Marcelo Queiroga announced that the government has removed teenagers without prior health conditions from the national vaccination plan. Some states, however, plan to ignore the directive and continue as normal

2 weeks ago • Janaína Camelo
unga un general assembly bolsonaro
Power

Bolsonaro wants a fresh start at UN General Assembly

Brazilian diplomats work to convince Jair Bolsonaro to bury the hatchet with the global community at next week's UN General Assembly

2 weeks ago • André Spigariol
credit program low-income citizens
Insider

Government launches new mobile loan scheme for low-income citizens

6 hours ago • Janaína Camelo
Senator Davi Alcolumbre is stalling to schedule the hearing to confirm Mr. Bolsonaro's latest Supreme Court nomination. Photo: Roque de Sá/SF/CC-BY 4.0
Insider

Supreme Court unlikely to intervene in justice confirmation process in the Senate

10 hours ago • André Spigariol
What Boris really asked of Bolsonaro in New York
Insider

What Boris really asked of Bolsonaro in New York

3 days ago • André Spigariol
Memorial service for the victims of the 2016 Chapecoense crash. Photo: Beto Barata/PR
Insider

Feds arrest Bolivian flight safety expert involved in Chapecoense air disaster

3 days ago • Euan Marshall
populism Brazilian diplomats took Sebastián Piñera's remarks about the "virus of populism" in Latin America as a direct jab. But it wasn't.
Insider

Brazilian diplomacy keeps mum on Chile’s “virus of populism” remarks

3 days ago • André Spigariol
rent inflation
Business

Is Brazil’s so-called ‘rent inflation’ on its last legs?

Rental contracts in Brazil are not adjusted each year by the official inflation rate — instead, they follow another index, which has ballooned due to increased commodities prices around the world

10 hours ago • Ana Ferraz
stagflation brazil
Business

Higher interest rates alone won’t protect Brazil from stagflation

Experts say the Central Bank's decision to increase the Selic rate will not have the desired effect on inflation — and that the country's problems are far deeper

1 day ago • Ana Ferraz
President Jair Bolsonaro meets with agricultural producers in Sorriso, Mato Grosso — "the Brazilian agribusiness capital." Photo: Alan Santos/PR
Business

Agribusiness firms suspected of using public funds to influence politics

Major agribusiness firms are able to offset their tax bills and see money funneled back into their coffers. One Supreme Court justice believes these funds were used to fund anti-democratic protests

3 days ago • Amanda Audi
chloroquine corruption brazil
Business

The ‘Chloroquine Brothers’ behind government-backed trials on unproven Covid drugs

Evidence shows that two major HMOs are continuing to distribute unproven coronavirus treatments to patients, often putting pressure on doctors to prescribe ineffective drugs

5 days ago • Amanda Audi
coffee producer
Business

Labor inspectors fine Nespresso and Starbucks supplier

Labor inspectors found cases of wage theft on the family farm of Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo — president of a billionaire coffee cooperative

1 week ago • Daniel Camargos
Tech Roundup: 5G auction scheduled for November
Tech

Tech Roundup: Brazil’s 5G auction scheduled for November

The most important news about tech and innovation in Brazil

3 days ago • Ana Ferraz and Janaína Camelo
data handler privatization
Tech

Privatization of Brazilian data holders faces snags and widespread criticism

The Brazilian government's plans to privatize massive data handlers Dataprev and Serpro was criticized from the get-go, and now the process is set to face lengthy delays

5 days ago • Ana Ferraz
asian e-commerce churches
Tech

Tech Roundup: Asian giants invade Brazilian e-commerce

The most important news about tech and innovation in Brazil this week

1 week ago • Ana Ferraz
President Bolsonaro tries out 5G-based equipment during a tech event in Brasília. Photo: Marcos Corrêa/PR
Tech

Communications Minister promises 5G in São Paulo before year-end, even with delays

Brazil is finally on the home stretch in its long wait to auction off 5G frequencies. New delays have cropped up, but the government is confident that 5G implementation will begin before the end of the year

1 week ago • Janaína Camelo
Brazilian researchers working on combined Covid-19 and flu vaccine
Tech

Brazilian researchers working on combined Covid-19 and flu vaccine

Researchers in Minas Gerais and São Paulo plan to use the influenza virus as a vector to provide immune responses against flu and Covid-19. Added funding will be needed to take the project to clinical trials

1 week ago • Janaína Camelo
peronism argentina
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #170: Peronism facing an existential crisis

Last week's midterm primaries in Argentina delivered what was arguably the worst electoral defeat Peronism has ever suffered. But the problem goes beyond short-term woes

5 days ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
bolsonomics markets
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #169: Bolsonomics

The government has delivered very little and has been a source of instability for the Brazilian economy. So what keeps market agents from turning on Bolsonaro?

2 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
Explaining Brazil #168: How to react to Bolsonaro?
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #168: How to react to Bolsonaro?

Bolsonaro is threatening to disregard Supreme Court rulings from now on. So how should the political system react to a president who doesn't want to play by the rules?

3 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
bolsonaro protests demonstrations
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #167: A nation holding its breath

In six days, pro-Bolsonaro supporters will stage demonstrations in multiple cities. The unfolding of Brazil's political crisis depends on how big the turnout will be

4 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
brazil riots
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #166: Will Brazil have its own January 6 riots?

Many fear September 7 could be Brazil's own version of the U.S. Capitol riots. Given the local scenario, a similar movement could be bloodier

1 month ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
Chile Uruguay health collaboration
Coronavirus

Chile and Uruguay sign public health collaboration deal

4 hours ago • Natália Scalzaretto
Germany CoronaVac brazilians
Coronavirus

Germany makes CoronaVac U-turn after loosening travel restrictions

7 hours ago • Euan Marshall
deaths Opposition senators pay homage to coronavirus victims during a session of the Covid hearings committee. Photo: Alessandro Dantas
Coronavirus

Covid deaths rise in 12 Brazilian states

10 hours ago • Ana Ferraz
Major cities in Brazil have largely dropped coronavirus restrictions, with citizens feeling more secure. Photo: Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil
Coronavirus

80 percent of Brazilians say coronavirus pandemic is under control

3 days ago • Euan Marshall
eduardo bolsonaro covid
Coronavirus

Bolsonaro’s son and his Agriculture Minister test positive for coronavirus

3 days ago • Janaína Camelo
mutations coronavirus
Society

Coronavirus mutates much more regularly in Brazil

Brazil has long been a hotbed for coronavirus mutations and variants, but a new study shows just how quick the virus is changing and adapting around the country, making worrying reading for health experts

7 hours ago • Janaína Camelo
guyana brazil border
Society

Border blockage in northern Brazil causes shortages in Guyana

In protest against Covid restrictions on crossing into Guyana, residents of a Brazilian border town are blocking roads — and creating havoc

4 days ago • André Spigariol
Paraisópolis a living example of Brazil's inequality
Society

The story of Paraisópolis: a living example of Brazil’s inequality

While undergoing drastic transformations over the years, Paraisópolis serves as a living reminder of the country's dramatic inequality

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves
belmondo death
Society

Jean-Paul Belmondo: That Man From Brasília

Legendary French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, who died this week at the age of 88, played an important role in showing off Brazil's brand-new capital city in the 1960s

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves
bolsonaro military intervention
Society

A day in the life of a military interventionist

Amanda Audi spent Independence Day shadowing a notorious far-right influencer, who believes military intervention is the only way to improve Brazil

2 weeks ago • Amanda Audi
amazon deforestation
Environment

Abandoned Amazon land can advance decarbonization plan

Forest regrowth can help compensate for carbon emissions from deforestation. But one new study argues Brazil isn’t doing nearly enough of it

1 month ago • Charlotte Smith, Erika Berenguer and Jos Barlow
Droughts will become increasingly more common in the Amazon
Environment

Brazil set to be devastated by climate change

A new IPCC report shows how rising sea levels, floods, and droughts will impact the country if emissions continue to rise

2 months ago • TBR Newsroom
Atlantic Forest change ice age
Environment

Brazil’s Atlantic Forest will change more in next 50 years than any time since last ice age

Using data from the past 21,000 years, researchers have tried to predict the immediate effects of climate change on parts of Brazil's Atlantic Forest — the results are startling and a reason for concern

2 months ago • Oliver Wilson
Big Agro continues its anti-regulation charge in Congress
Environment

Big Agro continues its anti-regulation charge

Congress is leading the charge to lift environmental regulations in the Amazon rainforest, continuing the work started by President Bolsonaro

2 months ago • Renato Alves
Restoring pastures could be a boost to cattle farming in Brazil
Environment

Restoring pastures could be a boost to cattle farming in Brazil

The expansion of cattle farming in Brazil is often linked to deforestation, but a recent study shows that environmentally responsible practices could be a way to increase the sector further

2 months ago • Renato Alves
A man sells T-shirts with the faces of former Argentine presidents Nestor and Cristina Kirchner in a demonstration. The Kirchners have been the modern face of Peronism. Photo: Matias Lynch/Shutterstock
Latin America

Peronism is in crisis. But what exactly is it?

Peronism has long troubled foreign commentators looking for an easy way to describe it. Ideologically amorphous, it has been home equally to left nationalists and right-wing neoliberals

2 days ago • Ignacio Portes
uruguay strike lacalle pou
Latin America

Unions up the pressure on Uruguayan President Lacalle Pou

Anger over hastily passed reforms has driven workers to the streets, with the president’s previously high approval ratings – driven by a good pandemic performance – taking a hit

1 week ago • Ignacio Portes
argentina midterm election August demonstration against the Alberto Fernández administration. The government was delivered a sound defeat in the primaries. Photo: SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News
Latin America

In Argentina, Peronism humbled by shock primaries

Tough primaries were on the cards for President Fernández, but unprecedented defeat leaves him close to losing Congress

2 weeks ago • Ignacio Portes
tax reform colombia
Latin America

Watered down tax reform brings only temporary relief to Colombia

After mass protests four months ago, new reform shifts the tax burden onto other groups, but opposition remains unsettled

2 weeks ago • Ignacio Portes
The leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, arrives at the rally held in the Plaza de San Jorge in Caceres. E By Esteban Martinena Guerrer
Latin America

Spanish far-right dives into Mexican politics

Opposition to President López Obrador rattled the political landscape by co-signing a letter warning of “communist advance” with Spanish right-wing splinter Vox

3 weeks ago • Ignacio Portes
meat prices inflation
Opinion

A return to “caution, serenity, and perseverance” in Brazil?

Inflation in Brazil seems out of control, but the government has one sliver of good news ahead: prices are set to slow down before the end of the year

2 days ago • Luciano Sobral
conspiracy theories
Opinion

Conspiracy theories about Bolsonaro’s stabbing unite left- and right-wing politicians

Bolsonaro's 2018 stabbing is back in the public debate, thanks to a left-wing documentary making wild claims that the entire incident was fake

1 week ago • Beatriz Rey
michel temer
Opinion

Michel Temer: Reloaded?

The former president left office under a cloud of unpopularity and corruption allegations but has made his way back into the public eye after helping President Bolsonaro smooth over his relationship with the political class. What's next for Mr. Temer?

2 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
Bolsonaro aggression Supreme Court
Opinion

Bolsonaro sets new lows for aggression against Brazil’s Supreme Court

Brazilians still don't know much about how the Supreme Court works — making it an ideal target for a president like Jair Bolsonaro

2 weeks ago • Andre Pagliarini
bolsonaro With President Bolsonaro's firm anti-democratic messaging during the September 7 protests, it is imperative for the opposition to find solutions to stymie Brazil's autocratic slide.
Opinion

Counteraction to Bolsonaro embedded with political risks

With President Bolsonaro's firm anti-democratic messaging during the September 7 protests, it is imperative for the opposition to find solutions to stymie Brazil's autocratic slide

3 weeks ago • Beatriz Rey
tourism Empty tables in a tropical oceanfront bar and restaurant during the Covid-19 pandemic. Salvador, Bahia. Photo: David Fadul/Shutterstock
Tourism

The never-ending taxiing of Brazil’s tourism sector

Tourism was one of the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, even with vaccination coverage improving, a series of factors are standing in the way of any meaningful recovery

2 months ago • Ana Ferraz
shark attacks recife
Tourism

Recife’s shark problem: too many questions and too few answers

The northeastern city of Recife is famous for its beaches, but locals and tourists are warned to stay away from the water, due to the risk of shark attacks

2 months ago • Renato Alves
arrudatitan maximus monte alto brazil dinosaur
Tourism

Meet the Arrudatitan: São Paulo’s very own dinosaur

First discovered in 1997, the specimen was originally believed to be a relative of the Aeolosaurus, but new research shows it came from a completely different genus, exclusive to São Paulo

5 months ago • Renato Alves
Joan Lowell hollywood cerrado
Tourism

When Hollywood royalty traded it all for a Brazilian farm

In the mid-20th century, a group of Hollywood movie stars gave up the glitz and glamor to become farmers in the Brazilian state of Goiás

6 months ago • Renato Alves
Stone City Pireneus lost hidden history Brazil
Tourism

The ancient stone city of Pireneus: Brazil’s best-kept secret

The city of Pirenópolis attracts tourists from all over for its lavish vegetation. But its most stunning attraction is remains unknown

6 months ago • Renato Alves
Paulo Mendes da rocha
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

4 months ago • Renato Alves
The Valongo Wharf was an active slave port for 20 years, during which up to 1 million African slaves landed in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Halley Pacheco de Oliveira/WikiCommons
Guide to Brazil

The forced immigration of the slave trade in Brazil

Brazil took in more African slaves than any other country during the Atlantic slave trade, and the effects of this brutal period can still be felt today

4 months ago • Euan Marshall
discovery brazil portugal history
Guide to Brazil

The real story behind Portugal’s “discovery” of Brazil

School books will tell you that Brazil was discovered by Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. Records show the country had visited the new land years before

5 months ago • Renato Alves
investors visa brazil
Business

How to get a Brazilian investor visa

Brazil offers indefinite residence permits for foreigners who invest in Brazilian companies, or set up their own enterprise

6 months ago • Iure Pontes Vieira
How to become a Brazilian citizen
Guide to Brazil

How to become a Brazilian citizen

Migratory processes in Brazil are notoriously cumbersome and time-consuming, but the country's requirements for naturalization are fairly liberal

8 months ago • Iure Pontes Vieira

9 good reasons to subscribe. Check our plans.