Good morning! Today, we talk about the Lula administration’s recent defeats in Congress. The 200 years of Brazil-U.S. relations. And a push to tax cross-border purchases.
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- Important: Tomorrow is Corpus Christi, a holiday in Brazil, so we won’t be sending out an issue of our newsletter. We’ll be back on Friday!
Congress sends a message to Lula
Lawmakers delivered more congressional defeats to the Lula administration by striking down the president’s veto of provisions that included elements of the far-right’s culture war in the Budgetary Directives Law.
- With the move, the government is prohibited from making expenditures that, directly or indirectly, relate to the occupation of private lands or to educational activities that reference sexual orientation.
- Then, Congress struck down the veto of a bill restricting furlough benefits to prison inmates. The government had spent the past few weeks trying to whip support around the veto, but the 314-126 majority spoke loudly about the administration’s shortcomings in coalition-building.
Also … The House also approved a bill lifting a decree issued...