The story of Barão de Cocais, a city waiting for disaster. How will Congress react to Sunday’s pro-Bolsonaro protests? Bolsonaro losing support among investors. Former business mogul convicted of insider trading
The city waiting for a disaster to happen
Unlike most Sundays, the church in Barão de Cocais was packed this week—with people asking for divine intervention. The town lies only 145km from Brumadinho, where a tailings dam collapsed on January 25, killing 243 and leaving 27 missing. For the past two weeks, the local people of Barão de Cocais have been living in fear that their local mine will have the same fate. Since May 19, part of the mine’s structure is moving—and could collapse. There’s a reported 15% chance this collapse would compromise the reservoir, causing a Brumadinho-like spill.
“Who can really sleep, thinking that the mine next door could collapse at any minute?,” Antonio Gomes, a local housekeeper, told The Brazilian Report via WhatsApp. Many residents say they would prefer the whole thing to collapse now, to end this state of expecting the worse. On the other hand, Vale—the giant mining company which owns the dam—says authorities have exaggerated...