Politics

Brazil allows political crowdfunding, but who wants to finance politicians?

Crowdfunding has not been the political tool people thought it would be

Corporate donations were, for decades, the primary source of funds for political parties and politicians running for office in Brazil. The vast inflow of money helped give wings to their creativity, which produced memorable television ads with cinematic sequences shot in different regions of the country. Not to mention the monstrous production program to find the right characters that would help a campaign transmit the right message to voters.

Then came Operation Car Wash, in 2014. The biggest anti-corruption investigation in Brazilian history unveiled the corrupt relations between big business and politicians. Bribes in the form of campaign donations were frequently paid in exchange for hefty contracts with state-owned companies. To make sure...

Maria Martha Bruno

Maria Martha is a journalist with 14 years of experience in politics, arts, and breaking news. She has already collaborated with Al Jazeera, NBC, and CNN, among others. She has also worked as an international correspondent in Buenos Aires.

Recent Posts

Explaining Brazil #291: Lula’s farming feuds

The relationship between farmers and the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration is by no…

1 day ago

The legacy of Ayrton Senna, 30 years on

Pelé, Ronaldo, Zico, Marta … All of Brazil’s truly immortal sporting icons are footballers, that…

1 day ago

Brazil and Paraguay deadlocked over Itaipu dam

Speaking before a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Chief of Staff Rui Costa admitted that Brazil…

2 days ago

Brazil’s job market remains strong despite unemployment uptick

New job market data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) show the…

2 days ago

Brazil wants to know more about its domestic workers

Brazil officially had 5.83 million domestic workers in 2022 — almost the entire population of…

2 days ago

Brazil’s latest Covid vaccine purchase comes too late

Brazil’s Ministry of Health this month announced a purchase of 12.5 million doses of Moderna’s…

3 days ago