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Key takeaways from day one of Covid hearing testimony
Power

Key takeaways from day one of Covid hearings testimony

Former Health Minister Mandetta spoke before the committee for nearly seven hours. It was a tepid outing, but which showed the extent of Bolsonaro's Covid-19 denialism

5 days ago • Débora Álvares
Shipment of Sputnik V doses. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Shutterstock
Power

Sputnik V vaccine’s controversy in Brazil, explained

Manufacturers claim the regulator acted unethically, but Anvisa stresses inconsistencies with the immunizer

6 days ago • Renato Alves
Bolsonaro covid hearings fario faria communications
Power

Bolsonaro strategy to muffle the Senate’s Covid hearings

Trying to hijack the news, Jair Bolsonaro moved a major telecom event to a Senate function room, just meters from the Covid inquiry

6 days ago • Débora Álvares
Economy Minister Guedes picks his job over his beliefs
Power

Economy Minister Guedes picks his job over his beliefs

Increasingly marginalized since taking office, Economy Ministry Paulo Guedes has been pushed into a large reshuffle of his department. Will it be enough to save his credibility?

1 week ago • Ana Ferraz
Senate Covid hearings committee Bolsonaro
Power

A tense first round of the Covid hearings committee

The first session of the Covid hearings laid bare some of the tactics that will be used over the next 90 days

2 weeks ago • Débora Álvares
real estate brazil
Business

A surprising pandemic effect: Brazilians are buying more houses

Despite the economic woes, multiple factors have led to a real estate boom in Brazil, with citizens ditching rent in favor of homeownership

4 days ago • Ana Ferraz
Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco
Business

Brazil plans to repatriate foreign funds to foot Covid-19 bill

The Senate is working on a proposal to settle the undeclared foreign assets of Brazilian citizens, hoping to go some way toward covering the country's record pandemic-related deficit

5 days ago • Renato Alves
covid hearings congress patents
Business

Brazil takes controversial step towards breaking Covid patents

A bill that would allow the country to sidestep patents on drugs, testing, and – crucially – vaccines has passed in the Senate. We break down its legal implications

1 week ago • Ana Ferraz
Brazil hopes to finally make money from "world's best" satellite launch center Alcântara
Business

Brazil hopes to finally make money from “world’s best” satellite launch center

Located just south of the equator, expeditions from the Alcântara Launch Center are cheaper, more efficient, and more predictable. But Brazil has consistently failed to profit from the base

1 week ago • Renato Alves
Hydrogen renewable energy Brazil
Business

Northeastern Brazil to build world’s biggest green hydrogen plant

The state of Ceará hopes to become a global supplier of green hydrogen, seen by experts as the fuel source of a sustainable future

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves
Brumadinho was destroyed in 2019. Photo: Ilana Lansky/Shutterstock
Tech

Tech Roundup: Reforesting Brumadinho

New tech helps reforest Brumadinho after the 2019 dam tragedy, and 2021 already setting records for startup investment

2 days ago • Ana Ferraz
Startup accelerator goes looking for Amazonian unicorns
Tech

Tech Roundup: Searching for unicorns in the Amazon

This is our weekly tech roundup, a digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil

1 week ago • Ana Ferraz and Renato Alves
Military Drone
Tech

Brazilian Air Force turns to homemade drones in Embraer deal

The Air Force and Embraer reached an agreement to develop military drones made in Brazil. One private company has beaten the pair to the punch, however

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves
dna tests latin america
Tech

Tech Roundup: Creating a Latin America-wide DNA database

This week: a possible DNA database. Brazil's controversial AI guidelines. And the IADB's push for digitizing the Brazilian government

2 weeks ago • Ana Ferraz and Natália Scalzaretto
Court sides with angry neighbors in Airbnb trial in Brazil
Tech

Brazilian court sides with angry neighbors in Airbnb trial

A panel of judges ruled that housing complexes can forbid owners from renting their property on Airbnb — a ruling which could set a precedent for similar cases

3 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
vaccine diplomacy
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #150: Vaccine diplomacy in Latin America

When Latin American countries received their first vaccines, they didn't get them from Western powers — but from China and Russia instead. But these deals often came with strings attached

5 days ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
epstein brazilian samuel klein
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #149: The Brazilian Epstein?

One of Brazil's biggest business success stories may have covered a child sexual abuse ring

2 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
President Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: Isac Nóbrega/PR
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #148: Bolsonaro fighting on multiple fronts

The Brazilian president has a lot on his plate right now, with the resolution of the 2021 budget, a crucial climate summit, and a Senate investigation into the government's pandemic response. Can his administration survive?

3 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
elections Ecuadorian President-elect Guillermo Lasso. Photo: Vincent Ricci/Shutterstock
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #147: What to make of South America’s Super Sunday

Elections in Ecuador and Peru were filled with surprises. Latin America correspondent Lucas Berti breaks down what they mean for the region

4 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
brazilian vaccine
Podcast

Explaining Brazil #146: A Brazilian vaccine on the way?

President Jair Bolsonaro and São Paulo Governor João Doria are in a race toward the first coronavirus vaccine fully produced in Brazil

1 month ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
Rio de Janeiro pandemic
Coronavirus

Rio de Janeiro reopens bars, concert halls despite vaccine shortage and record cases

1 day ago • Natália Scalzaretto
mothers' day brazil
Coronavirus

Mothers’ Day could be first holiday to recoup pre-pandemic sales

2 days ago • Ana Ferraz
Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco seeks to extend an olive branch to China
Coronavirus

Senate President extends olive branch to China after Bolsonaro conspiracy talk

2 days ago • Débora Álvares
São Paulo extends working hours for shops, restaurants
Coronavirus

São Paulo extends working hours for shops, restaurants

2 days ago • Natália Scalzaretto
Atlético Goianiense is the first Brazilian football club to receive vaccines from Conmebol
Coronavirus

Football club first in Brazil to receive Covid-19 vaccines from Conmebol

3 days ago • Lucas Berti
Rio The Police have taken a shoot-first-ask-later policy to new heights. Photo: Jorge Hely Veiga/Shutterstock
Society

“Most lethal” police raid in Rio de Janeiro makes a mockery of Supreme Court rule

At least 25 people were killed in an armed incursion into the Jacarezinho favela. The Supreme Court had banned all police operations in favelas during the pandemic, but raids are becoming more prevalent once more

3 days ago • Euan Marshall, Lucas Berti, Francisco Ricci and Bruno Rico
indigenous covid brazil
Society

Indigenous lives during Covid-19, through a camera lens

Genilson Guajajara has become one of the leading references in documenting the daily cultures and struggles of Brazil's indigenous communities

7 days ago • Renato Alves
zika fears covid pandemic
Society

Scarred by Zika, Brazilian women say ‘no’ to pandemic pregnancies

The Zika epidemic caused widespread fear among Brazilian women of reproductive age, as the virus was linked to birth defects. A similar scare has been seen during the Covid-19 pandemic

2 weeks ago • Letícia Marteleto
census data production
Society

Brazilian data production faces “uncertain future” as census is postponed

Brazil was once lauded for its ability to produce reliable statistical data, but successive funding cuts have thrown this reputation into jeopardy

2 weeks ago • Ana Ferraz
life expectancy Graveyard pits opened at São Paulo's Vila Formosa Cemetery. Photo: Ettore Chiereguini/Shutterstock
Society

Pandemic cuts Brazil’s life expectancy, experts say recovery will take time

Average Brazilian life expectancy fell for the first time since 1945 last year, and is set to slip even further

3 weeks ago • Renato Alves
Mountains of Escazú, Costa Rica, where the climate agreement was signed in 2018. Photo: Daniel Rojas Abarca/Shutterstock
Environment

Escazú Climate Agreement: Brazil among notable absences

Twelve Latin American countries ratified a landmark agreement to strengthen civil participation in environmental issues and help punish wrongdoings

2 weeks ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
Northeast waste beach
Environment

Tons of waste wash up on beaches in Brazil’s Northeast

Dozens of tons of solid waste have been cleared from a series of beaches in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte. Authorities have yet to ascertain a cause

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves
Widely criticized, Brazil's Environment Minister isn’t going anywhere
Environment

Widely criticized, Brazil’s Environment Minister isn’t going anywhere

Many in Brazil and abroad want Ricardo Salles removed as Brazil's Environment Minister. But he may well be untouchable within the Bolsonaro administration

2 weeks ago • Renato Alves
As U.S. and Brazil discuss the Amazon, civil society says "don't trust Bolsonaro"
Environment

As U.S. and Brazil discuss the Amazon, civil society says “don’t trust Bolsonaro”

The two countries are set to discuss terms over potential U.S. financial aid to help Brazil fight deforestation

4 weeks ago • Renato Alves
Petrobras oil rig along the Brazilian coast. Photo: Petrobras/ABr
Environment

New “pre-salt” oil reserves on the Amazon coast excite markets

Researchers claim to have found new deepwater oil reserves off Brazil's northern coast. However, environmental agents say coral reefs could be destroyed by oil extraction activities

1 month ago • Renato Alves
cryptocurrency boom
Latin America

The good, the bad, and the ugly of Venezuela’s cryptocurrency boom

15 hours ago • Lucas Berti
Buenos Aires argentina. Photo: Sharptoyou/Shutterstock
Latin America

Who will survive the economic crisis in Argentina?

Pandemic restrictions and economic woes have caused thousands of companies in Argentina to go under. But others escaped the crisis untouched

2 days ago • Ignacio Portes
Coronavirus vaccination in Latin America, five months later
Latin America

Coronavirus vaccination in Latin America, five months later

Vaccination rates in Latin America have been drastically different around the region, with some success stories but many negative examples

4 days ago • Lucas Berti
Small banana farmer in Cane, Honduras. Photo: Vivid imagery/Shutterstock
Latin America

Deadly storms ravaged fruit crops in Central America’s original banana republic

5 days ago • Lucas Berti
Private vaccine rollouts begin to take hold in Latin America
Latin America

Private vaccine rollouts begin to take hold in Latin America

With governments unable to provide vaccine jabs to citizens, private firms want to step in. But the plan could further raise inequality

2 weeks ago • Lucas Berti
congress Rodrigo Maia led Brazil's lower house until February 2021. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/ABr
Opinion

How Congress increased its powers over Brazil’s political agenda

In an interview with the American University in Washington, ex-House Speaker Rodrigo Maia analyzed his legacy, his views on representative democracy in Brazil, and legislative effectiveness

6 days ago • Beatriz Rey
tax reform congress
Opinion

Tax reform is back – but can it be passed in these turbulent times?

House Speaker Arthur Lira has committed to passing tax reform legislation. But the political scenario is too volatile to predict a positive outcome at this stage

1 week ago • Leonardo Barreto
coronavirus in brazil: 400,000 deaths
Opinion

400,000 deaths and little room for hope

After just 14 months, this pandemic is already the deadliest event in Brazilian history — barring colonization and slavery, which lasted for centuries

1 week ago • Gustavo Ribeiro
The Bolsonaro government's disregard for education in Brazil
Opinion

How Bolsonaro is wrecking Brazil’s education system

The education system may be the ultimate loser of President Bolsonaro's funding decisions and policy choices

2 weeks ago • Beatriz Rey
In full protective gear, a gravedigger at Vila Formosa cemetery looks on burying another Covid-19 victim. Photo: Vincent Bosson
Opinion

A night at Latin America’s biggest cemetery

Photographer Vincent Bosson produced a photo essay at São Paulo's Vila Formosa cemetery, accompanying the burials of Covid-19 victims and reflecting on a pandemic out of all control

3 weeks ago • Vincent Bosson
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

10 hours 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

4 weeks 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

1 month ago • Renato Alves
voluntary lockdown brazil
Tourism

Businesses in Brazilian tourist city organize their own voluntary lockdown

Small business-owners in Alto Paraíso de Goiás took matters into their own hands after the local mayor failed to do so

2 months ago • Renato Alves
Foreign residents in Brazil being turned, despite right to enter
Coronavirus

Foreign residents in Brazil being turned, despite right to enter

The government decreed that visitors from the UK would be denied entry, except for permanent residents. However, this has not been observed

3 months ago • Lucas Berti
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

2 weeks 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

2 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

3 months ago • Iure Pontes Vieira
paraguayan war
Guide to Brazil

Looking back at South America’s bloodiest war

The Paraguayan War was a brutal conflict opposing Paraguay and an alliance between Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. It ended 150 years ago

4 months ago • Natália Scalzaretto
rondon indigenous
Guide to Brazil

Marechal Rondon: the legacy of a lifelong defender of indigenous rights

Cândido Rondon devoted his life to protect indigenous communities and inspired generations with a humanistic approach to native peoples

5 months ago • Euan Marshall and Lucas Berti

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