Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro isolated, weakened by coronavirus denial
At a tense Cabinet meeting on Saturday in the Brazilian president's official residence, Jair Bolsonaro found himself isolated. The far-right leader convened the emergency meeting in Brasilia's modernist Alvorada Palace to resolve a dispute with Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who publicly opposed the president's ...
Maverick presidents Bolsonaro in Brazil and Lopez Obrador in Mexico both in denial over COVID-19
The presidents of Mexico and Brazil scored stunning election victories in 2018 in defiance of the political establishment, but now their unwillingness to follow consensus on the coronavirus pandemic has left the two increasingly exposed. Mexican leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and right-wing Brazilian President ...
Brazil recalls all diplomats and officials in Venezuela, source says
Brazil recalled its entire corps of diplomats and foreign service officials from Venezuela while ordering the government of Nicolas Maduro to pull out its representatives in Brazil, a government source said on Thursday, further hardening ties between the two. Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro had ...
Brazil's Carnival kicks off with political divisions front and center
Brazil's famed Carnival kicked off in earnest on Saturday as millions of scantily clad revelers poured into the streets, many of whom took the opportunity to parody or otherwise comment on the nation's deeply polarized political climate. Since right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office in ...
'Tropical Trump' Bolsonaro pushes political incorrectness to limit
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro regularly offends opponents with political incorrectness and far-right diatribes, but he is taking heavier fire than usual for suggesting a respected journalist tried to get dirt on him with offers of sex. The man dubbed the "Tropical Trump" has racked up ...
Brazil gets OK to send planes to evacuate citizens from virus-hit Wuhan
Brazil on Tuesday obtained authorization from China to fly two planes to the city of Wuhan at the center of the new coronavirus outbreak to evacuate Brazilian citizens who asked to be repatriated. Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo said two 36-seat Embraer C-190 planes flown by ...
Brazil to declare emergency and quarantine nationals returning from China
Brazil will declare a national health emergency to prepare for the return of Brazilian nationals at the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in China, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said on Monday. The Health Ministry will ask Congress for the power to quarantine the Brazilian ...
Brazilian government may open up indigenous lands for oil and gas exploration
The Brazilian government will propose legalizing oil and gas exploration as well as hydroelectric dam construction on indigenous land, a report said Saturday, citing a draft of a bill to be sent to Congress. Opening up protected native territory was a key campaign pledge for ...
The number of fires in the Amazon rainforest grew 30.5 percent in 2019 from the previous year, according to data released by space research agency INPE on Wednesday. According to INPE, the number of fires detected in the Amazon region was 89,178 in 2019, compared ...
Trump's tariff tweet forecloses on talks over future Brazil steel exports to U.S.
Negotiations over future Brazilian steel exports to the United States have been halted since President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this week that he would slap tariffs back on them, the head of Brazil's steel mills body, IABr, said on Thursday. Trump stunned Brazil and Argentina ...
Two of Brazil's former presidents, a chief justice and heads of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday repudiated the country's economy minister for saying the government might take draconian steps if leftist opponents stirred up protests such as those in Chile. Speaking in Washington on ...
In swipe at U.S., BRICS leaders hit protectionism but silent on Hong Kong and Venezuela crises
Five of the biggest emerging economies railed against protectionism on Thursday as they vowed to overcome "significant challenges" facing multilateralism, in a swipe at U.S. tariffs and unilateral action. The joint declaration by BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — came ...
