Brazil president Dilma Rousseff declared last week that the country would welcome refugees “with open arms” and talked of the important role immigration has played in Brazilian history. But can such optimism survive the tensions that surround the issue? By James Young Belo Horizonte Surrounded by a withering economic crisis, the billowing Petrobras corruption scandal, a kick-in-the-teeth credit rating downgrade, and(…)
Arquivo - Tag: History
Brazilian football and (corrupt) politics – a brief history
Brazilians’ love for soccer has been exploited by crooks, dictators, and dirty politicians for decades. Above, dictator Emilio Médici celebrates after his country’s 1970 World Cup victory. By Mauricio Savarese When former Brazilian soccer boss José Maria Marin was arrested in Switzerland at the end of May, most fans here just knew him as the old guy that(…)
What does the Brazilian military do now?
The military dictatorship ended in the 1980s, and Brazil’s military forces have struggled to establish a role for themselves ever since. Sidelined from politics and unlikely to be deployed abroad due to Brazil’s “rainbow diplomacy,” they have been pushed reluctantly into acting as back-up police forces. By Mauricio Savarese Fifty years after the coup that(…)
Brazil and Portugal – trading places
Brazil’s relationship to its former imperial power has changed dramatically in recent years, reports Dom Phillips from Lisbon. Above, a bookshop there By Dom Phillips “I went to Brazil about seven years ago,” Sandra Meleiro told me, sipping a beer in the weak Lisbon Spring sunshine. “I have relatives there. I love it. And it(…)
The military dictatorship – battle over history
The top line from a story today in this newspaper made me do a double-take: “Tear gas, pepper spray, and stun guns were used yesterday in Rio to disperse more than 500 protestors who had met in front of the Military Club to protest against an event in honor of the 1964 coup.” Wait. Military(…)
