Sunday was full of surprises, and most of them dispiriting for the groups that thought they’d made gains during last year’s protests. Here’s the five biggest. By Mauricio Savarese 1 – Marina Silva out of the run-off From presidential front-runner to the falling star of Brazil’s politics. The former environment minister was a bad player from(…)
Arquivo - Tag: Politics
The northeast and Brazil’s internal divide
Brazil is divided economically, socially and politically between its two major population centers, the wealthier Southeast and the historically richer Northeast, so much so that prejudice still exists. Far too few appreciate the ways in which the fiercely proud, culturally rich Northeast revels in its uniqueness. by James Young A week after Brazilian football was rocked by the(…)
In politics, is Brazil less sexist than the US?
If Brazil is such a macho, backwards country, how has it managed to put on a major presidential race between two progressive women*, with barely a sexist protest in the national media? It may take decades before something like that could happen in the United States. By Anna Jean Kaiser On the heels of Chile’s Presidential election(…)
The worst thing about Brazil
Brazil’s brutal inequality is so ubiquitous that those who live here simply stop noticing it. An unexpected message from abroad serves as a reminder of the topic that is so rarely discussed here, in society, the media, or the current election. I’ve been living in Brazil for over four years now, which has been incredible in almost(…)
Cup weeks 3 and 4 – actually about football
The Cup went well enough that we finally got to focus on the soccer for a few weeks. Now, it’s back to the real problems. Vincent Bevins Rio de Janeiro Since early May, and really, since June 2013, we’ve seen the meaning of the World Cup shift radically, many times. Before it all started, the(…)
Soccer and US-Brazil relations
U.S.-Brazil relations are still strained due to allegations of high-level NSA spying and corporate espionage. In the unlikely event that the US team makes a strong showing at the World Cup this year, how would Brazilians respond? Any chances of success hinge on today’s game against Portugal. Nathan Walters Rio de Janeiro I am always surprised when(…)
Rio’s police ‘pacification’ program on the defensive
Drug crime has returned to some of the favelas taken over by Rio’s police in recent years, putting the ‘pacification’ program under further scrutiny. Escalating violence and accusations of human rights abuses indicate police forces may be losing control. One resident group questions the wisdom of trying to resolve the problem with more military force.(…)
Terror in Brazil’s prisons
A gruesome video recently released is only one example of a penitentiary system often dominated by medieval conditions and shocking violence, Dom Phillips reports, and quasi-feudal political arrangements in the state of Maranhão have done little to improve the system there. By Dom Phillips It cannot have been an easy decision for this newspaper to(…)
Reclaim the streets
In São Paulo, taking to the streets involves far more than protests, riots and demonstrations. It’s also about taking back space from the concrete jungle for parties, festivals, public parks and shopping-mall meetups – ‘rolezinhos.’ The poster in the photo above by Claire Rigby reads “More love, please.” By Claire Rigby 2013 may be remembered(…)
Corruption – it’s the private sector
Corruption isn’t mostly about politicians. In its present form, it means that powerful companies dominate Brazil. Above, what corruption looks like. In Brazil, one simple image of corruption is often dominant: some politician, usually an overweight middle-aged man, grabs money from the public coffers, stuffs it into a big sack, and takes off to spend(…)
