Articles about Brazil

Alexandre Ramagem fled country after he was sentenced to 16 years for his role in plotting military coup in BrazilWhen Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for an attempted coup, six other members of his cabinet were also found guilty and all began serving their sentences – except for one.Days before the verdict, Bolsonaro’s former spy chief, Alexandre Ramagem, fled by car to Guyana and boarded a flight to the United States, where he has remained ever since. Continue reading...

Octogenarian incumbent contrasts his health with challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, who fainted during a TV debate The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is seeking to lunge and leg press his way to a historic fourth term, as the octogenarian politician uses a flurry of workout videos to convince voters he is fighting fit ahead of October’s crunch election.Lula looks set to face off against a senator almost half his age in what will be the leftist’s seventh presidential campaign since he first sought Brazil’s top job in 1989, when he was 44. Continue reading...

• Brazil convened an emergency South American Union (UNASUR) meeting on April 8 to address Venezuela's constitutional crisis, where President Nicolás Maduro's government faces international pressure over disputed 2024 election results and restrictions on opposition candidates. • Regional leaders including representatives from Colombia, Argentina, and Uruguay discussed potential mediation mechanisms and demands for transparent verification of voting tallies, with Brazil proposing a UN-observed electoral audit. • The summit reflects broader Latin American concern over Venezuela's humanitarian deterioration and mass emigration, with over 7 million Venezuelans displaced across the region since 2015.

• Presidents of Brazil and Argentina held high-level talks on April 6 to establish a new bilateral trade framework reducing tariffs and increasing agricultural and technology sector cooperation, aiming to strengthen Mercosur. • The leaders agreed to coordinate regional responses to global economic pressures and announced plans for joint infrastructure investments; discussions included currency stabilization mechanisms to address exchange rate volatility. • Both nations emphasized commitment to democratic governance and rule of law amid regional concerns about institutional challenges; the initiative signals Latin American countries seeking greater economic autonomy.

• Brazil and Paraguay finalized a bilateral agreement on Thursday to jointly develop and operate expanded hydroelectric capacity along the Paraná River, addressing critical energy shortages affecting both nations and the broader South American grid. • The $8.7 billion infrastructure project aims to increase regional electricity output by 28% within five years and includes provisions for technology transfer and workforce development across both countries. • The agreement emerged from emergency regional meetings convened by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) following cascading power grid failures that left 85 million people without electricity across South America in early March.

The former president was in prison for a coup attempt after losing the country’s last electionBrazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been granted permission to serve his 27-year sentence for a coup attempt at home instead of in prison because of his failing health.The decision by supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes followed Bolsonaro’s hospitalization since 13 March for pneumonia, one of several health problems the former leader has faced since he was stabbed by a man in 2018 before he was elected president. Continue reading...

In incident filmed by security cameras in Rio de Janeiro, group of attackers beat animal with sticks and iron barsPolice in Rio de Janeiro have arrested eight people for brutally beating a capybara – the world’s largest rodent.Resembling a giant guinea pig, the light brown capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is often seen roaming the Brazilian city, particularly near streams and lagoons. Continue reading...

Britons learn about the country’s involvement ‘almost as a self-congratulatory narrative’, says historian Joseph Mulhern In 1845 British citizens and companies were already legally prohibited from owning or buying enslaved people overseas, yet that year 385 captives were “transferred” to a British mining company in Brazil named St John d’El Rey.Despite a global campaign waged by the UK against slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, the move was not technically illegal because the enslaved people were not sold but “rented” – a practice permitted overseas under the 1843 Slave Trade Act. Continue reading...