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Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) acted to fulfill 46 search and seizure warrants and one arrest warrant on Monday against people suspected of financing the January 8, 2023, Brasilia riot. That day, thousands of supporters of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro flocked to the heart of Brasilia – home to the nation’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential office – to protest against the election of socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula defeated Bolsonaro and began his third presidential term on January 1, 2023. The protest turned into a riot after the protesters stormed the premises of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme...

In less than two weeks, one of the world's biggest democracies will hold what many are describing as its most important presidential election in years. The US has been watching this vote in Brazil closely. Why? There aren't many issues that staunch opponents in Washington ever agree on. But they are united on this. "This is going to be one of the most intense and dramatic elections in the 21st Century," former Trump aide Steve Bannon tells the BBC. "The fate of Brazil's democracy and of US relations with Brazil will be decided in the upcoming election," says Senator Patrick...

Protesters accuse interfaith event at São Paulo cathedral of left-wing activism SÃO PAULO - An interreligious ceremony held at the cathedral of São Paulo to support the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon was accused by critics as a cover for left-wing activism inside the Church.The Sept. 30 event was organized by the inter-religious coalition Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns Front for Justice and Peace. It was attended by Cardinal Odilio Scherer, the Archbishop of São Paulo, as well as Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the president of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network, who will be the relator general for the synod.Leaders of other...

Joao Teixeira de Faria – known as John of God – achieved international fame after being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and having a list of famous clients, including Bill Clinton. Two months ago, his world crumbled after police discovered evidence that he was a mass murderer, baby trafficker, and sex slave ringleader. Mirror.co.uk reports: The 77-year-old was arrested a week later in what prosecutors say could be the worst serial crimes case in the country’s history. Faria’s own daughter, Dalva Teixeira, has also spoken out, called him a “monster” and claiming he molested her as a child. The case has...

A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in a suitcase in Connecticut is a citizen of Portugal who has been in the U.S. illegally for more than a year, federal authorities said Wednesday as the victim’s loved ones gathered for her funeral. Javier Da Silva Rojas, who had been living in New York City, was taken into custody Monday and charged with kidnapping resulting in death in the killing of 24-year-old Valerie Reyes, of New Rochelle, New York. The charge carries the possibility of the death penalty. Da Silva, also 24, entered the U.S. on May...

The news out of Brazil today might have been unimaginable 10 years ago, back when he thrilled crowds across Brazil with his promise of a different kind of future. It might have been unimaginable 5 years ago. It might even have been unimaginable 5 months ago. But this is 2016 Brazil, and these days the tables of power can turn quickly. So it goes for Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio da Silva, known as Lula, the man who was once the popular and charismatic leader of a new political movement in Brazil, founded on the premise of raising the country’s...

When Barbara Araujo and Allan Alves got married three years ago, they had big plans: open a business, buy a house and start a family. But with Brazil plunging into its worst recession in over two decades -- hopes for a brighter future are fading. The Brazilian economy shrank 3.8% in 2015, according to government data published Thursday. That's the biggest annual drop since 1990 and the country is in its longest recession since the 1930s.

Hundreds of thousands (millions) of Brazilians flooded the streets on Sunday in the biggest ever protests calling for President Dilma Rousseff's removal, reflecting rising popular anger that could encourage Congress to impeach the leftist leader. The demonstrations were the latest in a wave of anti-government rallies that lost momentum late last year but have regained strength as a sweeping corruption investigation nears Rousseff's inner circle. Poor Brazilians, who form the base of the ruling Workers' Party support, have not turned out in great numbers in recent protests. But their support for Rousseff has faded as unemployment rises and inflation climbs.

The plot to Brazil's political crisis has become so complicated that even makers of political drama 'House of Cards' joke they are now following events. There is even an online quiz where one has to guess: did it happen in Brazil or in House of Cards, or both? But this is no laughing matter in Brazil. This is the country's toughest political crisis since the early 1990s, when its first democratically-elected President in the modern era, Fernando Collor, was removed from power. On Wednesday night the crisis took a bizarre turn, as a judge revealed phone conversations between President Dilma...

Rest of title: ...which reveals President gave senior government position to her predecessor so he could avoid arrest over corruption President Rousseff appointed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as her chief of staff She is battling impeachment attempt, recession and oil corruption scandal Judge heading oil probe orders phone call between pair to be made public Call seems to confirm Lula's job spared him possible arrest for corruption Protests have erupted in Brazil's capital after a recorded phone call between President Dilma Rousseff and her once-popular predecessor was released, suggesting that she appointed him to her cabinet to spare him...

[I had to excerpt independent.co.uk, per FR rules. My paraphrase follows below, in italics].A man who claimed to be a former employee of the World Bank, the United Nations, and a professor in the United States has been proven to be a fraud after becoming a media celebrity for criticizing Portugal's austerity measures._____After we read this, we got in touch with Filipe Miranda, a former Planet Money intern who grew up in Portugal, and whose family still lives there. Here's Filipe's take:This guy came out of nowhere and spent about a month and a half hoodwinking the Portuguese elite. He...

Mexico's leader sees potential in progress of Petrobras Guillermo Najera, a 42-year-old machine operator at Mexican state-controlled oil company Petróleos Mexicanos, gets paid to do nothing all day. Pemex management can't fire the union worker or transfer him from the ammonia plant in Ciudad Camargo, where he still shows up for work even though the plant stopped production in 2002. "We don't have anything else to do except keep our areas clean," Najera says as he and dozens of other idle workers enter the gates of the plant for the 7 a.m. shift. "I want to go back to work."...

Americans can't ignore recent developments. The publication of an alleged Iranian document in Perfil, the Argentinian daily newspaper, has touched off an issue no American can ignore. The document claims that the governments of Argentina and Iran had reached an agreement to freeze the investigation into the 1994 AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) bombing that killed 85 people — and that the two countries were discussing and considering trade agreements with an estimated value of $1.2 billion.Argentina’s Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who traveled to Israel on Wednesday, April 7, for a two-day visit, sidestepped the issue, raised by both the...

Leaders of Latin American and Caribbean governments gathered in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday and Saturday to forge a new regional organization that includes representatives from every country in the Western Hemisphere except the United States and Canada. According to socialist rulers backing the new scheme, it is aimed at providing a counterweight to U.S. “imperialism” in the region while promoting “integration.” The communist regime ruling mainland China celebrated the news and vowed to support the group. The budding 33-member alliance — dubbed CELAC, the Spanish initials for “Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” — is reportedly the brainchild of...

Dilma Rousseff, a Marxist guerrilla turned button-down technocrat with expertise in everything from energy to high finance, comfortably won Brazil's presidency Sunday in a contest that demonstrated voter loyalty to the man who handpicked her for the job, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

SNIPPET: "It was recently reported that Brazil has offered to conduct the Iranian nuclear deal on its soil."

hina, Russia and Brazil will use this week's G8 summit in Italy to push their view that the world needs to start seeking a new global reserve currency as an alternative to the dollar, officials said on Tuesday. As leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations and the major developing powers traveled to Italy for a three-day summit starting on Wednesday, it seemed unlikely the currency debate would get a specific mention in summit documents. But both G8 member Russia and emerging power Brazil -- which like China and India is a member of the "G5" that joins the...

Brazilian President Lula da Silva urged unions and workers on Monday to take advantage of the global financial crisis to help forge a new world economic order. He also criticized multilateral organizations for having no plans to address the current global crisis. Add to Delicious Add to Digg Add to Facebook Add to Google Add to Reddit Add to Stumbleupon Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo Decrease font Increase font PrintShareComment The Brazilian president said it was time to end with “paper” speculation "I address myself now to the labour leaders" Lula da Silva told a global jobs summit at...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in China for a visit. Strange as it may seem, there can be hardly any information found about the visit, which takes place on May 18-20. It brings up the idea that South America is working on an alliance with Asia’s largest states. It is not ruled out that China may eventually strengthen its influence near the borders of the United States and even set up Chinese army bases in the region. Brazil, the largest country of Latin America, suffered political and economic cataclysms during the 1990s just like the USSR. The...

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on “white people with blue eyes” and said it was wrong that black and indigenous people should pay for white people’s mistakes. Speaking in Brasília at a joint press conference with Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, Mr Lula da Silva told reporters: “This crisis was caused by the irrational behaviour of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing.” He added: “I do not know any black or indigenous bankers so I can...