Brazil Archives - Page 17 of 21 - Americas Quarterly

BNDES Helped Save the Olympics. But Is it Hurting Brazil?

Corrections appended below Updated 8/17/2016 New leadership atop Brazil’s massive national development bank is unwinding a decade of rampant lending that fed large conglomerates and strained the country’s finances. Over the past half-century, Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES) built huge power plants and highways through the industrial southeast, aided social programs in the … Read more

A ‘School of Rock’ in Rio’s Biggest Favela

Kids from Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela are reaching new heights – literally. Equipped with grippy shoes, hand chalk and encouragement from renowned climbers worldwide, young people from the Rio neighborhood of Rocinha are increasingly taking to the city’s tallest mountains in search of recreation, thrills and, for some, a way to avoid the pitfalls … Read more

Hey World, Let’s Cut Brazil Just a Little Slack

After being kidnapped by uniformed police in Rio on the eve of the Olympic Games, a young New Zealander proclaimed on Facebook that Brazil “is well and truly f***ed in every sense of the word imaginable.” Many others agreed, from the Australian athletes who arrived in their dorms to find overflowing toilets (and a fire, … Read more

Why Brazil Shouldn’t Turn Its Back on the BRICS

Almost a decade ago, in 2007, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was one of the star speakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Investor money was pouring into one of the world’s most exciting emerging markets, and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim – who would go on to be called the “world’s best foreign … Read more

How to Get Brazil (And Latin America) Completely Wrong

It’s been yet another rough week for Brazil’s international image, with an Olympic mascot shot dead in an absurd accident and another national political figure dragged into scandal. But the biggest blow of all came from Declan Ryan, co-founder of the Irish budget airline Ryanair, who told an Argentine newspaper that he was considering expansion … Read more

Michel Temer and the ‘Nobody Survives’ Scenario in Brasília

I had dinner recently with a Fortune 500 executive who was absolutely furious over Brazil. At great pains, he had finally convinced his board to take a fresh look at investing there under interim President Michel Temer’s government. But the latest wave of corruption-related resignations and arrests had scared them away once again, for fear … Read more

Rio’s Forgotten Health Crisis

Editor’s Note: A version of this piece first appeared in Portuguese in Agência Pública, and can be seen here. The English translation has been lightly edited for clarity, context and length. As Rio de Janeiro prepares to receive hundreds of thousands of tourists and athletes from over 200 countries for the Olympic Games, health authorities … Read more

In Occupying Schools, Rio’s Students Get a Political Education

Usually the challenge is to keep students in school. But 18-year-old Douglas Santana is one of thousands of teenagers from more than 70 high schools across the state of Rio de Janeiro who for months refused to go home until the government promised more investment in education. A senior at Colégio Estadual Visconde de Cairu … Read more

Not Impossible: Could Rousseff Return as Brazil’s President?

When Dilma Rousseff was suspended as Brazil’s president last month, Vice President Michel Temer quickly fired the existing cabinet and installed his own team. Though her presidential portraits were put back on the walls after being briefly removed, the message was still clear: Dilma won’t be coming back. But could she? Rousseff’s path back to the … Read more

Judge Moro: Systemic Corruption Can Become a ‘Sad Memory’ of Brazil’s Past

Editor’s note: Moro is the federal judge overseeing “Operation Car Wash,” the historic investigation of corruption at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras. This piece first appeared in Portuguese in Exame magazine, and can be seen here. The English translation has been lightly edited for clarity, context and length. More than two years after the start … Read more

A Final Defense of Dilma Rousseff

Back in March 2014, when the Petrobras scandal was just getting started, some of President Dilma Rousseff’s top aides saw a golden opportunity to kill the investigation – or at least badly wound it. Márcio Anselmo, the Federal Police deputy in charge of the probe, had given an interview (which can be seen here) to … Read more

This Week in Latin America: Dilma’s Last Days?

Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Rousseff’s Trials: The acting speaker of Brazil’s lower house this morning annulled last month’s impeachment vote against President Dilma Rousseff, throwing into question whether the Senate will vote this Wednesday on the issue, as had been expected. A Senate committee on … Read more

How Brazil’s Crisis Is Bleeding into the Rest of South America

Until a few years ago, Brazil possessed one of the most active foreign policies in the developing world. It built an impressive network of embassies and consulates, opening more than 60 posts during the 2000s alone in Africa, Asia and beyond. Brazil also actively engaged in debates ranging from humanitarian intervention in Libya to rethinking … Read more