Brazil
Brazil’s Bolsonaro government charges journalist Glenn Greenwald with “cybercrimes”
By Bill Van Auken, 22 January 2020
The trumped-up charges against Greenwald by Bolsonaro’s fascistic government are of a piece with the global assault on free speech and democratic rights and the jailing of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.
Brazil’s minister of culture fired after fascist speech plagiarizing Joseph Goebbels
By Tomas Castanheira, 22 January 2020
Alvim delivered his speech flanked by a Brazilian flag and a cross and with a Wagner opera that was reportedly Hitler’s favorite playing in the background.
Bolsonaro backs Trump in war on Iran, while Workers’ Party appeals to Brazilian military
By Tomas Castanheira, 15 January 2020
Brazil’s fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro was one of the first to defend Washington’s assassination of Iranian general Qassem Suleiman.
Fascist group carries out terrorist attack in Brazil
By Tomas Castanheira, 8 January 2020
The Bolsonaro government, which denounces every form of social protest as “terrorism”, has remained silent about the firebombing, signaling tacit support for fascist violence.
Brazilian Workers Party joins Bolsonaro in imposing austerity, repressing strikes
By Tomas Castanheira, 27 December 2019
Relying on police brutality, Brazilian state governments, led by the PT, are imposing pension “reforms” that all but prevent workers from retiring.
São Paulo Ford plant closure exposes Brazilian union as agent of capitalist “restructuring”
By Brunna Machado, 17 December 2019
The Ford plant closure follows a series of similar union-imposed defeats that have radically changed the Brazilian auto industry.
Wave of teachers strikes confront attacks on pensions and working conditions in Brazil
By Tomas Castanheira, 13 December 2019
Bolsonaro’s government and its Economy Minister Paulo Guedes have made it clear that they aim to privatize all public services, including schools.
Brazilian Workers Party backs Bolsonaro’s draconian “anti-crime” bill
By Miguel Andrade, 11 December 2019
The vote has shattered the year-long claim by Bolsonaro’s opposition that it represents some kind of democratic “resistance”.
Trump escalates global trade war
By Nick Beams, 4 December 2019
Responding to a question in London on whether there was a deadline for a trade deal with China, Trump said: “I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal.”
Police massacre nine youth in repression of dance in Sao Paulo favela
By Brunna Machado and Tomas Castanheira, 3 December 2019
The slaughter in Sao Paulo came as Bolsonaro is advancing an act granting a license to kill for military personnel acting to “guarantee law and order”.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro founds new fascistic party
By Miguel Andrade, 2 December 2019
The party’s founding follows repeated threats to impose police state measures if large-scale demonstrations like those in Chile erupt in Brazil.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro launches chauvinistic “green and yellow” youth employment program to foster “competitiveness”
By Tomas Castanheira, 26 November 2019
While draping the program in the national colors, Bolsonaro himself has admitted that its aim is to “reduce labor costs” in order to attract investment.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro threatens use of dictatorship-era law against Lula for “inciting violence”
By Miguel Andrade, 15 November 2019
Bolsonaro and the military brass met immediately after Lula was allowed to leave prison while appealing a corruption sentence.
Largest Brazilian media group implicates Bolsonaro in death squad execution of Marielle Franco
By Miguel Andrade, 7 November 2019
Every faction of the Brazilian political system, from the Army to the pseudo-left, fears that Bolsonaro’s austerity measures and fascistic rhetoric may trigger a social explosion.
Recriminations within Brazilian ruling classes over Trump’s OECD snub
By Miguel Andrade, 24 October 2019
Contrary to expectations, the US State Department didn’t propose Brazil for OECD membership, triggering a wave of criticism of Bolsonaro for the diplomatic failure.
Brazilian unions push “green and yellow” chauvinism in education strike against austerity, political interference
By Miguel Andrade, 9 October 2019
A range of issues, from austerity measures to privatizations, have repeatedly brought students to the streets, causing panic not only in the government, but in the unions and the opposition.
Brazilian GM workers speak out on US autoworkers’ strike
By a WSWS reporting team, 17 September 2019
Brazilian GM workers increasingly recognize that every issue they face is common to their class brothers in the US and internationally.
Amazon wildfires expose fallacy of “green” capitalist politics
By Miguel Andrade, 28 August 2019
While Bolsonaro invokes rabid dictatorship-era chauvinism, world powers are using the fires to further their own strategic aims.
Wildfires rage throughout the Amazon rainforest
By Bryan Dyne, 23 August 2019
The Amazon rainforest supplies one-fifth of the world’s oxygen and plays a key role in the planet’s climate.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro threatens Glenn Greenwald, ratchets up fascist rants
By Miguel Andrade, 13 August 2019
Bolsonaro is engaged in the buildup of a fascist movement based on the security forces, and feels emboldened by the wide consensus in ruling circles around his economic agenda.
Deadlock over Iranian cargo ships exposes deep crisis of Brazilian ruling class
By Alexander Ramirez and Miguel Andrade, 5 August 2019
As the Bolsonaro government aligns itself ever more closely with US imperialism, the ruling class is growing nervous of provoking a social explosion
Bossa Nova pioneer, songwriter and musician João Gilberto dead at 88
By Hiram Lee, 13 July 2019
Together with the composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto pioneered a “new wave” in Brazilian popular music during the mid-to-late 1950s that had a worldwide impact.
Renewed push towards authoritarian rule in Brazil after exposures in Car Wash probe
By Miguel Andrade, 1 July 2019
The publishing of leaked messages concerning the trial of Lula has led to government threats of repression and charges of collusion with Russian intelligence.
Brazilian unions sabotage one-day general strike
By Miguel Andrade, 20 June 2019
After telling workers to “stay home” during the general strike, union officials spoke in favor of the reactionary pension reform Bolsonaro sent to Congress.
Strikes in Chile, Costa Rica and Honduras
Teachers struggles erupt across Latin America
By Andrea Lobo, 8 June 2019
The response by the ruling class to the resistance led by teachers has been the same everywhere: the claim that there is “no money” and police state repression.
Workers Party theorist pens diatribe against Brazilian “white trash”
By Miguel Andrade, 5 June 2019
The use of this reactionary term to describe poor whites exposes the anti-working class character of the PT.
Fifty-five inmates killed in Brazilian prisons
By Gabriel Lemos, 1 June 2019
This escalating slaughter has been caused by a 300 percent increase in the prison population in the last two decades.
Brazilian media, Workers Party and pseudo-lefts attempt to derail opposition to Bolsonaro
By Miguel Andrade, 28 May 2019
The militant attitude of hundreds of thousands of working class youth who flocked to the teachers’ demonstrations horrified Bolsonaro’s ostensible opponents.
Brazilian youth speak out during São Paulo demonstration against Bolsonaro’s attacks on education
By our reporters, 21 May 2019
Demonstrations on May 15 brought one million people to the streets in the first nationwide protest against the policies of Brazil’s fascistic President Bolsonaro.
One million take to the streets against education cuts, austerity in Brazil
By Miguel Andrade, 18 May 2019
The powerful demonstrations by teachers and students in over 200 cities targeted both fascistic President Bolsonaro and Workers Party (PT) state governors.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
Brazilian university workers, students to strike over cuts; series of strikes hit Argentina
14 May 2019
Public university professors and students will strike later this week over cuts by the government of Jair Bolsonaro while educators, petroleum workers and judicial workers in Argentina have set dates for stoppages.
The defense of Venezuela and the struggle for socialism in Latin America
By Bill Van Auken, 10 May 2019
We are publishing here the text of the speech to the 2019 International May Day Online Rally delivered by Bill Van Auken.
Brazilian unions defend reactionary pension “reform” at May Day rally
By Miguel Andrade, 3 May 2019
With economic figures showing no sign of economic recovery, the PT and the unions are working to quell any working class movement against Bolsonaro.
Protests force American Museum of Natural History to cancel event with Brazil’s Bolsonaro
By Miguel Andrade, 20 April 2019
In face of fierce popular reaction, the ruling elites in New York have been forced to disassociate themselves from the fascistic Brazilian president.
Netanyahu embraces Brazil’s Bolsonaro during Israel visit
By Jean Shaoul, 6 April 2019
Under Netanyahu, Israel has become a pole of attraction for right-wing ideologues, ultra-nationalists and neo-fascists the world over.
Emboldened by Trump, Brazil’s Bolsonaro orders military to celebrate 1964 coup
By Miguel Andrade, 29 March 2019
Fresh from his White House reception, Bolsonaro’s fascist rhetoric expresses a consensus within wide layers of the ruling class that the military is the only force that can rule Brazil.
Officials, media call for school militarization, censorship after mass shooting in Brazilian school
By Miguel Andrade, 21 March 2019
The tragic school shooting has exposed the Brazilian establishment’s indifference to the social distress engulfing wide layers of the population.
Trump, Bolsonaro and the danger of fascism
By Patrick Martin, 20 March 2019
Trump hailed the “shared values” between his government and that of a former military officer, who praises the Brazilian military dictatorship that jailed, tortured and murdered tens of thousands of workers and students.
São Paulo teachers’ union shuts down one-month strike
By our reporters, 15 March 2019
The union called an end to the strike after a clear majority of teachers voted to continue it.
Closure of Brazil Ford plant to destroy up to 27,000 jobs
By Miguel Andrade, 14 March 2019
The devastating plant closure has laid bare the abysmal economic situation in Brazil and offered yet another opportunity for the unions to spread nationalist poison.
Sao Paulo teachers, public workers strike against attack on pensions in Brazil
By our reporters, 25 February 2019
Teachers have been on strike since February 4 in opposition to a pension reform that would significantly increase their required contributions.
Amid US provocation at Venezuelan border
Brazilian media promotes generals against Bolsonaro
By Miguel Andrade, 25 February 2019
The media is promoting the military’s supposed “independence” from the US-aligned policies of Bolsonaro.
GM and union use shutdown threat to slash wages of Brazilian autoworkers
By Eduardo Parati and Gabriel Lemos, 15 February 2019
The betrayal of GM workers came as Brazil’s largest union federation, the CUT, sought an accommodation with the fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.
Brazil’s Workers Party praises imperialist officials and Brazilian military involved in Venezuela regime change operation
By Miguel Andrade, 9 February 2019
As it feigns opposition to regime change in Venezuela, the PT has sent representatives to meet EU leaders who have been at the forefront of the siege of the country.
Hundreds missing, 58 dead in Brazil mine disaster
By Gabriel Lemos, 28 January 2019
The population of Brumadinho and all of Brazil reacted with anger and revulsion against this tragedy.
Brazilian Workers Party uses crime wave to back fascistic Bolsonaro on repression and austerity
By Miguel Andrade, 25 January 2019
Under the guise of fighting crime, Bolsonaro and the PT are both seeking to extend the definition to suppress social opposition.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro increases drive for “pensions’ reform,” more state powers in second week of government
By Miguel Andrade, 15 January 2019
As Bolsonaro prepares unprecedented attacks on the Brazilian working class, the Workers Party (PT) is seeking an accommodation with possible “dissidents” in his cabinet.
Bolsonaro inaugurated as head of Brazil’s most right-wing government since dictatorship
By Bill Van Auken and Gabriel Lemos, 3 January 2019
To mark his installation as president, the ex-army captain delivered a fascistic rant claiming his rise signaled Brazil’s “liberation” from socialism and “political correctness.”
Brazilian GM workers discuss call for rank-and-file committees
By our reporters, 19 December 2018
Brazil has attracted GM investments based on the recent sellouts of autoworkers, including the firing of senior workers, wage freezes and generalized outsourcing.
Brazilian auto workers denounce union blackout of GM’s planned factory closures
By WSWS reporting team, 11 December 2018
Workers at Brazil’s oldest functioning auto plant outside of São Paulo expressed concern over the global implications of GM’s restructuring plans.
Bolton visits Bolsonaro: a US meeting of the minds with Brazil’s fascistic president-elect
By Bill Van Auken, 30 November 2018
The Trump administration sees in the semi-fascist ex-army captain a potential strategic ally in reasserting US imperialist hegemony and countering China’s influence in Latin America.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro prepares most right-wing government since end of US-backed dictatorship
By Miguel Andrade, 13 November 2018
While Bolsonaro prepares his extreme right-wing government, the defeated Workers Party is attempting to find common ground with his opponents within Brazil’s ruling circles.
ISO covers up Workers Party role in Bolsonaro’s victory in Brazil
By Miguel Andrade and Bill Van Auken, 6 November 2018
The ISO views the Brazilian events through the prism of its own support for the Democrats and its cover-up of the reactionary basis of their opposition to Trump.
Washington imposes new sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba
By Bill Van Auken, 3 November 2018
Bolton’s speech on the Trump administration’s policy toward Latin America amounted to a demand for regime change in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Bolsonaro’s victory and the debacle of Brazil’s Workers Party
By Bill Van Auken, 31 October 2018
The election of the fascistic former captain as president signals a sharp shift to the right by the Brazilian ruling establishment.
Far-right candidate Bolsonaro elected as Brazil’s president
By Miguel Andrade, 29 October 2018
Bolsonaro’s election expresses the breakdown of Brazil’s democratic order and the opening of a new stage of class struggle in Latin America’s largest country.
Brazil’s pseudo-left pushes for social media censorship ahead of presidential run-off
By Miguel Andrade, 24 October 2018
Brazil’s presidential run-off is marked by a frenzied rush to the right by the so-called “anti-fascist” front.
Who is responsible for the rise of the fascistic Bolsonaro in Brazil?
By Bill Van Auken, 20 October 2018
An array of pseudo-left groups, many of which were involved in founding the PT, are advancing a vote for this right-wing capitalist party against Bolsonaro.
Fascistic candidate Bolsonaro widens lead in Brazilian polls
By Miguel Andrade, 17 October 2018
The breakdown of the vote leaves no doubt that the elections amounted to a referendum on the 14 years of Workers Party (PT) rule.
The far-right threat in Brazil and the role of the Workers Party
By Bill Van Auken, 10 October 2018
The stunning 46 percent vote for the fascistic former army captain Bolsonaro is the end product of decades of betrayals by the Workers Party and its pseudo-left accomplices and apologists.
Fascistic candidate Jair Bolsonaro places first in Brazilian presidential election
By Miguel Andrade, 8 October 2018
With 46 percent of the vote, Jair Bolsonaro came in first, facing a run-off election with PT candidate Fernando Haddad, who came in a distant second.
Brazil’s Workers Party leader covers up far-right threats to next government
By Miguel Andrade, 1 October 2018
The Workers Party is courting the Brazilian military, presenting itself as the force best suited to its interests.
Brazil election campaign preparing rise of right-wing government
By Miguel Andrade, 24 September 2018
With the military expressing its readiness to intervene, the PT is pitching its appeal to the Brazilian ruling class and international finance capital.
Brazil’s Workers Party drops Lula as candidate for president
By Miguel Andrade, 12 September 2018
Faced with a legal deadline, the PT substituted ex-São Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad for the jailed former president.
The burning down of Brazil’s national museum: A capitalist crime against the heritage of humanity
By Bill Van Auken, 4 September 2018
The devastating fire, entirely predictable and preventable, is emblematic of the criminal policies pursued by capitalism in Brazil, throughout Latin America and worldwide.
Anti-Venezuelan pogrom in northern Brazil highlights official promotion of the country’s far-right
By Miguel Andrade, 28 August 2018
At least 1,200 Venezuelans were chased to the border, after dozens of Brazilians torched a camp where Army soldiers were screening migrants.
Presidential slates chosen for Brazil’s general elections: a warning to the working class
By Miguel Andrade, 18 August 2018
Whatever the result of the elections, the Brazilian political system will swing violently to the right, deepening the class war austerity measures initiated by the Workers Party’s (PT).
Facebook deletes 87 accounts linked to Brazilian right as WhatsApp restricts messaging
By Miguel Andrade, 3 August 2018
Facebook, acting in deep coordination with the state and US imperialism, aims to legitimize police-state measures against social unrest and political opposition.
Less than 100 days before elections, half of Brazilians support no candidate
By Miguel Andrade, 3 July 2018
With just a 3 percent approval rating for current president Michel Temer, there is widespread distrust in the entire political system, which is moving sharply to the right.
Petrobras chief resigns as Brazilian truckers end strike
By Miguel Andrade, 4 June 2018
The truckers' blockades were supported by an overwhelming majority as an act of resistance against the economic suffering endured by hundreds of millions of Brazilians.
Argentina’s Socialist Workers Party (PTS) denounces Brazilian truckers strike
By Eric London, 1 June 2018
The PTS labeled the strike as right-wing, solidarizing itself with the government’s repressive measures.
Brazilian truck drivers reject union-government attempt to shut down strike
By Eric London and Miguel Andrade, 30 May 2018
The government has sought to block the spread of social unrest with a ruling Tuesday that a planned strike by oil workers is illegal.
Truckers strike brings Brazil to brink of collapse
By Gabriel Lemos, 28 May 2018
The Temer government has granted authority to the military to exercise police powers throughout the country, in a bid to break the strike.
François Hollande rallies to the cause of Brazil’s Lula
By Miguel Andrade, 22 May 2018
The hope among the layers backing the PT is that imperialist pressure will convince the Brazilian bourgeoisie to place the party once again in power.
São Paulo’s high-rise fire collapse tied to city’s homeless crisis
By Gabriel Lemos, 7 May 2018
The real cause of the spectacular fire and building collapse was the negligence of the state and the huge housing crisis in one of the most unequal cities in the world.
Brazil’s ex-president Lula turns himself in to police after supreme court ruling
By Miguel Andrade, 10 April 2018
The Brazilian attorney general’s office demanded his immediate arrest out of fear he would “manipulate the masses” and destabalize the country.
Brazil: São Paulo teachers strike against pension reform
By Gabriel Lemos, 26 March 2018
The claim that “there is no money” to meet teachers’ demands is rooted in the parasitic interests of the banks and corporations that dominate the Brazilian state.
Mass protests in Brazil against death squad assassination of Marielle Franco
By Miguel Andrade, 21 March 2018
While clearly serving to intimidate political opposition, Franco’s execution is being exploited by the security forces as a justification for even greater repression.
Brazilian army general tapped to take over law enforcement in Rio de Janeiro
By Gabriel Lemos, 26 February 2018
Under the pretext of fighting gang violence, nothing less than a path to dictatorship is being opened up in Brazil.
Brazilian army general tapped to take over law enforcement in Rio de Janeiro
By Gabriel Lemos, 22 February 2018
Under the pretext of fighting gang violence, nothing less than a path to dictatorship is being opened up in Brazil.
Brazil’s political crisis deepens after court upholds conviction of Lula
By Miguel Andrade, 6 February 2018
The unexpected unanimous decision by the appeals court on both the conviction of Lula and the lengthening of his jail sentence unleashed a frenzied run-up on the Sao Paulo stock exchange.
“Fake news” hysteria set to take center stage in Brazil’s October elections
By Miguel Andrade, 24 January 2018
In joining the global crusade against “fake news,” the Brazilian authorities are preparing to rely on a dictatorship-era National Security Law to censor oppositional news and opinion.
Court suspends Christmas pardon as Brazil’s jail population reaches world’s third highest
By Miguel Andrade, 13 January 2018
The last three years alone have seen 100,000 people thrown into the dungeons created by Brazil’s system of social apartheid.
Brazil, US and 20 other countries carry out military exercise in the Amazon
By Gabriel Lemos, 6 December 2017
Under the pretext of “humanitarian actions” and prosecuting the “war on drugs,” the Amazonlog 2017 military exercise marks a new stage in US imperialism’s offensive in the region.
“Brazilian Trump” or “Brazilian Duterte”? Media works to normalize the far-right for 2018 elections
By Miguel Andrade, 17 November 2017
The fascist congressman Jair Bolsonaro has been increasingly presented by the corporate media as “the businessmen’s choice.”
Brazil cuts science budget amid mounting yellow fever threat
By Miguel Andrade, 8 November 2017
Brazil’s Science Ministry is facing a 44 percent funding cut by the end of 2017 and another reduction of 15 percent for 2018.
Brazil’s ruling circles fear international “isolation”
By Miguel Andrade, 5 September 2017
The ambiguous international strategy being pursued by Brasilia is symptomatic of the crisis of confidence gripping ruling circles.
Growing signs of constitutional breakdown follow repeal of corruption charges against Brazil’s President Temer
By Miguel Andrade, 22 August 2017
The Workers Party attacks Temer’s government not as an opponent of capitalism, but as a defender of the interests of a “national bourgeoisie.”
German automaker VW collaborated with Brazilian dictatorship
By Ludwig Weller, 10 August 2017
Volkswagen not only offered its services to collaborate with the Brazilian military regime which ruled from 1964 to 1985, but was an independent actor in the repression.
Lessons from the Pink Tide period
Jacobin defends bourgeois rule and US imperialism in Latin America
By Eric London, 27 July 2017
Jacobin magazine’s spring edition, titled By Taking Power, addresses “both the accomplishments and the shortcomings” of Latin America’s Pink Tide.
Brazilian president threatened with ouster over corruption charges
By Miguel Andrade, 25 July 2017
Michel Temer faces the threat of being placed on trial as the Brazilian ruling establishment is increasingly torn by bitter internecine warfare.
Ex-Workers Party President Lula sentenced to jail amid Brazil’s spiraling political crisis
By Bill Van Auken, 14 July 2017
The sentencing of the former metalworkers union leader and ex-PT president came one day after the Brazilian Senate approved a labor “reform” entailing sweeping attacks on workers’ rights.
CIA’s cover blown in Brazil, but still safe in the New York Times
By Bill Van Auken, 23 June 2017
Whatever the reason for the public exposure of the CIA’s top man in Brasilia, there was one quarter where his secret remained safe: the pages of the Times.
Amid deepening crisis, Temer turns to Brazil’s military
By Gabriel Lemos, 3 June 2017
The growing reliance on the military coincides with the government’s attempt to push through the deeply unpopular labor and pension “reforms.”
Brazil’s president forced to rescind order calling out the army against protesters
By Bill Van Auken, 26 May 2017
Temer’s about-face on a decree giving the army policing powers came amid a wave of criticism of the measure as illegitimate and renewed calls for the president’s ouster.
Mounting massacres against rural workers and indigenous groups in Brazil
By Pablo Gomes, 25 May 2017
Though attacks have intensified under the current government of President Michel Temer, the roots of the violence go back to the rule of the Workers Party.
Brazil crisis threatens second impeachment in less than a year
By Miguel Andrade, 24 May 2017
The acceptance by the Attorney General’s office and the Supreme Court of what amounts to a sting operation against the president, exposes a growing breakdown of constitutional forms of rule.
Brazil’s markets plummet amid corruption charges against president
By Bill Van Auken, 19 May 2017
The worst fall in share prices since the 2008 global financial meltdown was prompted by fears that the government will be unable to push through attacks on pensions and labor laws.
May Day 2017
The fight for socialist internationalism in Latin America
By Bill Van Auken, 5 May 2017
The overall impact of Castroism, and, even more decisively, that of the revisionist tendencies which promoted it, was to hold back the socialist revolution.
Brazil’s science march and the role of nationalism and the military
By Miguel Andrade, 3 May 2017
Military interests have cast a shadow for almost a century over the scientific community in Brazil.
Follow the WSWS