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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 3rd 2026 - 08:59 UTC

Brazil

  • Thursday, June 18th 2026 - 17:53 UTC

    Brazil softens Selic rate but concerns grow about fiscal stimulus on election year and impact of El Niño

    Inflation expectations have risen steadily as President Lula da Silva rolls out measures boosting household spending as he bids for re-election in October

    Brazil’s central bank interest rate-setting committee, Copom, ‌unanimously voted on Wednesday to lower its benchmark Selic rate by 25 basis points to 14.25%, a level last seen in May 2025, ‌but acknowledging a tougher inflation outlook given the risks from election-year fiscal stimulus and the impact of a likely El Nino weather pattern shock.

  • Wednesday, June 17th 2026 - 19:05 UTC

    Trump calls Brazil 'politically difficult'; Lula says he should learn about 'civilized elections'

    “I think Trump knows little about Brazil; if he knows it, it is through his relationship with the Bolsonaro family,” Lula said

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday asked his US counterpart, Donald Trump, not to interfere in Brazil's elections, a matter he stressed is exclusive to Brazil, just as his country does not seek to meddle in the electoral processes of the United States. The demand was a response to remarks Trump had made about Brazil hours earlier.

  • Tuesday, June 16th 2026 - 21:48 UTC

    Brazil's Supreme Court sentences Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years for coercion

    Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that Eduardo Bolsonaro himself admitted having moved to the US in 2025 to lobby the US administration for sanctions against the judges prosecuting his father

    Former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced on Tuesday to four years and two months in prison by Brazil's Supreme Court for coercing the justice system through his lobbying of the United States government to impose sanctions against the country. The sentence would be served under a semi-open regime and automatically entails his political disqualification.

  • Tuesday, June 16th 2026 - 16:48 UTC

    Lula criticizes the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism at the G7 summit

    The president held that the distance between the prosperity of the most developed economies and the reality of the billions of people living in the global south had grown in recent years

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday criticized the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism during the G7 summit, arguing that those practices worsen the inequalities between rich and developing countries. “Protectionism and unilateralism are now resurfacing as fallacious responses to the complexity of our problems,” he said in his address at the meeting, held in the French city of Évian, in an apparent reference to Donald Trump's government, according to the transcript released by the Brazilian Presidency.

  • Monday, June 15th 2026 - 21:50 UTC

    Brazilian stocks slip as the US-Iran deal sinks oil prices and hits Petrobras

    The shares that lost the most value were those of the private oil firms Prio (-6.9%) and Petroreconcavo (-6.5%), also affected by the fall in crude

    São Paulo's stock exchange closed on Monday down 0.42%, dragged by the plunge of the state oil company Petrobras after the international crude price fell, linked to the preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran. The Ibovespa, the benchmark index of Latin America's main exchange, ended the session at 170,415 points.

  • Sunday, June 14th 2026 - 21:44 UTC

    Two helicopters collide over Rio, killing six, including singer Oliver Tree and YouTuber Gaspi

    All the victims were traveling in the aircraft. Among them were US singer Oliver Tree and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known as Gaspi.

    Two helicopters flying over Rio de Janeiro collided in mid-air on Sunday morning and crashed into an urban area of the city, in an accident that left six people dead, the fire department confirmed. All the victims were traveling in the aircraft. Among them were US singer Oliver Tree and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known as Gaspi.

  • Sunday, June 14th 2026 - 19:50 UTC

    Who was Gaspi, the popular Argentine YouTuber killed in a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro?

    Born in Buenos Aires on December 28, 2002, Gaspi began posting content in 2015 and reached mass recognition from 2021, when his channel passed two million subscribers

    Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim Díaz, known as Gaspi, 23, was one of the six people who died on Sunday in the collision of two helicopters over Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian authorities released the names of the victims in the afternoon, following the accident in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood, in the west of the city.

  • Thursday, June 11th 2026 - 08:32 UTC

    Brazil's lower-house committee approves lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 16

    The initiative resurfaces in an election year, with general elections in October. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opposes the measure, while the right is championing it

    The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee (CCJ) of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday, by 44 votes to 18, the constitutional amendment proposal seeking to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16. The approval, however, is only the first step in a long process before the measure could become law.

  • Tuesday, June 9th 2026 - 07:43 UTC

    Brazil suspends its dengue vaccine as a precaution after two deaths

    The vaccine was approved by the regulatory agency ANVISA in late 2025 for people aged 12 to 59, and the campaign began in February with health personnel

    Brazil temporarily suspended the dengue vaccination campaign it began in January, after detecting two deaths and several cases of serious adverse reactions. The vaccine, the world's first single-dose shot, was developed by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo and had already been given to half a million people through the public health system. Health authorities stressed that there is not yet enough data to link the deaths to the product and that the interruption is a preventive measure.

  • Thursday, June 4th 2026 - 10:55 UTC

    Lula pushes back on US tariffs, says Brazil is the one running a trade deficit

    “The US surplus over the past 15 years was 415 billion dollars. So we were the ones who should have raised taxes, not them,” Lula said

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday rejected the US government's argument that Brazil engages in “unreasonable” practices in the bilateral relationship, arguing that it is Washington that runs a trade surplus with his country. If anyone should impose tariffs, he said, it would be Brazil.º