Brazil

• Monday, June 6th 2022 - 09:26 UTC

  Brazil: Mr. and Mrs. Lula test positive for COVID-19

  

  Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his wife Janja tested positive Sunday for COVID-19, due to which all campaign engagements have been suspended, the candidate's press office announced.

• Friday, June 3rd 2022 - 23:04 UTC

  Argentina's Alberto Fernández to attend Los Angeles Summit

  

  Argentine President Alberto Fernández finally confirmed he will be attending the ninth Summit of the Americas convened for next week in Los Angeles following a 25-minute telephone conversation with his US colleague Joseph Biden, during which they also agreed on a bilateral meeting for July 25.

• Friday, June 3rd 2022 - 21:31 UTC

  Bolsonaro insists his followers must prepare for war ahead of October elections

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called on his followers Friday to be ready and spare their country from following the same paths as other South American nations in the Oct. 2 elections.

• Thursday, June 2nd 2022 - 21:47 UTC

  Lula links Bolsonaro supporters to 2018 murder of Afro-descendant activist

  

  Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, who according to every poll is poised to win the Oct. 2 elections and thus return to the Planalto Palace, Thursday linked supporters of the incumbent head of state to the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro Socialist councilwoman and activist Marielle Franco.

• Thursday, June 2nd 2022 - 06:35 UTC

  Sao Paulo authorities recommend wearing facemasks, as C-19 cases surge

  

  Sao Paulo City health authorities have advised the citizenry Wednesday to go back to wearing facemasks in indoor settings due to the increase of COVID-19 cases recorded in recent weeks. The measure will only be mandatory “in health facilities and in public transport such as buses, trains, and subways.”

• Wednesday, June 1st 2022 - 10:51 UTC

  Six new bodies rise Pernambuco death toll to 106

  

  Brazilian rescue agents have retrieved six more bodies of people who lost their lives during last week's severe rainstorms in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, thus rising to death toll to 106, Agencia Brasil reported Tuesday. Ten others remain listed as “missing.”

• Wednesday, June 1st 2022 - 09:30 UTC

  Russia supports expanding BRICS, but demands consensus on access conditions

  

  Russia supports the proposal to increase membership of BRICS, the organization of the leading developing economies, but before moving in that direction there is a need to establish a consensus on access criteria.

• Tuesday, May 31st 2022 - 10:52 UTC

  Elimination of a “Brazil cost” item represents a further 1,5 percentage point reduction in tariffs

  

  The Brazilian government is drafting a presidential decree to change tax revenue mechanisms, which the economic team argues it will lead to a 1.5 percentage point reduction in the rates levied on all imported products. This is part of president Bolsonaro's administration policy of (gradually) opening the Brazilian economy to foreign competition.

• Tuesday, May 31st 2022 - 10:06 UTC

  Did Volkswagen use slave labor during Brazil's dictatorship?

  

  Brazil's Labor Attorney (MPT) has summoned carmaker Volkswagen for an administrative hearing following reports that the company benefitted from slave labor in the 1970s and 1980s in Santana do Araguaia, in the State of Pará, it was announced Monday.

• Tuesday, May 31st 2022 - 10:00 UTC

  Brazilian rice exports booming; challenge for all three Mercosur partners

  

  Brazilian rice exports (husk base) totaled 451.3 thousand tones during the first quarter, more than double the same period in 2021 when 207.7 thousand tons were shipped, reports the Brazilian Rice Industry Association (Abiarroz).