Brazil

Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 09:53 UTC
Brazil plans to eliminate visitor visas for US citizens to promote tourism

Brazil plans to eliminate visitor visas for Americans, the country's tourism minister said on Wednesday, as President Jair Bolsonaro seeks to turn around the lagging tourism sector and engineer cosier relations with the United States.
Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 09:50 UTC
Brazilian supermodel rejects criticism from agriculture minister

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen on Wednesday rejected critiques by the country's farm minister that questioned her knowledge about Brazil's conservation efforts.
Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 07:42 UTC
Bolsonaro and Macri agree to “review and perfect” Mercosur, and advance trade talks with EU

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri said they agreed to continue integrating their economies (number one and two in South America), as strategic partners, by “perfecting” the Mercosur trade block and pressing ahead with negotiations that are already underway, such as the ongoing free trade and cooperation agreement with the European Union.
Wednesday, January 16th 2019 - 09:21 UTC
The Bolsonaro family soap-opera which defeats Brazilian traditional media

The Bolsonaro family is using social media to present their life as a reality soap opera. The carefully crafted, highly-watched presidential telenovela (soap-opera) is setting the narrative and circumventing traditional media. On the sixth day, the Messia[s] reclines barefoot on the sofa of the Granja do Torto presidential residence. Next to him sits the faithful family dog, Beretta. His glasses casually perched upon his nose, the master browses social media on his smartphone.
Wednesday, January 16th 2019 - 08:36 UTC
Bolsonaro signs decree making it easier to purchase guns

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday signed a decree that will temporarily make it easier for Brazilians to buy guns, despite fears the move could aggravate already staggering violent crime.
Tuesday, January 15th 2019 - 09:08 UTC
Macri flies to Brazil for a first face to face meeting with Bolsonaro

Argentine President Mauricio Macri will hold talks with his new Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday likely to center on consolidating trade ties between South America's two biggest economies, officials said. Battling recession and seeking re-election this year, Macri needs to boost Buenos Aires's side of a steep trade imbalance with its main trading partner.
Tuesday, January 15th 2019 - 09:01 UTC
Supermodel Gisele is a “bad Brazilian” claims Agriculture minister Dias

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is a “bad Brazilian” whose environmental activism has harmed the country’s image abroad, the nation’s new Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Monday.
Tuesday, January 15th 2019 - 08:36 UTC
Bolsonaro pensions reforms aim to save some US$ 270bn in ten years

Far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s new government wants to save 1 trillion Rreais (some US$ 269.48 billion) over 10 years via pension reforms economists say are vital to undo the growing fiscal deficit, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Monday.
Monday, January 14th 2019 - 08:45 UTC
Italian political militant at large for years extradited from Bolivia/Brazil to Rome

An Italian former communist militant captured in Bolivia is on a plane back to Rome, officials have confirmed. Cesare Battisti, 64, is wanted for four murders in Italy during the 1970s, which he denies committing. He was extradited after being found in Santa Cruz de La Sierra in an international police operation.
Saturday, January 12th 2019 - 10:28 UTC
Petrobras turmoil: new CEO pushing for renewal of board members

The new chief executive of Brazil’s Petrobras is pushing for the ouster of two of the state-controlled oil company’s board members. Roberto Castello Branco is seeking the resignation of two Petrobras board members, Segen Estefen and Durval Soledade, whose mandates were only supposed to end in 2020.