Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested four volunteer firefighters accused of intentionally setting fires in the Amazon rainforest, but civic leaders said the arrests amounted to government harassment of environmental groups.
The presidents of Brazil’s two houses of congress live side by side in modern mansions in Brasília, the capital. In May they built a door in the wall that divides their gardens, so they could meet without attracting notice. The political mood was fevered.
Oil from a spill that has contaminated a stretch of Brazil's coast was detected in Rio de Janeiro state, the navy said over the weekend, as President Jair Bolsonaro warned the country was preparing for the worst.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday his government is alert and prepared for any possible social unrest after weeks of protests that have sent shockwaves across the region in recent weeks, but added he was not concerned.
Swiss investigators have executed search warrants at addresses linked to Vitol and Trafigura, their counterparts in Brazil said on Thursday, as a sprawling probe into the global commodity trading industry intensifies.
Brazil's conservative president Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday launched a new political party called the Alliance for Brazil, which will put an emphasis on God, family and homeland, as he tries to win back evangelical voters.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday sent a proposal to Congress that seeks to offer greater protection to police and soldiers who kill while on specific operations, known as Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) missions.
Brazil’s plans for environmental protection remain unchanged even as deforestation skyrockets, but Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said the country was looking for more money to implement those plans. Salles largely repeated previously announced plans to bring more development, economic zoning and improved enforcement of environmental laws to the Amazon rainforest region, where deforestation has surged to its highest point in 11 years.
Chinese demand is increasingly swallowing up Brazil's beef supply, pushing the country's cattle prices to a record high. China’s hunger for foreign meat has shot up as an outbreak of African swine fever has reduced its domestic pig population and has sent it looking for substitutes.
A top United States Democratic congresswoman on Thursday asked the Agriculture Department (USDA) to investigate and retract tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts with the U.S. subsidiary of a Brazilian meatpacking company facing federal corruption charges.