Tag: Brazil

• Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:11 UTC

  Brazilian government trying to recover control over its overloaded prison system

  

  Police and soldiers are being deployed in large numbers to Brazil's northeast to fight a wave of gang violence fueled by the overloaded, collapsing prison system. More than 400 elite federal troops have been sent to the city of Fortaleza and the rest of Ceara state to reinforce overwhelmed local cops, who face a dramatic rash of attacks on government buildings, buses, police stations, banks and bridges by well-armed gang members.

• Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:09 UTC

  Brazilian 2019 coffee production forecasted to decline 11.5/18%

  

  Brazilian food supply and statistics agency Conab has reported that Brazil’s coffee production is expected to decline in 2019 to between 50.48 and 54.48 million bags. Conab attributes the 11.5 to 18% drop from the 61.65 million bags the agency reported for the year prior to Brazil’s coffee plants recovering from an increased output in 2018, which is affecting Arabica in particular.

• Monday, January 21st 2019 - 09:17 UTC

  Former minister and advisor confirms payments of bribes in hand to Lula da Silva

  

  Antonio Palocci, who was minister during the governments of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, affirmed that he gave the former president, in “several opportunities”, cash proceeds of bribes from the construction companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, according to the Globo Group.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:36 UTC

  Brazil plans a self-monitoring system for food processors, despite a non-encouraging record

  

  Brazil is moving toward a self-monitoring system for food processors, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Friday, including meatpackers still recovering from an inspection scandal that hurt trade with key markets. Dias said in an interview that Brazil's new business-friendly government plans to send draft legislation on self-monitoring to Congress in the first half of this year.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:28 UTC

  Brazilian lawmakers trip to China triggers strong controversy among Bolsonaro's bunker

  

  A trip to China by lawmakers from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's party has stirred anger in the far-right leader's entourage, partly because of his wariness of the Asian power but also because of the group's stated mission. The delegation of eight members of Bolsonaro's ultraconservative Social Liberal Party (PSL) said it was on the visit to check out Chinese facial-recognition technology, with a view to it maybe being used in Brazil to combat crime.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:22 UTC

  Extreme wet January displaces thousands and floods farmland in Mercosur member countries

  

  Intense rainfall in northeast Argentina and neighbouring areas in Mercosur members has caused devastating floods, amplifying the economic burdens of Argentina's recession. Over 5,000 people have evacuated the region, and millions of hectares of crops have been sent underwater.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 10:19 UTC

  Doubts about Brazil's real soybean production estimate because of adverse weather

  

  Analysts are casting doubt on the Brazilian government’s soybean production estimate. Conab, the government’s food supply and statistics agency, recently issued a forecast for 118.8 million tons of production, only slightly smaller than last year’s record 119.4 million tons.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 09:30 UTC

  Brazilian government meets Venezuelan opposition leaders to discuss Maduro's “illegitimacy”

  

  Brazilian and US officials met Venezuelan opposition leaders in Brasilia on Thursday to discuss the political crisis in the oil-rich country ruled by president Nicolas Maduro, Brazil's foreign ministry reported.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 10:10 UTC

  Petrobras allowed to sell 90% stake in gas pipeline unit, estimated at US$ 7bn

  

  Brazil’s solicitor general has overturned one injunction that prevented state-controlled oil company Petrobras from proceeding with one of its largest divestitures, the government said in a statement.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 10:05 UTC

  Petrobras averaged 2.63 MMboed last year, targets 2.8 MMboed for 2019

  

  Petrobras reports that in 2018, its total production of oil and gas, including natural gas liquids (NGL), was 2.63 MMboed, of which 2.53 MMboed produced in Brazil and 101,000 boed abroad. Petrobras’ own production of oil in Brazil was 2.03 MMbpd.