Brazil Coup Charges Could End Bolsonaro’s Political Career − but They Won’t Extinguish Bolsonarismo by Anthony Pereira
February 21, 2025
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Brazilian politics are getting more dramatic again.
The South American country’s attorney general filed five criminal charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others in its Supreme Court on Feb. 18, 2025, detonating political shock waves. The charges include plotting a coup d’état to prevent Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidency. The other defendants include several former prominent officials, including a former spy chief, defense minister, national security adviser and Bolsonaro’s running mate.
Lula took office in Brazil for a third time in January 2023, after he defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election. Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, had served the previous four-year term. Bolsonaro and his codefendants are also charged with trying to poison Lula and assassinate his vice presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes; participating in an armed criminal organization; and seeking to violently overthrow the democratic rule of law. He denies doing anything wrong.
As a professor of Brazilian politics, I believe that Bolsonaro’s legal troubles threaten to definitively end his political career. There’s also a possibility that the 69-year-old former president will be sentenced to prison. But, at the same time, the charges could also galvanize Bolsonaro’s base – playing into a narrative that sees the right-wing leader as stymied, unfairly, by the government he used to run.
No sash passed
Bolsonaro’s behavior before, during and after his second presidential campaign was unusual for any president seeking another term. He claimed, when he was still in office, that Brazil’s electronic voting system was not secure and predicted that fraud might crop up in the 2022 elections.
Brazil's 'I'm Still Here' Wins Best International Feature at the Oscars by Mandalit del Barco
March 2, 2025
Introduction:
(NPR) The Brazilian drama I'm Still Here has won the Academy Award for best international feature, a first for the South American country.
The film is based on a true story set in 1970s Rio de Janeiro, when Brazil was living under a military dictatorship.
Actress Fernanda Torres was also nominated for an Oscar for her leading role as Eunice Paiva. Her husband, Rubens Paiva, had been a congressman before the U.S.-backed coup d'etat in 1964. After he was abducted by military operatives in 1971 and never returned, Paiva was left to care for their five children as she sought justice for her husband. As a lawyer and activist, she helped indigenous people in the Amazon too.
Further extract:
In Brazil, the film broke decades-old box office records and prompted a partial reckoning for the nation that endured a brutal dictatorship for more than two decades, until 1985.
Scientific Cooperation is Strategic for Brazil to Strengthen Relations with Europe March 25, 2025
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Relations between Europe and South America – and especially with Brazil - are at a favorable moment, due to factors such as the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, signed in December 2024 and currently being approved. However, in order to take advantage of this window of opportunity and be competitive, Brazil must continue to expand scientific and technological cooperation with European partners.
This assessment was made by the Brazilian Ambassador to Germany, Roberto Jaguaribe, during the reception for the participants of FAPESP Week Germany, an event held from March 25 to 26 at the Free University of Berlin.
“We’re now experiencing a positive climate in relation to our economic and, more importantly, regional relations, which is related to various factors, such as climate change and the energy transition, as well as others linked to geopolitical movements. This new framework is making it clear that we need to come together in different ways, especially because we have very important convergences,” said Jaguaribe.
“We’re also hopefully in the final phase of a long-negotiated agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, with Germany being the driving force behind its approval. All of this will open new doors, but if we want to be competitive, we need to continue working to develop scientific and technological cooperation, as FAPESP has been doing and which will continue to be fundamental,” he observed.
According to the ambassador, scientific cooperation between Brazil and Germany has played a very important role in the relationship between the two countries, and collaboration with the state of São Paulo in this area has been very strong and deepened in recent years.
