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☆ Brazil's Lula expected to visit Biden in the US in January, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRASILIA, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's leftsit President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to travel to the United States to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in January, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Lula was invited by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Monday. The visit was initially expected to happen in December, but Lula's tight schedule before he takes office on Jan. 1 meant that was impossible, the sources said. The final date still needs to be finalized, the sources added. Reporting by Lisandra ParaguassuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lula’s promise to create a ministry of Indigenous affairs in doubt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA — Brazil’s Indigenous leaders were disappointed on Monday after President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appeared to backtrack on a promise to create a ministry of Indigenous affairs to help restore rights and protections that were undermined by the current government. Lula said on Friday he might instead decide on a special department linked to the presidential office rather than a fully-fledged ministry, which disappointed Indigenous leaders who were taken by surprise by his comments. The ministry was important for the historical recognition of Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people and reparation for their mistreatment and loss of land rights, she told Reuters. Lula drew loud applause at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt last month when he told delegates he explicitly promised an Indigenous ministry to ensure “dignified survival, security, peace and sustainability” for some 300 Indigenous tribes that still exist in Brazil. But Indigenous leaders said a ministry was needed to support their communities with the power to mobilize other ministries, and even the police and security forces to protect them.

☆ Brazil, a Bastion of Hydropower, Is Gaining Traction in Wind and Solar
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Paulo Trevisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

The government, meanwhile, welcomes renewables projects as they can generate jobs and extra income for communities plagued by poverty. The wave of solar, wind and other clean-energy projects is expected to take market share from historically predominant hydroelectric generation. Wind and solar power are abundant in areas thousands of miles north of metropolitan centers where it is mostly needed, industry officials said. New solar and wind plants are generally welcomed by environmentalists and can often offer much-needed income to small farms. Of this total, 83% is expected to come from renewable sources, including hydro, solar, wind and others.

☆ Factbox: When it comes to spending big on elections, few can challenge America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While readily-comparable numbers aren't available across nations, India's spending in 2019 was at least in the neighborhood of the estimated $8 billion spent on U.S. federal elections in 2016, the year Republican Donald Trump won the White House. In the United States, campaigning often begins more than a year before election day and regulators put no limits on spending by campaigns. FRANCEFrance also places strict limits on spending. During France's presidential elections in 2022, all 12 candidates combined spent just over 83 million euros, or about $88 million, according to the French government. President Emmanuel Macron spent the most, with his campaign spending 16.7 million euros.

☆ Musk says 'possible' that Twitter gave preference to leftists during Brazil election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Electronic voting machine is seen during the digital signature and sealing operation of the electoral systems that will be used in the Brazilian presidential election in Brasilia, Brazil August 29, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File PhotoSAO PAULO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Twitter owner Elon Musk said on Saturday he thought it was "possible" that personnel at the social media firm gave preference to left-wing candidates during Brazil's election this year, without providing evidence. "I've seen a lot of concerning tweets about the recent Brazil election," Musk wrote on Twitter when asked by a user about elections possibly "handled" by the company's previous management. "If those tweets are accurate, it's possible that Twitter personnel gave preference to left wing candidates," added the billionaire. Both Lula and Bolsonaro widely used Twitter during their campaigns.

☆ 7 photos that show the climate crisis is not a distant threat — it's already here
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A line marks deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, which increased under BolsonaroAerial view of a burnt area in Brazil, on September 17, 2022. MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty ImagesUnder former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil cleared large swaths of the Amazon rainforest for farmland, accelerating deforestation. In 2019 alone, the first year of the Bolsonaro administration, 2.4 million acres — a section of the forest about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined — was cleared, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. About 60% of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil. As the Bolsonaro administration winds down, incoming President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promises to reverse the environmental damage done in the Amazon.

☆ Brazil's Lula mulls U.S. trip before January inauguration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday he is considering traveling to the United States to meet President Joe Biden after his election victory is certified this month. Lula told reporters in Brasilia that he wanted to discuss a series of issues with Biden, including the Ukraine War, and may travel to the United States before his inauguration on Jan. 1. "I want to talk to him about Brazil-U.S. relations, Brazil's geopolitical role in the world, the war in Ukraine - there is no need for a war," Lula said. "The damage Trump has done to U.S. democracy is the same damage that Bolsonaro has done to Brazil's. They have the same behavior," said Lula, who is set to meet with two U.S. envoys on Monday in Brasilia to discuss possible dates for his trip.

☆ Venezuela's Maduro could miss Lula inauguration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Heads of state and governments will be attending President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's inauguration on Jan. 1, but one might have trouble entering Brazil - Venezuela's leftist president, Nicolas Maduro. Lula's transition team have not sent out invitations yet, but aides said that all countries with diplomatic ties to Brazil would be invited. An order signed in August 2019 under outgoing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro barred high-ranking Venezuelan government officials from visiting Brazil. She plans to leave Brazil before Lula becomes president. "She wasn't going to wait and give them the chance to tell her to leave," said a spokesperson for Belandria.

BRASILIA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's transition team has held meetings with the soy industry to discuss a new pact to stop deforestation in the Cerrado savanna, modeled on an agreement for the Amazon, a Lula adviser said on Wednesday. In 2006, soy traders voluntarily agreed to stop buying soy from areas deforested in the Amazon after a certain date. Since then, soy farming has expanded rapidly in the Cerrado, where environmental advocates have lobbied for a similar pact. "There are all the pacts that were done in the past - the soy moratorium, the legal wood pact, legal minerals. Minc did not give further details, and the transition team said it was still finalizing its first report to detail Lula's likely future environmental policy.

SAO PAULO, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest fell in the 12 months through July, according to government data released on Wednesday, retreating from a 15-year high under outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. The destruction declined 11% from a year earlier to 11,568 square kilometers (4,466 square miles), according to annual data from Brazilian space research agency Inpe. That was still more Amazon deforestation than any year from 2009 to 2020. Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said that there has been no change in Bolsonaro's policy of weakening environmental agencies to explain the drop in deforestation. Those months will instead be reflected in the first annual PRODES data released under Lula in 2023.

☆ Lula wants new Brazil police unit to tackle environmental crimes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASLIA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's incoming administration aims to create a new Federal Police unit focused on environmental crimes, the transition team's public security chief told Reuters. "There is now a specific complexity of environmental crimes, in which there is, a kind of combo of crimes in the Amazon. We no longer have isolated environmental crimes," he said. So the idea is a specialized unit for greater efficiency and greater articulation with neighboring countries"Currently, environmental crimes are tackled by the Federal Police's organized crime department, Dino said. Creating a new unit, he added, would be a "practical proposal, which shows a sense of priority for this environmental issue."

☆ Fiscal developments affect Brazil's central bank decisions through balance of risks, says director
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian central bank director Diogo Guillen said on Tuesday that markets are more sensitive to fiscal news and that fiscal developments enter into policymakers' decisions through the balance of risks for inflation. Speaking at an event hosted by JP Morgan, Guillen, the economic policy director, said that in the short run, the central bank analyzes how fiscal stimuli will impact activity and how this will translate into more inflation. The package has left the market apprehensive amid the lack of commitments regarding public expense control, which could ultimately push Brazil's debt to record levels and force a monetary policy shift. Guillen said fiscal policies may impact the Brazilian currency, change expectations and directly affect inflation through expenditures. That suggests that inflation will fall to around the official target despite being still high, he signaled, stressing that the central bank will do whatever is necessary to accomplish that goal.

Summary poll dataBUENOS AIRES/MEXICO CITY, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Brazil stocks will rally by double-digits through end-2023, despite uncertainty about new government policies as President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva seeks to balance social priorities and budget constraints, a Reuters poll predicted. The benchmark Bovespa stock index (.BVSP) is set to rally 13% by end-2023 to 123,250 points from 108,976 points on Friday, according to the median estimate of 11 strategists polled Nov. 14-23. The Ibovespa (index) is still at a discount, awaiting government news," said Fernando Bresciani, research analyst at Andbank. Members of his transition group have voiced contrasting opinions on 2023 budget talks and the leadership race for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Private economists in a central bank weekly poll projected an expansion rate of just 0.7%.

☆ Brazil's primary budget surplus tops expectations in October
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's central government posted a better-than-expected primary budget surplus in October, Treasury data showed on Tuesday, as federal revenues continued to surprise on the upside. The primary surplus totaled 30.8 billion reais ($5.8 billion), above the 25.7 billion reais surplus expected by economists polled by Reuters. In the 12 months to October, the central government recorded a primary surplus of 85.7 billion reais, equal to 1.02% of the gross domestic product. The Treasury said in a statement that the annual primary budget surplus is expected to reach 0.4% of GDP, its first surplus since 2013, helped by booming revenues and the country's constitutional spending cap. ($1 = 5.2928 reais)Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Amazon Fund, started under leftist Lula's first administration from 2003-2010, bankrolled conservation projects and counts Norway and Germany as its biggest donors. Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro froze the fund, citing unspecified spending irregularities among fund-backed projects run by nongovernmental organizations, without providing evidence. The British embassy said its government was studying the invitation to join the Amazon Fund. Izabella Teixeira, Lula's former environment minister and current climate change adviser, told Reuters she had met with Norwegian and German officials on Monday about restarting the fund. Deforestation soared to a 15-year high under Bolsonaro, who called for more farming and mining in the Amazon region.

☆ Lula seen tapping Haddad for Brazil finance minister in coming days -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to tap former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad in coming days to be his finance minister, people familiar with the deliberations told Reuters on Tuesday. The sources, who requested anonymity to share private talks, said Haddad's appointment to a working group on economic issues within Lula's transition team added to expectations, reported by Reuters this month, that he was the leading candidate for Lula's finance minister. According to one of the sources, Lula insisted on having Haddad in Brasilia, as he did on a trip the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, although he has not explicitly spoken with Haddad about his possible indication. On Monday night, Haddad told reporters that Lula had asked him to join meetings of the transition team's economic policy group, which includes economists Nelson Barbosa, Guilherme Mello, Persio Arida and Andre Lara Resende. Haddad's relationship with Lula was bolstered by his 2018 presidential campaign, which he lost to outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.

☆ Brazil's federal public debt rises in October due to interest payments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal public debt increased in October after three consecutive months of decline, official data showed on Friday, driven by debt interest payments. The stock of federal public debt rose 26.29 billion reais from September to 5.778 trillion reais ($1.07 trillion). According to the Treasury, interest payments on public debt totaled 35.39 billion reais, overshadowing 9.11 billion reais in net redemptions of bonds. According to the Treasury, the amount is enough to pay about nine months of debt maturities. The average interest rate on the issuance of domestic federal increased to 11.8% in October from 11.7% the month before.

☆ Brazil's Lula to prioritize tax reform early in his govt, aide says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will give "full priority" to kicking off a tax reform early in his administration, close aide and former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad said on Friday. Haddad, who has recently emerged as the front-runner to be finance minister, also said at an event hosted by banking lobby Febraban that Lula would look into quickly resuming trade agreements that have been "sitting on the shelf," including Mercosur's deal with the European Union. Leftist Lula will take office from President Jair Bolsonaro on Jan. 1. Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Steven GrattanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump aides are helping Brazil's president to dispute the results of the election he just lost. It's going terribly.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump allies met aides to defeated Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, The Washington Post reported. But a legal challenge to the election by Bolsonaro's party was met with a hefty fine. [The movement] has moved beyond the Bolsonaro's in the way that in the U.S. it has moved beyond Trump." Bolsonaro's supporters have held protests since his defeat, blocking roads and calling for the army to intervene to stop Lula from taking office. Trump and Bolsonaro were close allies during their time in office, with both championing a brash style of right-wing populism.

☆ Brazil's Lula won't have interventionist stance on Petrobras, aide says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ricardo Brito | Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen at their headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes/File PhotoBRASILIA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's incoming leftist government will not have an interventionist stance on state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA), a member of the transition team for President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday. Market participants have been showing concern over how the Lula administration might run Petrobras. He also noted that the incoming administration, and not Petrobras itself, would set a new fuel pricing policy for the country. Shares of Petrobras, which slipped by roughly a quarter since mid-October, were up more than 4% on Thursday, outperforming Brazil's Bovespa stock index (.BVSP), which rose 2.5%.

☆ Bolsonaro challenges Brazil election he lost to Lula
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro challenged the election he lost in October to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and is arguing that votes from some machines should be "invalidated" in a complaint that election authorities met with initial skepticism. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has challenged the election he lost last month to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, arguing votes from some machines should be "invalidated" in a complaint that election authorities met with initial skepticism. Brazil's currency deepened losses after news of the electoral complaint, closing 1.3% weaker against the U.S. dollar. Gleisi Hoffmann, the president of Lula's Workers Party (PT), described Bolsonaro's election complaint as "chicanery." "The election was decided in the vote and Brazil needs peace to build a better future."

Magnitsky sanctions aim to punish those accused of corruption or enabling human rights abuses. The U.S. Treasury Department, which is responsible for Magnitsky sanctions, declined to comment. U.S. officials in Brazil and the United States have already begun the process of identifying and investigating specific targets, the source said, with potential punishments ranging from visa blacklists to Global Magnitsky sanctions. It is unclear when or if the United States could sanction specific targets, as the investigations can take a while. Targeting environmental criminals with Global Magnitsky sanctions is unusual but not unprecedented.

The complaint was met with skepticism by election authorities and other political figures who have recognized Lula's victory. The head of Brazil's Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, said the election result was "unquestionable," while the center-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) called Bolsonaro's challenge "senseless." When the PSDB challenged the result of the 2014 presidential election, the investigation took one year and no irregularities were found. Vice President Hamilton Mourao, on a trip to Portugal, acknowledged on Wednesday that Bolsonaro's challenge was unlikely to succeed but said Brazil's electoral process needed more "transparency." Analyst Andre Cesar at Hold Legislativa consultancy said, however, that the challenge would provide ammunition for an ongoing protest movement of Bolsonaro's hardcore supporters.

☆ Key Brazil senator pushing to waive at least $19 bln from spending cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Marcelo Castro said on Wednesday that a constitutional amendment backed by President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must exempt at least 100 billion reais ($19 billion) from a constitutional spending cap next year. In an interview with Reuters, Castro, the key lawmaker handling 2023 budget talks, said the initial idea of permanently excluding the "Bolsa Familia" welfare program from the spending ceiling had "lost a lot of strength." Lula's transition team first proposed to remove the Bolsa Familia program from the spending cap indefinitely, opening space for 175 billion reais in new spending. The initial proposal also removed some public investments from the cap, opening room for another 23 billion reais in public spending next year. ($1 = 5.3907 reais)Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Bernardo Caram; Writing by Marcela Ayres; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil's Trump-backed president is challenging his election loss, weeks after it looked like he was going quietly
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brazil's president challenged his election loss, saying votes cast on some machines should be thrown out. Meanwhile, his supporters have protested the results, saying that he should still rightly be in office. US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 7, 2020. Former US President Donald Trump, who also challenged his presidential election loss in 2021, and claims he should still rightfully be president, endorsed Bolsonaro in his reelection bid last year. Trump backed him again in September 2022, just before the election, saying that people called Bolsonaro a "tropical Trump" and repeatedly urging Brazilians to back him as the election neared.

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