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Pacheco's office and the U.S. embassy in Brasilia did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Separately, a group of 74 federal lawmakers in the United States and Brazil released a joint statement on Wednesday condemning the political violence in Brasilia and Washington that came two years and two days apart. The statement, signed mainly by progressive lawmakers in both countries, was articulated by the Washington Brazil Office, a group promoting bilateral dialogue in defense of human rights and sustainable development. "It is no secret that ultra-right agitators in Brazil and the United States are coordinating efforts," they wrote, citing ties between associates of Trump and Bolsonaro. The Jan. 6 committee's final report, released last month, said Trump should face criminal charges for inciting the deadly riot.

Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's justice minister from 2021 to 2022, took a job as Brasilia security chief after leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Jan. 1. "This was a structured sabotage operation, commanded by Bolsonaro's ex-minister Anderson Torres," Ricardo Cappelli, the official leading a post-invasion federal intervention into Brasilia's public security, told CNN Brasil. "Torres took over as secretary for security (in Brasilia), dismissed the whole chain of command and then took a trip. The shakeup of capital security highlights a wider challenge facing Lula, whose new government must now deal with a sweeping criminal investigation of the Brasilia riots while establishing a fresh chain of command among police and security forces. For example, the appointment of Torres, 47, at the Justice Ministry followed years of friendly relations with Bolsonaro's family.

BRASILIA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The leader of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro's political party said on Wednesday that any member identified in videos taking part in the ransacking of government buildings on Sunday would be immediately expelled from the party. Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the right-wing Liberal Party, said his party, the largest in Brazil's Congress, condemned the rampage on Sunday in which Bolsonaro supporters vandalized the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace. While the PL party has recognized the election result, Bolsonaro has suggested without any evidence that the election was stolen by manipulating Brazil's electronic voting system. Bolsonaro, whose nationalist populism sharply polarized Brazil's electorate during his four-year term, has been named honorary president of the PL. He and his wife Michelle Bolsonaro will have offices at party headquarters with paid salaries.

The government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bolstered security measures nationwide as flyers appeared on pro-Bolsonaro social media calling for mass demonstrations in Brazilian cities to "retake power." Ricardo Cappelli, the federal official in charge of public security in the capital since Sunday, said all security forces had been mobilized to prevent protests and that there would be no repeat of rioting. So far, 727 of the over 1,500 involved in Sunday's riots have been imprisoned. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Moraes's arrest warrant for Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's former justice minister who oversaw public security in Brasilia during Sunday's riots. The former president, whom Lula has blamed for inflaming the protests, did not mention Sunday's riots.

SAO PAULO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian power company Eletrobras (ELET6.SA) is investigating whether the collapse of two transmission towers is related to anti-government riots on Sunday after finding signs of sabotage, according to two people familiar with the probe. The towers - one of which fell on Sunday and the other in the early hours of Monday - were operated by Eletrobras subsidiaries Furnas and Eletronorte. Eletrobras, the mines and energy ministry and regulatory agency Aneel have set up a crisis committee to monitor potential threats to Brazil's power grid, according to a third source. A third tower operated by power transmission company Evoltz also collapsed, according to a report by Brazil's National Electric System Operator (ONS) on Tuesday. Eletrobras, Furnas and Evoltz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Brazil questions some 1,000 detained protesters after rampage in capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Leonardo Benassatto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Most of the supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro were detained on Monday as troops dismantled a camp in Brasilia where demonstrators set off on Sunday before storming Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is running investigations of the "anti-democratic" protests, vowed in a speech on Tuesday to combat the "terrorists" at work in Brasilia. "Democracy will prevail and Brazilian institutions will not bend," said Moraes at the swearing-in of a new head of the federal police. They visited the ransacked Supreme Court building, which was the site most damaged by the pro-Bolsonaro rioters. The former president was admitted on Monday to hospital in Florida where he flew 48 hours before his term ended.

☆ Brazil's currency, stock futures down after Bolsonaro supporters storm capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SAO PAULO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Brazil's currency on Monday weakened roughly 1% against the dollar in early spot trading after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country's capital a day earlier. Future contracts for the Bovespa benchmark stock index were down more than 1%, with the Sao Paulo stock market set to open at 10 a.m. (1300 GMT). (.BVSP)"Considering the enormous coverage the event got and the surprise we all had, markets should react negatively, but this should be short term," economists at JPMorgan said in a research note. "As day-to day government work resumes, attention should go back to the macro issues that have been top of mind." Reporting by Luana Maria Benedito, Paula Arend Laier and Gabriel Araujo Editing by Brad HaynesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bolsonaro's Florida stay puts ball in Biden's court after Brasilia riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gestures, as he meets supporters at the Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano MachadoRIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The United States has a Jair Bolsonaro problem. But Bolsonaro left behind a violent movement of election-denying supporters, who on Sunday stormed Brazil's presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court. "The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. Former Panamanian President Martinelli was extradited from the United States back to Panama in 2018, three years after Panama's Supreme Court issued its arrest warrant.

☆ Latin America's 'pink tide' may have hit its high-water mark
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Brad Haynes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque/File PhotoDec 22 (Reuters) - Dramatic elections in Brazil, Chile and Colombia brought leftist governments into power across much of Latin America in 2022, capping the region's second "pink tide" in two decades. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, 36, took office in March as his country's most progressive leader in half a century and its youngest ever. Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, who narrowly beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October, is a holdover from the region's first pink tide, when a commodity boom helped him finish his 2003-2010 presidency with record approval. WHAT IT MEANS FOR 2023The region's new pink tide has a distinct green tint, as progressive movements have embraced the fight against climate change. Castillo, ousted about a year and a half after his election, may not be the only leftist leader to face difficult times.

☆ Brazil's next Finmin Haddad says fiscal expansion won't help the economy now
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's incoming Finance Minister Fernando Haddad on Wednesday said fiscal expansion would not help the economy at the moment and the government needs to organize its finances to allow lower interest rates, tamping down fears of a public spending spree. His comments helped to calm market concerns about an explosion in public spending under leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who takes office on Jan. 1. "There are situations that demand countercyclical actions ... but we are not at a moment when fiscal expansion will help the economy," he said in an television interview. Haddad said the only stimulus for Brazil's economy would come from the central bank cutting rates, but that would depend on signaling sustainability for public accounts. "If we signal that we have restructured public accounts in a sustainable way, it will be possible to bring interest rates" down, he said.

☆ Petrobras shares dive on Brazil vote to ease rules on politicians running state firms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's lower house of Congress voted late on Tuesday to make it easier for politicians to take roles at state-run firms, hammering shares of the state-run oil company, devastated by a political graft scandal over the past decade. Shares in state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA) (Petrobras) closed 10% lower on Wednesday. Analysts at BTG Pactual said the revised law would be bad for governance at state-owned firms as it eliminates one of their main mechanisms of defense from political influence. Incoming Finance Minister Fernando Haddad did his best to downplay the looser controls on politicians running state firms, saying the most important way to fight corruption is with strong, independent auditors. Reporting by Eduardo Simoes, Carolina Pulice and Marcela Ayres; Writing by Steven Grattan and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Brad Haynes, Mark Potter and Lincoln Feast.

Brazil has yet to publish its official annual figures for Cerrado deforestation, based on satellite analysis by the government's space research agency Inpe. The Cerrado neighbors the Amazon, occupying more than 2 million square kilometers in central Brazil – larger than Mexico. FARM-DRIVEN DEFORESTATIONThe Brazilian savanna is now a major concern for top grains traders, who have broadly pledged to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains by 2025. The sources discussed Cerrado deforestation data from Brazil's PRODES program, which produces annual data that is far more accurate than rapid alert data published on a weekly and monthly basis. An Inpe official said earlier this year that Brazil would soon stop publishing PRODES Cerrado data due to lack of funding.

☆ Gun-loving Bolsonaristas challenge Lula's pledge to disarm Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

The president-elect has pledged to "disarm" an increasingly gun-toting country where personal firearms have become a symbol of Bolsonaro's conservative base. Reuters interviewed eight other people working on, or advising, Lula's transition team on bolstering gun controls once he takes office on Jan. 1. The priority will be to reimpose civilian prohibitions on certain high-caliber weapons, including the rifle used by Jefferson, the sources said. The political context is a sharp departure from Lula's 2003-2010 presidency, when he passed sweeping gun laws to combat violent crime. Last week, they charged him with four counts of attempted murder, resisting arrest, and weapons charges.

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 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.

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.

[1/2] Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gives a press statement at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 1, 2022. Bolsonaro's claim seems unlikely to get far, as Lula's victory has been ratified by the TSE and acknowledged by Brazil's leading politicians and international allies. Bolsonaro's right-wing electoral coalition, which filed the complaint, said its audit of the vote count had found "signs of irreparable... malfunction" in older voting machines. "There were signs of serious failures that generate uncertainties and make it impossible to validate the results generated" in several older models of the voting machines, Bolsonaro allies said in their complaint. Brazil's currency deepened losses after news of the electoral complaint, losing 1.5% against the U.S. dollar in afternoon trading.

☆ Lula to start job interviews for Petrobras overhaul, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Lula, who takes office on Jan. 1, has already signaled plans for a dramatic overhaul of Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), as the company is formally known. Into the dustbin, according to Lula and his advisers: the company's privatization. To pull off that reboot of Petrobras strategy, Lula plans for sweeping turnover in the company's first- and second-tier management ranks, said people familiar with his thinking. SHORT LISTAs of last week, Lula had not had any direct conversations with candidates for the top Petrobras job, according to people familiar with the matter, although a short list has taken shape. Lula's advisers also say Petrobras should steer more of its profits into investments rather than its generous recent dividends.

That would surpass the October 2020 peak of 89% in the central bank series dating back to 2006. "It reduces the degree of freedom for the central bank to manage monetary policy," said Ramos. Brazil's central bank has held interest rates at 13.75% since August, after 12 straight hikes that lifted rates from a 2% record low in March 2021. Lula campaigned openly against the constitutional spending cap that limits spending growth to inflation. The proposal also removes some public investments from the cap, opening space for another 23 billion reais in public spending next year.

Lula insisted in a speech that he would maintain fiscal discipline, but his comments added to growing investor skepticism that he would keep a lid on spending. Concerns have been mounting about Brazil's public finances after major outlays through the pandemic and this year's presidential election. But his advisers are already discussing with lawmakers how to open room for more spending outside a constitutional spending cap in order to deliver on campaign promises, including a possible "Transition PEC" amending the constitution. "The signals indicate that the spirit of the Transition PEC is very oriented around new public spending. Still, as tough policy tradeoffs loom, and with Lula's economic team still being defined, markets have grown less patient.

☆ How a maverick Brazil lawmaker helped Lula beat Bolsonaro's propaganda machine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - To bring down far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Andre Janones had to fight fire with fire. Janones also raised eyebrows among some in Lula's Workers Party (PT) for his vulgar attacks on Bolsonaro and his allies. One senior Lula aide defended the role of Janones, saying he could tread where the official campaign did not dare. He was the most prominent Lula ally to drop the gloves in a bruising run-off race that took even Bolsonaro's campaign by surprise. Despite his hell-raising, Janones has not lost sight of digital media as a public service.

☆ Brazil's Lula may seek more than $39 bln in extra 2023 spending, says aide
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Bernardo Caram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will negotiate in the coming weeks an increase in 2023 government spending that could exceed 200 billion reais ($39 billion), said his former Finance Minister and close aide Guido Mantega. Mantega said the government would have to exempt at least 120 billion reais of new spending from a constitutional spending cap to fulfill campaign promises such as more generous welfare programs. For the government to also expand "emergency" public investments in infrastructure and housing, it may have to wave more than 200 billion reais, he added. Also, inflation will be lower, and we know that inflation helps tax revenues," he said. Lula has pledged to exempt workers who earn up to 5,000 reais from paying income tax, which Mantega estimated would cost around 120 billion reais.

☆ Brazil's Bolsonaro avoids concession to Lula, but transition to begin
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday avoided conceding defeat to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in his first public remarks since Sunday's election, saying protests since then were the fruit of "indignation and a sense of injustice" over the vote. His chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, speaking after Bolsonaro's brief public address, said they would begin the process of a transition to Lula's government. Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter Editing by Brad HaynesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil leftist Lula wins third presidential term to redeem tarnished legacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Anthony Boadle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

His policies lifted millions from extreme poverty, expanded access to education and healthcare, and reduced Brazil's deep social inequalities during years of robust growth driven by a global commodities boom. GLOBAL PRESTIGEHis presidency also reinvigorated Brazil's oil and ship-building industries, while its economy rose to sixth-largest in the world. Brazil's global prestige hit new levels as it was chosen to host the Olympics and soccer World Cup. However, Lula's legacy was tarnished amid revelations of a vast kickback scheme on public contracts, benefiting leaders from major political parties, including his own. A heavy smoker for years, Lula was treated with chemotherapy for throat cancer in 2011, deepening his gruff baritone.

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