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☆ Brazil govt to resume fuel taxes -ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government is set to resume the collection of federal taxes on fuels this week, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. According to the ministry, the tax revenues from fuels will be 100% recovered with the end of the waiver. The measure to exempt federal taxes levied on fuel was launched by former President Jair Bolsonaro last year as he sought to boost his popularity by lowering prices ahead of a re-election bid. With the return of the taxes on gasoline and ethanol, Haddad's team will have a reinforcement of approximately 29 billion reais ($5.59 billion) in federal revenues this year. The end of the waiver is seen positively by the ethanol industry, since without taxes the biofuel loses competitiveness against gasoline.

☆ Brazil bank lending down for the first time in a year in January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Outstanding loans in Brazil decreased by 0.3% in January, according to central bank data on Monday, marking the first decline in a year. The result suggests a slowdown that is likely to gain momentum in a scenario of high borrowing costs following the aggressive monetary tightening implemented by the central bank to curb inflation. Bank loans in Latin America's largest economy have decelerated amid more expensive credit, as the country's benchmark interest rate stands at 13.75% from a record low of 2% in March 2021. The central bank has left interest rates unchanged since September, but data from the central bank shows that average interest rates on non-earmarked loans have increased to 43.5% per year from 41.7% in December. Bank lending spreads also grew from 28.7 points the month before to 30.6 percentage points, while a broad measure of Brazilian consumer and business default ratios increased to 4.5% from 4.2% in December.

☆ Debate grows among Lula's team over Brazil fuel tax policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Former far-right Jair Bolsonaro unveiled the fuel tax cut last year as he sought to ease inflation and win over voters ahead of the election which he eventually lost to Lula. Since Lula's victory, debate has raged within his Workers Party (PT) over what to do with the costly and popular measure. Tensions are now mounting over whether to extend further the gasoline and ethanol tax waiver. In a series of Twitter posts, Congresswoman Gleisi Hoffmann, president of Lula's Workers Party (PT), said fuel taxes should only resume once state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA) defines a new pricing policy. Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin said on Friday the government had not yet made a decision on fuel taxes.

☆ Foreign direct investment in Brazil posts best January in 5 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment in Brazil reached its highest level for January in five years, according to central bank data on Friday, continuing a trend of strong results since last year. FDI totaled $6.9 billion in January, best since 2018, when it reached $8.3 billion. Last year, FDI reached $90.6 billion, the highest annual figure in 10 years. Brazil's current account deficit was $8.8 billion in January, larger than the $8.2 billion shortfall forecast by economists. Central bank data also showed that investors made a net investment of $4.2 billion in Brazilian markets in January, including $1.9 billion inflows in stocks and $2.2 billion inflows in bonds.

☆ Two dozen dead after Brazil rains cause calamity
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Sao Paulo state government confirmed 19 deaths and 566 dislodged or homeless persons after rains of more than 600 millimeters (23.62 inches) pounded the coast of Brazil's richest state. [1/3] An aerial view shows the damage caused by severe rainfall in Ilhabela, Brazil, February 19, 2023, in this picture obtained from social media. Sao Paulo state declared a 180-day state of calamity for six cities after what experts described as an unprecedented, extreme weather event. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on his social media account he will visit the main affected areas on Monday. Reporting by Ana Mano in São Paulo and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasília; Editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil's vaccine-skeptic Bolsonaro got the shot, document indicates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A health ministry record indicates that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a vocal skeptic of COVID-19 vaccines who vowed to never get the jab, may have received one in 2021, the country's comptroller general's office said on Friday. The office said it was examining a vaccine card provided by the health ministry recording the far-right former president's vaccination, though in a statement it cautioned that the card could have been altered. It said it had sought information about Bolsonaro's vaccination record from the health ministry following last month's inauguration of new leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "The record exists, that's as much as we know," comptroller general's office head Vinicius Carvalho said during an interview with CNN Brazil. Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Former Freepoint Commodities Trader Charged With Bribing Brazilian Officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

A former employee of U.S. oil trader Freepoint Commodities LLC and its Brazilian agent were indicted Friday for their alleged role in a scheme to bribe Brazilian officials to win contracts with the country’s state-owned oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro SA. Mr. Innecco, who acted as a broker for the firm, remains at large, the spokesman said. A lawyer for Mr. Oztemel said his client denied the allegations. Mr. Oztemel began working for Stamford, Conn.-based Freepoint around 2012. A spokeswoman for Freepoint, which wasn’t named in the indictment, said Mr. Oztemel had retired from the company more than two years ago.

☆ Brazil's Lula to meet China's Xi on March 28 in Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the celebrations marking the 43rd anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party, in Brasilia, Brazil February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano MachadoBRASILIA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Brazil's new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on March 28 on Lula's first trip of his current term to his country's largest trading partner, official sources told Reuters. Lula, who visited China twice during his earlier government 2003-2010, will stay in Beijing for four days for talks on trade, investments and the war in Ukraine. I want to talk about it with President Xi Jinping. The growing economic relationship between the two countries became clear in 2004 when Lula first visited China with a large delegation that included 450 Brazilian business representatives.

☆ No 'witch-hunt' in Brazil's Jan. 8 probes, vows top military prosecutor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ricardo Brito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - There will be no "witch-hunt" to root out members of Brazil's military who may have potentially been involved in the Jan. 8 Brasilia riots, the country's top military prosecutor said in an interview, pledging to follow due process to mete out justice. For months ahead of the Oct. 30 Brazilian presidential election, far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro sought to enlist military support for his baseless claims of electoral fraud. There has been mounting public pressure for anyone in Brazil's military accused of involvement in the riots to be tried in civil courts. However, Brazil's army brass are unhappy about efforts for military wrongdoing to be tried by the Supreme Court, and want to keep litigation in military courts, according to sources familiar with the matter. Fifteen military investigations related to Jan. 8 have been opened, according to the military attorney general's office.

BRASILIA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is taking a fresh tack in its effort to crack down on illegal gold mining in the Amazon, preparing legislation that would require electronic tax receipts for the buying and selling of the precious metal, four sources with knowledge of the plans said. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants to end years of environmental backsliding under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and crack down on illegal mining in the Amazon. The central bank said the goal was to implement "a new inspection system that allows the traceability of the gold extracted, as well as the adoption of electronic invoices." The situation is so bad, Ibram says, that even the central bank does not know if the gold it buys is legal or illegal. The mining lobby has been calling for the adoption of electronic invoices to end the illegal gold trade, Ibram President Raul Jungmann told Reuters.

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop 'war' on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Argentina found the virus in wild birds, while dead swans in Uruguay tested positive. The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said.

☆ Bolsonaro mulls return to Brazil in coming weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday he plans to return to Brazil "in the coming weeks," after having spent more than a month in the United States. "There is no place like home ... We know Brazil is a fantastic country," Bolsonaro told a gathering of Brazilians in Boca Raton, a video posted online by broadcaster CNN showed. I intend to return to Brazil in the coming weeks." A swift return to Brazil could pose risks for Bolsonaro, who is accused of instigating a violent election denial movement in his home country. Still, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told Reuters this week that officials believe Bolsonaro will return to Brazil after the carnival festival, which ends on Feb 22.

☆ Brazil's Lula calls Bolsonaro a Trump 'copycat' in CNN interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro looks on during "Power of The People" event hosted by Turning Point USA at Trump National Doral Miami Resort in Doral, Florida, U.S., February 3, 2023. REUTERS/Marco BelloWASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro a "faithful copycat" of Donald Trump and said there was no chance Bolsonaro would return to the presidency. The leftist leader told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday that Brazil's judiciary is investigating Bolsonaro for attacks on democracy. But Lula said he hopes the former president will be convicted of genocide by an international court for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that killed 698,000 Brazilians. Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia on Jan. 8, calling for a military coup to oust Lula, in an echo of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

☆ France urges stronger international response to Iran's missile program
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna looks on during a news conference with Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira ( not pictured ) at Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File PhotoSummary French govt: Colonna spoke to Blinken on ThursdayDiscussed Iran, Ukraine, Armenia, AzerbaijanUrged stronger response to Iran missile programmePARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - There must be a stronger "international response" to the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missiles program, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told her U.S. counterpart Anthony Blinken, France's Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The French Foreign Ministry said Colonna and Blinken had spoken by phone on Thursday, during which they discussed an array of topics, including Ukraine and Iran. Colonna and Blinken also reiterated their "full support" to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia almost a year ago, and discussed the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten and John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil minister denies knowledge of plan to raise inflation target
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

His role involves presenting the government's agenda to Congress and other bodies including the central bank. Brazilian news website Metropoles and Bloomberg cited unidentified sources as saying an early review of the inflation target and an increase were under discussion. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticized the 13.75% benchmark interest rate, set by the central bank, as too high. Supporters of this move argue that raising the inflation target would require less monetary tightening and sustain economic activity. Critics said that a higher target could stoke expectations for even greater inflation and hinder the central bank's achieving the new objectives.

That window has been scrapped, with the ships now authorized to dock between Feb. 26 and March 3, the Brazil's foreign ministry said. A Brazilian military source confirmed that the federal government, via the foreign ministry, had shifted the dates and blocked the Iranian ships from docking. "The Iranian ships could not come during this period." A spokesperson for Brazil's foreign ministry said it was a "wrong assumption" to say Washington had pressured Brazil. Lula recoiled at U.S. sanctions on Iran and has declined to choose sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, saying Brazil is neutral and wants dialogue to reach peace.

☆ Yanomami health crisis in Brazil can only be solved by expelling miners, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The medical emergency the Yanomami people of Brazil are suffering can only be overcome if illegal gold miners that invaded their reservation are evicted, an indigenous health official said on Tuesday. We believe the reopening of medical units can only be done when the miners are all removed," Indigenous Health Secretary Ricardo Weibe Tapeba told a news conference. About 20,000 wildcat miners on the Yanomami reservation in the state of Roraima in northern Brazil have brought malaria and severe food shortages that caused the death of starving Yanomami children, he said. Some 700 patients have been airlifted to the state capital of Boa Vista and are being treated at the CASAI indigenous health center hospital and a field hospital set up there, Weibe added. Their mineral-rich lands attracted wildcat miners for decades, especially after a military government built a road through the Amazon rainforest in the 1970s.

☆ Brazil police conduct new raids as part of probe into Brasilia riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police on Tuesday carried out fresh raids as part of an investigation into the Jan. 8 insurrection, when supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in Brasilia. Police said in a statement they were serving three temporary detention warrants, one preventive arrest warrant and six search and seizure warrants in the federal district, where Brasilia is located, under Supreme Court orders. The new raids represent the fifth phase of an operation launched last month aimed at identifying people who participated in, funded or fostered the riots, in which a mob invaded and ransacked the Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court. They were protesting against Bolsonaro's defeat by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an October election and calling for a military coup to oust Lula and restore the far-right leader. Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Illegal miners in Yanomami reservation seek Brazil government help to leave
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Illegal gold miners blamed for causing a humanitarian crisis on Brazil's largest indigenous reservation are asking authorities to help them leave, one of their leaders and a Brazilian senator said on Monday. In a video he posted on social media, Mesquita asked the government to unblock rivers for 10-15 days for the miners to leave the reservation in the northern state of Roraima. "What matters is that the miners leave peacefully and protected," he said. Some of the miners that are beginning to leave the Yanomami reservation are expected to head across the border into neighboring French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana. Their mineral-rich lands have attracted wildcat miners for decades, especially after a military government built a road through the Amazon rainforest in the 1970s.

☆ Brazil sinks rusting old aircraft carrier in the Atlantic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Brazil sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast, the Brazilian Navy said, despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain. The 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there because it was an environmental hazard and the ship was towed back to Brazil. The Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier served the French Navy for four decades as the Foch, capable of carrying 40 war planes. It then decided to sink the Sao Paulo at high sea. The company's legal representative in Brazil, Zilan Costa e Silva, said that disposal of the carrier was the Brazilian state's responsibility under the 1989 Basel Convention on the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes.

☆ Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro addressed right-wing activists at Trump resort in Miami amid calls for him to be ejected from the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro addressed right-wing activists at a Trump resort on Friday. Bolsonaro did not address how long he plans to extend his stay in Florida. Instead of going back, however, the right-wing politician has sought to extend his stay in the United States, to the chagrin of Democrats and others who want him ejected. On Friday, Bolsonaro beamed as supporters cheered him at a campaign-style event organized by Turning Point USA, a youth-oriented conservative activist group, and hosted by the Trump National Doral golf resort in Miami. "Liberty is like a great love, we must care for it every day," Bolsonaro said, addressing the crowd through a translator.

☆ Lula's latest attack on Brazil's central bank weighs on markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lula resumed an offensive agains the central bank in a Thursday TV interview in which he suggested a review of the institution's formal autonomy by the time bank chief Roberto Campos Neto ends his term in December 2024. Those remarks came a day after the central bank signaled it could hold interest rates at a six-year high for longer than markets expect due to fiscal risks under Lula. Brazil's interest rate futures also rose more than 1% in both short and long maturities. Analysts said Lula's comments were weighing on asset prices, with no truce in sight since the leftist president reiterated that "the interest rate issue" is on the agenda. Vitoria acknowledged Brazil has the highest real interest rate in the world.

☆ Brazil's police carry out fresh raids as part of Jan. 8 riots probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police on Friday carried out fresh raids as part of a probe into the Jan. 8 insurrection, when supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in Brasilia. Police said in a statement they were serving three preventive arrest warrants and 14 search and seizure warrants ordered by the Supreme Court in five states and the federal district, where Brasilia is located. The new efforts represent the fourth phase of an operation launched last month aimed at identifying people who participated in, funded or fostered the riots, in which a mob invaded and ransacked the Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court. The Brasilia demonstrators were protesting Bolsonaro's defeat by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an October election and calling for a military coup to oust Lula and restore the far-right leader. Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Steven GrattanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil senator says he attended election conspiracy meeting with Bolsonaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ricardo Brito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A Brazilian senator said on Thursday that a close ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro tried to persuade the senator to join a conspiracy to overturn the far-right leader's electoral loss last year. Senator Marcos do Val told a news conference that he had been invited to a meeting on Dec. 9 with then-President Bolsonaro by his associate, former lawmaker Daniel Silveira. At the meeting, Silveira asked the senator to try to get the head of the electoral court to make compromising comments in a taped conversation that could lead to the judge's arrest, Val said. The senator told reporters that Bolsonaro "sat in silence" while Silveira laid out the plot against Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court judge running Brazil's top electoral authority (TSE). Silveira told the former president that Val, a Bolsonaro supporter, could be trusted and asked Bolsonaro to present "the idea that would save Brazil" to him, according to the Veja report.

☆ Brazil's Lula cold-shoulders Germany's Scholz on Ukraine support
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hold a joint news conference at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil January 30, 2023. It was the third time on his South American tour that Scholz failed to rally strong support for the Ukrainian war effort. "I think Russia made the classic mistake of invading another country's territory, so Russia is wrong," Lula told reporters. Lula said Brazil would not provide ammunition to Ukraine for German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns, as reportedly requested by Germany. Lula said Brazil will work with other countries to help achieve peace in Ukraine, as his country has not taken sides.

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