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☆ Brazil's Bolsonaro political fate in hands of electoral court vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, June 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal electoral court (TSE) on Thursday began a third day of hearings in a case against former president Jair Bolsonaro that could see him barred from political office for nearly a decade. On Tuesday, Benedito Goncalves, the lead justice in the case, had voted to convict him for abuse of political power and misuse of the media. Many in Brazil, including Bolsonaro, believe he is likely to be barred from office - a stunning turnaround for a figure who was until recently Brazil's most powerful man. "Everyone seems to say that it's likely I'm going to be barred from office," he told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper in an interview. Bolsonaro, who was not in court and flew to Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, does not risk jail in the TSE case.

Persons: Jair Bolsonaro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Justice Raul Araujo, Bolsonaro, Benedito Goncalves, Ricardo Brito, Steven Grattan, Gabriel Stargardter, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Brasilia, Folha, Paulo, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brasilia, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

☆ Brazil electoral court close to ending Bolsonaro's political career
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Ricardo Brito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

So far three judges have voted to convict the far-right nationalist for abuse of political power and misuse of the media, while one has not. The TSE trial is part of a broader reckoning in Brazil with the fallout from the country's most painful election in a generation. While the former president faces electoral court scrutiny, many of his one-time allies are being questioned by lawmakers in a congressional probe into the Jan. 8 riots. Bolsonaro's best hope at future relevance may lie with his family, including his wife and lawmaker sons, who could also harbor their own presidential ambitions. He told the Folha de S. Paulo that his wife Michelle could well be a presidential candidate in 2026, but said she lacked political experience.

Persons: Jair Bolsonaro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Donald Trump, Bolsonaro, Brazil's, Tarcisio Freitas, Romeu Zema, Paulo, Michelle, Ricardo Brito, Steven Grattan, Gabriel Stargardter, Angus MacSwan, Conor Humphries Organizations: Brasilia, TSE, Folha, Paulo, Sao Paulo, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brasilia, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais

☆ Petrobras wins appeal in multi-billion dollar labor case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras FollowBRASILIA, June 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) has won its appeal in the Supreme Court against a 2018 labor conviction, avoiding billions of dollars in payments. Petrobras was charged in 2018 by Brazil's top labor court for divergences in the minimum salary remuneration agreed between the company and its employees, known as RMNR. The company was then liable to pay at least 17 billion reais ($3.57 billion) in salary corrections. The final decision to annul the case comes more than a year after supreme court Justice Rosa Weber asked for its temporary suspension. In a statement, Petrobras said it was awaiting the full written judgment "to provide information to the market about the decision."

Persons: Rosa Weber, Ricardo Brito, Carolina Pulice, Isabel Woodford Organizations: Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras Follow, Petrobras, PETR4, Thomson Locations: Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras Follow BRASILIA

☆ Brazil central bank signals possibility of rate cut in August by majority view
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, June 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank signaled on Tuesday that a majority of its policymakers see a possibility of initiating a "parsimonious" rate cut at its next meeting in August, provided that a more benign inflation scenario is consolidated, while a minority adopts a more cautious stance. Although it adopted a more moderate tone by excluding the possibility of rate hikes from its policy statement, the central bank refrained from signaling monetary easing at its next meeting in August last week, pointing instead to a data-dependent stance. The communication drew criticism from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, ministers, and some market participants, who expected a notable shift in the bank's tone due to lower-than-expected inflation, a stronger currency, and easing inflation expectations. The central bank stressed in the minutes that inflation expectations declined slightly, but remain deanchored from official targets, partially due to the questioning about a possible change in future inflation targets, adding that "decisions that reanchor expectations can lead to faster disinflation." The National Monetary Council, consisting of the Finance Minister, Planning Minister, and central bank governor, will convene on Thursday to confirm the 3% inflation targets for 2024 and 2025, and set the official target for 2026.

Persons: Copom, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Fernando Haddad, Marcela Ayres, Steven Grattan Organizations: Monetary, Finance, Planning, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA

☆ Bolsonaro clings to his political future as electoral court case begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The outlook appears bleak for Bolsonaro, a career politician who was until recently Brazil's most powerful man. Tarcisio Vieira, Bolsonaro's lawyer, told Reuters this week that his polarizing client faces an "unfavorable" climate from the country's media and the political and judicial classes. In an opening speech, Vieira said the case against Bolsonaro was "doomed to failure." If the TSE rules against Bolsonaro, the 68-year-old could find himself unable to run for public office until 2030. Much of Brazil appears eager to move on from the fire and brimstone of the Bolsonaro years.

Persons: Jair, Salgado, Diego Vara, Jair Bolsonaro's, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro's, Tarcisio Vieira, Vieira, Bolsonaro, Lula, Tarcisio Freitas, Romeu Zema, Gabriel Stargardter, Brad Haynes, Chizu, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Electoral, REUTERS, Diego Vara RIO, Reuters, Bolsonaro, Sao Paulo, Thomson Locations: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, JANEIRO, Brasilia, Jan, Minas Gerais

CNN —Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s trial on charges of abuse of political power and misuse of public media began in the country’s highest electoral court on Thursday in Brasilia. If found guilty, Bolsonaro could be ruled ineligible to run for public office for up to eight years. Such claims of flaws in the electoral system have all been denied by Brazil’s electoral authorities. The livestream of the 2022 meeting, which was once available through official channels, was taken down by YouTube for not complying with its fake news policy. Bolsonaro lost last year’s election by the narrowest margin in decades against current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Persons: Jair Bolsonaro’s, Bolsonaro, Benedito Gonçalves, ”, Judge Gonçalves, Walter Braga Netto, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Organizations: CNN, Former, CNN Brasil, Federal Police, YouTube, Brazil’s Democratic Labor Party Locations: Brasilia ., Brasilia

☆ Brazil Senate confirms Lula's ex-lawyer for Supreme Court seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cristiano Zanin, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's former defense lawyer, walks during Brazil's Senate hearing to serve on the country's Supreme Court at Brazilian Federal Senate in Brasilia, June 21, 2023. Pedro Franca/Agencia Senado/Handout via REUTERSBRASILIA, June 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Cristiano Zanin, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's former defense lawyer, to serve on the country's Supreme Court. Zanin, 47, will be the youngest justice on the 11-member court and could remain there for 28 years. He is married to law office partner, Waleska Zanin Martins, whose father Roberto Teixeira was Lula's lawyer for decades. Lula denied the charges and said he was the target of political prosecution to stop him from running in the 2018 elections.

Persons: Cristiano Zanin, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's, Pedro Franca, Zanin Martins Advogados, Lula, Andre Cesar, Ricardo Lewandowski, Lula's, Zanin, Waleska Zanin Martins, Roberto Teixeira, Sergio Moro, Ricardo Brito, Maria Carolina Marcello, Anthony Boadle, David Gregorio, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Senate, Brazilian Federal Senate, Agencia, REUTERS, Wednesday, Supreme, Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Lawfare Institute, Thomson Locations: Brasilia, Handout, REUTERS BRASILIA, Zanin

☆ Sports court rejects IBA appeal, IOC condemns leadership language
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 20 (Reuters) - The International Boxing Association (IBA) has failed to reverse the stripping of its recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday rejecting its urgent appeal. On Tuesday the IOC Executive Board also objected to comments made by the IBA leadership at a regional meeting in Brazil. "The President of the Appeals Arbitration Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has today dismissed the IBA’s urgent request," CAS said. On Tuesday the IOC Executive Board said it objected to language used by IBA President Umar Kremlev at an American Boxing Confederation meeting in Brasilia. "The Executive Board of the IOC condemns the violent and threatening language used by the President of the IBA, Umar Kremlev, against a number of individuals from the IOC," it said in a statement.

Persons: Umar Kremlev, Karolos Grohmann, Ken Ferris Organizations: Boxing Association, International Olympic Committee, Sport, IOC, IBA, American Boxing Confederation, Continental, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Brazil, Brasilia

[1/6] Brazil's indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire takes part in a session of the Brazilian Supreme Court to debate the so-called legal thesis of 'Marco Temporal' (Temporal Milestone) in Brasilia, Brazil June 7, 2023. If it passes Congress, all eyes would turn to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has the power of veto. Indigenous groups, including members of the Xokleng community, protested outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia on Wednesday. Brazil's farm sector is also backing a bill in Congress that would set into law a cut-off date for land claims in 1988, the year Brazil's current Constitution was enacted. The hearing follows a setback for Indigenous people last week in Congress when the lower chamber passed the bill that limited the recognition of new Indigenous reservations.

Persons: Raoni Metuktire, Marco, Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA, Justice Andre Mendonca, Jair Bolsonaro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Anthony Boadle, Gabriel Stargardter, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Brazilian, REUTERS, Ueslei, Big Agriculture, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Brasilia, Brazil, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Brazil's

☆ Brazil lawmakers propose reforms combining consumption taxes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The report represents an early step in a reform considered crucial by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration. Lawmakers will now craft a formal text in greater detail to be put to a vote. Congressman Aguinaldo Ribeiro, the lawmaker in charge of the working group report, said the lower house of Congress would vote on a bill in the first week of July, citing a timeline approved by House Speaker Arthur Lira. This adjustment is expected to benefit wealthier and more populous states, and the working group proposed a transition period of "some years" for implementation. Under no circumstances will there be an increase of the tax burden," the report said.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's, Aguinaldo Ribeiro, Arthur Lira, Marcela Ayres, Jamie Freed Organizations: Lawmakers, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA

[1/3] People walk along the Ipanema beach following the death of Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 6, 2023. REUTERS/Pilar OlivaresBRASILIA, June 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, the voice of Bossa Nova whose soft and dreamy version of "The Girl from Ipanema" was an international success in the 1960s, has died at the age of 83, her family said. Astrud performed the vocals in English, including the duet "The Girl from Ipanema" which became the album's major hit. "The Girl from Ipanema" was the first song the 22-year-old Astrud recorded and launched her career almost by accident. She later moved to the United States, where she toured with Getz, singing Bossa Nova and American jazz standards.

Persons: Astrud Gilberto, Pilar Olivares BRASILIA, Gilberto, Sofia Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Getz, Astrud, " Getz, Weinert, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Steve Van Zandt, Sade, Lana Del Rey, Ivan Lins, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Anthony Boadle, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, New York, Thomson Locations: Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Philadelphia, United States, American, Salvador, Bahia, Brazilian

☆ Brazil poultry lobby sees little risk of nationwide export ban over bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Slideshow ( 4 images )Ricardo Santin, head of a group representing firms like JBS and BRF, told Reuters the agreements with trade partners should limit any export restrictions to smaller geographic regions. Still, the details of a 2004 bilateral sanitary protocol with China, Brazil’s top chicken buyer last year, could spell some pain for exporters. WOAH outlines best practices for “zoning” and compartmentalizing HPAI infection to specific areas at risk in order to ease nation-wide restrictions, allowing countries to continue to sell and export of poultry. The U.S., which competes with Brazil in poultry export markets, had HPAI outbreaks but continued to ship products. Still, total poultry meat exports rose 3% by volume and 14% by value, as revised trade agreements limited trade restrictions compared with a previous record U.S. bird flu outbreak in 2015.

Persons: Ricardo Santin, Santin, HPAI, WOAH Organizations: SAO PAULO, Reuters, World Organization for Animal Health Locations: China, Beijing, Brasilia, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, U.S

☆ Brazil's central bank chief opposes creation of common currency
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, June 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto expressed his opposition on Friday to the creation of a common currency, stating that in the era of digitalization it is unnecessary to have a shared currency for its purported benefits. Campos Neto emphasized the potential power of digital solutions in providing effective alternatives. Specifically addressing the proposal of a common currency between Brazil and Argentina, which has also been previously mentioned by the government, he reiterated his opposition. "We should have a 'digital' minister, someone should be thinking about digital solutions," he added. He defended that Brazil's CBDB is much easier to regulate than other forms of CBDCs since tokenized bank deposits will be subject to the same regulations that govern traditional deposits.

Persons: Roberto Campos Neto, Luiz Inacio Lula da, Campos Neto, Marcela Ayres, Chizu Organizations: Valor Capital, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brazil, Argentina

☆ Brazil lifts 2023 growth outlook thanks to booming farm sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, June 1 (Reuters) - Brazil's economy rebounded more than expected in the first quarter, powered by a booming farm sector and paving the way for a rosier annual outlook despite a drag from high interest rates. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 1.9% in the three months through March after a revised 0.1% drop in the prior quarter, data from government statistics agency IBGE showed on Thursday. The Brazilian real strengthened 0.5% against the U.S. dollar and the benchmark Bovespa stock index (.BVSP) rose 0.6%. Goldman Sachs adjusted its 2023 GDP growth forecast to 2.6% from 1.75% after the first-quarter data, citing the additional help of net exports and inventory accumulation. XP economists indicated an upward revision of their current 1.4% growth outlook, forecasting market expectations to keep rising to the range of 2.0% to 2.5%.

Persons: Simone Tebet, Goldman Sachs, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lucas Toro, Toro Investimentos, Roberto Campos Neto, Marcela Ayres, Bernardo Caram, Brad Haynes, Steven Grattan, Sriraj Organizations: Gross, IBGE, U.S ., Finance Ministry, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brazilian

☆ Brazil posts record trade surplus in May on surging exports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, June 1 (Reuters) - Brazil posted a $11.4 billion trade surplus in May, marking a record for any given month since the data series began in 1989, official data showed on Thursday. The figure also came above the $9 billion surplus expected in a Reuters poll with economists, backed by a surge in the volume of exports that more than offset price drops. Herlon Brandao, the director of Foreign Trade Intelligence and Statistics at the ministry, attributed the significant boost in Brazilian exports to the country's record-breaking agricultural harvest, with robust soybean shipments. From January to May, the positive balance of trade soared by 39.1% compared to the same period last year, reaching $35.3 billion. Following the ministry's initial projection for a $84 billion trade surplus this year, Brandao said that the figure is expected to be changed in the upcoming review in July, considering more favorable export prospects.

Persons: Herlon Brandao, Brandao, Marcela Ayres, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, Services, Foreign Trade Intelligence, Statistics, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brazil

☆ Brazil's top court sentences ex-President Collor to prison for corruption
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Then-Senator Fernando Collor de Mello, also a former Brazilian president, during a vote session on the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, May 11, 2016. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File PhotoBRASILIA, May 31 (Reuters) - Brazil's supreme court voted on Wednesday to sentence former President Fernando Collor de Mello to 8 years and 10 months in prison on corruption and money laundering charges. The Brazilian prosecutor's office accused Collor, 73, of having received around 30 million reais ($6 million) in bribes from a subsidiary of state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA). The top court convicted the former senator in mid-May, but justices had still to decide on his sentence, which he can appeal. A rakish, dynastic heir with a penchant for expensive sports cars, Collor was one of Brazil's original free-marketeers whoopposed Brazil's entrenched protectionism and sought to privatize state-run firms in his curtailed presidency.

Persons: Fernando Collor de Mello, Dilma Rousseff, Ueslei Marcelino, Collor, Brazil's, Ricardo Brito, Carolina Pulice, Anthony Boadle, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, Brazilian, Petrobras, PETR4, Thomson Locations: Brazilian, Brasilia, Brazil, BRASILIA, Alagoas

☆ Brazil's Lula cuts losses after setbacks on environment and Indigenous front
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Maria Carolina Marcello | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On Wednesday, the minority Lula government faces another key vote in the chamber that will reduce the powers of the ministries of the environment and of Indigenous affairs. Lula called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the dilemma, and called the speaker of the lower house, Arthur Lira, whom he plans to meet as well, to ensure the measure passes. INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL SETBACKThe law passed on Tuesday would set a cut-off date for recognizing Indigenous land claims, establishing that they had to be occupied before Brazil's current Constitution was enacted in 1988. Brazil's 1 million Indigenous peoples are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to live on ancestral lands. After the bill passed, the minister of Indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, said that the deputies who backed it would be "responsible for approving a bill that explicitly attacks the lives of Indigenous peoples in Brazil."

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Arthur Lira, Jair Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro, Sonia Guajajara, Lisandra Paraguassu, Ricardo Brito, Maria Carolina Marcello, Anthony Boadle, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Lawmakers, Liberal Party, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Congress, Sao Paulo, Brazil's, Brazil, Brasilia

[1/2] Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meets with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured) before a summit with presidents of South America to discuss the re-launching of the regional cooperation bloc UNASUR, in Brasilia, Brazil, May 29, 2023. "We won't decide anything at tomorrow's meeting, it is just about discussing possibilities," Lula told a news conference on Monday with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, on his first visit to Brazil in eight years. Lula said the leaders did not have to recreate a new Unasur but could come up with a different sort of organization. Maduro is hoping the South American countries will unite in calling on the United States to lift its sanctions against Venezuela, which he and Lula assailed at their news conference. "The aim of this initiative is to unite all the countries of the region once again," she told reporters on Friday.

☆ Brazil's Lula proposes common South American currency at UNASUR meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Stefano Pozzebon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed creating a common currency in the region during a meeting with South American heads of state in Brasilia on Tuesday. Talk of creating a common currency there has periodically cropped up since its founding in 1991. Lula also argued that regional development banks like the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), the Bank of the South and Brazil’s development bank BNDES should do more to finance social and economic development in the region. It’s not the first time that regional leaders have floated the idea of creating a common currency in South America. “If we compare the Eurozone, discussions over the common currency started back in the 1950s.

☆ The Venice Architecture Biennale puts Africa center stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Venice, Italy CNN —Until recently, the Venice Architecture Biennale — arguably the world’s largest architecture exhibition — has drawn crowds for its (mainly Western) star appeal. In a May 20 Facebook post titled “Venice Biennale Blues,” Zaha Hadid Architects’ principal, Patrik Schumacher, wrote that “the ‘Architecture’ Biennale is mislabeled and should stop laying claim to the title of architecture. The German pavilion, which is displaying construction waste produced by 2022’s Venice Art Biennale is a case in point. The German Pavilion at the 18th Architecture Biennale is displaying and repurposing constuction waste from the city's Art Biennale last year. The British Pavilion curators Meneesha Kellay, Joseph Henry, Jayden Ali and Sumitra Upham, with commissioner Sevra Davis, photographed in London.

The approval, by 283 votes to 155, comes after Indigenous groups blocked a highway and burned tires to protest the measures earlier on Tuesday. Outside Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, demonstrators blocked a major motorway with flaming tires and used bows and arrows to confront police, who dispersed them with tear gas. Indigenous groups from across the country planned a week of protests outside Congress in the capital Brasilia. Lula legally recognized six Indigenous territories last month. Reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Leonardo Benassatto in Sao Paulo; Editing by Brad Haynes, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bill, Marco, Amanda Perobelli, Jair Bolsonaro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro, Lula, Anthony Boadle, Leonardo Benassatto, Brad Haynes, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: SAO PAULO, REUTERS, Supreme, Sao Paulo, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, SAO, Sao Paulo, Brazil's, Brasilia, Guarani, Brazil, Sao, Lincoln

☆ Venezuela's Maduro meets Lula on first visit to Brazil since 2015
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Brazil's former hard-right President Jair Bolsonaro had banned Maduro from entering Brazil when he took office in 2019, a measure that Lula lifted when he returned to power this year. Lula and Maduro met at the presidential palace and were scheduled to sign agreements in the early afternoon. Among the issues on their agenda was a large debt Venezuela has run up with Brazil's National Development Bank, Brazilian officials said. Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad was due to meet with Maduro and Lula, they added, and the president of state-run oil company Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates. The organization floundered when several South American countries elected right-wing governments, creating diplomatic fissures on the continent.

☆ G7 says “de-risking”, China hears “containment”
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Irked by the G7 statements, Xi’s government has already called Japan’s ambassador on the carpet. To be sure, China, with a $90 billion monthly trade surplus hovering near record highs, cannot easily retaliate against its opponents. But it is not in Xi’s, or Chinese companies’, interests to sit back and let the G7 “de-risk”, and that makes the euphemism more threatening than it sounds. China firmly opposes the G7 joint statement and has complained to summit organiser Japan, the Chinese foreign ministry said on the same day. The ministry said that the G7, disregarding China's concerns, had attacked it and interfered in its internal affairs, including Taiwan.

☆ Brazil police accuse agency bosses of misconduct in Amazon murder case
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, May 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police recommended misconduct charges be filed on Friday against two ex-officials of Indigenous agency Funai in the case of a journalist and a native expert murdered last June in the Amazon rainforest. The police said the two former officials failed to act on information ahead of the murders of British reporter Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Reuters was not immediately able to locate the two former Funai officials, or their lawyers, to request comment. The valley is a remote jungle area on the Peruvian border with Brazil that is home to the world's largest number of isolated Indigenous communities, as well as cocaine-smuggling gangs and illegal hunting and fishing rackets. Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil's finance minister signals potential change to inflation target timeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, May 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad on Thursday suggested that the country's new government is looking at adjusting the timeline for achieving its inflation target. Haddad reiterated he favors "a continuous inflation target" rather than a calendar year-based target, saying Brazil and Turkey were the only two countries to use the latter. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has advocated for higher inflation targets and a less stringent monetary policy. The central bank has cautioned that discussions about higher targets might have contributed to an increase in inflation expectations, helping keep interest rates high. The National Monetary Council, which comprises the finance minister, the planning minister and the central bank governor, is scheduled to convene in June to discuss inflation targets.

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