Brazil

Brazil ranks third in the world for the most social media usage, following India and Indonesia. Now, a controversial, 3-year-old bill is weaving its way through Congress. It could regulate social media platforms in the same way as TV and radio. The “Fake News Bill” has staunch supporters, but some also accuse it of being a form of censorship.

This week, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said Portugal should formally apologize for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Portuguese were responsible for selling nearly 6 million people into slavery — mostly in Brazil. Some activists and scholars say an apology is just a start and there's still a long way to go.

Over the last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva courted controversy with his remarks on the conflict in Ukraine, causing tensions between Brazil and the US. 

Former President Jair Bolsonaro is back in Brazil after a three-month hiatus in Florida. Allies say he’s ready to fight the new government. But Bolsonaro faces a string of lawsuits that are working against him.

Yoselin Calcurian, 35, is among some 400,000 Venezuelans who went to Brazil, fleeing economic collapse and political chaos. She and many others say they are now struggling to find jobs and learn a new language.

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the World Congress of Families, an organization that has helped shape and share a reactionary agenda among conservatives across the globe.

A humanitarian crisis looms in Brazil's Yanomami territory, where communities have been ravaged by malnutrition, malaria, COVID-19 and widespread illegal mining. Now, the central government is trying to crack down on illegal mining and support these communities after years of neglect.

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the politics of patronage in Brazil.

In Brazil, eating pork used to have negative connotations. But A Casa do Porco, or The Pork’s House, in downtown São Paulo, has transformed pork into a gourmet food, kicking off a culinary trend throughout the country.

Growing up in Brazil as a Black man, Dalton Paula said he missed seeing people who looked like him on movies and TV. At 40, he now creates paintings, photos and installations about Black communities. In 2021, he and his partner also turned their home into an art school called Sertão Negro, or Black Hinterland.