Timeline Brazil
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Brazil is slightly smaller than the continental United States. It is Latin America's largest country and the world's fifth-largest. It covers more than 40% of South America, bordering every country on the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Capital is Brasilia. Brazil is about 75% Roman Catholic.
(AP, 9/30/06)
Brazil has 27 states which include a Federal District (Brasilia); Acre (Rio Branco); Alagoas (Maceio); Amapa (Macapa); Amazonas (Manaus); Bahia (Salvador); Ceara (Fortaleza); Espiritu Santo (Vitoria); Goias (Goiania); Maranhao (Sao Luis); Mato Grosso (Cuaiba); Mato Grosso do Sul (Campo Grande); Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte); Para (Belem); Paraiba (Joao Pessoa); Parana (Curitiba); Pernambuco (Recife); Piaui (Teresina); Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro); Rio Grande do Norte (Natal); Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre); Rondonia (Porto Velho); Roraima (Boa Vista); Santa Catarina (Florianopolis); Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo); Sergipe (Aracaju); Tocatins (Palmas).
206 indigenous societies, 330,00 Indians, inhabit Brazil. This included the Waiapi in the northeast; the Guaran-Kaiowa; Araras; Kaiapo (Kaapor); Korubo; Paracana; Potiguara, Tembe; Timbira; Xukuru.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.D1)(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B5)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1)
260Mil BC Scientists in 2011 reported the discovery of the remains of a saber-toothed vegetarian. The leaf-crunching animal, about the size of a large dog, lived 260 million years ago in what is now Brazil. Its upper canine teeth were nearly 5 inches long.
(AP, 3/25/11)
254.7Mil BC In 2012 scientists dated the 40km Araguainha crater, on the border of Brazil’s Mato Grosso and Goias states, to this time. They believed that the release of oil and gas from the impact of a meteorite led to the great Permian extinction.
(Econ, 7/27/13, p.64)
230Mil BC A small dinosaur, later named Buriolestes schultzi, lived about this time. In 2017 fossils of the dinosaur were reported found in the Santa Maria formation of southern Brazil.
(Econ, 11/12/16, p.70)
110Mil BC In 2002 a pterosaur fossil from this time was discovered in Brazil that indicated it skimmed over water for food and had a huge bony crest on its head.
(SFC, 7/19/02, p.A5)
90Mil BC The Baurusuchus salgadoensis lived in an area of southeastern Brazil known as the Bauru Basin, some 700 kilometers (450 miles) west of modern-day Rio de Janeiro. The fossilized skeletons appear to be closely related to another ancient crocodile species, the Pabwehshi pakistanesis discovered in Pakistan.
(AP, 6/9/05)
90Mil BC A desert-based carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to capture small prey lived about this time. In 2019 fossil remains of Vespersaurus paranaensis were unearthed in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of southern Brazil's Parana state.
(AP, 6/26/19)
80Mil BC A land-bound reptile, described as a possible link between prehistoric and modern-day crocodiles, roamed arid and hot terrain that became Brazilian countryside about this time. A fossil of Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi was found in 2004 and displayed in 2008.
(AP, 1/31/08)
48000 BC Charcoal from camp fires in the Pedra Faruda site of Piaui state were carbon dated in 1987 to about this time.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.A18)
13000 BC Human teeth and skull fragments from the Pedra Faruda site of Piaui state were carbon dated to about this time. Niede Guidon began excavations at the site in 1970.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.A18)
9500 BC A female skull, aged 20-25, from this about this time was found near Belo Horizonte in c1995 and named Luzia. It was found to have characteristics similar to people from the South Pacific.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A13)
1000BC-1000AD A civilization in Amazonia, called Patiti or Enin by archeologists, dug channels for an elaborate crop irrigation system.
(SFEC, 12/6/98, p.T12)
1000 In Brazil megaliths were arranged into an astronomical observatory in the Rego Grande area of the Amazon. The stones were uncovered in the 1990s during deforesting operations in the area. In 2016 scholars in the field of archaeoastronomy determined that an indigenous culture had arranged the megaliths about this time.
(SFC, 12/15/16, p.A4)
1250-1400 In the Upper Xingu region of Brazil's Mato Grosso state thousands of people occupied 19 settlements in 2 clusters over this period according to archeological findings in 2003.
(Econ, 9/20/03, p.76)
1492 Research in 2003 indicated that the Kuikuro people in the Amazon basin had a "complex and sophisticated" civilization with a population of many thousands prior to this time.
(AP, 9/19/03)
1500 Jan 26, Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon reached the northeastern coast of Brazil during a voyage under his command. Pinzon had commanded the Nina during Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World.
(MC, 1/26/02)
1500 Mar 9, Pedro Cabral (~1460-1520), Portuguese navigator, departed to India. He left Lisbon with 13 ships headed for India and was blown off course.
(WUD, 1994 p.206)(SFC, 4/20/00, p.A14)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03128a.htm)
1500 Apr 22, Pedro Alvares Cabral (c1460-c1526), Portuguese explorer, discovered Brazil and claimed it for Portugal. He anchored for 10 days in a bay he called "Porto Seguro" and continued on to India. [see Apr 23]
(WUD,1994, p.206)(AHD, p.185)(TL-MB, 1988, p.8)(HN, 4/22/98)(SFC, 4/20/00, p.A14)
1500 Apr 23, Pedro Cabal landed at Terra da Vera Cruz and claimed Brazil for Portugal. The native population was later estimated to have been from 1 to 11 million people. [see Apr 22]
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03128a.htm)(AP, 4/23/98)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A10)
1500 Capt. Vicente Yanez Pinzon, master of the Nina in 1492, is credited with the discovery of Brazil. He took an opossum back to Europe. It was the 1st marsupial Europeans saw.
(SFC, 7/1/00, p.B5)
1500-1800 "Chapters of Brazil Colonial History" by Joao Capistrano de Abreu (1853-1927) covered this period. It was first published in 1907. The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1502 Jan 1, Guanabara Bay was first encountered by Europeans when one of the Portuguese explorers Gaspar de Lemos and Goncalo Coelho arrived on its shores. Guanabara Bay is an oceanic bay located in southeastern Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lies the city of Rio de Janeiro, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanabara_Bay)
1502 Portuguese traders took peanuts from Brazil and Peru to Africa.
(SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8)
1540 Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador, was appointed governor of the province of Rio de la Plata. His advocacy of Indian rights caused him to be arrested and banished to a Spanish outpost in North Africa.
(ON, 10/03, p.5)
1541 When Pizarro's half-brother prepared to explore the lands east of Quito, Francisco de Orellana led an advance expedition and wound up exploring the Amazon basin, following the current to emerge at the mouth of the river in August 1542. From there, he returned to Spain (by way of Trinidad), full of tales of riches and strange tribes led by women like the Amazons of Greek mythology. Orellana died in a return expedition to the Amazon River four years later.
(HNQ, 2/11/01)
1541 Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador, became the 1st European to see the Iguacu Falls. He named the falls Saltos de Santa Maria but the Tupi-Guarani name persisted.
(SFEC, 10/8/00, p.17)
1542 Aug 24, In South America, Gonzalo Pizarro returned to the mouth of the Amazon River after having sailed the length of the great river as far as the Andes Mountains.
(HN, 8/24/98)
1543 Sugar cane was introduced to Brazil about this time. Fermented sugar cane later became the base for cachaca, a light rum that is the national spirit. Cachaca is used to prepare the national drink, the caipirinha.
(Hem, 4/96, p.10)
1547 Hans Staden of Germany was shipwrecked on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. He was later rescued and in 1557 published an illustrated account of his adventures.
(Arch, 5/05, p.30)
1549 Sao Salvador, later Bahia in Brazil, was founded by Thome de Souza, Portugal’s first governor of Brazil. Portuguese conquerors founded Salvador.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1550 African slaves were shipped to Brazil to work sugar plantations.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1554 The hamlet of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was founded by Jesuit missionaries.
(Econ, 9/3/11, p.61)
1556 Jun 16, Pedro Fernandes Sardinha, The 1st bishop of Bahia, was shipwrecked between the rivers São Francisco and Cururipu and murdered by the Indians. The Caytes of the Brazilian coast ate the crews of every wrecked Portuguese ship they found. They ate the first Bishop of Bahia, two Canons, the Procurator of the Royal Portuguese Treasury, 2 pregnant women and several children.
(WSJ, 7/8/96,p.A9)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/13466a.htm)
1560 The first blacks set foot in Brazil.
(SFC, 9/21/96, p.A8)
1565 Mar 1, Spanish occupier Estacio de Sá founded Rio de Janeiro. He destroyed the existing French colony.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.21)(SC, 3/1/02)
1567 Jun 20, Jews were expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique.
(MC, 6/20/02)
1570 The Convento de Penha was built on a 164-meter cliff overlooking Vitoria in the state of Espiritu Santo, Brazil.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.13)
1591 British sailor Anthony Knivet found himself stranded on Ilhabella island near Santos, Brazil. He was shipwrecked there after sailing as a crew member of a 5-ship flotilla under Sir Thomas Cavendish. The story of his adventures was published in 1625 by Richard Hakluyt, a director of the Virginia Company,
(Econ, 12/17/11, p.54)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Knivet)
1600-1700 Brazil’s Ouro Preto which means Black Gold in Portuguese, was founded in the 17th century after huge gold deposits were discovered under its steep hills.
(AP, 4/19/03)
1624 The Dutch conquered Salvador.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1627 Mar 3, Piet Heyn conquered 22 ships in Bay of Salvador, Brazil.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1636 Nov 17, Henrique Dias, Brazilian general, won a decisive battle against the Dutch in Brazil.
(HN, 11/17/98)
1638 Jan 5, Petition in Recife, Brazil, led to the closing of its two synagogues.
(MC, 1/5/02)
1641 Cristoval de Acuna, a Jesuit missionary, first wrote about the Amazon River to the king of Spain.
(SFC, 12/16/00, p.A22)
1645 Apr 7, Michael Cardozo became the 1st Jewish lawyer in Brazil.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1645 In Brazil two priests and 28 lay people were slaughtered by Dutch Calvinists and indigenous people, and in some cases had their hearts torn from their chests after being tortured and mutilated.
(AP, 10/15/17)
1654 Apr 26, Jews were expelled from Brazil.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1661 Aug 6, Holland sold Brazil to Portugal for 8 million guilders.
(MC, 8/6/02)
1695 Nov 20, Zumbi, a Brazilian leader of a hundred-year-old rebel slave group, was killed in an ambush in Palmares. In January 2003 legislation established November 20 as Black Consciousness Day.
(http://tinyurl.com/gsg6wt8)(SFC, 8/16/01, p.A8)(SSFC, 11/18/12, p.G3)
1696 In the late 1600s the Xukuru Indians fought the Portuguese to a stand off in what was later referred to as the "War of the Barbarians."
(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/bhqlp)
1711 Sep 22, A French corsair captured Rio de Janeiro following its surprise appearance in Rio's harbor on 12 September. Four Portuguese ships of the line were lost, and the city had to pay a ransom to avoid destruction of its defenses.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rio_de_Janeiro)
1723 Sao Francisco church in Salvador was completed with its walls lined with gold.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1727 Brazil planted its first coffee.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1728 The first diamonds found in Brazil reached Lisbon, Portugal. [see 1730]
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.13)
1730 Diamonds were discovered in Brazil, which became the leading supplier until the 1866 discovery in South Africa. [see 1728]
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1746 Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, Brazil’s Martyr of Independence, was born.
(www.v-brazil.com/culture/historic-characters/tiradentes.html)
1756 Feb 7, In Brazil the Indian Chief Sepe Tiaraju was killed at the hands of Portuguese and Spanish soldiers.
(AP, 2/7/06)
1763 The capital of Brazil was changed from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.
(USAT, OW, 4/22/96, p.3)(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1766-1769 The French expedition of Louis Antoine de Bougainville sailed on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe. Botanist Jeanne Baret, disguised as a man, likely collected a flower (bougainvillea) near Rio de Janeiro that was named after the captain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Bar%C3%A9)
1789 May 10, Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, rebel for Independence, was arrested. He was betrayed by Joaquim Silverio dos Reis, a participant of the movement, in exchange of waiving of his due taxes; Silverio’s name is carved in Brazilian History as The Betrayer.
(www.v-brazil.com/culture/historic-characters/tiradentes.html)(SFC, 2/26/99, p.E2)
1789 In Brazil poet and dentist Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier helped launch the first Brazilian rebellion against the country's Portuguese rulers.
(AP, 4/19/03)
1792 Apr 21, Jose da Silva Xavier, aka Tiradentes (teeth puller), considered by many to be Brazil's George Washington, was drawn and quartered by the Portuguese. He was hung in Rio de Janeiro. His body was broken to pieces. A document was written With his blood declaring his memory infamous. His head was exposed in Vila Rica. Pieces of his body were exposed in the cities between Vila Rica and Rio, in an attempt to scare the people who had listened to his independence ideas.
(AP, 4/19/03)(www.v-brazil.com/culture/historic-characters/tiradentes.html)
1796-1799 Baroque sculptor Aleijadinho (Antonio Francisco Lisboa), completed his greatest work: the sculptures of Congonhas do Campo, 66 wooden images that include the 12 prophets.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.10)
1808 Napoleon chased Portugal’s royal family to Brazil. King Joao VI of Portugal and his court were installed in Rio de Janeiro by a British fleet.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.5)(Econ, 9/11/10, SR p.3)
1808-1821 Rio de Janeiro was made the capital of the Portuguese empire.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.3)
1809 The Portuguese crown, now in Brazil, granted authors and inventors exclusive rights to their works in Brazil fro 14 years.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.38)
1811-1843 Some 500,000 slaves arrived at Valongo, Brazil’s main landing stage for African slaves. This port area of Rio de Janeiro was re-discovered in 2010 as the city prepared for the 2016 Olympics.
(Econ, 1/28/12, p.35)
1813 Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff was nominated consul general of Russia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He acquired a farm (named "Mandioca", or manioc) in the north of Rio and collected plants, animals and minerals. He hosted and entertained foreign naturalists and scientists, and explored the flora, fauna and geography of the province of Minas Gerais with French naturalist Augustin Saint-Hilaire from 1813 to 1820.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Langsdorff)
1817 The multi-volume "Flora Brasiliensis" was commissioned by Maximilian I of Austria. The definitive volume on Brazilian botany was completed in 1906.
(WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A14)
1819 Johann Baptist von Spix discovered the Spix macaw of Brazil (Cyanopsitta spixii). The last wild Spix macaw disappeared in 2000.
(SFC, 10/7/99, p.A15,18)(SFC, 12/27/00, p.C2)
1821 Anita Ribeiro (d.1849), later wife of Italian revolutionary Garibaldi, was born in Laguna Brazil.
(ON, 10/06, p.5)
1822 Sep 7, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Brazil)(AP, 9/7/97)
1822-1831 Pedro I ruled Brazil.
(EWH, 4th ed., p.854)
1822-1889 The period of the Brazilian monarchy.
(Hem, 8/96, p.68)
1823 Homosexual acts were decriminalized.
(SFC, 1/11/99, p.A10)
1825 Mar 25, The first Brazilian Constitution was promulgated by Peter I and solemnly sworn in the Cathedral of the Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Brazil)
1826 Dom Pedro IV, emperor of Brazil, attained the Portuguese throne.
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T1)
1828 May 18, The Battle of Las Piedras, ended the conflict between Uruguay and Brazil.
(HN, 5/18/98)
1830-1897 Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel, aka Antonio Conselheiro, was born in Quixeramobim, Ceara. He founded the settlement of Canudos in Bahia that was destroyed by government forces.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1831 Apr 7, Pedro I of Brazil abdicated in favor of his 5-year-old son, Pedro de Alcantara, Pedro II.
(EWH, 4th ed., p.855)
1832 Apr 4, Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reached Rio de Janeiro.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1832 Apr 8, Charles Darwin began a trip through Rio de Janeiro.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1839 Italian revolutionary Garibaldi arrived in Brazil to aid the rebels.
(ON, 10/06, p.5)
1839-1908 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis, mulatto writer. His novels included "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas," (1880) and "Dom Casmurro," (1899). The works were republished in 1998 by the Oxford Library of Latin America.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1847 In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a mansion was donated by a wealthy Brazilian to the government to serve as a center for the study of indigenous traditions. The Indian Museum was abandoned in 1977. Indigenous people built hjomes on the site and in 2013 faced eviction under plans to refurbish the area to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup.
(AP, 1/13/13)
1853-1927 Joao Capistrano de Abreu, historian. He later wrote "Chapters of Brazil Colonial History, 1500-1800," first published in 1907. The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1864 Oct 7, The USS Wachusett captured the CSS Florida in a naval engagement fought at the neutral harbor of Bahia, Brazil. Many of the Confederate crew were ashore at the time.
(AH, 10/04, p.15)
1864 Brazil under Emperor Pedro II invaded Uruguay. In response Paraguay’s Pres. Francisco Solano Lopez attacked Brazil’s province of Matto Grosso.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.46)
1865-1870 South America’s War of the Triple Alliance saw Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay aligned against Paraguay. The Triple Alliance believed Paraguay was undermining the region’s political stability. The war ended in crushing defeat of Paraguay with as much as 90% of its adult male population killed.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.A1)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.45)
1865-1875 After the American Civil War some southerners moved to Brazil where the government offered land grants and slavery was still permitted.
(NH, 7/96, p.74,75)(SFC, 4/28/15, p.A2)
1866 Mar 1, Paraguayan canoes sank 2 Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1866 Henry Wickham (1846-1928) ventured from Britain to South America hoping to shoot exotic birds and ship home feathers for lady’s hats. This venture failed as the birds exploded from the rifle shots. He returned to the Amazon region and in 1876 gathered seeds of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, which produced latex. Less than 4% of some 70,000 seeds germinated, but this was enough to ship seedlings to Ceylon, India, Malaya and Singapore and begin a global rubber plantation boom.
(WSJ, 2/27/08, p.D10)
1869 Aug 12, In Piribebuy, Paraguay, 1,600 poorly armed men, many of them mere children, spent 5 hours resisting the assault of 20,000 allied Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan forces intent on conquest, before finally being overwhelmed. At the end of the battle, in which the Hospital de Sangre was burnt down, along with all the wounded inside, many prisoners were decapitated.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piribebuy)
1869 Paraguay’s army surrendered to the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Pres. Lopez refused to surrender.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.46)
1870 Mar 1, Francisco S. Lopez (43), President of Paraguay (1862-70), was killed in the War of the Triple alliance. The Brazilian army had cornered him at Cerro Cora. A rough post-war census counted just 29,000 males over the age of 15 left in Paraguay.
(http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/L/Lopez-Fr.html)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.46)
1871 Mar 5, In Brazil Maria do Carmo Jeronimo was born as a slave in the town of Carmo de Minas in Minas Gerais state under the rule of Emperor Pedro II. Jeronimo died in 2000, but the lack of a birth certificate prevented her being recognized as the world’s oldest woman.
(SFC, 6/16/00, p.A34)
1871 Brazil’s parliament passed the law of free womb, which stated that children born to slave mothers would not themselves be slaves.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.52)
1873 Alberto Santos-Dumont (d.1932), aviation pioneer, was born.
(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.M1)
1873 Britain sent an agent, Henry Wickham, to Brazil to get rubber seeds. The Seedlings were cultivated in Kew Gardens and transplanted to Malaysia.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)
1876 Jun 25, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brazil's Emperor Dom Pedro was among the witnesses.
(SFC, 2/3/97, p.D1)(ON, 1/03, p.5)
1880 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), Brazilian mulatto writer, wrote "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas." The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1881 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), a Brazilian mulatto writer, authored "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas," his fifth novel.
(Econ., 8/15/20, p.74)
1883 Sep 21, The 1st direct US-Brazil telegraph connection was made.
(MC, 9/21/01)
1885 May 18, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (1945-50), was born.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1885 Brazil passed a law freeing slaves between the ages of 60 and 65 in exchange for three final years of service. By the following year slaves began running away from their masters in large numbers.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.52)
1887 Mar 5, Heitor Villa-Lobos, composer, was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(HN, 3/5/01)(MC, 3/5/02)
1888 Feb 11, In Brazil volunteer police commissioner Joaquin Firmino de Araujo Cunha was murdered in Rio do Peixe, a town which later changed its name to Itapira. The man responsible for the murder was reported to be James Warne, a British-born American doctor and slave owner.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.48)
1888 May 13, Slavery was abolished in Brazil. Some 4 million slaves had been imported, the most of any nation in the western hemisphere.
(WSJ, 8/6/96, p.A1)(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/98)
1888 In Brazil Joao Batista, Baron of Drummond, opened a zoo in Rio de Janeiro. To pull in business he printed animals on tickets and displayed a winning animal on a flag at the end of the day and paying 20 times the cost of the ticket. Side betting soon developed.
(Econ, 5/5/12, p.38)
1889 Nov 15, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Emperor Dom Pedro II was overthrown and military officers established a republic.
(AP, 11/15/97)(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1889 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), mulatto writer wrote " Dom Casmurro." The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1889-1937 Prof. John Wirth (d.2002) of Stanford covered this period of Brazil in his book "Minas Gerais in the Brazilian Federation."
(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A29)
1890 Feb 20, Giovanni Rossi left Italy with a group of anarchists, from Genoa, headed
to Palmeiras, Paranà, in Brazil, where they established the anarchist "Cecilia Colony". Its population, primarily male, had about 300 members. This experiment in anarchist communism and free love lasted for about five years, running up against not only material problems, but especially emotional and sexual difficulties. The colony dissolved in 1894, but Rossi remained in Brazil, in Taquary, then Rio dos Cedros, as director of an agricultural research station. He published the book “Le Paranà au 20° siècle."
(http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/RossiGiovanni.htm)
1891 Nov 23, Deodoroda Fonseca, the 1st president of Brazil, was ousted by a navy revolt.
(AP, 11/23/02)
1891 Brazil enacted a constitution that called for moving the seat of government away from the coastline in order to spur development.
(Econ, 7/30/16, p.26)
1893 Sep 6, Floriano Vieira Peixoto, acting president of Brazil, faced a rebellion by officers of his navy led by Admiral Custodio Jose de Mello.
(ON, 12/06, p.11)
1893 Oct, Floriano Vieira Peixoto, acting president of Brazil, contacted his ambassador in Washington with instructions to buy a fleet of warships for a new navy. Dr. Salvador de Mendonca soon authorized Charles R. Flint, an American businessman, to purchase ships and weapons for Brazil. Over the next 21 days Flint spent $1.5 million acquiring ships and guns including the new Zalinski dynamite gun.
(ON, 12/06, p.11)
1893 Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel, aka Antonio Conselheiro, founded the settlement of Canudos in the "certao" region of Bahia, Brazil. He was a charismatic religious leader and established an independent community of some 25,000. the movement favored the deposed monarchy and was crushed by government troops.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)(Econ, 1/10/04, p.74)
1894 Jan, US Rear Admiral Andrew Benham led a fleet of US Navy ships into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro escorting American merchants ships. The outgunned Brazilian rebel fleet made no serious challenge.
(ON, 12/06, p.12)
1894 Feb 13, In Brazil peace talks between Pres. Peixoto and navy rebels broke down completely when Admiral Saldanha da Gama led a landing party that stormed a republican fort at Nictheroy on the Guanabara Bay opposite from Rio de Janeiro. The rebels were driven back.
(ON, 12/06, p.12)
1894 Mar 13, The Dynamite Squadron of ships, purchased and outfitted in the US, steamed into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. Rebel sailors immediately surrendered in exchange for safe passage to Argentina aboard Portuguese warships. The rebellion ended a weeks later when the rebel flagship, Aquidbada, was captured off Desterro by the American crew of the Nictheroy, the former Morgan steamship El Cid.
(ON, 12/06, p.12)
1894 Charles Miller, the son of an English railway engineer, returned to Sao Paulo from a British boarding school. He brought back a football and popularized the game of soccer in Brazil.
(Econ, 10/29/16, p.30)
1895 Feb 28, Guiomar Novaes, pianist (Brazilian Order of Merit), was born in Brazil.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1896 Dec 31, The Teatro Amazonas opened in Manaus. The theater was built by the rubber barons over 15 years with everything imported from Europe.
(SFEC, 7/16/00, p.T12)
c1896 Police were sent to Canudos, Brazil, but were repelled by the settlement in what came to be call the First Military Expedition to Canudos. The government feared a threat to the national order and sent the Second Military Expedition of 550 soldiers, who were also repelled by the settlement. In the Third Military Expedition 1,500 troops under Colonel Antonio Moreira Cesar, aka The Ground Trembler" and "The Beheader," were defeated at Canudos and the colonel was killed.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1897 Sep, Antonio Conselheiro, the founding leader of Canudos, died of dysentery.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1897 Oct 5, In Brazil after 3 failed military campaigns Pres. Prudente de Morais sent 8,000 soldiers with Krupp cannons, dynamite and machine guns in the Fourth Military Expedition to overcome the settlement of Canudos led by Antonio Conselheiro. After a 4-month battle government forces defeated the settlement. In 1902 Euclides da Cunha wrote "Os Sertoes," (The Arid Region), translated into English as "Rebellion in the Backlands." In 1981 Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru wrote a fictional account of the event in the epic work: "The War of the End of the World."
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1897 Belo Horizonte was founded in the state of Minas Gerais as the first modern planned city of Brazil.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.9)
1898 In Brazil the Paricatuba villa was built across the Rio Negro from Manaus at the height of the region’s rubber boom. This briefly transformed Manaus into one of the richest cities in the world. The sprawling villa was initially intended to house the Italian immigrants who arrived to work in the rubber trade.
(AP, 5/30/14)
1900-1973 Maria Martins, Brazilian sculptor. She was portrayed in a 1934 painting by Marcel Duchamp "Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas."
(SFC, 5/2/00, p.D1)
1902 Oct 31, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet, journalist and short story writer, was born.
(HN, 10/31/00)
1902 Euclides da Cunha wrote "Os Sertoes," (The Arid Region), translated into English as "Rebellion in the Backlands," on the 1893-1897 events at Canudos led by Antonio Conselheiro.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1906 David Casement, a British consul, was sent to Brazil, first as consul in Pará, then transferred to Santos, and lastly promoted to consul-general in Rio de Janeiro. When he was attached as a consular representative to a commission investigating murderous rubber slavery by the British-registered Peruvian Amazon Company, effectively controlled by the archetypal rubber baron Julio Cesar Arana and his brother, Casement had the occasion to do work among the Putumayo Indians of Peru similar to that which he had done in the Congo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement)
1907 "Chapters of Brazil Colonial History, 1500-1800" by Joao Capistrano de Abreu (1853-1927) was first published. The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1908 Jun, Japanese immigration to Brazil began when 781 Japanese arrived on the ship Kasato Maru. Nearly 800 Japanese set sail on the "Kasato Maru" ship from Kobe in search of better living conditions and arrived at Santos Port only to find a grueling life working on farmland.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A8)(AFP, 4/24/08)
1908 Sep 29, Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (b.1839), Brazilian writer, died. Widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature, he did not gain widespread popularity outside Brazil in his own lifetime.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machado_de_Assis)
1908-1998 Silvio Caldas, one of the country’s best-loved singers, sang in a deep, husky voice. He recorded over 500 records and his favorite was "Chao de Estrelas" by Orestes Barbosa.
(SFC, 2/5/98, p.A21)
1909 Carlos Chagas (1879-1934), a Brazilian doctor, described how a fatal infection, that became known as Chagas disease, was transmitted as a single cell parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, carried by insects that typically bite their sleeping victims on the face. In 1921 Chagas won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. In 2010 scientists at UC San Francisco reported the development of a protease inhibitor, K777, which appeared to kill the parasite.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Chagas)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A20)
1910 In Brazil a 100-kg aquamarine stone was found whose value in 1996 would exceed US$25 million.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.13)
1912 Algot Lange, the son of an opera singer, authored “In the Amazon Jungle." In 1910 he had gone on an adventure in the upper Amazon between Brazil and Peru and only survived with the aid of Mangeroma cannibals.
(WSJ, 4/28/07, p.P8)
1912 In Brazil the 367-km Madeira-Mamore railway was built for booming rubber exports from Porto Velho to the Bolivian border. It was rendered obsolete by new Asian plantations almost before it opened.
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.29)
1914 Feb, In Brazil a 22-man party, that included former Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, started down the Rio da Duvida (River of Doubt) in the Amazon Basin for a 2-month adventure. In 2005 Candice Millard authored “The River of Doubt" Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey."
(SSFC, 10/23/05, p.M3)
1915 By this year Malay plantations produced 107,860 tons of rubber compared with 37,200 tons in Brazil.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)
1916 A Brazilian civil statute formally enshrined the hierarchical and patriarchal view of family and sexual relations.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A10)
1917 In Brazil Ernesto de Santos Donga wrote the song "Pela telefone." It was considered to be the first recorded samba.
(Wired, 2/98, p.128)
1917 Mar 22, In Brazil Caixa Economica de Sao Paulo first opened its doors. In 2008 the bank was bought by Banco do Brazil.
(http://tinyurl.com/2wkhujw)(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.11)
1918 Sep 25, Brazil declared war on Austria.
(HN, 9/25/98)
1919 May 29, A solar eclipse occurred that was photographed by two British expeditions, one in Africa and the other in Sobral, Brazil. Arthur Eddington, British astronomer, confirmed Einstein’s prediction of the deflection of light from Principe, a Portuguese island off the Atlantic coast of Africa. In 1980 Harry Colling and Trevor Pinch published "The Golem," an account of the expedition. The play “Rose Tattoo" by Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams was originally titled “The Eclipse of May 29, 1919."
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.E3)(www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~suchii/Edd.on1919.html)
1919 General Electric Corp. entered the emerging market of Brazil.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.9)
1921 Carlos Chagas (1879-1934), a Brazilian doctor, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his 1909 discovery of how a single cell parasite carried by insects transmitted a disease (Chagas disease) to sleeping victims.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Chagas)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)
1924 Brazil’s finance ministry set up a body to hear appeals by firms that feel wronged by tax collectors. It became known as CARF, the Administrative Council for Fiscal Resources.
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.68)
1925 Mr. Roberto Marinho (1904-2003) inherited the Rio newspaper O Globo 23 days after it was founded by his father who suddenly died. He learned the business as a reporter and editor and took over as editor in chief in 1931. The operation later expanded to dominate the television market.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)(WSJ, 9/29/99, p.A1)(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A14)
1925 Percy Harrison Fawcett, former British cricketer and soldier, vanished along with his son Jack in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. In 2009 David Grann authored “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon."
(WSJ, 2/27/09, p.W6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_City_of_Z)
1926 Jun 12, Brazil quit the League of Nations in protest over plans to admit Germany.
(HN, 6/12/98)
1927 Henry Ford obtained a Connecticut-sized land in the Brazilian jungle and began creating his Fordlandia factory town for the creation of a rubber plantation and processing facility to supply his factories with tires and gaskets. A strike in 1930 wrecked Fordlandia. It was rebuilt and struggled on for a decade until succumbing to leaf blight and insects. In 2009 Greg Grandin authored “Fordlandia: The rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle city."
(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.F7)
1928 Carlos Moreira de Castro (Carlos Cachaca, d.1999 at age 97) helped found the Mangueira samba school.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.C2)
1928 Henry Ford built a factory in Brazil's Amazon rainforest at a company town called Fordlandia. It lasted 17 years as pests killed off rubber trees and vice doomed the town.
(Econ., 1/16/21, p.24)
1930 Nov 3, Getulio Vargas (1883-1954) seized power in Brazil on the grounds of election fraud. He soon put a moratorium on pension payments. From 1930-1934, he was provisional president and dictator. From 1934-1937, he was congressionally elected president. From 1937-1945, he was dictator with the backing of the revolutionary coalition. From 1951 to 1954, he was popularly elected president.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A1)(http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=428)
1930-1954 Prof. John Wirth (d.2002) of Stanford covered this period of Brazil in his book "The Politics of Brazilian Development 1930-1954." It won the Bolton Prize in 1971.
(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A29)
1931 Jun 18, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was born. He served 2 terms as president of Brazil (1994-2002)
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)
1931 Oct 12, The Rio de Janeiro 98-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer was unveiled atop Corcovado Mountain as a belated monument to 100 years of independence from Portugal (1822). It was designed by Brazilian artist Carlos Oswald and French sculptor Paul Landowski.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.T2)(SFC, 10/14/03, p.D7)
1932 Jul 23, Alberto Santos-Dumont (b.1873), aviation pioneer, hanged himself in Guaraja, Brazil after hearing a bomber discharge its load on fellow countrymen. In 2003 Paul Hoffman authored "Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight."
(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.M1)
1932 Brazilian women won the right to vote.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A1)
1932 Brazil enacted a no-arrest provision that prohibited voters from being arrested five days before elections unless they are caught red-handed. It was included in the Brazilian electoral code after a period in which election fraud and arrests to intimidate voters were common.
(AP, 10/27/10)
1933 Oct 10, At Rio de Janeiro, nations of the Western Hemisphere signed a non-aggression and conciliation treaty.
(HN, 10/10/98)
1937 Mussolini helped inspire the Estado Novo of Brazil’s Pres. Getulio Vargas. The system of labor and industrial syndicates continued to influence labor relations to 2007.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.5)
1938 The Cammargo Correa Group was begun as a family business. It has since mushroomed into a construction giant.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.5)
1939 Brazil established a 714-sq. mile national park at the Iguacu Falls site on the Argentine border.
(SFEM, 10/8/00, p.15)
1940 Oct 23, Pele, legendary Brazilian soccer player who scored 1,281 goals in 22 years, was born.
(HN, 10/23/98)
1940 Brazil’s penal code included Clause VIII in Article 107, which said that a sex criminal’s punishment may be cancelled if the victim subsequently weds.
(WSJ, 7/12/04, p.A1)
1940 The Brazilian Reinsurance Institute, later called IRB, was founded by Pres. Getulio Vargas. The self-regulating institution remained a state monopoly into 2006.
(Econ, 1/7/06, p.68)
1941 Jorge Amado (1912-2001), Brazilian Communist novelist, was exiled to Argentina.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)
1941 The Brazilian government founded the steelmaker CSN. It was privatized in the early 1990s.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.10)
1942 Jan, Chile and Argentina were the only two Latin American countries that did not comply at once with the Rio de Janeiro Conference recommendation to those countries who had not already done so to sever diplomatic and commercial relations with the Axis powers, Germany, Italy and Japan. Chile eventually broke Axis relations in January 1943 and Argentina complied in January 1944. The conference of Western Hemisphere foreign ministers also called for suppression of pro-Axis activity in the Americas, establishment of an Inter-American defense board and economic cooperation within the hemisphere.
(HNQ, 9/24/00)
1942 Feb 23, Stefan Zweig (b.1881), Austrian Jewish writer (Die Welt von Gestern), committed suicide with his wife in Brazil. Zweig's nostalgic but rather impersonal memoirs of the "Golden Age of Security", The World of Yesterday, was published posthumously in 1943. His last novel (The Ecstasy of Transformation) was published posthumously in Germany in 1982. In 2008 it was translated into English as “The Post-Office Girl." In 2014 George Prochnik authored “The Impossible Exile: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World."
(www.kirjasto.sci.fi/szweig.htm)(WSJ, 6/21/08, p.W9)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.91)(Econ, 6/14/14, p.76)
1942 Aug 13, Brazil-based Bemol was founded by three grandsons of Moroccan Jewish immigrants who had arrived in 1887. By 2020 it was the largest department store in the Amazon.
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/bemol/)(Econ., 11/7/20, p.30)
1942 Aug 22, Brazil declared war on the Axis powers. She was the only South American country to send combat troops into Europe.
(HN, 8/22/98)
1942 Jorge Amado (d.2001 at 88) authored his novel "The Violent Land." It focused on the bloody rivalry of 2 powerful cocoa farmers in the Brazilian frontier.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)
1942 Companhia do Vale do Rio Doce, a state mining concern, was founded. It was pivotal in developing the Amazon Basin.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A10)
1943 Jul 19, American planes sank the German U-513 submarine off the coast of southern Brazil. In 2011 researchers from the Vale do Itajai University found the submarine off the coast of Santa Catarina state.
(AP, 7/15/11)
1943 Brazil adopted a rigid labor law transplanted from Benito Mussolini’s Italy.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.52)
1944 Dec 20, In Brazil the Fundacao Getulio Vargas (Getulio Vargas Foundation, often abbreviated as FGV or simply GV) was founded as an institution of higher education. Its original goal was to train people for the country's public- and private-sector management.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funda%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Get%C3%BAlio_Vargas)
1946 Apr 22, Dectuplets were born in Bacacay, Brazil, 8 males and 2 females.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1948 The Safra banking family arrive in Brazil from Lebanon and proceeded to establish one of the country's biggest banks.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A15)
1949 Hans Stern (1922-2007), German-born jeweler, opened his first H. Stern boutique in Rio de Janeiro. By 2007 the firm had some 160 boutiques around the world.
(WSJ, 11/3/07, p.A6)
1950 Jun 24, In Brazil the Maracana stadium in Rio was officially inaugurated for the opening of soccer’s World Cup, the first in 12 years due to WW II.
(www.soccerhall.org/history/WorldCup_1950.htm)
1950 Jul 16, Brazil, host for soccer’s World Cup, lost the final game to Uruguay 2-1. Uruguay’s goals came in 13 minutes late in the second half. Alcides Ghiggia (1926-2015) scored the winning goal.
(Econ, 7/12/14, p.33)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_FIFA_World_Cup)
1950 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), wrote "Kadiweu Religion and Mythology." He studied the Kadiweu and Kaapor Indians of Brazil.
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1951 Getulio Vargas, former autocrat, was elected president of Brazil and ruled to 1954.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)(Econ, 4/15/06, p.39)
1951 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), wrote "Art of the Kadiweu Indians."
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1952 Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) was founded to provide long-term financing for endeavors that contribute to the country's development.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNDES)
1952 Margaret Mee (1909-1988), botanical artist, left Britain for Brazil and for 3 decades documented Amazonian rain forest plant life in large watercolors.
(WSJ, 1/26/99, p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/yafb9m)
1953 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), founded the Museum of the Indian in Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1953 Brazil’s Petrobras was founded under the slogan “o petroleo e nosso" (the oil is ours) as the country produced 2,700 barrels of oil per day and consumed 137,000 per day. In 2006 Brazil became independent from foreign oil.
(AP, 4/22/06)(Econ, 2/14/15, p.33)
1953 In Brazil JBS Friboi began as a butchers founded by Jose Sobrinho in Anapolis, Goias state. By 2011 it was the world’s largest meat producer.
(Econ, 9/24/11, SR p.22)
1953 Volkswagen began manufacturing cars in Brazil.
(Econ, 11/15/08, SR p.6)
1954 Aug 24, In Brazil Pres. Getulio Vargas killed himself in the midst of a scandal.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)(http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=428)
1954 Director Sam Fuller trekked to the rainforest with a 16mm Bolex, 75 boxes of cigars and 2 cases of vodka hoping to make a film. Producer Darryl Zanuck called it off. The 1995 documentary film "Tigrero" was made by Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismaki. It covered the 1954 trek into the Brazilian rainforest by Sam Fuller.
(SFC,12/5/97, p.C12)
1956 Jan 31, Brazil’s Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek (1902-1976) took office. He vowed to modernize the country and made economic growth his main goal.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek)
1956 Apr 12, Henrique da Rocha-Lima (b.1879), Brazilian scientist, died. Working in Germany, he with Stanislaus von Prowazek (1875-1915) discovered Rickettsia prowazekii, the pathogen of endemic typhus, which he named after the German zoologist.
(www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/3185.html)
1956 Brazil’s Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek pushed through a law to move the seat of government inland.
(Econ, 7/30/16, p.26)
1956 African honeybees were imported to Brazil by a scientist who let them escape. By 1990 they had worked their way north to southern Texas and began to spread across the southwest.
(WSJ, 8/16/06, p.A12)
1957 Feb, Brazil began work began on its new capital, Brasilia. This was led by urban planner Lucio Costa, architect Oscar Niemeyer and landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek)
1957 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), wrote "Indigenous Language and Cultures in Brazil."
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1957 Roberto Marinho, head of Rio's O Globo newspaper, won his 1st television concession from Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek.
(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A14)
1958 Jun 29, Brazil won its first World Cup in thrilling fashion, defeating host Sweden 5-2 in the final and in the process becoming the first team to win the tournament outside its continent. The tournament is largely remembered for the emergence of 17-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele.
(AP, 6/2/18)
1958 Jorge Amado (d.2001 at 88), Brazilian writer, published his novel "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon."
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)(www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9182926)
1958 Leonel Brizola (1922-2004) was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, the youngest state governor (36) in Brazilian history.
(SFC, 6/24/04, p.B6)
1959 Nov 17, Heitor Villa-Lobos (b.1887), Brazilian composer, pianist and conductor, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Lobos)
1959 The film "Black Orpheus" was directed by Marcel Camus. It featured the music of Luis Floriano Bonfa (d.2001 at 78).
(SFC, 1/13/01, p.A24)
1960 Apr 21, Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), founded in 1952, helped fund its development.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.3)(AP, 4/21/97)(HN, 4/21/98)(Econ, 4/18/09, p.81)
1960-1969 In the 1960s Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1922-1997), wrote his 6-volume work "Studies of the Anthropology of Civilization."
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1960-1969 Carlos Marighella and Carlos Lamarca founded revolutionary groups in Brazil during the 1960s and financed their operations by robbing banks and kidnapped foreign ambassadors as exchange for jailed colleagues.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1961 Jan, Janio Quadros took the oath as president of Brazil.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1961 Aug 25, Brazilian president Janio Quadros resigned. He was replaced by vice-president Joao Goulart.
(chblue.com, 8/25/01)(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1962 Apr 16, Brazil nationalized US businesses.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1962 Vinicius de Moraes, inspired by the stroll of a young woman (18) headed for Copacabana, wrote a poem that became known as “The Girl of Ipanema." It was put to music by Jaoa Gilberto and Stan Getz and sung by Gilberto’s wife, Astrud. The song won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1964. The young woman, Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, never made a dime off the song but opened a modeling agency and a clothing store near the site.
(SSFC, 9/30/07, p.G3)
1962 In Brazil the first residents of Sao Paulo’s Edificio Copan, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, began moving in. City hall issued its first residency permit in May, 1966.
(Econ, 2/27/15, p.26)
1962 Havaianas, a brand of rubber and plastic flip-flops, were introduced in Brazil. In 1994 Havaianas introduced a new line of one-shade sandals in black, royal blue, pink and purple and the brand began to gather worldwide popularity.
(AP, 7/24/12)
1963 Dec 4, In Brazil Sen. Arnon de Mello (1911-1983), the father of future president Fernando Collor, shot and killed Senator Joseph Kairala of Acre in the Senate, but was never tried. The intended victim was Mello’s political enemy Senator Silvestre Pericles.
(http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnon_Afonso_de_Farias_Melo)(Econ, 7/28/12, p.31)
1964 Mar 27, In a cable to the US State Department Lincoln Gordon, US ambassador to Brazil, requested a naval task force and deliveries of fuel and arms to the coup plotters "to help avert a major disaster here." US documents declassified in 2004 showed the extent of American willingness to provide aid to Brazil's generals during a coup that ushered in 21 years of often bloody military rule.
(AP, 4/3/04)
1964 Mar 31, In Brazil a coup was put in motion and was over by April 4, when Pres. Goulart fled to exile in Uruguay. The entire episode was bloodless.
(AP, 4/3/04)
1964 Apr 2, A military coup in Brazil by Gen. Humberto Castello Branco ousted Pres. Joao Goulart and altered the traditional power structure. Gen'l. Golbery do Couto e Silva was a leader in the coup. Business interests led by Jorge Oscar de Mello Flores (d.2000 at 88) supported the military coup.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)(WSJ, 7/7/99, p.A17)(SFC, 8/3/00, p.D2)(MC, 4/2/02)
1964 Dec 2, Brazil sent Juan Peron back to Spain, foiling his efforts to return to his native land.
(HN, 12/2/98)
1964 The Brazilian film "Black God, White Devil" was directed by Glauber Rocha.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, DB p.44)
1964-1985 A military dictatorship ruled over Brazil. As many as 353 people died while under custody. The dead of the leftist opposition were either "disappeared" or registered as suicides or fatalities from accidents or shootouts.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1965 Dec 4, The Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) was founded as the official opposition party to the supporters of military rule gathered under the National Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA) umbrella.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Democratic_Movement_Party)
1965 Brazil’s Forest Code of this year required private landowners to leave to leave forests standing on part of their farms. In the Amazon this was set at four-fifths. This particular requirement has never been effectively implemented.
(Econ, 12/3/11, p.47)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Forest_Code)
1965 Roberto Marinho broke into Brazil’s television industry. By 1995 Rede Globo became the world's fourth largest TV network.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)
1965 Peru cut a trail through the jungle to Inapari, its border town across from Assis, Brazil.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.40)
1966 Jan 11, In Brazil 550 died in landslides in mountains behind Rio de Janeiro after rain.
(MC, 1/11/02)
1966 The Copan building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, designed Oscar Niemeyer (b.1907), was completed. Begun in 1953 the massive residential structure shaped like a wave became a South American landmark.
(AP, 12/12/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer)
1967 Fernando Henrique Cardoso (b.1931) authored “Dependency and Development in Latin America." Cardoso later served as president of Brazil.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1967 Singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil founded the tropicalista (tropicalismo) movement. It was a group of singers, artists and radicals that turned Brazilian culture inside out. They began experimenting with electric instruments and the rhythms of rock, but in 1970 the military regime sent them into exile in Europe. In 1997 Caetano Veloso authored "Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil." An English translation was made in 2002.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, DB p.58)(Wired, 2/98, p.129)(SSFC, 11/3/02, p.M3)
1967 Brazil passed legislation stipulating that journalists must obtain a diploma and register with the labor ministry, in order to prevent troublemakers from voicing their opinions. In the name of national security, legislation censored news media, composers, playwrights and writers and allowed for the seizure of publications. In 2009 Brazil’s Supreme Court struck down the press censorship legislation.
(Econ, 10/25/08, p.48)(AP, 5/1/09)
1967 Brazil, in an attempt to foment progress (and diminish regional inequalities), created a tax free zone was created called Zona Franca de Manaus. Manaus is the only city in Amazonas where an industrial park has been developed.
(www.v-brazil.com/information/geography/amazonas/economy.html)
1967 Dr. Philip D. Marsden began fieldwork in Brazil and was named a professor of tropical medicine at the Univ. of Brasilia, where he became a leading authority on Leishmaniasis, an often fatal disease borne by sand flies.
(SFC,10/27/97, p.C2)
1969 Sep 4, In Brazil Fernando Gabeira helped kidnap the US ambassador in Rio, Charles Elbrick (d.1983), to protest the military dictatorship. Elbrick was released unhurt four days later, but Gabeira was banned from entering the US.
(AP, 10/27/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Burke_Elbrick)
1969 The Brazilian film "Antonio da Mortes" was directed by Glauber Rocha.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, DB p.44)
1969 Explorer Loren McIntyre, on assignment for National Geographic made contact with the Mayoruna people, a tribe in the Amazon border region between Brazil and Peru. In 1991 Petru Demetru Popescu authored “Amazon Beaming," an account of McIntyre’s encounter with the tribe.
(Econ, 10/15/16, p.81)
1969 Embraer SA, an aircraft maker, was founded by Brazil’s military dictatorship in an effort to develop an aviation industry. The company was privatized in 1994.
(WSJ, 9/13/04, p.A8)(Econ, 9/11/10, SR p.10)
1970-1998 Brazilian Gold miners worked in the Yanomani reservation near Venezuela beginning in the 1970s and during this period introduced diseases that cut the Indian population by more than half.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.A1)
1971 Mar 19, At least 160 people perished in landslides north of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(AP, 3/19/03)
1971 Jul 6, In Brazil rubber tapper Raimundo Irineu Serra (b.1892) died. He founded the Santo Daime (Saint Gimme) religion. It was based on a shamanic brew of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and Psychotria viridis leaf.
(Econ, 5/12/12, IL p.24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestre_Irineu)
1971 Brazil passed legislation limiting the amount of rural land foreigners could buy. In the 1990s it was deemed incompatible with the new democratic constitution. The law was revived in 2010 as state-owned firms began buying up vast tracts of land.
(Econ, 9/24/11, p.48)
1971 Brazil’s army discovered rebel bases in Araguaia, a remote region in the northern jungle state of Para. They sent more than 10,000 troops to crush the uprising in the proceeding years. Some 60 rebels were killed, as well as local civilians, and others were jailed or disappeared.
(AP, 6/19/09)
1972 Singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil returned to Brazil. Gil then served as minister of culture in his home city of Salvador.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, DB p.58)
1972 Brazil’s rubber-bearing Madeira-Mamore railway ceased running.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.34)
1972 The hospital ship S.S. Hope sailed to Brazil to train doctors and nurses for a year under Project Hope.
(SFC, 9/28/02, p.A17)
1972-1974 A group of rebels formed in the state of Para, the only rural armed movement against the dictatorship.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A14)
1973 Brazil’s Agricultural Research Corp. (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquesa Agropecuaria, aka Embrapa) was set up as a public company by the ruling generals. It grew to become the world’s leading tropical research institution.
(Econ, 8/28/10, p.59)
1973 The Arab oil embargo doubled Brazil’s import bill with a year.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1973 Paraguay’s Pres. Stroessner led a $20 billion joint venture with Brazil to build Itaipu, at this time the world’s largest hydroelectric dam.
(SFC, 8/17/06, p.A10)
1973-1996 The Pastoral Land Commission, a Catholic supported human rights group, said that there have been 575 murders of rural workers over this time in the Para state and only three trials. One defendant received a suspended sentence and the other 2 escaped from jail.
(SFC, 6/26/96, p.A8)
1974 Mar 15, In Brazil General Ernesto Geisel (1907-1996) became president and ruled for 5 years. He gradually ended political repression, lifted press censorship and allowed political exiles to return. Under his rule the foreign debt doubled to $43 billion.
(SFC, 9/13/96, p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Geisel)
1974 Oct 2, Pele (b.1940), Brazilian soccer player born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, came out of retirement to join the NY Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Steve Ross (1927-1992), chairman of Warner Brothers and founder of the Cosmos, offered him a reported $7 million for a 3-year contract. In 2006 Gavin Newsham authored “Once in a Lifetime: The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos."
(SFC, 6/26/06, p.E3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9)
1974 Antonio Henrique Amaral of Brazil painted his "Battlefield," a phalanx of menacing forks with shreds of banana.
(WSJ, 3/17/00, p.W12)
1974 Brazil opened BR-163, a 1,097-mile unpaved road from Santarem to Cuiaba. Paving of the road was expected to be completed by 2008.
(Econ, 7/24/04, p.33)
1974 Brazil introduced the 1st Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Curitiba.
(SSFC, 8/7/05, p.A11)
1974 In Brazil Rev. Frederick Birten Morris of the United Methodist Church was arrested. During 16 days in captivity in an army barracks he was beaten and tortured with electric shocks several times before being released and deported. In 2008 Brazil’s Justice Ministry's Amnesty Commission decided to compensate him 285,000 reals (US$154,000) plus a monthly pension of 2,000 reals (US$1,080).
(AP, 9/27/08)
1974 A meningitis outbreak killed 4,000 people in a few weeks. 90 million people were soon inoculated by a new vaccine created by the French Merieux laboratory.
(SFC, 1/27/01, p.A24)
1975 Oct 25, Vladimir Herzog (b.1937), Croatia-born Jewish journalist, was murdered by Brazil’s military regime.
(Econ, 11/27/04, p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Herzog)
1975 Brazilian soccer star Pele (b.1940) signed a $4.7 million contract with the New York Cosmos. Pele left the Cosmos in 1977 and 8 years later the team disbanded.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.32)
1975 In Brazil the military government launched a "pro-alcohol" program as a source of fuel in response to the first oil crisis which hit in 1973. The country at the time was importing 80% of its fuel and suffered in its balance of payments.
(WSJ, 6/27/97, p.A9A)
1975 The “Black Frost" harmed half of Brazil’s coffee trees. In response to the frost groves were moved north from Parana state.
(WSJ, 5/26/06, p.C5)
1975 An oil tanker from Iraq dumped nearly 8 million gallons of crude oil into Guanabara Bay and washed onto Rio’s beaches, which closed for 3 weeks.
(SFC, 7/19/00, p.A12)
1975 French retailer Carrefour began operating in Brazil.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.68)
1976 Aug 22, In Brazil former Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek (b.1902) was killed in a car accident. In 2013 an investigation was ordered due to suspicion that his death was ordered by the military regime. In 2014 a national Truth Commission said there was no evidence that the military regime of the time was responsible for the accident.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek)(SFC, 1/24/13, p.A2)(SFC, 4/23/14, p.A2)
1976 Dec 6, Joao Goulart (b.1919), former president of Brazil (1961-1964), died in Argentina. He was ousted in a 1964 coup and went into exile in Argentina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Goulart)(SSFC, 11/17/13, p.A4)
1976 Janice Perlman, American sociologist, authored “The Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio De Janeiro," a look at the favelas (slums) of Rio. An update followed in 2010.
(Econ, 7/24/10, p.81)
1976 In central Brazil Joao Teixeira de Faria, aka John of God, opened a spiritual hospital in Abadiania, offering treatment for everything from depression to cancer. In 2019 more than 250 women including his daughter came forward to allege abuse that ranged from being felt up during treatments to rape.
(AP, 2/18/19)
1976 Gen’l. Juan Jose Torres, ousted as president of Bolivia in 1971, was kidnapped by a death squad in Argentina and killed. He was a victim of the Condor Plan, a South American military pact between Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay to exchange intelligence information and help each other hunt down suspected leftists.
(SFC, 11/23/99, p.A16)
1976 Italian carmaker Fiat began manufacturing cars in Brazil.
(Econ, 11/15/08, SR p.6)
1977 Jun 23, The Brazil congress legalized divorce with a constitutional amendment, despite opposition from Roman Catholic Church. The amendment would be signed into law by President Ernesto Geisel.
(www.wiwomensnetwork.org/chrontwo1.html)
1977 Dec 9, Clarice Lispector (b.1920), Ukraine-born Brazilian-Jewish writer, died in Brazil. From 1952-1959 she lived in the US. Her books included “The Passion According to G.H" (1964). In 2009 Benjamin Moser authored “Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarice_Lispector)
1977 Dec 26, In Brazil law #6,515 established the Divorce Act.
(www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Brazil.htm)
1977 The Brazilian film "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" starred Sonia Braga. It was based on a novel by Jorge Amado.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1977 In Brazil Edir Macedo (b.1945) founded The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. In 1990 he bought Rede Record for $45 million. In 2004 Rede Record broadcast network began expanding into the TV market taking on the dominant TV Globo. In 2005 the church founded the PRB political party. By 2007 the Pentecostal congregation had 2 million members and had expanded to over 100 countries.
(SFEC, 9/6/98, p.A19)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.50)(WSJ, 1/5/07, p.A1)(Econ, 1/5/08, p.31)
1978 Jul 3, The Amazon Pact was established. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela signed the Amazon Pact, a Brazilian initiative designed to coordinate the joint development of the Amazon Basin.
(http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Amazon+Pact)
1978 Oct 18, Zbigniew Ziembinski (b.1908), actor and director, died in Rio de Janeiro. He is considered to be the father of modern Brazilian theatre.
(Econ, 11/26/16, p.33)
1978 Brazil’s Unified Black Movement, inspired by militant American outfits, was founded but failed to gain traction.
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.52)
1978 In Brazil the Jardim Gramacho landfill sprang up on unstable, ecologically sensitive marshland overlooking the bay of Rio de Janeiro and, for nearly 20 years, functioned with little or no oversight. In 1996 Rio authorities stepped in, ending child labor at the site, registering the catadores and restricting the kinds of trash the dump took in to just household waste from Rio and four outlying cities. The landfill closed in 2012 and was transformed into a vast facility to harness the greenhouse gases.
(AP, 6/1/12)(SFC, 6/2/12, p.A2)
1978-1996 Over 200,000 sq. miles, 12.5%, of the Amazon rain forest was destroyed.
(SFC, 1/27/98, p.A10)
1979 Feb 7, Josef Mengele (b.1911), Nazi concentration camp doctor and medical experimenter, accidentally drowned in Bertioga, Brazil. He was secretly buried in another man's grave in Brazil. [See Jun 6, 1985] In 1985 his identity was confirmed by DNA. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele)
1979 Mar 15, In Brazil Gen. Joao Baptista Figueiredo (d.1999 at 81) began serving as president and continued to 1985. Aureliano Chaves (d.2003 at 74) served as VP. Figueiredo was the last of 5 generals to rule during the 1964-1985 dictatorship. He oversaw the transition to democracy begun by his predecessor Ernesto Geisel. Inflation during his rule rose from 43% a year to 230% a year when he left office.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Baptista_de_Oliveira_Figueiredo)(SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)(SFC, 5/2/03, p.A26)
1979 Aug 28, Brazil’s presiding General Joao Figueiredo declared a reciprocal amnesty law that prevented the prosecution of soldiers and military agents for acts of violence during the dictatorship.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)(Econ, 11/27/04, p.37)(http://tinyurl.com/37ryof)
1979 The Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), founded in 1965, was renamed the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Democratic_Movement_Party)
1979 The Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems Project was established as a collaborative research project between the Smithsonian Institution and the Brazilian Institute for Research in the Amazon. It was later renamed the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments project.
(NH, 7/98, p.35)(http://pdbff.inpa.gov.br/iquem.html)
1980 Jul 9, In Brazil at least 3 and as many as 7 died in a stampede to see the Pope at a stadium in Fortaleza.
(http://tinyurl.com/36kdnt)
1980 The film "Bye Bye Brazil" was directed by Carlos Diegues. It brought international recognition to Brazilian cinema.
(WSJ, 11/17/98, p.21)
1980 In Brazil the Workers’ Party (PT) was founded by a group of people including Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Marina Silva. It later became recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing leadership movements of Latin America.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_Party_%28Brazil%29)(Econ, 8/29/09, p.32) (Econ, 4/24/10, p.35)
1980 Inflation in Brazil reached 110%. The rising cost of imported oil, dating back to 1973, increased short term foreign debt and heralded a decade and a half of instability.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1980 In Brazil the TAMAR project to protect sea turtles was begun by Maria and Guy Marcovaldi.
(SFC, 11/2/98, p.A12)(www.beach-pousada-brazil.com/tamar.htm)
1981 Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru wrote a fictional account of the 1893-1897 events at Canudos, Brazil, in the epic work: "The War of the End of the World."
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1981 Silvio Santos, born as Senor Abravanel, founded Sistema Brasileiro de Televisao and built it into a large network.
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A5)
1982 Jun 8, In Brazil a Vasp 747 crashed in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, killing 137 people.
(AP, 9/30/06)(www.airdisaster.com/photos/1980.shtml)
1982 Leonel Brizola (1922-2004), former governor of Rio Grande do Sul (1959-1962), was elected governor of Rio de Janeiro state. He was elected governor again in 1990.
(SFC, 6/24/04, p.B6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonel_Brizola)
1983 In Brazil a national security law made it a crime to harm the heads of the three branches of government or expose them to danger.
(AP, 3/19/21)
1983 A severe drought plagued northeast Brazil.
(SFC, 5/18/98, p.A10)
1984 Feb 25, In Cubatao, Sao Paulo, Brazil, an explosion from a gasoline leak in a pipeline burned a nearby shantytown with than 500 deaths.
(HSAB, 1994, p.46)
1984 Benedita da Silva was elected to the lower house and became the first black woman in the Brazilian Congress. She later was elected as a senator.
(SFC,11/6/97, p.D2)
1984 In Brazil the Landless Rural Worker’s Movement (MST) was founded and began winning land by illegally occupying unused areas. 3% of the nation’s 167 million people owned 66% of the arable land.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A10)(SFC, 7/6/00, p.A12)(Econ, 4/28/07, p.41)
1984 Brazil’s military government created an Amazon nature reserve. In 2017 a federal court blocked plans to open up about 30% of the area to mining.
(SSFC, 9/3/17, p.C14)
1985 Jan 15, Tancredo Neves (1910-1985) became the 1st elected president of Brazil in 21 years. Just one day before he was scheduled to take the oath of office (March 15, 1985), Neves became severely ill. He suffered from abdominal complications and developed generalized infections. After seven operations, Tancredo Neves died on April 21, 1985. He was succeeded by José Sarney, who served to 1990.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tancredo_Neves)
1985 Apr 21, Tancredo Neves, elected president of Brazil on Jan 15, died. José Sarney became president.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Brazil_%281985-present%29)
1985 Jun 6, Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" of the Nazi Holocaust near Sao Paolo, Brazil.
(AP, 6/6/97)(HN, 6/6/98)
1985 Jun 21, American, Brazilian and West German scientists announced that skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were those of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.
(AP, 6/21/97)(www.paperlessarchives.com/mengele.html)
1985 In Brazil those who could not read and write were not allowed to vote until this year.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.14)
1985 In Brazil the 535 mile Carajas train was inaugurated as part of a massive federal development program.
(WSJ, 4/29/99, p.A1)
1985 Marcelo Carvalho de Andrade (26) of Brazil, mountain climber, former model and surgeon, came up with a plan to help protect the rain forest while waiting out a storm on the north face of Argentina’s Aconcagua mountain, the highest peak in South America.
(SFC, 7/7/99, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/22ekjj)
1985 In Brazil Joao Canuto de Oliveira, trade union leader, was shot to death. In 2003 Brazil convicted ranchers Adilson Laranjeiras and Vantuir Goncalves de Paula in the shooting.
(AP, 5/24/03)
1986 The film "The Mission" was directed by Roland Joffe. It was about Indian and Jesuit relations in colonial Brazil.
(SFEM, 10/8/00, p.17)
1986 In Brazil Marcelo Carvalho de Andrade formed Pro-Natura, non-governmental organization dedicated to saving the rain forests through sustainable development. The first program was set up in Desengano State Park to prevent clandestine logging.
(SFC, 7/7/99, p.A8)
1986 Hernandes Filho, a former Xerox marketing executive, and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes, founded the Reborn in Christ Church and rode the wave of popularity of evangelical churches in Brazil, the world's largest Roman Catholic country. The couple were arrested in 2007 for taking a large amount of undeclared cash into the US. Both pleaded guilty to evading US currency requirements and conspiracy.
(AP, 1/23/07)(SFC, 6/9/07, p.A5)
1986 Brazil chopped 3 zeroes off its currency in the Cruzado Plan as part of an attempt to reduce inflation. The official name was the Economic Stabilization Plan but it was popularly known as the Cruzado Plan because it involved a change in the name of the currency from Cruciero to the Cruzado, with 1000 crucieros being equal to one cruzado. Its main measures were a general price freeze, a wage readjustment and freeze, readjustment and freeze on rents and mortgage payments, a ban on indexation, and a freeze on the exchange rate.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)(www.applet-magic.com/cruzado.htm)
1986 In Brazil a financial scandal led the Bolsa de Valores do Rio de Janeiro (BVRJ) to bankruptcy.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.Spe.Adv.)
1986 The Commodities & Futures Exchange (BM&F) of Brazil began trading.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.Spe.Adv.)
1986 Brazil began construction of a rocket base at Alcantara, forcing some 300 local families to resettle elsewhere.
(WSJ, 10/9/08, p.A13)
1988 Feb 24, A week of tropical rainstorms left at least 275 people dead in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.
(http://tinyurl.com/r629d)
1988 Apr 25, Lygia Clark (b.1920), Brazilian artist, died in Rio de Janeiro. She was often associated with the Brazilian Constructivist movements of the mid-20th century and the Tropicalia movement.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lygia_Clark)(Econ, 10/22/16, p.75)
1988 Oct 5, Brazil accepted a constitution that obliged the government to make transfers to the 26 states and protect the jobs of public workers. It included a basic pension for men over 65 and women over 60, whether or not they pay into the system. This created a difficult environment for the control of spending. The new constitution also annulled the right of husbands to prohibit their wives from accepting employment. The new constitution also recognized Indian rights to reclaim their original lands and to preserve their way of life. Almost 600 reserves were established, encompassing 12.5% of Brazil’s territory, but many only existed on paper. The constitution also declared health care to be the right of the citizen and its provision to be the duty of the state. It also said Brazil will not develop, deploy or make use of nuclear weapons.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A1)(Econ, 9/4/04, p.37)(Econ, 2/4/06, p.36)(SSFC, 6/10/07, p.A15)(Econ, 7/30/11, p.33)(Econ, 3/10/12, p.26)(Econ, 2/25/17, p.27)
1988 Oct 5, Brazil’s new constitution set up a hyper-proportional system to ensure that all voices in the country would be heard. It also discouraged contact with isolated tribes, except to prevent medical emergencies, warfare between tribes and other catastrophes.
(Econ, 4/1/17, p.30)(Econ., 7/11/20, p.23)
1988 Dec 22, Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper and political and environmental activist, was murdered in Acre state by a death squad allegedly directed by Hildebrando Pascoal.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)(SFC, 12/22/08, p.A17)
1988 Brazil granted Indians some territory and pledged to demarcate the land within five years. Hitherto Indians were considered wards of the state and denied full rights for centuries.
(AP, 2/8/06)
1988 Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) began publishing yearly accounts of deforestation. In 2004 it created the DETER system to alert the formation of new large-scale deforested areas.
(Econ, 11/2/13, p.21)
1988 In Brazil Mira Schendel (b.1919), a Swiss-born artist and the mother of Brazil’s minimalist geometric tradition, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Schendel)(Econ, 6/7/14, p.89)
1989 May 30, Landless farmer-workers stormed a farm in the state of Espirito Santo to pressure for agrarian reform. Jose Machado, the owner, opened fire with hired guns. Machado and a hired off-duty policeman were killed and four squatters were injured. In 1997 Jose Rainha, a land reform advocate, was sentenced to 26.5 years in prison for the killing. Rainha argued that he was in another state with witnesses and that the squatters acted in self defense but was still convicted in a 4-3 vote.
(SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)
1989 Sep 3, In Brazil a Varig 737-300 plane crashed in the Amazon jungle with 52 people aboard. 14 died and 34 were injured.
(http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetGOjg/030989.txt)
1989 Brazil’s United Health system (SUS) was created from the merger of two state systems.
(Econ, 7/30/11, p.33)
1989 Brazil made racism a crime with prison sentences of up to five years.
(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
1989 In Brazil Jorge Paulo Lemann and two partners bought the Brahma beer company for $50 million. A decade later they acquired Antarctica, a rival, to become AmBev. In 2004 a merger with Belgium-based Interbrew created InBev. In 2008 InBev paid $52 billion for Anheuser-Busch of America.
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.60)
1990 Mar 16, Brazil announced the Collor Plan. It was a collection of economic reforms and inflation-stabilization plans carried out during the presidency of Fernando Collor de Mello, between 1990 and 1992. The plan was officially called New Brazil Plan. It combined fiscal and trade liberalization with radical inflation stabilization measures.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plano_Collor)
1990 Aug, Jose Luiz Santana, the former president of Brazil's nuclear energy commission, known by its Portuguese acronym CNEN, said in 2005 that the military was preparing a test explosion when the program was ultimately dismantled in August 1990.
(AP, 8/30/05)
1990 Dec 3, President Bush began a five-nation South American tour as he arrived in Brazil.
(AP, 12/3/00)
1990 In Brazil US pop star Michael Jackson landed by helicopter at the top of one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious favelas and sang “They Don’t Care About Us."
(Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.18)
1990 Maria das Gracas Marcal, a 2nd generation scavenger, helped found the Street Scavengers Association. It grew to become a model organization of uniformed scavengers that collected 15% of the total waste of downtown Belo Horizonte.
(SFC,11/17/97, p.A14)
1990 Wagner Conhedo, a trucking operator, obtained a $7 mil loan from Paulo Cesar Farias, campaign finance chief of then Pres. Collor, to purchase the Vasp SA airline. Orestes Quercia, governor of the state that privatized Vasp, made agreement with Conhedo to ease a towering debt burden that later cost the state millions of dollars when Conhedo fell behind in payments.
(WSJ, 7/1/96, p.A6)
1990 Chico Mendes, environmental activist and a leader of Amazon rubber tappers in the state of Acre, was murdered. Darli Alves da Silva and his son, Darci, were convicted in the murder case.
(SFC, 7/2/96, p.A12)
1990-1993 Witch’s Broom disease, a cocoa destroying fungus, arrived in Brazil in the early 1990s.
(SFC, 9/4/00, p.B10)
1991 Feb 2, Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, an environmental activist and head of the Farmworkers Union, was killed. Jose Serafim Sales was convicted for the shooting in 1995 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. He later escaped. In 2000 rancher Jeronimo Alves Amorim was convicted for ordering the killing and was sentenced to 19 ½ years in prison.
(SFC, 6/8/00, p.A16)
1991 Mar 26, The Treaty of Asuncion established the southern common market: (Mercado Comun del Sur) Mercosur, between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. They were later joined by associate members Chile (1996), Bolivia (1997), Peru (2001) and Venezuela (2004). Mexico was granted observer status in 2004.
(www.itcilo.it/english/actrav/telearn/global/ilo/blokit/mercoa.htm)
1991 In Brazil Karen Worcman (29) helped found the Museum of the Person. By 2009 it was Latin America’s largest oral history center.
(www.archimuse.com/mw99/bios/au_3204.html)(www.museudapessoa.net)(WSJ, 3/16/09, p.A1)(www.museudapessoa.net)
1991 Arminio Fraga joined Brazil’s central bank as head of int’l. affairs.
(WSJ, 6/2/00, p.A1)
1991 The Amazon forest lost was 3 million acres this year.
(NH, 7/98, p.35)
1992 Mar 13, Dulce Pontes (b.1914), a Brazilian Catholic Franciscan Sister, died. She was the founder of the Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce also known as the Charitable Works Foundation of Sister Dulce. In 2019 she was canonized as a Catholic saint.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irm%C3%A3_Dulce_Pontes)
1992 Jun 5, In Brazil government leaders at the Rio Earth Summit opened for signing the UN Convention on Biological Diversity dedicated to promoting sustainable development. The convention recognized plants as part of countries’ national heritage and outlawed biopiracy. The Convention entered into force on 29 December 1993, which was 90 days after the 30th ratification.
(https://www.cbd.int/history/default.shtml)(Econ, 9/12/15, p.55)
1992 Jun 12, President Bush, addressing the Earth Summit in Brazil, declared America's environmental record "second to none." In a letter to U.S. senators, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said the Soviet Union had shot down nine U.S. planes in the early 1950's and held 12 American survivors.
(AP, 6/12/97)
1992 Jun 14, The Earth Summit concluded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The world’s industrial nations reached an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). By 1996 it was clear that the goals were not being met.
(TMC, 1994, p.1992)(SFC, 7/11/96, p.A10)(AP, 6/14/97)(Econ, 12/5/09, SR p.3)
1992 Sep 29, Lawmakers in Brazil voted overwhelmingly to impeach President Fernando Collor de Mello. He was impeached following allegations of corruption in a kickbacks scandal. The proceedings were largely ignored by the Rede Globo TV network.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)(AP, 9/29/97)(SFC, 8/31/00, p.A10)
1992 Oct 2, In Brazil Col. Ubiratan Guimaraes led the "Carandiru massacre," where 111 inmates where killed during a raid to quell a prison riot in Sao Paulo. Guimaraes was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to 632 years in prison, but awaited a 2nd trial. In 2006 Guimaraes (63) was murdered at his apartment in Sao Paulo. In April, 2013, 23 police officers were each sentenced to 156 years in jail. Dozens more faced trial.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A14)(SSFC, 7/1/01, p.A18)(AP, 9/11/06)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.48)(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A4)
1992 Dec 29, Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello resigned. Vice-President Itamar Franco succeeded Collor as president. Franco proceeded to heal the economy damaged by Collor’s erratic policies.
(AP, 12/29/97)(Econ, 5/14/16, p.25)
1992 Paulo Cesar Farias symbolized the corruption that led to the downfall of the Mello government. He was treasurer of Mello’s presidential campaign and allegedly took suitcases of cash out of the country on jets that belonged to his air taxi company.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A8)
1992 Brazil signed the American convention on Human Rights.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1992 Guilherme de Padua, TV soap actor, was charged with the stabbing death of his co-star Daniela Perez. She was stabbed 18 times with scissors. He originally confessed but later claimed that his wife, Paula de Alameida Thomaz, carried out the stabbing in a fit of jealousy. The case finally came to trial in 1997. He was found guilty and sentenced to 19 years.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.C1)(SFEC, 1/26/97, p.A15)
1992 Brazil’s steel industry was privatized.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.5)
1992 In Brazil Radio La Colifata, roughly translated as “crazy one," began operating in Buenos Aires to help mentally ill patients communicate with their peers. Initially taped segments were broadcast, but by 2007 live programming reached over 30 stations in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America.
(SFC, 1/9/07, p.D3)
1992 In Brazil Proheto Tiete was launched to clean up the San Paulo’s Tiete river. In 2006 Janes Jorge authored “The River the City Lost."
(Econ, 10/22/11, p.44)(http://tinyurl.com/426wywz)
1993 Apr 21, Brazil voted against a monarchy.
(http://countrystudies.us/brazil/84.htm)
1993 July 23, A handful of men shot and killed 6 children and teenagers at the Candelaria Cathedral and 2 more at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1996 one of the four men accused, former police officer Nelson dos Santos Cunha, confessed to having taken part. About 2,000 children roam Rio’s streets and in 1994, 936 youths under 18 were murdered. In 1996 a court cleared 2 policemen and another man in killings. Two other policemen were convicted earlier. In 1997 a court reduced the sentence of Cunha from 261 years to 18 years. In 1998 Marcos Aurelio Alcantara (30) was convicted and sentenced to 204 years in jail.
(SFC, 4/28/96, A-14)(SFC, 11/28/96, p.B6)(WSJ, 12/11/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/20/97, p.A1)(SFC, 8/27/98, p.A14)
1993 Aug 29, In Rio’s Vigario Geral favela 21 residents were massacred by police to avenge the killing of 4 colleagues. 52 policemen were accused in the massacre and in 1997 Paulo Roberto Alvarenga was the first to be tried. He was sentenced to 450 years in prison but the law limited him to serve no more than 30 years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vig%C3%A1rio_Geral_massacre)(SFC, 4/28/97, p.A12)(Econ, 4/9/05, p.31)
1993 In Brazil Pres. Itamar Franco named Fernando Henrique Cardoso as Finance Minister, the 4th in 18 months. Cardoso enacted the Plano Real economic program and slashed inflation from 2,700% to 2% in 1998. This success enabled Cardoso to win elections for president in 1994.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-13)(SFC, 2/26/99, p.E2)
1993 Castor de Andrade (d.1997 at 71), a Rio "godfather," was arrested with 13 other suspected gaming bosses and convicted of criminal association and forming armed gangs. Police evidence revealed multi-million payoffs to congressmen, police chiefs, judges, businessmen, police officers and the former president Fernando Collor de Mello.
(SFC, 4/14/97, p.A19)
1993 At Brazil’s Carandiru Prison riot troopers killed 111 inmates in their efforts to quell a rebellion. The Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) was founded at Taubate jail in Sao Paulo state to fight for prisoner’s rights and avenge the massacre by police of more than 100 prisoners at Carandiru. The PCC grew to become the country’s most powerful gang.
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A14)(Economist, 9/22/12, p.45)
1993 In Joao Pessoa, capital of Paraiba state, Sen Ronaldo Cunha Lima fired 2 shots at a political rival in a restaurant.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)
1993 In Brazil Congressman Jair Bolsonaro strode to a podium in the lower house and delivered a speech that shook its young democracy: He declared his love for the country's not-so-distant military regime and demanded the legislature be disbanded.
(Reuters, 10/5/18)
1994 Jun 9, Latin American countries signed the pioneering Convention of Belem, which required them to educate their people about women’s rights, to fight machismo and to pass laws to protect women from violence.
(Econ, 9/21/13, p.39)(http://tinyurl.com/ldkqjyk)
1994 Jul 1, Brazil under finance minister Henrique Cardoso adopted the Real Plan, named for a new currency fixed to the US dollar with a "crawling peg." Inflation had hit 7,000% as Cardoso launched the new currency.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-1,13)(WSJ, 4/26/96, p.A-15)(WSJ, 6/12/97, p.A19)
1994 Jul 17, Brazil defeated Italy to win its fourth World Cup title in Los Angeles. The 15th FIFA World Cup was hosted by the United States.
(AP, 7/17/99)(http://tinyurl.com/m6z96z3)
1994 Oct, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected president.
(USAT, OW, 4/22/96, p.1)
1994 Dec 8, Antonio Carlos Jobim (67), Brazil composer (Girl From Ipanema), died.
(MC, 12/8/01)
1994 Dec 12, The Brazilian Supreme Court acquitted former President Fernando Collor de Mello of the corruption charges that had forced him to resign in 1992.
(AP, 12/12/99)
1994 Brazil’s central bank increased interest rates to nearly 50% in response to the Mexican debt crises and devaluation.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1994 Rev. Edward Dougherty, a priest from New Orleans, became Brazil’s first Catholic television preacher.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B14)
1994 In Brazil Marino Silva was the first rubber-tapper to be elected to the federal senate. She was elected on a platform opposing deforestation.
(USAT, 4/22/96, p.4-D)
1994 An investor group led by Banco Bozano, Simonsen SA, bought the loss-ridden aircraft maker Embraer SA from the Brazilian government.
(WSJ, 3/21/97, p.A17)(WSJ, 9/13/04, p.A8)
1994 In Brazil some 5,800 square miles were cleared by fire for agriculture and ranching in this year.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.T5)
1995 Jan 1, Fernando Henrique Cardoso took office as Brazil's 37th president. He pushed up interest rates to 25% and stabilized the economy.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-13)(AP, 1/1/00)
1995 Aug, Pres. Cardoso introduced Law 9140, which acknowledged military responsibility for 136 deaths under previous governments.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1995 Brazil joined the World Trade organization (WTO) and accepted int’l. intellectual property rules.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.38)
1995 Sao Paulo Gov. Mario Covas (d.2001 at 70) dismissed nearly 200,000 civil servants to pull the state out of near-bankruptcy.
(SFC, 3/8/01, p.C4)
1995 Gen’l. Nilton Cerqueira and Helio Luz took command of the uniformed police and plainclothes detectives in Rio de Janeiro where crime was out of control. They instigated bonuses for bravery under fire.
(WSJ, 9/23/96, p.A1)
1995 Ricardo Correa moved his shoe operations from Brazil to China. A reduction in trade barriers in the early 1990s along with an appreciating currency and pressure from cheap Chinese labor had combined to stagnate Brazil’s shoe exports. By 2008 some 3,000 Brazilians worked in China’s footwear industry.
(Econ, 9/13/08, p.75)
1995 The Marinhos family dominated television in Brazil.
(WSJ, 12/1/95, p.A-10)
1995 Amazon forest lost was 7 million acres this year.
(NH, 7/98, p.35)
1995 Jorge Luiz Fernandez, aka George the Smotherer, killed two innocent people while trying to eliminate a witness to a previous murder.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A12)
1995 Ten squatters and 2 policemen were killed when some 300 police stormed a squatter camp near Corumbiarra. In 2000 2 police officers were convicted of murder and sentenced to 18 and 16 years in prison.
(SFC, 8/19/00, p.A10)
1995 Former Bolivian dictator Luis Garcia Meza Tejada (1980-1981) was extradited to Bolivia from Brazil and began serving a 30 year prison sentence, in the same prison where he once kept his enemies.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Garc%C3%ADa_Meza_Tejada)
1995-1996 Fiat SpA of Italy invested $1 bil over this period for new engines, updated models, and new projects in Brazil
(WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A11)
1995-1997 In Brazil Rodrigo Baggio organized efforts to provide computer education to the children of Rio’s slums. He formed the Committee for Computer Science Democratization, which had opened schools in 32 Rio slums over the last 2 years.
(SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)
1996 Jan, In Varginha a trio of women claimed to have seen an alien being with oily, brown skin and rubbery limbs. It also had 3 rounded protrusions from an oversized head and was said to smell very bad.
(WSJ, 6/28/96, p.A1)
1996 Apr 12, Pres. Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed a decree allowing up to 18,000 inmates of Brazil’s prisons to go free.
(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-9)
1996 Apr 17, Brazilian police killed 23 (19) workers who demanded land and injured 50 during a protest that blocked an Amazon highway in Eldorado dos Carajas. The governor of the Para state blamed Colonel Mario Pantoja and suspended him pending an inquiry. Local landowners reportedly paid Col. Pantoja $85,000 to eliminate 10 leaders of the Landless Rural Worker's Movement. Over 150 policemen were charged with murder. Trials of the policemen began in 1999. 2 officers were convicted of murder. 124 police officers were acquitted in 2002.
(WSJ, 4/19/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 6/26/96, p.A8)(SFC, 7/31/97, p.A10)(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A8)(SFC, 8/20/99, p.D2)(AP, 6/13/02)
1996 Apr 22, Marina Silva was a Goldman Award winner for her work against deforestation.
(USAT, 4/22/96, p.4-D)
1996 May 22, A consortium led by Houston Industries, AES Corp., and Electricite de France purchased control of the state owned electrical utility Light Servicos de Eletricidade SA for 1.7 bil. Light served 3 million customers in and around Rio and was snapped up for $2.2 billion. Service following the divestment was dismal.
(WSJ, 5/22/96, p.A-16)(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A1)
1996 Jun 3, Korean Samsung Display Devices will build a plant in Manaus to produce 4 million picture tubes a year beginning in Jan 1998.
(WSJ, 8/8/95, p. B6C)
1996 Jun, Rudiger Dornbusch, MIT economist, said that Brazil’s real is 30-40% overvalued. He foresees a possible collapse in 1-2 years.
1996 Jun 11, An explosion ripped through a mall in Sao Paulo and killed 44 people, more than 100 were injured. A gas leak was thought to be the cause.
(SFC, 6/12/96, p.A8)
1996 Jun 23, Paulo Cesar Farias was found shot through the heart. The body of his girlfriend was found nearby at his beach house. TV Globo reported that she shot him and killed herself.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A8)
1996 Jun 30, In Acre Itamar Pascoal was shot to death by Jose Hugo Alves, who fled the scene with Agilson Santos. A few days later Santos' body turned up in front of TV Gazeta. His limbs were cut off with a chain saw and his eyes were carved out. His son (15) was later found burned and disfigured.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A10)
1996 Jul 6, It was reported that a Brazilian fisherman, Nathon do Nascimento, choked to death when a 6-inch fish jumped out of the water and into his throat during a long yawn.
(SFC, 7/6/96, p.A17)
1996 Aug 12, The government gave priority status to 42 of 1,500 projects of major public works in a 4-year plan that will exceed 74 billion reals and create 1.5 million jobs.
(WSJ, 8/12/96, p.A8)
1996 Aug, Yvonne de Mello received the Int’l. Citizenship Award for her work with abandoned and runaway kids in Rio de Janeiro.
(Hem., 12/96, p.21)
1996 Sep 21, In Brazil the first magazine dedicated to blacks, Raca Brasil, sold out 200,000 copies in 5 days.
(SFC, 9/21/96, p.A8)
1996 Sep, The world premiere of George Coates multimedia work "20/20 Blake" was held at the Sao Paulo Int’l. Theater Festival.
(SFC, 1/21/96, p.B1)
1996 Sep, The EMB-145, a 50-seat twin-engine jet, was brought out about this time by Brazil’s Embraer SA.
(WSJ, 3/21/97, p.A16)
1996 Argentina, Brazil and the US acted to forestall a coup in Paraguay.
(Econ, 6/12/04, p.35)
1996 Brazil introduced electronic voting. The 2000 national elections became fully automated nationwide.
(WSJ, 11/13/00, p.A27)
1996 A liberal youth law was enacted that shielded children under 18 from prosecution for virtually any crime, including murder.
(SFC, 12/30/99, p.A18)
1996 A moratorium on new concessions for logging mahogany and virola wood was enacted.
(SFC, 1/27/98, p.A10)
1996 Official figures showed that 40% of all Brazilian married women of reproductive age were sterilized.
(WSJ, 6/13/03, p.A1)
1996-2000 Deforestation of the Amazon region reached 5 million acres per year.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A10)
1997 Jan 4, Some 54 people were killed during 4 days of torrential rain in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, p.A13)
1997 Jan 7, It was announced that the government’s plan to privatize its 51% of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) was opposed by former Presidents Jose Sarney and Itamar Franco, as well as Workers’ Party leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, all candidates in the 1998 elections. Vale’s Carajas mine in Para produced 25% of the world’s iron ore and held reserves for some 400 years.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A10)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.35)
1997 Jan 8, Jose Hugo Alves was kidnapped near Parnagua, Piaui, following an intensive search by Hildebrando Pascoal. His body was later found mutilated and dipped in acid.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A10)
1997 Feb 17, Darcy Ribeiro, writer and anthropologist (74), died.
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1997 Mar 3, A hidden camera revealed severe police brutality over three nights at the intersection of Naval and Jose Francisco Braz streets in Sao Paulo. The videotape showed 15 people abused by the police and one man shot dead in a car as it pulled away by officer Octavio Lorenco Gambra, aka Rambo.
(SFC, 4/29/97, p.A10)
1997 Mar 4, Brazil Senate allowed women to wear slacks.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1997 Mar, Pres. Cardoso announced a $150 million credit line from the World Bank for infrastructure and the purchase of land for settlements in northeastern Brazil.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A12)
1997 Apr 17, In Brazil some 1500 peasants marched 750 miles to Brasilia for land reform and were joined by some 25,000 trade-union members.
(SFC, 4/18/97, p.A14)
1997 Apr 29, A court injunction stopped the privatization of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the huge state-owned mining company. Some 1,000 demonstrators protested the attempted privatization in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 4/30/97, p.A11)
1997 Apr, In Brazil 2 MST farmers (Landless Rural Worker’s Movement) were killed while tending fields on the property of the 442,000 acre Giacometti lumber company. The next day the government announced that the lumber company would turn over 38,000 acres to 6,000 families. The richest 20% of the people own 88% of the land. The poorest 40% hold only 1% of the land.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A12)
1997 May 7, Brazil’s state mining Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), incorporated in 1942, was privatized. In 2006 it acquired Inco, a Canadian nickel producer, and became the world’s 2nd largest mining company.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.9)(http://tinyurl.com/2ay9h5)
1997 Jun 4, Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional revision to allow office-holders to run for re-election. This allowed Pres. Cardoso to seek a 2nd term.
(WSJ, 6/5/97, p.A1)
1997 Jun, Police strikes began in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais over low pay. Though the strikes were illegal they spread by July to 15 of Brazil’s 27 states.
(SFC, 7/23/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 16, In Recife the 18,000 man police force went on strike. The crime and murder rate immediately surged and some 3,000 soldiers were called to try to maintain order.
(SFC, 7/23/97, p.A10)
1997 Aug 9, In Brazil Herbert Jose de Souza, sociologist, died at age 60 of AIDS that he acquired as a hemophiliac from contaminated blood. He spent his life fighting inequality, hunger and police brutality.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A15)
1997 Sep 25, It was reported that local transsexuals could get a free sex-change operation under new rules that classified the surgery as experimental.
(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A14)
1997 Sep 27, A $350,000 Conselheiro memorial was inaugurated in Quixeramobim in honor of the founder of the 1893 settlement at Canudos, that was destroyed by government forces in 1897. It included a garden with 20 sculptures of Conselheiro and a 5-ton stone- a reminder of the stones he asked his followers to carry on their heads as an act of penitence.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1997 Oct 2, In Brazil thousands turned out to greet Pope John Paul II for the start of his 4-day visit.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B2)
1997 Oct 3, It was reported that tuberculosis has killed at least 27 members of the Guarani-Kaiowa tribe in the past 15 months.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B5)
1997 Oct 4, It was reported that fires in the Amazon had increased 28% over the past year and that clouds of smoke were thicker and covered more area than those due to the burning forests of Indonesia.
(SFC, 10/4/97, p.A17)
1997 Oct, The film "The War of Canudos" was about the 1893-1897 Canudos settlement founded by Antonio Conselheiro.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1997 Oct 14, Pres. Clinton met with Brazil’s Pres. Cardoso. They signed an agreement for a partnership to improve education cooperation and a $10 million US contribution to improve conservation in the Amazon.
(SFC,10/15/97, p.C4)
1997 Oct 15, In Brazil Pres. Clinton spoke on free trade at the Mangueira school, a multi-use training facility for some 2,000 children sponsored by Xerox Corp.
(SFC,10/16/97, p.A13)
1997 Oct 29, It was reported that at least 10% of the 2 million square-mile Amazon basin was destroyed by fire.
(SFC,10/29/97, p.A10)
1997 Nov 7, It was reported that there are 12 blacks among the 594 federal lawmakers of Brazil. The country is 44% black by government count, and 70% black by a UNESCO count.
(SFC,11/6/97, p.D2)
1997 Nov 12, It was reported that the government has launched an austerity package that will raise prices and taxes and lead to the dismissal of some 33,000 government workers.
(WSJ, 11/12/97, p.A1)
1997 Nov 13, A judge ordered 153 police officers and 9 senior officials to stand trial for the killing of 19 landless peasants in 1966.
(SFC,11/14/97, p.D3)
1997 Nov 21, It was reported that new legislation would limit public employees to a total compensation of $12,000 per month. Also proposed was the elimination of job protection that could cost 280,000 civil servants their jobs.
(SFC,11/21/97, p.A16)
1997 Nov, A new sports magazine, Lance, began publishing. The $43 million project was founded by 2 leading investment banks, Bozano Simonsen and Icatu, and Globo, Brazil’s largest media organization. Stakes were also held by millionaire Andre Lara Resende, former banker and economic advisor to Pres. Cardoso, and Mr. de Mattos, a professional manager.
(FT, 3/4/98, p.17)
1997 Nov, The government began to force gold miners to leave the Yanomani Indian reservation where the population was much reduced by disease.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.A1)
1997 Dec 8, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported that deaths in Rio, attributed to police links with the military, averaged 20 a month last year.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.A9)
1997 Dec 28, Inmates of the prison in Sorocaba took over and held over 600 hostages. They later dropped escape demands and agreed to be transported to less crowded prisons.
(SFC,12/31/97, p.A8)
1997 Dec 31, Security forces ended the 3 day prison rebellion at Sorocaba Prison.
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A14)
1997 The state of Amazonas formed the Amazona Filarmonica with a core of musicians from the former Soviet Union.
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.A1)
1997 In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lourenco "Rambo" Gambra, a policeman, was filmed by an amateur cameraman stopping cars and extorting money and killing a passenger in the Naval slum.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A14)
1997 Brazil’s government eliminated export taxes on commodities. Costs fell 10-20% creating a huge stimulus for agriculture. The Asian crises had reduced commodity demand and the central bank fought to defend the real, increasing overnight interest rates to an annual 40% and killing growth.
(Econ, 11/5/05, p.74)(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1997 Jose Rainha, a land reform advocate in the Landless Workers Movement (MST), was sentenced to 26.5 years in prison for the 1989 killing of Jose Machado Neto. Rainha argued that he was in another state with witnesses and that the squatters acted in self defense, but was still convicted in a 4-3 vote. A retrial was scheduled in 2000.
(SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A10)
1997 Honda Motors planned to start producing cars in Brazil by this time.
(WSJ, 11/17/95, p.A-11)
1997-1998 Fiat SpA of Italy said it would invest $1 bil over this period in Brazil for new engines, updated models, and new projects.
(WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A11)
1997-1998 In Brazil some 39,000 square km. of Amazonian forest were burned by wildfires.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.70)
1998 Jan 1, In Brazil the new law making all Brazilian adults potential organ donors went into effect. New traffic laws also went into effect. It was reported that 50,000 people die annually from car accidents because drivers routinely ignore traffic laws.
(SFC, 1/7/98, p.A8) (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T12)
1998 Feb 22, The film “Central Station" by Walter Salles won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.E5)
1998 Feb 22, In Rio de Janeiro the Palace II, built by Sergio Naya, collapsed during Carnival and 8 people were crushed. The building was built by a construction company owned by federal deputy Sergio Naya of the Brazilian Progress Party. Faulty construction was uncovered.
(FT, 3/4/98, p.6)(SFC, 7/8/99, p.A17)(www.novomilenio.inf.br/humor/0105f002.htm)
1998 Mar 17, It was reported that a 3-month-old fire was raging out of control in the state of Roraima, home of the Yanomani Indians.
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B2)
1998 Mar 20, At least 400 firefighters were sent to fight the fires in the northern Amazon. Firefighters from Argentina and Venezuela were also brought in. A UN offer of assistance was accepted to combat thousands of fires raging out of control.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/23/98, p.A1)(SFC, 3/25/98, p.C14)
1998 Mar 27, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay signed a pact to heighten security on their triple frontier.
(SFC, 3/28/98, p.A9)
1998 Apr 1, Rains extinguished more than 95% of the extensive fires in the northern Amazon.
(WSJ, 4/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 15, The prime rate was lowered from 28% to 23.3%.
(WSJ, 4/17/98, p.A10)
1998 May 8, "Operation Drought" was launched to airlift food to the drought stricken northeast where 10 million people were threatened with hunger.
(SFC, 5/9/98, p.A12)
1998 May 17, It was reported that the worst drought since one in 1983 plagued northeast Brazil.
(SFC, 5/18/98, p.A10)
1998 May, Jorge Luiz Fernandez, aka George the Smotherer, was sentenced to 47 years in prison for 2 murders in 1995. He headed a hit squad of off-duty policemen known as the "Golden Boys," who singled out criminal suspects and killed at least 30 people.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A12)
1998 May, Chief Xicao Xukuru (b.1950), top advocate for the Xukuru Indians, was shot dead in Pesqueira.
(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1,9)
1998 Jun 23, Luiz Jose Costa, half of the popular country duo Leandro and Leonardo, died of ling cancer at 36. The duo sold 20 million albums since 1991.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.D4)
1998 Jul 6, The native population was estimated to be about 300,000 people in some 200 tribes.
(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 25, It was reported that 5-7% of the drugs in Brazil were faked medicines mostly from India, China and Pakistan.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.A20)
1998 Jul 29, Brazil sold its Telebras telephone system to int’l. bidders for $19 billion. The 12 subsidiaries were sold one by one while demonstrators protested saying that Telebras was the property of the Brazilian people.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.D2)
1998 Sep 3, Moody’s downgraded Brazil’s foreign-currency bonds to single B-2. This led to an 8.6% drop in Brazil’s stock market.
(WSJ, 9/4/98, p.A9)
1998 Sep 4, The Central Bank raised interest rates from 20 to 30%. The final rate for consumers reached 150-250% a year.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D2)(WSJ, 1/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 4, In Osasco near Sao Paulo a Universal Church roof collapsed and killed at least 23 people and injured 500.
(SFEC, 9/6/98, p.A19)
1998 Sep 8, In Brazil 110 miles northwest of Sao Paulo at least 53 people were killed when a truck carrying flammable liquid exploded on a highway and engulfed 2 chartered buses. 38 people were hospitalized.
(WSJ, 9/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 10, The Sao Paulo stock exchange fell 15.8% in the afternoon. Earlier in the week the government announced spending cuts and a plan to halve the budget deficit, which stood at 7% of GDP.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D2)
1998 Sep 11, The Bovespa index fell to an intraday low of 4575. By Nov 6 it moved back up to 8214.
(WSJ, 11/9/98, p.C1)
1998 Sep, Federal agents in Alagoas state arrested police Lt. Colonel Manoel Cavalcante for heading a 50-man police squad known as the "Uniformed Gang." They were charged with political assassinations, bank robberies, car theft and arms trafficking. They charged $440 to kill a rural union leader and $44,000 to kill a prominent politician.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 1, The IMF and the World Bank were negotiating an emergency loan package for Brazil of some $30 billion. Since the collapse of the ruble, edgy investors have taken $30 billion out of Brazil. The government in the mean time pushed up the interest rate to 40%.
(SFC, 10/2/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 10/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 4, In national elections Fernando Henrique Cardoso won a 2nd term with 50.3% of the vote in early returns vs. 35.6% for Luiz Inacio da Silva of the Workers Party.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, p.A21)(SFC, 10/5/98, p.A8)
1998 Oct 16, Imports exceeded exports by over 4% of the economy and the inflation rate exceeded that of the US. This indicated that the real was overpriced and that devaluation was needed.
(WSJ, 10/16/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 22, At Cape Canaveral Orbital Sciences launched a Brazilian satellite from a Pegasus rocket aboard a modified jumbo jet. The satellite will monitor environmental devices throughout Brazil.
(SFC, 10/23/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct 28, Brazil unveiled an $84 million austerity package that included a tax on government pensions.
(SFC, 10/29/98, p.A14)
1998 Nov 4, Brazil set a minimum retirement age of 53 for men and 48 for women.
(SFC, 11/5/98, p.C5)
1998 Nov 13, Pres. Clinton and the IMF announced a $41.5 billion loan package for Brazil.
(SFC, 11/14/98, p.A10)
1998 Nov 27, Brazilian police reported that a small cult of the United Pentecostal Church in Acre state had killed 6 people over the last 2 weeks, including 3 children, to "wipe out the enemies of God." Pastor Francisco Bezerra de Moraes was one of 6 people arrested for the killings.
(SFC, 11/28/98, p.A15)
1998 Dec 14, Legislators proposed to give themselves a 59% pay raise as the economy slipped into recession.
(WSJ, 12/16/98, p.A19)
1998 Dec 17, In Alagoas state congresswoman Ceci Cunha was killed with her husband and 2 in-laws in an apparent political assassination. Talvane Albuquerque, who lost re-election in October, assumed her seat in the Chamber of Deputies. He was charged with ordering the murder of Cunha, but was immune from criminal prosecution while in office.
(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)
1998 Anthony Garotinho (38), a football player turned tele-evangelist, was elected Rio de Janeiro state governor. He quit in 2003 to run for president and Rosinha Matheus, his wife, was elected governor. After he lost his wife chose him as Secretary of Public Security. From 199-2006 they governed the state with startling incompetence.
(AP, 5/23/03)(Econ, 7/19/08, p.46)
1998 Eloi Bras Sessim, mayor of Cidreira in Rio Grande do Sul state, received an 8-year sentence for bribery and disappeared.
(SFC, 8/31/00, p.A10)
1998 Eloan Pinheiro, director of the state-owned Far-Manguinos drug factory, was given the mandate to analyze brand name AIDS drugs and develop generic forms.
(WSJ, 4/27/01, p.A17)
1998 Brazil had 41,000 homicides this year.
(SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A21)
1999 Jan 1, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (67) became Brazil's first re-elected president as he was sworn in for a 2nd 4-year term.
(SFC, 1/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Jan 7, Minas Gerais state declared a 90-day moratorium on debt owed to the central government. Former Pres. Itamar Franco, the new governor of Minas Gerais, had vowed to stop payment on over $15 billion to force a renegotiation of payment terms. 24 of 27 states had fixed debt agreements with the federal government.
(WSJ, 1/6/99, p.A17)(WSJ, 1/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 13, Brazil was forced to allow its currency to slide and global markets fell in response. Gustavo Franco, head of the central bank, quit and was replaced by Francisco Lopes ('Chico'). Lopes announced a new trading range for the real between 1.2 and 1.32 to the dollar.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A10)(WSJ, 1/14/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 14, In Brazil the markets slumped for a 2nd day and closed down 10%.
(SFC, 1/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 15, In Brazil the real was allowed to float and the Bovespa index moved up 33%. The real closed at 1.43 to the dollar.
(SFC, 1/16/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 18, In Brazil the real was allowed to float and interest rates were raised from 29 to 41%.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A6)
1999 Jan, In Rio De Janeiro a pillar supporting a sewage pipe collapsed led to major repairs that forced the city to dump tons of raw sewage into the ocean along its beaches. Repairs were not completed until May.
(SFC, 5/3/99, p.B10)
1999 Feb 2, In Brazil Pres. Cardoso fired Central Bank chief Francisco Lopes. He appointed Arminio Fraga (42), an investment strategist and former associate of George Soros, to the post.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Feb 23, The $5 billion Sergio Motta Dam on the Parana River, 370 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, was inaugurated. Full power to 18 turbines was expected in 2003.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.C3)
1999 Feb 27, Brazilian poet Haraldo de Campos (b.1929) won the Mexican Octavio Paz Prize for poetry and essay writing. His major works include "Chess Game of the Stars" and "The Education of the Five Senses."
(SFC, 3/1/99, p.E5)
1999 Feb, Hildebrando Pascoal was sworn in as a federal congressman from Acre state.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 4, In Brazil Arminio Fraga, the new Central Bank president, raised the interest rates to 45%.
(SFC, 3/5/99, p.D2)
1999 Mar 6, It was reported that heavy flooding had hit Sao Paulo. 27 people were killed and 10,000 left homeless.
(SFC, 3/6/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 8, Brazil sealed a deal with the IMF for a currency injection in exchange for more belt tightening.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)
1999 Mar 12, Bidu Sayao, Brazilian opera soprano, died at age 94 in Maine.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A19)
1999 Mar 24, Federal judges were reported to have staged a wildcat walkout for a 25% pay increase.
(WSJ, 3/24/99, p.A23)
1999 Mar 29, Paraguay's ousted president, Raul Cubas, was given asylum by Brazil.
(WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr, A nationwide probe into drug trafficking began. Over the next 14 months some 30 people, who helped or planned to help the investigation, were killed.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.F2)(SFC, 12/1/00, p.A21)
1999 May 18, Alfredo de Freitas Dias Gomes (77), Salvadoran-born soap opera writer, died in a traffic accident. He wrote the "Roque Santeiro" satire that began airing in 1985, though it was initially written in 1975. His play "O Pagador de Promesas" was made into a film that won top prize at Cannes in 1962.
(SFC, 5/19/99, p.A21)
1999 May, Congress outlawed pregnancy tests for job candidates as part of a labor code reform.
(SFC, 8/24/99, p.A10)
1999 May, The state government of Rio de Janeiro passed one of world's toughest weapons' laws. Sales of guns and ammunition were banned to anyone except police, military and private security. Death rates in Brazil from gunshots had reached 25.78 per 100,000. In Sept. a court ruled the ban unconstitutional.
(SFC, 8/30/99, p.A12)(SFC, 9/11/99, p.A9)
1999 Jun 10, Brazil’s Pres. Cardoso sanctioned a new law creating the first civilian-run defense ministry.
(SFC, 6/12/99, p.C1)
1999 Jun 23, Amnesty Int'l. issued a report condemning Brazil's prison system.
(SFC, 6/24/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 28, A European and Latin American summit opened for a 2 day conference in Rio De Janeiro. The EU and Mercosur bloc agreed to form a new free-trade zone.
(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A10)
1999 Jul 26, Brazil said it would temporarily suspend all trade talks with Argentina after Argentina moved to curb certain Brazilian exports.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A20)
1999 Jul 28, In Brazil the army was ordered by Pres. Cardoso to clear the nation's highways from blockades set up by striking truckers protesting poor roads, high tolls and high gasoline prices.
(WSJ, 7/29/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 27, Archbishop Dom Helder Camara (90) died in Recife. He had an int'l. reputation for campaigns against social inequality and human rights abuses.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.D5)
1999 Sep 9, It was reported that Brazil had recently approved minimum retirement ages of 53 for men and 48 for women, but only for employees entering the civil service. The pension system was broke and expected to run $30 bil in the red this year.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 22, The Chamber of Deputies voted 394 to 41 to expel Hildebrando Pascoal, a 1st term congressman from Acre state, for "lack of parliamentary decorum." Hildebrando was accused of torture, mass murder and int'l. drug trafficking but had been immune due to his congressional status. Pascoal surrendered to federal police the next day.
(SFC, 9/23/99, p.C16)(SFC, 9/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Oct 7, The Spix macaw of Brazil (Cyanopsitta spixii), native to the area of Curaca along the Sao Francisco River, was the world's rarest wild bird, due to animal trafficking. It's market value was put at $60,000. 218 species in Brazil were endangered, including 109 birds, 68 mammals, 31 invertebrates, 9 reptiles and 1 amphibian. The last wild Spix macaw disappeared in 2000.
(SFC, 10/7/99, p.A15,18)
1999 Nov 18, In Brazil assailants broke into a house in Sao Vicente and shot 8 people to death, 2 men, 3 boys and 3 women.
(SFC, 11/19/99, p.A21)
1999 Nov, Sen Luiz Estevao and a judge were indicted for pocketing funds from a court complex in Sao Paolo with $300 million in cost overruns.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A16)
1999 Dec 2, In Brazil riot police killed one person and wounded 9 others during a worker protest at the Bandeirantes television station in Brasilia
(SFC, 12/3/99, p.D5)
1999 In Brazil police in the northeastern city of Recife seized more than 70 pounds (30 kg) of cocaine aboard a Hercules C-130 plane bound for Spain. Five people, including a US citizen, who police said led the gang, and two Air Force officers were arrested. In 2011 Jose Roberto Monteiro Zau, the last suspect of the drug-trafficking ring, was arrested.
(AP, 5/11/11)
2000 Jan 3, In Brazil flooding killed at least 11 people in Rio de Janeiro.
(WSJ, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 12, An Argentine a tour bus crashed into a 2nd local bus in Brazil and 42 people were killed.
(WSJ, 1/13/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 13, In Brazil Mexican singer Gloria Trevi was arrested with her manager Sergio Andrade and Maria Raquenal Portillo on Mexican charges of corrupting Karina Yapor (17). Trevi became pregnant in May and rape was suspected. Brasilia federal police chief Paulo Magalhaes was removed from his post in October.
(SFC, 1/15/00, p.A10)(SFC, 10/18/01, p.C2)
2000 Jan, A broken crude oil pipeline in Rio de Janeiro spilled at least 130,000 gallons near the coast and into Guanabara Bay. The ruptured pipeline at a Petrobras refinery dumped at least 340,000 gallons of crude into the Guanabara bay, killing birds and fish and devastating environmentally sensitive mangrove swamps.
(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A6)(AP, 9/6/05)
2000 Feb 9, It was reported that death squads operating in 12 of the 26 states had killed some 2,500 people in the past 2 years. The squads targeted petty thieves, the poor and minorities.
(WSJ, 2/9/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 1, Hildebrando Pascoal, a former congressman from Acre state, was sentenced to over 6 years in prison for tax fraud and other financial crimes.
(SFC, 3/3/00, p.D4)
2000 Apr 5, In Brazil Jose Rainha Jr., leader of the Landless Rural Workers Movement, was acquitted of the 1989 killing of farm owner Jose Machado Neto.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr, UNESCO declared the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil a World Heritage site. Only 3% of the original 4,500 square mile rain forest remained.
(SFC, 9/4/00, p.B10)
2000 Jun 9, In Brazil legal rights for same-sex couples were extended to include inheritance, pension and social security benefits.
(SFC, 6/10/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 11, Gen. Lino Oviedo of Paraguay was arrested in Foz do Iguacu.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun 12, In Rio de Janeiro bus No. 174 was hijacked for 4 ½ hours before police killed the assailant and one hostage.
(SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A21)
2000 Jun 20, Brazil decreed an immediate ban on the sale of firearms as part of a broad $1.7 billion national security plan.
(SFC, 6/21/00, p.A14)
2000 Jun, Brazil’s Senate expelled Luiz Estevao (50) for lying about his involvement in a construction company that helped build a federal courthouse. He allegedly diverted $100 million in government funds for the project. It was the 1st expulsion in the Senate’s 170 year history.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A9)
2000 Jul 16, An oil leak in Brazil’s Parana state began near the Getulio Vargas Refinery in Araucaria and dumped over 1 million gallons of crude into a tributary of the Iguacu River. Petrobras was later fined $94 million for the country’s worst spill in 25 years.
(SFC, 7/18/00, p.A12)(SFC, 8/3/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 16, Armed hijacked an airliner and forced it to land in southern Parana state. They escaped with an estimated $3.3 million in stolen money.
(SFC, 8/17/00, p.A15)
2000 Aug 31, A meeting of South American presidents opened in Brasilia. They expressed concern over the civil war in Colombia and planned to discuss the creation of a South American trade block.
(SFC, 9/1/00, p.A16)
2000 Sep 17, Gangs of armed gunmen broke into jails and freed over 200 inmates. 2 of the breaks occurred in Sumare and Santa Isabel. A 3rd took place the next day in Sao Paolo.
(SFC, 9/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Oct 1, Some 110 million voted in municipal elections with advances by the Workers Party. A tilt to the left was seen as a response to corruption.
(WSJ, 10/3/00, p.A23)
2000 Oct 29, Marta Suplicy (55) of the Workers Party was elected mayor of Sao Paulo in a runoff election with 58.5% of the vote.
(SFC, 10/29/00, p.A12)
2000 Nov 17, Gunmen in Sao Paulo shot to death 10 people, 13 to 20, sleeping in an abandoned house. Drug gang retaliation was suspected.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.C16)
2000 Nov 30, In Brazil a 5,000 page report, begun in Apr 1999, was released and covered the $25 billion drug trafficking trade and implicated almost 200 public authorities including 10 national and state legislators.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.F2)(SFC, 12/1/00, p.A21)
2000 Nov, In Manaus an oil leak at an abandoned asphalt factory spilled as much as 6,600 gallons into feeder streams of the Amazon.
(SFC, 11/25/00, p.D8)
2000 Dec 15, Pres. Mbeki of South Africa spoke at a MERCOSUR meeting in Brazil and planned to begin negotiations to join the trading block.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.B2)
2000 In Brazil Antonio Marcos Pimenta Neves, managing editor of the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, shot Sandra Gomide (32) to death. She was a former editor of the paper's business section who had ended their relationship shortly before she was slain. Neves was convicted in 2006 but stayed free during numerous appeals. In 2011 the Supreme Court said Neves must serve his 15-year sentence after running out of appeals.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2000 Brazil’s Central Bank Pres. Arminio Fraga set up the printing of 10-real bills on long lasting plastic. The move was symbolic of currency stability.
(WSJ, 6/2/00, p.A1)
2000 Brazil was about 74% Roman Catholic. By 2010 the number fell to about 65% of the population.
(AP, 11/3/12)
2000 A UN study put the murder rate in Rio de Janeiro at 26.3 per 100,000, one of the highest in the world.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A13)
2001 Jan 20, It was reported that 12.5% of the original forest in the Amazon region had been destroyed.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A10)
2001 Jan 24, Portugal Telecom and Spain’s Telefonica announced today the formation of a US$ 10 billion Strategic Joint Venture ("JV") for mobile services in Brazil. The resulting entity, named Vivo, was formed from seven assorted mobile units they already controlled.
(Econ, 5/22/10, p.71)(http://tinyurl.com/2cxlgd4)
2001 Jan 25, The first World Social Forum (WSF), originated by Oded Grajew, opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, organized by many groups including the French Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens (ATTAC).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum)
2001 Jan, In Brazil Gol Airlines was launched by the Constantino family, which ran a fleet of buses. Employee owned Varig had 40% of the market, but was crumbling under competition from TAM. Varig went into bankruptcy in 2005.
(Econ, 4/28/07, p.76)
2001 Feb 3, Mexico followed Canada and the US in a ban on beef from Brazil due to fears of mad cow disease.
(WSJ, 2/5/01, p.A17)
2001 Feb 18, In Brazil some 15,000 convicts held uprisings in 29 prisons that left 16 people dead. It was coordinated by Idemir Carlos Ambrosio, leader of the PCC prison-based gang. Ambrosio was killed in prison in July.
(SFC, 2/19/01, p.A9)(SFC, 5/16/06, p.A7)
2001 Mar 6, Sao Paulo Gov. Mario Covas died at age 70.
(SFC, 3/8/01, p.C4)
2001 Mar 15, A Petrobras oil-platform explosion killed 1 worker and left 9 missing at the 40-story offshore facility. The platform was in danger of sinking.
(WSJ, 3/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 20, The damaged Brazilian P-36 Petrobras oil platform sank 75 miles offshore. 400,000 gallons of fuel and crude oil began leaking into the sea. An immediate revenue loss of $50 million per month was expected.
(SFC, 3/21/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 27, The Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency, Aneel, ordered federal agencies and state companies to reduce consumption by 10% due to power shortages caused by poor rains.
(WSJ, 3/28/01, p.A16)
2001 Apr 15, A prison takeover in Cuiaba ended when inmates killed 6 leaders of the rebellion after they took visitors hostage.
(WSJ, 4/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 17, A group of 20, who claimed to be armed with syringes of the AIDS virus, kidnapped 4 armored car workers and their families. The Proforte armored car company handed over $2.5 million the next day.
(SFC, 4/19/01, p.A11)
2001 Apr 21, Luiz Fernando da Costa (33), a Brazilian drug lord, was arrested in Colombia after his plane was forced down by the Colombian air force. He was accused of selling arms to FARC in exchange for cocaine.
(SFC, 4/23/01, p.A12)
2001 May 2, It was reported that a large embezzlement case in Brazil threatened to unravel the ruling coalition. Some $2 billion had disappeared from the Amazon Development Bureau (Sudam). Fakery of land deals (grilagem) was estimated to involve some 100 million acres of the Amazon Basin.
(SFC, 5/2/01, p.A8)(SFC, 5/3/01, p.B5)
2001 May 18, Brazil ordered consumers and businesses to cut energy use by 20% due to shortages created by drought. Rationing was to start June 1.
(SFC, 5/19/01, p.A8)
2001 May, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 masked gang members with assault rifles freed drug trafficker Marcio Greick (21) from the Bonsucesso Hospital. One police officer was killed, 7 people were injured and 2 guards beaten as they shot their way out.
(SFC, 11/18/05, p.A19)
2001 Jun 1, Senator Antonio Carlos Magalhaes, former president of the Senate, resigned his seat following accusations of tampering with the vote tallying system.
(SFC, 6/2/01, p.A9)
2001 Jun 20, Brazil’s Central Bank raised the key interest rate 1.5% to 18.25%.
(WSJ, 6/22/01, pA11)
2001 Jun, Brazil signed a trade agreement with Guyana.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.36)
2001 Jul 5, Pres. Cardoso announced a plan to boost the electrical supply with imports and new generators. The real fell to 2.47 to the dollar.
(WSJ, 7/6/01, p.A7)
2001 Jul 8, Some 100 inmates escaped through a tunnel from Latin America’s largest prison in Sao Paulo. 35 were soon captured.
(WSJ, 7/10/01, p.A1)
2002 Jul, The $1.4 billion Amazon surveillance system (SIVAM) was scheduled to be completed by Raytheon Systems.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.Spe.Adv.)
2001 Aug 5, In Brazil a 2-week police strike in Salvador, Bahia state, was reported to be over. Threats of strikes remained in other cities due to low wages.
(SSFC, 8/5/01, p.T14)
2001 Aug 6, Jorge Amado (b.1912), author of 32 novels, died at age 88. He was considered Brazil’s greatest contemporary writer.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Amado)
2001 Aug 17, Congress approved a legal civil code that made women equal to men.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A10)
2001 Aug 20, Patricia Abravanel (23), the daughter of Silvio Santos, was kidnapped by a band of thugs that included Fernando Dutra Pinto (22).
(SFC, 8/31/01, p.D2)
2001 Aug 22, Brazil moved to produce a generic version of the anti-AIDS drug nelfinavir under int’l. patent protection by Roche.
(SFC, 8/23/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 23, Francisco de Assis Santana (56), a Xukuru Indian leader aka Chico Quele, was killed in an ambush near Pe de Serra in Penambuco state.
(SFC, 8/25/01, p.A9)
2001 Aug 28, Fernando Pinto and his accomplices received $200,000 in ransom money for the daughter of TV tycoon Silvio Santos. The next day Pinto killed 2 policemen and escaped.
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A5)
2001 Aug 30, In Sao Paulo Fernando Dutra Pinto (22) held Silvio Santos hostage for 8 hours and then surrendered to police.
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A5)(SFC, 8/31/01, p.D2)
2001 Aug 31, Brazil withdrew its threat to make a generic version of the Nelfinavir AIDS drug after Roche Pharmaceuticals agreed to produce the drug locally and cut the price by 40% next year.
(SFC, 9/1/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep, Antonio Costa Santos, Worker’s Party (PT) mayor of Campinas, was assassinated.
(SFC, 1/26/02, p.A8)
2001 Oct 9, Roberto Campos (b.1917), Brazilian politician and diplomat, died. His autobiography was titled “A lanterna na popa" (2001). It revised his personal biography as well as the recent economic history of Brazil.
(Econ, 1/30/10, p.46)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_de_Oliveira_Campos)
2001 Nov 23, An oil pipeline leak near Rio was stopped after some 26,000 gallons spilled into Guanabara Bay.
(SSFC, 11/25/01, p.A18)
2001 Nov 24, A fire at a dance club in Belo Horizonte killed at least 6 people.
(SSFC, 11/25/01, p.A18)
2001 Dec 5, Sir Peter Blake (53) of New Zealand, 2-time America’s Cup winner, was killed on the research vessel Seamaster by gunmen at Macapa, Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon. 7 men were arrested 2 days later and an 8th was still sought. The final 2 suspects were arrested Dec 9.
(SFC, 12/7/01, p.A1)(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A2)(SFC, 12/10/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 26, Rescue workers searched for victims of earth slides and flooding that killed at least 49 people in Rio de Janeiro state.
(SFC, 12/27/01, p.A5)
2001 Brazil ended the year with 7.7% inflation.
(WSJ, 2/21/02, p.A15)
2001 In Brazil an 840-pound emerald was discovered in Bahia. It was sold to Americans for $60,000 and then transferred among a number of people, who moved it to San Jose, Ca., then to Louisiana, where it was trapped in a flooded warehouse, and then back to California. In 2009 it came under police control as courts attempted to unravel ownership of the mineral, now said to be worth nearly $400 million.
(WSJ, 2/28/09, p.A1)
2002 Jan 18, Celso Daniel, the PT mayor of Santo Andre, a Sao Paulo suburb, was kidnapped by a gang seeking to free comrades from prison. His bullet-riddled body was found Jan 20. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Brazil claimed responsibility (Brazilian Revolutionary Action Front) for the killing and the Sep murder of another Workers’ Party mayor.
(WSJ, 1/21/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/26/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 19, Pres. Cardoso announced that electricity rationing would end March 1.
(WSJ, 2/20/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 7, Brazil’s 4-party coalition collapsed with the pullout of the Liberal Front Party. Roseana Sarney (40), Gov. of Maranhao state and PFL presidential candidate, was involved in a scandal over a consulting firm she owned with her husband. Sarney called the government investigation a witch-hunt. Her presidential bid was killed when images of half a million dollars in banknotes, found at her husband’s office, were broadcast on television.
(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A13)(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A7)(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2002 Mar 25, It was reported that poachers were destroying the palms in Itatiaia National Park in order to harvest the palm hearts. A 100-year-old tree has enough heart to fill 2 14-oz cans sold retail at $3.99.
(WSJ, 3/25/02, p.A1)
2002 May 24, A shootout between drug gangs in a Rio slum left 6 people dead.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A13)
2002 Jun 2, Tim Lopes (50), an undercover TV journalist reporting on crime and drugs in Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns, was captured as he tried to infiltrate a dance party in the Vila Cruzeiro shantytown of northern Rio.
(AP, 6/10/02)
2002 Jun 10, In Brazil police reported that Tim Lopes (50), an undercover TV journalist, had been tortured and put to death with a sword by Elias Pereira da Silva, a drug lord known as Mad Elias, who runs his territory like a medieval fiefdom.
(AP, 6/10/02)
2002 Jun 12, A jury in northern Brazil acquitted 124 police officers accused of taking part in the 1996 massacre of 19 farm workers.
(AP, 6/13/02)
2002 Jun 12, Brazil’s currency fell to a 9-month low and marked a looming debt crises and the possible election of a left-wing president in October.
(WSJ, 6/13/02, p.A15)
2002 Jun 13, Brazil said it will draw down $10 billion in approved IMF credit, tighten fiscal policy and buy back $3 billion in foreign debt. The currency soared and settled at 2.71 to the dollar.
(WSJ, 6/14/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 30, Ronaldo, the world's greatest goal-scorer, capitalized on an error by the best goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, then scored again to lift Brazil to an unprecedented fifth World Cup title Sunday night, 2-0 over Germany.
(AP, 6/30/02)
2002 Jul 3, Brazil and Mexico signed a trade agreement that reduced import duties on some 800 products.
(WSJ, 7/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 5, Twenty vehicles piled up in early morning fog in southeastern Brazil, killing at least 13 people, including a pregnant woman and six police officers.
(AP, 7/5/02)
2002 Jul 22, In Brazil assailants tortured and killed Bartolemeu Morais da Silva (44), a prominent activist who had been organizing land occupations by the poor in a southern Amazon state.
(AP, 7/23/02)
2002 Jul 26, In Brazil the new $1.4 billion Amazon Radar Surveillance (SIVAM), developed by Raytheon, was unveiled. It was to be used to curb crime and gather economic data.
(SFC, 7/26/02, p.A16)
2002 Jul 30, In Brazil the real fell 3.3% to 3.3 to the dollar, its 7th consecutive record low.
(WSJ, 7/31/02, p.A12)
2002 Aug 7, The IMF agreed to lend Brazil $30 billion to stem a financial panic. This was its biggest loan to date.
(SFC, 8/8/02, p.A10)
2002 Aug 22, In Brazil President Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed a decree creating the Tumucumaque (the rock on top of the mountain) Mountains National Park bigger than Maryland covering a region of virgin rainforest in Amapa state, along Brazil's northern borders with Surinam and Guyana.
(AP, 8/22/02)(SFC, 8/23/02, p.A2)
2002 Aug 30, A twin-engine plane with 31 people crashed while trying to land in heavy rains near Rio Branco, a northwestern Brazilian city, killing 24 people.
(AP, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 13, It was reported that political theater in Brazil had taken on a new grass-roots form called the Theater of the Oppressed, wherein spectators stepped into scenes in "interventions" to take the part of the underdog.
(WSJ, 9/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 6, Brazilian voters voted 46% in favor of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former factory worker and union boss, as president. Jose Alencar was da Silva’s running mate. A runoff with Jose Sera (23%) was scheduled.
(WSJ, 10/2/02, p.A1)(AP, 10/6/02)(SFC, 10/8/02, p.A10)
2002 Oct 25, In Brazil unknown gunmen shot and killed eight people in the state of Sao Paulo in two killings. In the first six months of 2002, the state's Public Security Bureau registered 6,159 homicides.
(AP, 10/26/02)
2002 Oct 27, In Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (57) won elections with 61% of the runoff vote. He reiterated that his administration would honor Brazil's $230 billion foreign debt, but said lending institutions and the international community "must know that we cannot have people suffering from hunger every day."
(AP, 10/28/02)
2002 Oct 29, In Brazil Pres.-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to honor the foreign debt but also pledged that ending hunger would be his chief priority.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Oct 30, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Suzanne von Richtofen (22) let her lover Daniel Cravinhos (21) and his brother, Christian (26) into her house, and checked to make sure her parents were sleeping. Then the brothers sneaked into the parents' bedroom and bludgeoned them to death with iron bars. In 2006 all 3 were tried for murder. Each was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Daniel Cravinhos said he beat Manfred and Marisa von Richtofen to death with an iron bar as they slept at home in a wealthy district of Sao Paulo because the couple's daughter, Suzanne von Richtofen, persuaded him to do it.
(AP, 6/5/06)(AP, 7/17/06)(AP, 7/22/06)
2002 Nov 22, Amilcar de Castro (82), Brazilian sculptor, died. His work was composed from massive sheets of iron.
(SFC, 12/3/02, p.A24)
2002 Dec 5, In Brazil 6 South American presidents convened a summit of the continent's largest trading bloc, aiming to work out a timetable for a free trade agreement covering most of the continent.
(AP, 12/6/02)
2002 Dec 6, In Brazil South American leaders set a timetable for creating a free trade agreement to cover South America and possibly the Caribbean.
(AP, 12/7/02)
2002 Dec 9, In Angra dos Reis, Brazil, mudslides triggered by torrential rains slashed through this southeastern city, burying houses and killing at least 34 people.
(AP, 12/10/02)
2002 Dec 12, In Brazil Pres.-elect Lula da Silva nominated Henrique Meirelles, a former executive for FleetBoston, as Central Bank governor.
(WSJ, 12/14/02, p.A12)
2002 Dec 18, In Brazil a ferry accident on the Para River killed at least 22 people with 28 more believed missing. The death toll grew to 44.
(AP, 12/19/02)(AP, 12/23/02)
2002 Dec 26, In Curtiba, Brazil, a C-95 Bandeirante air force plane crashed during an emergency landing, killing two people and injuring the other 14 people aboard.
(AP, 12/26/02)
2002 The Brazilian film “Cidade de Deus" (City of God) was set in a suburb of Rio and made the lawless squalor there internationally known.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.42)
2002 Mexico ended its visa requirement for Brazilians as both countries liberalized their trade regimes. Illegal immigration of Brazilians to the US via Mexico quickly increased.
(WSJ, 1/24/05, p.A16)
2002 The city of Diadema, Brazil, passed a law to ban bars and restaurants from selling alcohol between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. This led to a 47% drop in homicides, a 30% drop in traffic accidents and a 55% drop in assaults against women.
(SFC, 5/10/06, p.A1)
2003 Jan 1, In Brazil Gilberto Gill (60), musician, became minister of culture under Pres. Silva.
(SFC, 1/2/03, p.A3)
2003 Jan 3, In Brazil Pres. Silva delayed a plan to spend $700 million on jet fighters. The military's $7.4 billion budget is scheduled to be cut by $282 million.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2003 Jan 11, In Brazil mudslides caused by torrential rains near Rio de Janeiro left 17 dead.
(AP, 1/12/03)
2003 Jan 16, In Brazil mudslides killed at least 36 people in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo states.
(SFC, 1/17/03, p.A10)(AP, 1/18/03)
2003 Jan 23, In Porto Alegre, Brazil, the 3rd World Social Forum began as anti-globalization activists demonstrated at the start of the third annual summit on ways to limit the excesses of global capitalism.
(AP, 1/23/03)
2003 Jan 30, Brazil's President Lula da Silva launched his anti-hunger program with a move to provide $14 a month to 1.5 million families, most from the country's poverty-stricken northeast.
(AP, 1/30/03)
2003 Feb 4, Beauty pageant organizers stripped Miss Brazil of her title after they discovered she was married. Joseane Oliveira (21) was replaced by first runner-up Taiza Thomsen (21).
(AP, 2/5/03)
2003 Feb 12, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Bishop Paulo Pereira (38) of the Vetero Catholic Church, in the low-income district of Guainazes, was gunned down inside his church's headquarters. Elsewhere in San Paulo 3 gunmen killed Wallace Ornelas Passos, a 17-year-old student with a police record for theft and other criminal activities.
(AP, 2/13/03)
2003 Feb 14, In Brazil police found the bullet-riddled bodies of six men in the back seat and trunk of a car parked near a Rio de Janeiro slum.
(AP, 2/14/03)
2003 Feb 28, Carnival began in Brazil as a large crime wave swept Rio. Imprisoned Red Command leader, Luiz Fernando da Costa, was believed responsible and was moved to a maximum security prison in San Paolo state.
(SFC, 2/28/03, A16)
2003 Mar 1, In Brazil a truce between landless farmworkers and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva peace ended, when some 1,000 landless farmers occupied a ranch 80 miles west of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 3/6/03)
2003 Mar 7, Jose Marcio Ayres (49), Brazilian biologist and senior Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) biologist, died in NYC. In 1996 he set up the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve to protect a 4,300 square-mile area of the Amazon rain forest.
(Econ, 6/19/04, p.77)
2003 Mar 24, In Brazil gunmen killed Alexandre Martins de Castro Filho, a judge who focused on organized crime, 10 days after another prominent judge was gunned down in a similar slaying.
(AP, 3/25/03)c
2003 Apr 4, In southern Brazil 2 buses crashed head-on during heavy rains, killing 18 people and injuring seven others.
(AP, 4/4/03)
2003 Apr 16, In Jahangir, Brazil, 4 young men were killed by police in the Borel shantytown on Rio's poor north side. The community was unanimous that they were not gang members and had no involvement in crime. More than 800 civilians died from police bullets in Rio during the first eight months of this year. In 2006 Capt. Marcos Duarte Ramalho was the third police officer to stand trial and the first to be convicted in connection with the killings. Two more officers awaited trial for the killings.
(AP, 11/10/03)(AP, 10/20/06)
2003 Apr 19, In Brazil a tourist schooner with 64 people on board sank in a canal east of Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 11 people.
(Reuters, 4/20/03)
2003 May 10, A Brazilian police SWAT team killed eight men in a shootout as they raided a shantytown looking for drug traffickers.
(AP, 5/10/03)
2003 May 12, In Brazil some 1,000 other landless farmers knocked down the barbed-wire fences surrounding the Tres Marias ranch in southern Brazil, evicted its owner and claimed the land for themselves. 90 percent of the Brazil's land was owned by just 20 percent of the people, while the poorest 40 percent of the population held just 1 percent.
(AP, 6/29/03)
2003 Jun 20, Pres. Bush and Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva said that relations between the two nations remain on track despite sharp disagreements over Iraq and some trade issues.
(AP, 6/21/03)
2003 Jun 22, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, some 800,000 danced their way through one of the world's biggest gay pride parades.
(AP, 6/23/03)
2003 Jun 26, Researchers said the Amazon rain forest is disappearing at an increasing rate, mainly because of a growing appetite for farm land.
(AP, 6/26/03)
2003 Jul 17, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, police killed 3 alleged gang members and pulled the bullet-riddled bodies of 7 others from a sludge-filled river in 2 notorious shantytowns due to an escalating gang war over drug control between The Red Command and Third Command.
(AP, 7/18/03)
2003 Aug 4, Brazilian novelist Rubem Fonseca (b.1925) won Mexico's prestigious Juan Rulfo Prize for literature.
(AP, 8/4/03)
2003 Aug 6, Roberto Marinho (98), who turned his father's O Globo newspaper into a media empire and became one of Brazil's richest men, died.
(AP, 8/7/03)(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A14)
2003 Aug 9, In northeastern Brazil 84 inmates from a maximum security prison escaped through a tunnel.
(AP, 8/9/03)
2003 Aug 16, Haroldo de Campos (73), Brazilian poet, died in Sao Paulo. He was the best know of the Brazilian Concrete poets.
(SFC, 8/26/03, p.A19)
2003 Aug 19, In northeastern Brazil federal police and government inspectors freed about 800 slave workers from two farms in Bahia state. Another 200 were freed a week later. The Brazilian government estimated that some 25,000 people work in slavery conditions in Brazil, most of them in remote Amazon areas.
(AP, 8/30/03)
2003 Aug 19, In Baghdad a car bomb exploded in front of the hotel housing the UN headquarters, collapsing the front of the building. UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello (55) of Brazil and 22 other people were killed. UNICEF said that its program co-coordinator for Iraq, Canadian Christopher Klein-Beekman, was among the dead. In 2008 Samantha Power authored “Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World."
(SFC, 8/20/03, p.A12)(AP, 8/21/03)(SSFC, 2/10/08, p.M1)
2003 Aug 20, The G-20 (G20) was formed with Brazil as one of its leading member nations. The group emerged at the 5th Ministerial WTO conference, held in Cancun, Mexico from 10 September to 14 September 2003. The other members are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, the Philippines, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
(AP, 9/10/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20_developing_nations)
2003 Aug 22, In Brazil a $6 million rocket exploded on its launch pad while undergoing final pre-launch tests, killing 21 people. The VLS-1 rocket which was undergoing tests at the Alcantara Launch Center.
(AP, 8/25/03)
2003 Aug 25, Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva and Peru's Pres. Toledo signed a free-trade agreement between Peru and Mercosur. Peru planned to join as an associate member.
(Econ, 8/30/03, p.25)
2003 Sep 15, A new human rights report on Brazil said summary executions and killings by death squads, often formed by police officers, are commonplace and frequently tolerated by authorities.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2003 Sep 26, In Cuba Brazil's Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed business accords with Castro that included an agreement to renegotiate Havana's $40 million debt with Brazil.
(AP, 9/27/03)
2003 Sep 27, Brazil and Cuba signed $200 million in new business deals in Cuba by private Brazilian enterprises.
(AP, 9/27/03)
2003 Oct 4, In southwest Brazil a small airplane carrying congressman Rep. Jose Carlos Martinez and three others went missing. All 4 were found dead the next day.
(AP, 10/4/03)(AP, 10/5/03)
2003 Oct 9, In Santo Antonio de Jesus in Bahia state, Brazil, gunmen shot and killed Gerson de Jesus Bispo, a man who spoke to a UN investigator about police death squads.
(AP, 10/10/03)
2003 Oct 27, In Brazil the 22nd Socialist International Congress opened. Some 600 delegates from more than 100 political parties met under the 52-year-old Socialist International's motto: "For a more human society. For a world more fair and just."
(AP, 10/28/03)
2003 Nov 9, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, 87 inmates attempted a prison escape through a 390-foot tunnel. 48 were captured and 8 died when the tunnel collapsed.
(AP, 11/10/03)
2003 Nov 21, In Brazil Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to provide homesteads for 400,000 poor farm families by 2006. His Bolsa Familia plan merged 4 income transfer programs into one with payments to the poorest families of up to 95 reais ($33) a month. By 2008 some 11 million families received benefits under the plan.
(Econ, 10/25/03, p.35)(AP, 11/22/03)(Econ, 2/9/08, p.39)
2003 Nov 30, In Brazil Todd and Michelle Staheli were beaten to death in bed at home in an exclusive Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. Todd Staheli (39), an American executive with Shell oil company, and his wife were found slain the next day. In 2004 Jociel Conceicao dos Santos (20), a handyman, recanted a confession and denied he killed the American couple. He blamed two other Brazilians for the crime. In 2006 Jossiel Conceicao dos Santos (22) was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing the American couple.
(AP, 12/1/03)(AP, 3/5/06)
2003 Dec 14, Brazil's ruling Workers Party expelled four leftist lawmakers after they voted against the party on crucial legislation being sought by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 12/15/03)
2003 Dec 15, The IMF extended for 15 months a $34 billion loan agreement with Brazil.
(WSJ, 12/16/03, p.A15)
2003 Dec 22, Brazil's Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a sweeping gun-control law in an effort to rein in what he called "an epidemic of murder by firearms."
(AP, 12/23/03)
2003 The Brazil Labor Ministry freed 4,995 people who were working in debt bondage, mostly on remote ranches in the southern Amazon. The rights group Land Pastoral, linked with the Roman Catholic Church, estimated that between 15,000 and 25,000 workers live in slave-like conditions in Brazil,
(AP, 3/18/04)
2003 In Brazil the Anaconda police operation caught judges selling favorable sentences to criminals.
(Econ, 3/27/04, p.37)
2003 The introduction of flex-fuel cars, vehicles that could run on ethanol as well as regular petrol, took off in Brazil due to a policy that dated to the 1970s of promoting fuel derived from home-grown sugar cane.
(Econ, 9/24/05, p.79)
2003 Brazilian ranchers, soybean farmers and loggers destroyed a chunk of the Amazon rainforest about the size of Massachusetts.
(AP, 4/8/04)
2004 Jan 1, Brazil began fingerprinting and photographing American visitors in retaliation to similar new US procedures.
(WSJ, 12/31/03, p.A1)
2004 Jan 9, In southeastern Brazil floodwaters swept a bus carrying 30 orange pickers off a road, and at least eight people drowned.
(AP, 1/10/04)
2004 Jan 17, In Brazil the death toll rose to 11 as heavy rains and mudslides pounded the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro for the second day in a row.
(AP, 1/17/04)
2004 Feb 4, Hilda Hilst (73), who provoked Brazilian readers with fiction and poetry depicting insanity, the supernatural and erotica, died.
(AP, 2/4/04)
2004 Feb 8, In Brazil 49 inmates slipped through a bathroom wall of a Rio de Janeiro jail cell in an escape caught on a surveillance camera. Authorities suspended six prison guards.
(AP, 2/9/04)
2004 Feb 15, In Brazil gunmen ambushed a busload of police in Rio and killed 3 officers.
(WSJ, 2/17/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb, Zumbi dos Palmares, Brazil’s 1st college catering mainly to blacks, opened.
(Econ, 2/14/04, p.34)
2004 Mar 10, Brazil's government said the army burned all documents about the suppression of a 1970s insurgency against the military dictatorship. The papers were destroyed in the 1970s and 1980s in accordance with laws in force at the time.
(AP, 3/10/04)
2004 Mar 16, It was announced that Carlos Slim, owner of Mexico’s Telmex, planned to buy a controlling interest in Brazil’s biggest long distance operator, Embratel.
(Econ, 3/20/04, p.64)
2004 Mar 20, In Sao Goncalo, Brazil, Carlos Leite and his companion, Maria da Penha, inaugurated a free library in their home with some 100 volumes. By late 2005 the collection had grew to 10,000 volumes and took up most of the space in the home of the illiterate couple.
(AP, 10/2/05)
2004 Mar 28, A powerful storm, dubbed Catarina, lashed Brazil's southern coast, damaging thousands of homes, killing two people.
(AP, 3/29/04)
2004 Apr 2, In Brazil Jociel Conceicao dos Santos (20), a handyman, recanted a confession and denied he killed an American couple (Nov 30, 2003). He blamed two other Brazilians for the crime.
(AP, 4/2/04)
2004 Apr 7, In Brazil Amazon Indians attacked prospectors who were illegally digging for diamonds. Cinta Larga Indians massacred 29 illegal wildcat diamond miners on their remote northern reservation. 28 Indians were charged in the killings, but the case has stalled over jurisdictional questions.
(AP, 4/14/04)(AP, 12/10/07)
2004 Apr 12, In Brazil more than 1,000 police stormed into two Rio shantytowns, attempting to halt a violent dispute among drug traffickers that has left at least 10 people dead.
(AP, 4/12/04)
2004 Apr 13, Brazil's 10,000 federal customs agents began a 4-day strike, threatening to tie up the nation's ports and international airports unless the government grants them a pay raise.
(AP, 4/13/04)
2004 Apr 16, In Recife, Brazil, thousands of militant farmers converged to press the government for speedier land reform.
(AP, 4/16/04)
2004 Apr 19, In Brazil riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to eject hundreds of squatters who had seized a vacant building in Sao Paulo to demand the government speed up redistribution of land to the poor.
(AP, 4/19/04)
2004 Apr 22, In Brazil inmates at Urso Branco State Prison ended a 5-day rebellion that left nine people dead at the overcrowded prison, after authorities agreed to improve conditions.
(AP, 4/22/04)
2004 Apr, Brazil’s Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began operations. It replaced the Police Complaints Authority.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.47)
2004 May 11, Brazil decided to expel American journalist Larry Rohter, who had just published a story on Pres. Lula’s drinking.
(Econ, 5/15/04, p.36)
2004 May 14, A Brazilian domestic airliner crashed near the Amazon city of Manaus, killing all 30 passengers and three crew members.
(AP, 5/15/04)
2004 May 26, Amnesty International charged that Brazilian police killed hundreds of suspects over the past year, despite a commitment by the government to set higher standards for public security.
(AP, 5/26/04)
2004 May 29, In Brazil Inmates rioted at the Benfica detention center in a northern Rio district, seizing guns and taking guards hostage after 14 inmates broke out in a mass escape.
(AP, 5/29/04)
2004 Jun 1, In Brazil police entered the Benfica prison after a three-day rebellion and found the bodies of 38 inmates, some of them mutilated. At least 14 of 900 had escaped.
(AP, 6/2/04)
2004 Jun 1, In northeast Brazilian state of Alagoas 2 days of heavy rains killed 20 people and left some 2,100 homeless.
(AP, 6/2/04)
2004 Jun 1, In Haiti US commanders began turning over authority to a UN force under Gen. Augusto Pereira of Brazil.
(SFC, 6/2/04, A1)
2004 Jun 4, In Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva designated four new national forests to protect more than a million acres of rainforest.
(AP, 6/4/04)
2004 Jun 13, The UN Conference on Trade and Development opened in San Paulo, Brazil. This marked its 11th forum over a 40 year history. The so-called Group of 77 developing nations actually has 132 member nations.
(AP, 6/13/04)
2004 Jun 17, Brazil’s Senate backed a rise in the minimum wage to 275 reais ($88) per month and approved a new bankruptcy law.
(Econ, 6/26/04, p.42)
2004 Jun 17, In Brazil the Camara Dam on the Mamanguate River burst and flooded the city of Alagoa Grande in Paraiba state, some 1,300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. At least 3 people were killed.
(AP, 6/18/04)
2004 Jun 21, Leonel Brizola (b.1922), former governor of Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro states, died of a heart attack. Brizola, one of Brazil's most notable leftist politicians, created and armed the so-called "Groups of 11," cells designed to resist the military dictatorship.
(AP, 6/22/04)(SFC, 6/24/04, p.B6)
2004 Jul 18, Idjarruri Karaja (40), an activist who worked to include Indian rights in Brazil's constitution, died of complications from kidney surgery.
(AP, 7/20/04)
2004 Jul 27, Brazil’s police said they have arrested 6 suspects in the Jan 28 shooting deaths of 4 Labor Ministry employees. They still don't know who ordered the killings.
(AP, 7/27/04)
2004 Jul 28, Luiz Candiota, Brazil’s central bank director of monetary policy, resigned following press allegations of tax evasion. He was succeeded by Rodrigo Azevedo, chief economist of CSFB, an investment bank.
(Econ, 7/31/04, p.34)
2004 Aug 20, In Brazil 4 homeless men were bludgeoned to death and six were in critical condition following early morning attacks by unknown assailants in downtown streets of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 8/20/04)
2004 Aug 29, Closing ceremonies were held in Athens, Greece, for the 28th Olympiad. During one of the final events, lead marathon runner Vanderlie Lima of Brazil was pushed into the crowd by an intruder, but managed to finish 3rd behind Stefano Baldini of Italy.
(SFC, 8/30/04, p.D1)
2004 Aug 29, In Brazil an overcrowded balcony collapsed inside a popular Sao Paulo nightclub that featured male strippers, killing six people and injuring at least 117.
(AP, 8/29/04)
2004 Aug, An $11 billion merger between Belgium’s Interbrew and Brazil’s largest brewer AmBev formed InBev.
(Econ, 10/29/05, p.66)
2004 Aug, Brazil and Peru inaugurated the construction of a $7 million bridge between Assis, Brazil, and Inapari, Peru. It was part of a 2,500 mile Transoceanic Highway program.
(SFC, 11/5/04, p.W1)(Econ, 3/26/05, p.40)
2004 Sep 22, In southern Brazil a school bus swerved off a narrow road and plunged into a reservoir, killing at least 16 children.
(AP, 9/22/04)
2004 Sep 23, In southern Brazil seven teenagers were beaten to death and five others were injured in a rebellion at a juvenile detention center.
(AP, 9/24/04)
2004 Sep 27, In Brazil a strike by bank workers entered its 2nd full week.
(WSJ, 9/28/04, p.A20)
2004 Oct 3, The party of Brazil's left-leaning president emerged stronger from nationwide municipal elections but did not come in first in the Sao Paulo.
(AP, 10/4/04)
2004 Oct 9, In Brazil a member of a government task force working to stop illegal diamond mining on Indian reservations in the Amazon was shot dead at an ATM.
(AP, 10/10/04)
2004 Oct 14, In Brazil Pres. da Silva signed an executive order permitting farmers to plant genetically modified soybeans.
(SFC, 10/16/04, p.A3)
2004 Oct 17, Effective as of today Brazil's air force will be allowed to shoot down small planes suspected of carrying drugs under a law meant to stem the flow of cocaine.
(AP, 10/15/04)
2004 Oct 24, Brazil launched its 1st rocket into space.
(WSJ, 10/25/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 31, In Brazil Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suffered major defeats in an electoral test of his ruling party's influence. Silva’s PT Party won in 11 of the 23 cities where it fielded candidates. Jose Serra won the mayoral election in Sao Paulo over Marta Suplicy.
(AP, 11/1/04)(Econ, 1/29/05, p.35)
2004 Nov 5, Latin American leaders wrapped up a two-day summit in Brazil with a pledge to help rid Haiti of political violence and grinding poverty.
(AP, 11/5/04)
2004 Nov 20, In Brazil gunmen raided the camp Terra Prometida and torched huts and crops in Minas Gerais state. 5 victims were executed with shots at close range and 12 other people, including a child, were injured. In 2013 rancher Adriano Chafik was sentenced to 115 years in prison for ordering and taking part in the Massacre of Felisburgo.
(SSFC, 10/13/12, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/lw7xkqq)
2004 Nov 23, In Brazil government data indicated that 47% of its rainforest was now occupied by man or logged.
(WSJ, 11/24/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 24, Paraguayan police captured Ivan Mezquita, a leading Brazilian drug trafficking suspect, after a gunbattle with occupants of a cocaine-laden plane near the border with Brazil.
(AP, 11/25/04)
2004 Nov 25, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, said a deal was reached with Brazil on inspecting its uranium enrichment plant.
(AP, 11/25/04)
2004 Dec 12, The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) decided to leave the ruling coalition of Pres. Lula da Silva. The principals included 6 state governors.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.48)
2004 Dec 16, An apartment building was inaugurated in Brazil, each of whose 11 storeys turned independently, giving residents 360-degree views of the eco-friendly city of Curitiba.
(AP, 12/16/04)
2004 Dec 20, A truck and a bus collided head-on in northeastern Brazil, killing 19 people and injuring 34 others.
(AP, 12/20/04)
2004 Dec 26, In Brazil an angry mob destroyed police stations and a courthouse in two Amazon towns while trying to lynch murder suspects. One man was killed during the rioting and 44 people were arrested.
(AP, 12/27/04)
2004 Ruy Castro authored “Rio de Janeiro: Carnival Under Fire."
(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.M6)
2004 Peter Robb authored “A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions." He explores Brazil’s ambiguous racial history with a focus on the rise and fall of Pres. Fernando Collor de Mello.
(Econ, 5/8/04, p.79)(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.M6)
2004 Angus Wright and Wendy Wolford authored “To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement and the Struggle for a New Brazil."
(Econ, 1/10/04, p.73)
2004 Brazil’s Congress accused Horacio Cartes of Paraguay of cigarette smuggling.
(Econ, 4/27/13, p.35)
2004 Brazil’s public debt fell to 52% of GDP from 57% in 2003.
(Econ, 2/5/05, p.36)
2005 Jan 1, Brazil was forecast for 3.6% annual GDP growth with a population at 181.4 million and GDP per head at $3,200.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.92)
2005 Jan 19, Brazil raised its reference lending rate for a 5th consecutive month by a half point to 18.25% in an effort to curb inflation.
(WSJ, 1/20/05, p.A12)
2005 Jan 20, Brazil’s central bank said Brazil posted a current-account surplus of $11.7 billion for 2004, its 2nd straight annual surplus.
(WSJ, 1/21/05, p.A7)
2005 Jan 26, The 5th annual World Social Forum opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Activists from some 4,000 non-governmental organizations and 112 countries gathered under the theme “Another World Is Possible."
(SFC, 1/29/05, p.A6)
2005 Jan 31, In Brazil leftist activists opposed to the spread of American influence ended the fifth World Social Forum with a protest against unfettered capitalism and the war in Iraq.
(AP, 1/31/05)
2005 Feb 4, Brazil’s annual pre-Lenten Carnival got under way. It's long been an open secret that Rio's annual samba parade is largely funded by the kingpins of an illegal numbers game known here as the "jogo do bicho," Portuguese for animal game.
(AP, 2/5/05)
2005 Feb 12, In northern Brazil Dorothy Stang (73), an American nun, was shot to death. She had spent decades fighting efforts by loggers and large landowners to expropriate lands and clear large areas of the Amazon rainforest. In 2006 Amair Feijoli da Cunha (38) pleaded guilty and said he offered money to two gunmen to shoot nun, at the behest of ranchers Vitalmiro Moura and Regivaldo Galvao. In 2008 A jury voted 5-2 to acquit Vitalmiro Moura, one of two ranchers who allegedly ordered the killing Stang. The acquittal was overturned on a technicality in April, 2009. Moura and Galvao were convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
(AP, 2/12/05)(WSJ, 2/14/05, p.A1)(AP, 4/27/06)(AP, 5/6/08)(AP, 5/1/10)
2005 Feb 15, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies chose Severino Cavalcanti, a leader of Congress’s “low clergy," as president. The position determines the agenda of Congress and his selection was seen as a setback to Pres. da Silva
(Econ, 2/19/05, p.36)
2005 Feb 17, In Brazil Pres. Da Silva signed decrees creating 2 new Amazon environmental protection areas in a region of Para state coveted by soy farmers and ranchers less than a week after an American nun was gunned down trying to protect the jungle from deforestation.
(AP, 2/18/05)(SFC, 2/18/05, p.A14)
2005 Feb 25, Brazil’s government awarded a disputed patch of Amazon rainforest to a sustainable development project championed by the slain American nun Dorothy Stang.
(AP, 2/26/05)
2005 Feb 26, In Brazil Cleone Santos and Magnaldo Santos, known as Negao, were taken into custody, for aiding 2 gunmen who shot 73-year-old Dorothy Stang on Feb. 12.
(AP, 2/28/05)
2005 Mar 2, Brazil's lower house of Congress overwhelmingly approved a law creating a framework to legalize biotech seed sales for genetically modified crops.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Mar 8, Brazilian prosecutors formally charged four men in the death of a 73-year-old American nun who worked to defend poor rainforest communities. Rayfran Neves Salles was charged with firing the six shots that killed Dorothy Stang. Clodoaldo Batista was charged as an accomplice. Two other men, Amair Feijoli and Vitalmiro Moura, were charged with homicide.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 13, In southern Brazil a tourist-filled bus crashed into a logging truck, killing seven people and injuring at least 20.
(AP, 3/13/05)
2005 Mar 27, In Brazil Vitalmiro Moura, the rancher accused of ordering the killing of American nun Dorothy Stang in the Amazon rainforest six weeks ago, surrendered to police and declared his innocence.
(AP, 3/27/05)
2005 Mar 31, Severino Cavalcanti, president of Brazil’s lower house, forced the government to withdraw a tax increase that would have fallen on professionals and farmers.
(Econ, 4/9/05, p.29)
2005 Mar 31, In Brazil a massacre in Nova Iguacu, outside of Rio, left 29 people dead. The next day state officials said they might have been carried out by police incensed by investigations of brutality and corruption by "bad" cops. In 2006 a court convicted Carlos Jorge Carvalho (32) a state police officer, of taking part in the Baixada massacre. In 2009 ex-officer Julio Cesar de Paula was sentenced to 480 years in prison and ex-officer Marcos Siqueira Costa to 543 years for homicide and belonging to a criminal organization. The length of the sentences was largely symbolic because under Brazilian law no one can serve more than 30 years in prison.
(AP, 4/1/05)(SFC, 6/24/05, p.A16)(AP, 8/23/06)(AP, 9/16/09)
2005 Apr 2, Brazilian state police detained 2 police officers in the Mar 31 shooting spree that left 30 dead in Rio’s north side.
(SSFC, 4/3/05, p.A9)
2005 Apr 4, In Brazil authorities arrested 11 police suspected of participating in death squad killings that left 30 people dead in two towns on Rio's poor outskirts.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, In Brazil authorities charged eight policemen with murder for the mar 31 death-squad killings that left 30 people dead on the outskirts of Rio.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 16, The Brazilian government created "Raposa Serra do Sol" reserve in Roraima state, which borders Venezuela and Guyana. The 1.7-million-hectare (4.2-million-acre) reserve was set aside for the 15,000 people of the Macuxi, Taurepang, Wapixana and Ingariko indigenous populations that had demanded the territory for 30 years.
(AFP, 4/17/05)
2005 Apr 20, Ecuador’s Congress voted 60 to 0 to remove President Lucio Gutierrez from office amid street protests calling for his ouster for abuse of power and misrule. Brazil granted asylum to Gutierrez. Alfredo Palacio, a heart surgeon and Ecuador's vice president, assumed the presidency.
(AP, 4/21/05)(SFC, 4/21/05, p.A3)
2005 May 2, Brazil posted a record trade surplus for the month of April. During the month its currency rose 5% against the dollar.
(WSJ, 5/3/05, p.A14)
2005 May 8, In Brazil top government officials from the 11 South American nations and 22 Middle Eastern and North African countries attending the Summit of South American-Arab Countries met ahead of the two-day summit's opening on May 10.
(AP, 5/8/05)
2005 May 9, In Espertantina, Brazil, Mayor Felipe Santolia (32) declared May 9 as an official Orgasm Day.
(AP, 5/9/05)
2005 May 12, Leaders from 12 South American and 22 Arab nations ended their first summit by endorsing a "Declaration of Brasilia," urging Israel to abandon Palestinian territory and insisting free trade must be harnessed to benefit the world's poor.
(AP, 5/12/05)
2005 May 14, In Brazil more than 12,000 landless farmers who have marched nearly 125 miles to protest the slow pace of land reform reached the outskirts of Brasilia.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 16, In Brazil thousands of landless farmers, organized as the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), swarmed into Brasilia.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.39)
2005 May 16, In Brazil the Indian rights group Survival International said logging companies were cutting down the forest in the Rio Pardo area, about 1,400 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, despite repeated reports that there were isolated Indians in the region.
(AP, 5/16/05)
2005 May 24, The environmental group Greenpeace nominated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and five others for its first "Golden Chainsaw" prize, to be awarded to the Brazilian deemed to have contributed most to the Amazon's destruction.
(AP, 5/25/05)
2005 May 26, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, at least 1.5 million evangelical Protestants rallied in the heart of the financial district, demonstrating their growing clout in the world's largest Roman Catholic country. "The purpose of this march, and of all the other ones we have organized over the years, is to conquer Brazil for Jesus Christ."
(AP, 5/26/05)
2005 May 28, It was reported that American rancher John Cain Carter served as the driving force behind Alianca da Terra, a Brazilian NGO promoting certification and standards of good practice for ranchers and farmers.
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.68)
2005 May 29, In Brazil almost 2 million gay men, lesbians, transvestites and their supporters, many in lavish Carnival costumes and waving rainbow-colored flags, paraded in Sao Paulo to celebrate gay pride and call for the legalization of civil unions between homosexuals.
(AP, 5/30/05)
2005 May 31, In Brazil authorities ordered the slaughter of 17,000 chickens after 6,000 chickens died from a mysterious respiratory illness in Mato Grosso do Sul state. Brazil is the world's largest chicken exporter.
(AP, 5/31/05)
2005 May, A “Brazilian Front" for tax reform took to the streets and forced the government to scrap planned new taxes. The Brazilian tax code contained over 55,000 articles and 63 separate levies.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.35)
2005 May, Energy ministers from Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela agreed to develop a field in Venezuela’s heavy-oil belt in the Orinoco, a refinery in Brazil’s north-east and an oil and gas venture in Argentina under the name Petrosur.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.33)
2005 Jun 2, Federal police targeted Brazil's environmental protection agency in a crackdown on illegal logging, arresting 48 officials and several independent businessmen.
(AP, 6/3/05)
2005 Jun 2, In northeastern Brazil a government bus carrying Indians from a health clinic went out of control on a wet road and careened into a creek, killing at least 19 people.
(AP, 6/2/05)
2005 Jun 3, In Brazil new logging permits were suspended in Mato Grosso state where the rain forest is being cleared at an ever increasing rate.
(AP, 6/3/05)
2005 Jun 7, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to carry out a battle against corruption that would reduce it to a "sad memory."
(AP, 6/7/05)
2005 Jun 8, In Brazil the top financial officer for Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Workers’ Party denied paying off congressmen to keep the fragile governing coalition alive, making a bid to contain political damage from an alleged bribes-for-votes scandal. This came to be called the mensalao (“big monthly stipend") scandal.
(AP, 6/8/05)(Economist, 9/29/12, p.42)
2005 Jun 15, Blairo Maggi, Brazilian soyabean magnate, governor of Mato Grosso, and winner of this year’s Greenpeace “golden chainsaw" award for deforestation, refused to accept the award and slunk out through the back door of the school he was visiting, to the taunting shouts of hundreds of children.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.70)(www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/brazilian_soy_k.php)
2005 Jun 16, In Brazil Chief of Staff Jose Dirceu resigned over accusations he knew of a vote-buying scheme in Congress, becoming the highest-ranking official hit by a scandal that has shaken President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration.
(AP, 6/16/05)(Econ, 6/25/05, p.37)
2005 Jun 27, France, Germany, Brazil and Chile called for a tax on airline tickets to help finance the global fight against poverty.
(AP, 6/28/05)
2005 Jul 5, In Brazil a top official of the ruling Workers' Party stepped down, the second ally of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to resign this week amid new allegations regarding a bribes-for-votes scandal.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 6, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva named 3 cabinet ministers from a centrist party to shore up support for his governing coalition, mired in charges of buying votes in Congress.
(AP, 7/7/05)
2005 Jul 9, The leader of Brazil's governing Workers Party stepped down, the third ally of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to resign this week amid charges of buying votes in Congress.
(AP, 7/10/05)
2005 Jul 11, Joao Batista Ramos da Silva, a Brazilian congressman and an ordained minister of the evangelical Christian Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, was detained with 6 other people as they tried to board a private jet with seven suitcases stuffed with cash. Ramos said the $2.6 million in Brazilian reals was from tithes collected during religious services
(AP, 7/11/05)
2005 Jul 11, It was reported kidnappers in Brazil were targeting the mothers of top soccer players with 5 mothers kidnapped in the last 7 months.
(SFC, 7/11/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 12, In Brazil Luiz Gushiken, Pres. Lula’s communications wizard, was stripped of ministerial status following reports that his business partners had been blessed with fat federal contracts.
(Econ, 7/16/05, p.33)
2005 Jul 21, In Brazil an Indian rights group warned that wildcat miners who have entered the Yanomami Indians' Amazon reservation have brought guns and diseases that threaten the stone-age tribe. An estimated 500 prospectors have invaded the reservation, which is rich in gold, magnesium and niobium.
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 22, In London a man, who appeared to be South Asian, was slain by officers at the Stockwell subway station. Police said the man was challenged and refused to obey instructions. The next day police identified the man as Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician, and said he was not related the bombings and expressed regret for his death. Menezes was shot in the head 7 times.
(AP, 7/22/05)(AP, 7/23/05)(Econ, 7/22/06, p.18)
2005 Jul 23, The man shot at the Stockwell subway station on July 22 was identified as Jean Charles de Menezes (27) of Brazil. London police acknowledged that Menezes had nothing to do with recent bombings on the city’s transit system. Brazil's government demanded an explanation for the fatal police shooting of a Brazilian citizen on a London subway car.
(AP, 7/24/05)
2005 Jul 25, In Gonzaga, Brazil, hundreds of relatives and friends of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot to death in London after being mistaken for a terrorist, marched along the cobblestone streets of his hometown, demanding the arrest of the British police who fired the fatal shots.
(AP, 7/25/05)
2005 Aug 1, In Brazil Rep. Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the government-allied Liberal Party resigned from Congress, the first lawmaker to step down in a widening corruption scandal that has plagued the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 8/1/05)
2005 Aug 6-2005 Aug 7, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, thieves tunneled 260 feet to a Central Bank vault and stole some $70 million, in what has been described as the biggest such robbery ever in Brazil. On Feb 25, 2008, police arrested Antonio Jussivan Alves dos Santos, the leader of the thieving gang. In March he was sentenced to nearly 50 years in jail.
(AP, 8/8/05)(AP, 3/6/08)
2005 Aug 10, In Brazil impeachment proceedings began against Rep. Jose Dirceu, a federal legislator and a former top Cabinet official, in connection with a bribery scandal that has rocked President Luiz Inacio da Silva's Workers' Party.
(AP, 8/10/05)
2005 Aug 10, In Brazil authorities said they had identified some of the Sao Paulo bank heist thieves and were looking into the possibility the heist was pulled off by the First Capital Command, one of Brazil's most notorious organized crime groups.
(AP, 8/12/05)
2005 Aug 11, Brazilian police said they recovered a small percentage of the currency stolen from the Central Bank in one of the world's biggest heists. Brazil's Central Bank released an official statement saying that the amount stolen was $70 million, instead of the $67.8 million it reported earlier.
(AP, 8/12/05)
2005 Aug 12, Police detained four men in connection with one of the world's biggest heists and recovered more than $2 million of the $70 million stolen from Brazil's Central Bank. The recovered cash was found hidden in 3 pickup trucks that were on a vehicle transporter truck located several hundred miles from the Central Bank vault in Fortaleza. In 2008 police arrested Jossivam Alves dos Santos, the suspected leader of the gang which carried out the heist. Less than $10 million of the money has been recovered.
(AP, 8/13/05)(AP, 2/27/08)
2005 Aug 12, In Brazil Celio Marcelo da Silva (32), a prison escapee believed to have masterminded last year's abduction of the mother of a Brazilian soccer star, was arrested. In 2003 da Silva tunneled his way out of a Sao Paulo prison where he was serving a 38-year sentence for murder and robbery.
(AP, 8/13/05)
2005 Aug 13, James Petersen (51), a Univ. of Vermont anthropology professor on a research trip to Brazil, was killed while he was being robbed in Iranduba near the Amazon River. Three suspects were taken into custody.
(AP, 8/14/05)
2005 Aug 19, Antonio Palocci, Brazil’s finance minister, was accused of taking monthly payments from a rubbish collection firm when he was mayor of Riberao Preta in Sao Paulo state. The news caused speculators to dump Brazilian bonds, shares and the real.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.33)
2005 Aug 24, Brazilian police arrested Francisco Antonio Cadena Collazzos, a Colombian man accused of being an unofficial ambassador for Colombia's largest rebel group.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Aug 24, Brazilian officials said an 80-year-old woman filmed drug traffickers near her Copacabana beach apartment for two years and delivered 22 films to police, triggering a massive raid against a slum drug gang. Police arrested 15 suspected traffickers, including two Rio de Janeiro state police officers.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Sep 2, A powerful storm packing winds of up to 70 mph slammed into southern Brazil, killing and least one person and injuring five others.
(AP, 9/2/05)
2005 Sep 6, In Brazil thousands of anti-corruption demonstrators rallied in Sao Paulo, demanding harsh punishment for politicians caught up in a bribery scandal shaking the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 9/6/05)
2005 Sep 9, The presidents of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru inaugurated an $810 million highway project to connect Brazil's Atlantic coast to Peru's Pacific ports before the end of the decade.
(AP, 9/9/05)
2005 Sep 14, Brazil’s police arrested 43 people during raids on clandestine rings sneaking an increasing number of Brazilians into the United States, Europe and Mexico.
(AP, 9/15/05)
2005 Sep 16, In Brazil federal prosecutors charged six men accused of stealing $70 million from Brazil's Central Bank last August in one of the world's biggest bank robberies. 3 men were arrested shortly after the robbery, and another 3 were still at large.
(AP, 9/17/05)
2005 Sep 19, Brazil issued its 1st int’l. bond in its own currency. Brazil’s export boom had driven the real upwards against the dollar.
(Econ, 9/24/05, p.90)
2005 Sep 21, The speaker of Brazil's lower house resigned amid charges he extorted bribes from a local businessman, the latest casualty of corruption scandals that have rocked Brazil's government.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 28, Brazilian police recovered about $4.3 million of the $70 million stolen last month in a heist from Brazil's Central Bank, making five arrests in one of the world's biggest bank robberies.
(AP, 9/28/05)
2005 Sep 29, In Brazil an Amazon River passenger ship crashed into two barges and sank, leaving at least eight people dead and a dozen missing.
(AP, 9/30/05)
2005 Sep 30, South American presidents committed themselves to establishing a continental free trade zone. The South American summit was attended by the presidents of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
(AP, 10/1/05)
2005 Sep 30, Olga de Alaketu (80), the high priestess of one the oldest temples of the Afro-Brazilian religion Condomble, was buried. She had died of complications from diabetes. Alaketu presided over the Ile Maroia Laji "terreiro," as Candomble temples are known, which was established in 1636, making it one of the oldest in the coastal city of Salvador da Bahia, where the religion is based.
(AP, 10/1/05)
2005 Oct 3, Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio (59), a Catholic bishop on a hunger strike to protest plans to alter the course of a river to irrigate parts of Brazil's arid northeast, said he was "ready to die" if the project goes forward. Pres. Lula da Silva, who was born in one of the drought stricken regions that would benefit from the altered course of the Sao Francisco River, wrote the bishop a letter saying the $2 billion project will help 18 million people in northeastern Brazil.
(AP, 10/3/05)
2005 Oct 3, Singer Emilinha Borba (82), the queen of Brazil's golden age of radio, died of a heart attack. In 1939, Borba recorded her first record, "Pirulito," or "Lollipop," launching her career as a radio singer. Between 1939 and 1964, Borba recorded over 200 songs.
(AP, 10/4/05)
2005 Oct 7, In Brazil former security guard Deusimar Neves Queiroz, a suspect in one of the world's biggest bank robberies, was arrested after his sister-in-law tipped off police to his alleged involvement.
(AP, 10/8/05)
2005 Oct 9, The bullet-riddled body of Luis Fernando Ribeiro (26), the suspected mastermind of a $70 million heist from a branch of Brazil's Central Bank, was found on an isolated road west of Rio de Janeiro. A document signed by four state prosecutors was published Oct 21 in the Rio newspaper O Globo saying there were signs police may have been involved in Ribeiro's kidnapping and killing. Almost $63 million remained unaccounted for.
(AP, 10/21/05)
2005 Oct 11, Authorities in Brazil declared part of the Amazon River a disaster area after a drought left the levels of parts of the river too low for navigation.
(AP, 10/11/05)
2005 Oct 13, Argentina and Chile suspended imports of Brazilian meat, joining 28 other countries with similar bans after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
(AP, 10/13/05)
2005 Oct 18, Brazil's government pledged $14 million for relief efforts in the Amazon River basin, an area ravaged by the worst drought in decades.
(AP, 10/18/05)
2005 Oct 23, Brazilians struck down a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum, rejecting a bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates. Gun violence took the lives of about 39,000 people in Brazil each year, more than any country in the world.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Oct 27, A Brazilian congressional panel voted overwhelmingly to submit former presidential aide Jose Dirceu to impeachment proceedings over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
(AP, 10/28/05)
2005 Oct 31, In Brazil a man accused of torturing and killing five people was killed in a Sao Paulo shantytown gunfight with police who were trying to arrest him. Celso Alencar dos Santos (33) and an accomplice allegedly killed five members of the Yonekura family in September, when the family returned to Brazil with thousands of dollars they had saved while living for six years in Japan.
(AP, 11/1/05)
2005 Nov 14, Archbishop Geraldo do Espirito Santo Avila (76), the head of the Brazilian Archdiocese for the Military Services, died of cancer.
(AP, 11/15/05)
2005 Nov 17, In Brazil a congressional investigation said it found no evidence of an alleged bribes-for-votes scheme.
(AP, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 19, Brazil's president ordered the intelligence service to make dictatorship-era documents public by the end of the year.
(AP, 11/20/05)
2005 Nov 20, In Brazil TV da Gente (Our TV), the 1st channel to be directed at Brazil’s black population, was launched.
(SSFC, 11/27/05, p.A21)
2005 Nov 30, Brazils’ government said federal police are evicting settlers and loggers from an Amazon area that experts believe is home to one of the world's most isolated Indian tribes.
(AP, 11/30/05)
2005 Dec 1, Brazil's Congress voted to expel Rep. Jose Dirceu (59), the president's former chief-of-staff, and bar him from holding public office for 8 years amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the government.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2005 Dec 1, Brazilian authorities said they have arrested three more men suspected of taking part in the August $70 million cash heist, and that a fourth allegedly has been kidnapped.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2005 Dec 3, In Brazil the Greek billionaire Athina Roussel Onassis (20) married Alvaro Afonso de Miranda (32) a Brazilian Olympic equestrian in a palm-tree lined estate in Sao Paulo.
(AP, 12/04/05)
2005 Dec 10, In Brazil Rayfran das Neves Sales and Clodoaldo Carlos Batista were convicted of killing Dorothy Stang, an American nun. Stang had spent decades trying to save the Amazon rain forest. Prosecutor Esdon Cardoso said the case would only be resolved when three other men accused in the killing are convicted, including two ranchers accused of ordering the killing. A third man has been charged with acting as a go-between for the gunmen and the ranchers. The three are expected to face trial some time next year.
(AP, 12/10/05)
2005 Dec 13, Brazil’s finance ministry said it would make a full repayment of its $15.5 billion IMF debt over the next 2 years.
(Econ, 12/24/05, p.49)
2005 Dec 22, Brazil said it will pay off its remaining $2.6 billion debt to the Paris Club in January, 2006.
(WSJ, 12/23/05, p.A13)
2005 Dec 25, In Brazil Djalma Costa Ferreira (68) hit his wife, Benvinda Matos Costa, several times with the sledgehammer following a Christmas party at the house of one of their sons, because he believed she had cheated on him and wanted to spend all his money. In 2010 he was convicted of murder and sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison.
(AP, 9/11/10)
2005 Dec 27, Inmates at a prison in Brazil's remote Amazon jungle held more than 200 people hostage, demanding the return of their leader from another prison. Authorities agreed to bring him back, but both sides remained at an impasse, waiting for the other to make the first move.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Dec 28, Rebellious inmates at a prison in Brazil's remote Amazon jungle ended a four-day uprising and released more than 200 hostages after authorities met their principal demand by returning one of their leaders from another prison.
(AP, 12/28/05)
2005 Brazil opened a peacekeeping school near Rio de Janeiro: the Centro de Instrucao de Operacoes de Paz (CIOpPAZ).
(Econ, 9/25/10, p.52)
2005 Johan Eliasch (43), Swedish-born English business executive, bought 400,000 acres around Manicore, Brazil, in order to cut timber cutting operations and to plant trees.
(WSJ, 4/7/07, p.A1)
2006 Jan 7, A study reported by Brazilian media said more than 1,000 children have been living underneath highway overpasses, inside tunnels and on city squares in Sao Paulo.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 7, In Haiti Brazilian Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, commander of UN peacekeepers, was found dead in an apparent suicide in a room at the Montana hotel in Port-au-Prince.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 23, Brazilian Gen. Jose Elito Carvalho de Siqueira (59) took command of the UN peacekeepers in Haiti, vowing to make the impoverished nation secure for elections on Feb. 7.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 24, In Brazil rebellious inmates ended a one-day prison uprising in the remote jungle state of Rondonia that left four dead.
(AP, 1/24/06)
2006 Jan 27, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a sudden flood caused by heavy rains killed at least four people in the underground parking garage of a shopping mall.
(AP, 1/28/06)
2006 Jan 29, Heavy rains in Brazil led to the deaths of 12 people in Rio de Janeiro, including six people killed when an underground shopping mall garage filled with water.
(AP, 1/29/06)
2006 Jan, The presidents of Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil met in Brazil and promised to come up with the first set of preliminary studies in March for a $20 billion, 5,000-mile gas pipeline, stretching from Venezuela to Argentina.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2006 Feb 4, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, thousands of fans surged through security barriers at an autograph session for a wildly popular Mexican band, leaving three people crushed to death and 38 injured.
(AP, 2/5/06)
2006 Feb 7, Indians from Brazil and four other South American countries called for the "resurrection" of an Indian nation, the 250th anniversary of the killing of a tribal chief by European soldiers.
(AP, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 13, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva created two new national parks in the Amazon rain forest and expanded another to protect an environmentally sensitive region where the government plans a major highway project.
(AP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 14, In Porto Alegre, Brazil, leaders and envoys from across Christianity opened their most ambitious gathering in nearly a decade with a host of troubles on their agenda, from the faith's many internal rifts to easing discord with Islam, even as it deepens over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
(AP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 18, In Brazil a coalition of American churches sharply denounced the US-led war in Iraq, accusing Washington of "raining down terror" and apologizing to other nations for "the violence, degradation and poverty our nation has sown." Christian leaders explored the question: Should churches use their investment portfolios to protest Israeli policies toward Palestinians?
(AP, 2/18/06)
2006 Feb 24, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began its yearly carnival. Officials expected some 600,000 tourists for this year's celebrations. Gunmen overpowered museum security guards and stole four paintings by European masters, using the cover of Rio's Carnival to make their getaway,
(AP, 2/24/06)
2006 Feb, The government of Brazil exempted foreign buyers of reais denominated bonds from income tax.
(Econ, 2/25/06, p.78)
2006 Feb, Four works of art and other objects, including paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Monet and Dali, were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Ceu in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by 4 armed men during Carnival. Local media estimated the paintings' worth at around $50 million.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2006 Mar 3, In Brazil Jossiel Conceicao dos Santos (22), a handyman, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing an American couple. Todd and Michelle Staheli were beaten to death in bed at home in an exclusive Rio de Janeiro neighborhood on Nov. 30, 2003.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar 3, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 assault rifles and a pistol were stolen from a barracks by seven gunmen wearing army-issued camouflage gear and ninja masks. The gunmen overpowered three guards, stole the weapons from a small depot and sped away in at least two cars waiting outside the building.
(AP, 3/7/06)
2006 Mar 8, Brazil’s central bank dropped its benchmark interest rate by .75% to 16.5%.
(WSJ, 3/10/06, p.A15)
2006 Mar 8, In Brazil about 2,000 highly organized farm workers, mostly women, invaded a plantation owned by a big paper and pulp company about 700 miles south of Sao Paulo. They uprooted saplings and destroyed a laboratory in an environmental rampage. Via Campesina said it organized the invasion "to denounce the social and environmental impact of the growing green desert created by eucalyptus monoculture."
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 13, Rana Abdel Rahim Koleilat (39), a fugitive bank executive wanted for questioning in the U.N. probe of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, was arrested in Brazil on an unrelated charge. She offered officers up to $200,000 to release her and was arrested on a charge of attempted bribery. In 2003 Koleilat made headlines in Lebanon and Europe in connection with questions about her role in the disappearance of $300 million from the private Medina Bank where she worked. The funds' disappearance was the worst financial scandal at a Lebanese bank since the country's 1975-90 civil war.
(AP, 3/13/06)
2006 Mar 14, In Brazil military officials said weapons stolen from an army barracks have been found. The theft triggered a massive search of Rio de Janeiro's crime infested shantytowns.
(AP, 3/14/06)
2006 Mar 22, In Brazil the US Embassy said agents from the US Department of Homeland Security will soon be helping Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
(AP, 3/23/06)
2006 Mar 27, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, the architect of Brazil's economic recovery and market-friendly fiscal policy, resigned after becoming caught up in a political scandal. His office was party to the illegal disclosure of payments to a bank account belonging to a witness against him in a corruption case.
(AP, 3/27/06)(Econ, 4/1/06, p.32)
2006 Mar 30, A Russian-American crew and Marcos Pontes, Brazil’s 1st astronaut, lifted off in a Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft to dock with the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 3/31/06, p.A3)
2006 Mar 31, A plane carrying 19 people crashed in a mountainous region outside Rio de Janeiro, killing all aboard. A small LET 410 twin-engine plane belonging to the local Team airline went missing about 20 minutes after leaving the city of Macae.
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 1, Cracking down on visitors who come to Brazil for sex, police raided clubs in Natal known for using call girls and strippers, detaining 118 foreigners to discourage what authorities called "sexual tourism."
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 1, A Soyuz capsule docked with the international space station (ISS), bringing Brazil's first astronaut, a new Russian-American crew and a fresh load of supplies, equipment and experiments.
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 5, A Brazilian congressional investigative committee gave its final approval to a report recommending prosecution of over 100 people linked to a campaign finance and corruption scheme run by former members of the governing Workers Party.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 9, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazilian architect, was named winner of the 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize. His work included the Brazilian Sculpture Museum in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 4/10/06, p.A2)
2006 Apr 9, A capsule carrying a Russian, American and Brazilian landed in Kazakhstan following a weeklong trip to the Int’l. Space Station.
(SSFC, 4/9/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 12, In Brazil federal prosecutors charged a former top presidential aide and dozens of others with trying to bribe legislators into supporting Brazil's ruling party.
(AP, 4/12/06)
2006 Apr 14, Miguel Reale (95), widely considered one of the chief architects of Brazil's civil code, died of a heart attack.
(AP, 4/14/06)
2006 Apr 24, In Rio de Janeiro a law went into effect requiring “women-only" cars on subway and above ground trains.
(SSFC, 4/30/06, p.G2)
2006 Apr 24, The annual Goldman Environmental Prizes were awarded in San Francisco. The winners included Craig Williams (58) for helping to persuade Congress to order the Defense Dept. to consider alternatives to incinerating chemical weapons; Tarcisio Feitosa (35) of Brazil for his campaign against rampant logging; Olya Melen (26) of Ukraine for her suits forcing the government to scale back a large canal project impacting wetlands; Yu Xiaogang (35) of China for his reports on damages caused by new dams; Silas Siakor (36) of Liberia for his documentation showing how logging was used to fund civil war; and Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea for her work to get reimbursements from logging companies to peasants.
(WSJ, 4/24/06, p.B7)
2006 Apr 28, In Brazil police charged Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister, with four crimes, including money laundering. He was viewed as the architect of Brazil's economic recovery.
(AP, 4/28/06)
2006 May 4, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Argentina’s Pres. Nestor Kirchner, Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez and Bolivia’s Pres. Morales in response to Bolivia’s decision to nationalize its oil and gas industry. Morales offered to refrain from cutting off supplies and to negotiate prices.
(Econ, 5/13/06, p.43)
2006 May 12, Relations between Brazil and Bolivia sank to their lowest point in a century, as the two sparred over Bolivia's nationalization of its energy sector and threats to seize Bolivian land held by Brazilian farmers.
(AP, 5/12/06)
2006 May 13, The presidents of Brazil and Bolivia said they patched things up after days of accusations and threats.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, One of Brazil's most notorious gangs staged dozens of attacks on police before dawn, setting off gunbattles in three cities that killed at least 30 people, officials said. 74 of 140 prison uprisings were reported across Sao Paulo state. Authorities blamed the violence on the prison-based gang, First Command of the Capital (PCC), which formed in the aftermath of the 1992 massacre at Carandiru Penitentiary. It was later reported that a recording of Congressional talks to transfer gang leaders to a remote prison had been leaked to the PCC.
(AP, 5/13/06)(SFC, 5/16/06, p.A7)(SFC, 5/23/06, p.A6)(Econ, 5/20/06, p.39)
2006 May 15, In Brazil prison riots and attacks on police by a criminal gang extended into a 4th day, raising the reported death toll to 70.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 16, In Brazil an unprecedented crime wave, that killed at least 97 people and terrified the 18 million residents of Sao Paulo, seemed to be waning as stores reopened and bus service was fully restored. Police struck back at gangs that rampaged through Sao Paulo, killing 33 suspected gang members in less than 24 hours and frisking motorists at roadblocks while reporting only one death of their own.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 May 16, Colombian-born Pablo Rayo Montano, one of the world's most hunted drug traffickers was arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as part of an international crackdown. He was accused of shipping more than 70 tons of cocaine to the United States.
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 17, In Brazil the body count grew in Sao Paulo as police, who lost 41 comrades in gang attacks, killed 22 more suspected criminals. Authorities said little about the latest deaths, generating criticism from rights groups.
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 20, In Brazil Sao Paulo's government refused to release the names of 109 people killed by police during a week of gangland violence, despite increased pressure from activists who said public confidence in law enforcement had been shaken.
(AP, 5/21/06)
2006 May 24, It was reported that Google will shut down 6 sites on its Orkut service in Brazil in response pressure from Brazilian law enforcement.
(SFC, 5/24/06, p.C3)
2006 May 30, A missionary group said more than one-quarter of Brazil's isolated Indian tribes face extinction unless the government defines their boundaries and gives them control of their land.
(AP, 5/30/06)
2006 Jun 6, In Brasilia a melee that erupted when hundreds of landless farmers demanding agrarian reforms demonstrated at Brazil's Congress injured 20 people.
(AP, 6/6/06)
2006 Jun 7, In Brazil a shootout between police and drug gangs in a Rio shantytown left 17 children injured, several hit by stray bullets even though their teacher ordered them to lie down on the floor when the shooting began.
(AP, 6/7/06)
2006 Jun 9, In Brazil police arrested 28 people suspected of operating an illegal logging ring in the Amazon rain forest and were looking for 46 more. Some 300 officers in five states were involved in the operation to shut down a gang accused of using phony permits to harvest rare tropical hardwoods.
(AP, 6/9/06)
2006 Jun 15, In Brazil some 3 million evangelical Protestants staged a huge rally in of Sao Paulo, demonstrating their growing influence in the world's largest Roman Catholic country. Brazil was nearly 100% Roman Catholic a century ago, but the percentage dropped to 84% in 1995 and is 74% today.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Jun 23, A bankruptcy judge canceled the planned sale of Brazil's flagship Varig airline to a workers' group, throwing the future of the carrier into limbo and virtually ensuring more travel chaos ahead for ticket holders in Brazil and abroad.
(AP, 6/24/06)
2006 Jun 24, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced his bid for a second term, pledging to push harder to eradicate poverty in Latin America's largest country if re-elected.
(AP, 6/24/06)
2006 Jun 26, In Brazil 12 men and one woman were killed in a gunfight with police outside a prison in Sao Bernardo do Campo, an industrial suburb on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. Acting on orders from imprisoned PCC leaders, they had planned to shoot as many as 60 guards from four lockups over a 10-day period as they headed to work or finished their shifts.
(AP, 6/27/06)
2006 Jun 27, In northeastern Brazil a two-story abandoned building collapsed onto three houses and a construction supply store in Recife, killing 7 people and injuring 7 others.
(AP, 6/28/06)
2006 Jun 29, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the release of Regivaldo Pereira Galvao, a rancher who had been jailed pending trial in connection with the killing last year of American Nun Dorothy Stang.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jun, Brazil’s Pres. Lula da Silva went to Itaborai to announce the building of Comperj, a Rio de Janeiro petrochemical complex. By 2015 the complex was reduced to one small refinery with a completion date pushed back to 2016.
(Econ, 6/27/15, p.27)
2006 Jul 6, Brazilian police broke up an international drug ring and arrested Luciano Geraldo Daniel, a man suspected of being the country's top cocaine trafficker.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 13, In Brazil gangs torched buses and attacked banks and police stations across Sao Paulo, deepening crime fears as a wave of rampant violence entered its third day.
(AP, 7/13/06)
2006 Jul 27, A fire raged through a rain forest along Brazil's eastern coastline, burning up to 25,000 acres of trees.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Jul 29, In Brazil about $200,000 was found in a house in Natal, about 1,400 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. Police were convinced the money was part of the $70 million stolen from the Central Bank in Fortaleza in Aug 2005. By this time only $8 million was recovered.
(AP, 8/4/06)
2006 Aug 3, In Brazil officials said authorities are evicting thousands of peasants who have been ordered off ranches in northern Brazil by a court ruling obtained by the land owners.
(AP, 8/3/06)
2006 Aug 7, In Brazil suspected PCC gang members in the pre-dawn hours attacked 78 symbols of government and businesses across Sao Paulo state, many in the city itself. Police killed two suspects after they allegedly opened fire on a gas station, torched a bus and tried to flee in a car as officers chased them. This marked the third time in four months that the gang has unleashed its fury on the streets to oppose the prison transfer of its leaders.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 9, In Brazil suspected gang members threw homemade bombs, sent banks on fire, and torched buses in the region and two other cities overnight in Sao Paulo state. In Rio de Janeiro gunbattles between gangs vying for control of the city's lucrative drug trade have resulted in the deaths of 19 people since Aug 6.
(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Aug 9, Brazil’s environment ministry said police had arrested 46 people, including 16 agents of the federal environmental protection agency, for allegedly operating illegal logging operations in the Amazon rainforest and in southern Brazil.
(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Aug 10, A Brazilian congressional committee approved a report recommending the expulsion of 72 federal lawmakers from Congress on charges of participating in a nation-wide plan to divert funds from the country’s health-care system.
(WSJ, 8/11/06, p.A5)
2006 Aug 11, In Brazil officials said police had arrested 30 businessmen, government officials and soldiers accused of taking part in a scheme to net millions of dollars by over-billing for meals in the military and at schools.
(AP, 8/11/06)
2006 Aug 14, In Brazil Guilherme Portanova (30), a kidnapped television reporter, was freed after Globo met the gang's demand to broadcast a video calling for improvements in Brazil's troubled prison system. In Rio de Janeiro Andres Costa Ramos Bordalo was stabbed to death by an assailant who stole his knapsack on Copacabana beach. Police stepped up patrols but at least 22 tourists were robbed during the week.
(AP, 8/14/06)(AP, 8/19/06)
2006 Aug 16, Alfredo Stroessner (93), the anti-communist general who ruled Paraguay with a blend of force, guile and patronage for 35 years before his ouster in 1989, died in exile in Brazil.
(AP, 8/16/06)
2006 Aug 25, Officials said drug users who don't engage in dealing will no longer be sent to prison under a new drug law now in effect across Brazil.
(AP, 8/25/06)
2006 Aug 27, In Brazil archbishop Luciano Mendes de Almeida (75), an avid human rights defender, died.
(AP, 8/27/06)
2006 Aug 30, Brazil’s central bank cut its key interest rate 0.5% to 14.25%, a quarter point more than had been expected. Brazil also released weaker-than-expected data on GDP.
(WSJ, 9/1/06, p.A8)
2006 Sep 1, Brazil pressured Google to turn over data from Web sites that the government said were used by criminals. Authorities gave Google 15 days to comply or face a daily fine of $23,000.
(SFC, 9/2/06, p.C1)
2006 Sep 9, In Brazil Ubiratan Guimaraes, the police colonel accused of ordering a 1992 jail massacre of more than 100 inmates, was shot dead in his apartment in Sao Paulo.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 10, In Brazil international trade officials sought to strike a positive tone at the end of a two-day meeting aimed at restarting negotiations for the stalled World Trade Organization's Doha Round. The talks were billed as a High Level Meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) developing nations, but they represented the first time nearly all the parties involved have come together since the Doha talks were suspended.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 13, The presidents of Brazil and South Africa, at a trilateral trade meeting in Brasilia, said they supported changes in international rules to allow India to buy nuclear fuel and reactors from the United States and other countries. The trio created the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) in 2003 to promote the interests of their emerging markets.
(Reuters, 9/13/06)(AFP, 9/14/06)
2006 Sep 24, Inco, one of Canada’s two largest mining companies, agreed to be acquired by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce of Brazil for $17.8 billion.
(www.secinfo.com/dRY7g.v113.d.htm)(WSJ, 4/25/08, p.A1)
2006 Sep 26, In Brazil officials said Rio will spend $1 million to map two sprawling shantytowns as the first step toward granting land titles to residents who otherwise have no property rights in the sprawling slums.
(AP, 9/26/06)
2006 Sep 29, A Brazilian jetliner, Gol airlines Flight 1907, with 155 people aboard crashed in the Amazon jungle after reportedly colliding with a smaller ExcelAire executive jet carrying 16 passengers. The Legacy jet stabilized after the apparent collision and then landed at a Brazilian air force base in the Amazon state of Para. It was later reported that the US executive jet was at the wrong altitude and Brazil confiscated the passports of the pilots. In November it was reported that the flight recorder transcript from the executive jet involved in the air disaster showed that the jet's American pilots were told by Brazilian air traffic control to fly at the same altitude as a Boeing 737 before the planes collided over the Amazon rainforest. Pilots Joseph Lepore (42), of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino (34), of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., were allowed to return to the US on Dec 8 after signing a document promising to return to Brazil for their trial or when required by local authorities. In 2010 Air force Sgt. Jomarcelo Fernandes dos Santos was sentenced to 14 months in jail for failing to take action when he saw that the Legacy's anti-collision system had been turned off. In 2011 the American pilots were sentenced to four years of unspecified community service in the USA. On May 19 air traffic controller Lucivando de Alencar was convicted of endangering air safety and sentenced to three years and four months of community service.
(AP, 9/30/06)(AP, 10/1/06)(WSJ, 10/5/06, p.A1)(AP, 11/2/06)(AP, 10/27/10)(AP, 5/17/11)(AP, 5/19/11)
2006 Oct 1, Brazil held elections. Brazil voted for president, the lower house of Congress, a third of the Senate and all state governors and legislatures. Voter outrage over alleged corruption and dirty tricks left Pres. Silva facing a tough runoff for a 2nd term after Geraldo Alckmin, his main rival, staged a surprise comeback. Silva got 48.6% compared to 41.6% for Alckmin, the former governor of Sao Paulo state. Silva had seemed assured of a first-round victory until two weeks ago when Worker Party operatives were caught allegedly trying to pay $770,000 in cash for information to incriminate Alckmin's Social Democracy Party. The target of the alleged smear campaign was Jose Serra, an Alckmin ally who won the race to become Sao Paulo state's next governor, handily beating the Workers' Party candidate. Electoral officials said former President Fernando Collor de Mello, forced from office in a corruption scandal in 1992 and barred from politics for eight years, has won a seat in Brazil's Senate.
(AP, 10/2/06)(AP, 10/3/06)(Econ, 9/30/06, p.31)(AP, 10/1/07)
2006 Oct 4, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, court officials said 14 workers at a juvenile detention center were convicted and sentenced to up to 87 years in prison for beating inmates with iron bars and wood to find out who organized an escape attempt in 2000.
(AP, 10/4/06)
2006 Oct 5, In Brazil environmentalist Eduardo Veado (46) and his wife, Simone Furtini Abras (41) died after being run over as they walked along a country road in Minas Gerais state. Veado had received death threats for denouncing illegal logging around the town of Ipanema.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 13, In Brazil a small private plane with six people aboard went missing after losing contact with air traffic controllers in Vitoria.
(AP, 10/14/06)
2006 Oct 17, In Brazil some 200 Indians from the Xikrin tribe, wielding war clubs and bows and arrows, stormed an Amazon mining complex at the company town of Carajas, shutting it down in an apparent demand for more compensation from CVRD, the world's largest iron ore miner. The Indians left after 2 days.
(AP, 10/18/06)(AP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 19, In Brazil Judge Luiz Noronha Dantas handed down a 52-year sentence on four homicide counts and stripped Capt. Marcos Duarte Ramalho of his status as a police officer. Ramalho was the third police officer to stand trial and the first to be convicted in connection with the April 16, 2003, killings in the Borel shantytown on Rio's poor north side. Two more officers are set to stand trial for the killings.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 29, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (61) won a landslide victory giving him a powerful mandate to press his anti-poverty campaign, but corruption scandals dogged his leftist party and thinner support in Congress could mar his second term. Lula’s Worker’s Party (PT) won 5 of the 27 state governorships.
(AP, 10/29/06)(AP, 10/30/06)(Econ, 11/4/06, p.46)
2006 Nov 5, Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil won the NYC Marathon in 2:09:58. Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia won the women’s race for the 2nd year in a row in 2:25:05.
(WSJ, 11/6/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 14, In Brazil Ana Carolina Reston (21), an anorexic model who weighed only 88 pounds, died of generalized infection. Reston had worked in China, Turkey, Mexico and Japan for several modeling agencies.
(AP, 11/17/06)
2006 Nov 25, A group of 18 English tourists was robbed by heavily armed gunmen shortly after arriving in Rio de Janeiro for vacation. Last month, gunmen attacked a bus carrying Chinese tourists and robbed them of $17,000.
(AP, 11/26/06)
2006 Dec 5, In Brazil a court said it had released the passports of two US pilots of a private jet involved in a collision with a Boeing 737 over the Amazon that killed 154 people.
(AP, 12/6/06)
2006 Dec 12, In southeastern Brazil a couple and their 5-year-old son were tied up, locked in their car and burned to death during a robbery.
(AP, 12/12/06)
2006 Dec 15, In Brazil 5 Rio de Janeiro state police officers, most from one of the city's most violent neighborhoods, were arrested as they arrived at work as part of a probe into drug trafficking.
(AP, 12/15/06)
2006 Dec 22, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called in the Brazilian air force to help transport airline passengers on an emergency basis as long delays and overbooked planes snarled commercial flights over the busy holiday weekend.
(AP, 12/22/06)
2006 Dec 23, In Brazil El Al Yoram (35), an Israeli man known as the "King of Ecstasy" and alleged to be one of the world's foremost traffickers of the drug, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro. Yoram left the US in 2004 and had been hiding in Uruguay, where he was arrested in 2005 but fled from jail.
(AP, 12/23/06)
2006 Dec 27, Brazilian travelers incensed about an overbooked flight stormed a runway to prevent a commercial jet from taking off. A tourism industry leader said two months of chronic flight delays have been a "disaster" for tourism.
(AP, 12/27/06)
2006 Dec 28, In Brazil at least 18 people were killed in gang attacks on buses and police posts in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 Dec 30, In Brazil Rio police killed six suspected criminals as authorities vowed to restore order ahead of a huge New Year's Eve bash on Copacabana Beach, deploying officers across the city two days after gang-initiated violence left 19 dead.
(AP, 12/31/06)
2006 Dec, Brazil’s government agreed to spend $3 million on a bridge to Guyana over the Takutu River. An attempt 5 years earlier had failed over financial irregularities.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.36)
2006 Dec, In Brazil a gold rush began in the Amazon jungle after Ivani Valentin da Silva, a math teacher in Apui, posted pictures and stories of Eldorado do Juma on the Internet.
(AP, 2/3/07)
2006 Brazil’s former Pres. Fernando Henrique Cardoso authored “The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir"
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)(Econ, 4/8/06, p.81)
2006 In Brazil the Centro de Arte Contemporanea Inhotim opened to the public. It began in the 1980s as Bernardo Paz converted a 3,000-acre ranch into a sprawling botanical garden designed by the late landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx.
(Econ, 12/21/13, SR p.5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inhotim)
2006 A Brazilian nuclear enrichment plant run by Industrias Nucleares do Brasil S.A. was expected to open bringing Brazil into the world’s nuclear elite group.
(SFC, 4/21/06, p.A11)
2006 Foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China began annual meetings as a group. In 2001 Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the acronym BRIC to describe these 4 developing countries.
(Econ, 4/17/10, p.64)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC)
2007 Jan 1, In Brazil Sergio Cabral took office as governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The state’s economy was valued at around $130 billion, about the same as that of Venezuela.
(Econ, 1/20/07, p.50)
2007 Jan 2, In Brazil an explosion in Sao Paulo ripped through a state police warehouse used to store guns and ammunition, killing one officer and injuring five.
(AP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 6, In southeastern Brazil officials said mudslides and flash floods triggered by torrential downpours killed at least 31 people and drove thousands from their homes during the past five days.
(AP, 1/6/07)
2007 Jan 11, Brazilian prosecutors sought the extradition of two church leaders arrested in the United States on money smuggling charges.
(AP, 1/11/07)
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007 Jan 18, South America's most prominent leaders met in Rio for a two-day summit of the fractured Mercosur economic bloc. Leaders sought to refocus Mercosur on the needs of the region's poor as Venezuela's outspoken president called for remaking Mercosur to fit his vision of "21st century socialism."
(AP, 1/18/07)
2007 Jan 20, Anselmo Oliveira Magalhaes (32), a man accused of helping steal more than $70 million in cash from a branch of Brazil's central bank in 2005, was found dead with a broken neck and his hands and feet tied inside a 75-foot well at a ranch in Santa Izabel. The bodies of two other men were found in the well, but it wasn't immediately clear whether they had any connection to the bank heist.
(AP, 1/22/07)
2007 Jan 22, Brazil’s government announced a growth acceleration package.
(Econ, 1/27/07, p.34)
2007 Jan 23, Brazil said it had requested the US extradite two leaders of an evangelical church (Reborn in Christ) who allegedly used their followers' donations to buy mansions, a horse farm and apartments in Brazil and the US. Estevam Hernandes Filho (52) and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes (48) were arrested by US customs agents in Miami earlier this month on charges of carrying a large sum of undeclared cash. The couple was sentenced to five months in prison, five months of house arrest and a probation period for failing to declare they were carrying more than $10,000 into the United States. They were also fined $60,000. Both returned to Brazil on Aug 1, 2009.
(AP, 1/24/07)(AP, 8/2/09)
2007 Jan, In Brazil the Mato Grosso do Sul state government stopped distributing food baskets to some 11,000 Guarani-Kaiowa Indians on the Dourados reservation, about 800 miles west of Rio de Janeiro when a new government was elected. The suspension worsened malnutrition among thousands of Indians, and at least two young children died.
(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 6, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, suspected gang members torched 3 buses and shot at police, raising concerns the violence could mushroom into a repeat of last year's crime wave.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 7, A twin-engine plane crashed in Brazil’s Amazon jungle, killing all six people aboard.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 13, In Brazil 2 students, who endured more than 60 hours without food and water, were rescued after being robbed and thrown into an abandoned well. Police entered a Rio slum and clashed with drug gangs in shootouts that killed six people, including at least four suspected gang members.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 14, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Bolivian President Evo Morales reached a deal late on how much Brazil will pay for Bolivian natural gas, apparently resolving an issue that has deeply divided the neighboring nations for a year.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 14, In Brazil violence cast a shadow over Rio's famed Carnival when gunmen killed Guaracy Paes Falcao (42), a leader of one of the premiere samba band groups. Falcao was with an unidentified woman who was also shot dead.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 17, In Rio de Janeiro the Black Ball band, which has played carnival since 1918, opened the first full day of Carnival.
(AP, 2/17/07)
2007 Feb 25, In Brazil gunmen killed five people in a Sao Paulo slum in what police suspect was a drug-related crime, bringing to 21 the death toll from attacks this month in South America's biggest city.
(AP, 2/25/07)
2007 Feb 26, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the concrete awning of a hotel in the Copacabana beach district collapsed, killing two people and injuring six.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb 26, Coordinated international efforts led to the capture in Brazil of Manuel Juan Cordero (67) a retired Uruguayan colonel wanted in "dirty war" probes in both Argentina and Uruguay. He was detained in Santana do Livramento, a town near the Uruguayan border where he was living.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Feb 27, In Brazil 3 French nationals who ran a nonprofit group that helps poor children were stabbed to death at their headquarters near Rio's Copacabana beach and authorities arrested three suspects. The slayings that left one of the victims decapitated were part of a botched scheme to protect a Brazilian accountant, Tarsio Wilson Ramires (25), accused of stealing money from the group.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb, In Brazil 21 political parties were represented in the 513-seat Congress.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.36)
2007 Mar 1, In Brazil Slovenian Martin Strel approached the halfway point of his attempt to swim the entire length of the Amazon river, trying to avoid severe burns, alligators and the dreaded bloodsucking toothpick fish.
(AP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 2, Brazilian police arrested 18 people accused of allowing illegal logging in the Amazon rain forest and were searching for 19 others, including environmental protection agents.
(AP, 3/2/07)
2007 Mar 3, In Brazil gunmen killed five people in Rio de Janeiro's poor outskirts in an attack blamed on rival drug gangs.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 5, In Brazil Bishop Ivo Lorscheiter (79), a prominent critic of the former military regime, died in Santa Maria. Lorscheiter, a leading advocate of liberation theology, had also squared off with the Vatican over his progressive beliefs.
(AP, 3/6/07)
2007 Mar 8, President Bush opened a weeklong tour of Latin America in Brazil. Police clashed with students, environmentalists and left-leaning Brazilians protesting Bush’s visit and his push for an ethanol energy alliance. Local news media said at least 18 people were hurt and news photographs showed injured people being carried away.
(AP, 3/8/07)(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 9, President Bush heralded a new ethanol agreement with Brazil as a way to boost alternative fuels production across the Americas. One roadblock in the Bush-Silva ethanol talks is a 54-cent tariff the United States has imposed on every gallon of ethanol imported from Brazil. Bush said it's not up for discussion.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 13, Brazil announced that it will build a wall on a small portion of its border with Paraguay in an effort to combat contraband and smuggling.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 14, In Brazil a twin-engine plane was carrying $2.6 million worth of Brazilian reals crashed near the city of Salvador. Locals made off with bags of cash before rescuers arrived on the scene.
(AP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 18, Officials said Cesare Battisti, a former Italian communist revolutionary who went into hiding in France two and a half years ago, was arrested in Brazil. In 1993 the former revolutionary was given a life sentence by an Italian court for his role in four murders committed in 1978 and 1979.
(AFP, 3/18/07)
2007 Mar 19, Brazil's airlines were trying to make up for lengthy flight delays after its troubled air traffic control system failed over the weekend.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Mar 23, Brazil's environmental agency approved a $2 billion project to shift the course of a major river in Brazil, a plan bitterly opposed by environmentalists. The Sao Francisco River project is meant to benefit some 12 million poor people by allowing large sections of the country's arid northeast to be irrigated.
(AP, 3/22/07)
2007 Mar 23, A Brazilian housewife was convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison for killing her husband, chopping his body into small pieces and frying it. Rosanita Nery dos Santos (52) drugged her husband in his sleep, then stabbed him to death two years ago in Salvador, about 900 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 29, Brazil's government said it will provide free Internet access to native Indian tribes in the Amazon in an effort to help protect the world's biggest rain forest. The environment and communications ministers signed an agreement with the Forest People's Network to provide an Internet signal by satellite to 150 communities.
(AP, 3/30/07)
2007 Mar 30, A protest by air traffic controllers forced the suspension of flights from Brazilian airports, stranding thousands of travelers across the country.
(AP, 3/31/07)
2007 Mar 31, In Brazil air traffic controllers protesting working conditions ended their one-day strike after the government agreed to their demands.
(AP, 4/1/07)
2007 Apr 7, In Brazil Martin Strel, a 52-year-old Slovenian, completed a 3,272 swim down the Amazon River that could set a world record for distance. In 2000, he completed an 1,866-mile swim along the Danube. He broke that record two years later after swimming 2,360 miles down the Mississippi. In 2004 he broke it again by swimming 2,487 miles along the Yangtze river in China.
(AP, 4/8/07)
2007 Apr 10, Diabetes scientists reported that 15 Type 1 Brazilians did not need insulin shots after therapy with stem cells from their own blood. It was also reported that such stem cells helped repair heart damage due to Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, carried by kissing bugs (barbeiros).
(WSJ, 4/11/07, p.A1)
2007 Apr 11, In Brazil Gov. Sergio Cabral Filho formally requested that the army intervene to contain the violence that has been spiraling out of control in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 4/11/07)
2007 Apr 12, Brazilian police broke up a gang accused of killing hundreds of people over several years, arresting 18 suspects and searching for 10 others. The gang, made up of police officers, hired guns and businessmen, had carried out up to 200 killings a year over the past five years, most of them linked to loan sharking.
(AP, 4/12/07)
2007 Apr 13, Federal police in Brazil arrested the chief organizer of Rio's carnival parade, a federal judge and a prosecutor in a crack-down on illegal gaming and money laundering.
(AP, 4/13/07)
2007 Apr 14, Thousands of landless workers invaded government property in Brazil's arid northeast to try to stop a controversial river-diversion project. About 7,500 people invaded plots of government-owned land near Petrolina, 1,360 miles north of Sao Paulo in Pernambuco state.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2007 Apr 14, The population of Brazil numbered about 188 million people.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.3)
2007 Apr 16, Indians from across Brazil pitched black plastic tents in front of government buildings to demand that officials discuss with them infrastructure projects they claim could have a negative impact on their ancestral lands.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2007 Apr 17, In Brazil shootouts involving drug gangs and police in Rio left at least 20 alleged gang members dead.
(AP, 4/17/07)
2007 Apr 29, Octavio Frias de Oliveira (94), who published Brazil's biggest newspaper and Web site and helped modernize the country's media, died of kidney failure.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 May 4, Brazil’s Pres. Lula da Silva issued a license allowing Brazil to buy or produce a cheap generic version of AIDS drug efavirenz, bypassing Merck’s patent. The compulsory licensing for efavirenz will allow Brazil to import unbranded copies at a quarter of current prices while paying Merck a nominal royalty.
(WSJ, 5/5/07, p.A1)(Econ, 5/12/07, p.42)
2007 May 6, In Brazil Eneas Carneiro (68), a three-time presidential candidate who was later elected to Congress with the largest number of votes ever received by a Brazilian lawmaker, died of leukemia.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 9, Police in Brazil and Norway detained at least 25 people in simultaneous raids on suspected criminal gangs, seeking evidence of money laundering.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 9, Pope Benedict XVI departed for a 5-day visit to Brazil, as evangelical Christians packed converted storefronts and cavernous churches every Sunday. Benedict gave his first full-fledged news conference since becoming pontiff in 2005. When a reporter pressed Benedict on whether he agreed that Catholic politicians who recently legalized abortion in Mexico City should rightfully be considered excommunicated, the response was "Yes."
(AP, 5/9/07)(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 10, In Brazil Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion in his first speech but avoided further suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be considered excommunicated.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 11, In Sao Paulo Pope Benedict XVI canonized Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao (d.1822), an 18th-century Franciscan monk, as Brazil's first native-born saint. Friar Galvao began a tradition among Brazilian Catholics of handing out tiny rice-paper pills, inscribed with a Latin prayer, to people seeking cures for all manner of ailments.
(AP, 5/11/07)
2007 May 13, Pope Benedict XVI held an inaugural mass for the 5th conference of bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean. This brought together 166 bishops to discuss the church's situation in the region, home to nearly half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.47)(AFP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 14, Pope Benedict XVI returned to Rome after telling Brazilians a growing rich-poor gap is to be lamented, but that the solution isn’t Marxism.
(WSJ, 5/15/07, p.A1)
2007 May 15, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil will push to improve working conditions for sugarcane cutters who harvest most of the cane that is turned into ethanol for the nation's booming biofuel industry. A jury voted 5-2 to convict rancher Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura of masterminding the shooting of 73-year-old Dorothy Stang, an American nun and rain forest defender on Feb. 12, 2005, in a case seen as an important test of justice in the largely lawless Amazon region. This ruling was overturned in 2008 after the man who confessed to shooting Stang recanted earlier testimony, insisting that he'd acted alone. Gunman Rayfran das Neves Sales was sentenced to 28 years in prison. In 2009 Para state's top court reversed the 2008 not-guilty verdict for Vitalmiro Moura on a technicality.
(AP, 5/15/07)(AP, 4/7/09)
2007 May 21, Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, and vowed to boost legitimate trade and to strengthen cross-border cooperation in fighting smuggling in the Triple Border.
(AP, 5/22/07)
2007 May 22, Silas Rondeau, Brazil's mines and energy minister, resigned amid accusations he was bribed by a construction company that obtained contracts to provide electricity to poor rural areas in a program championed by the nation's first working class president.
(AP, 5/23/07)
2007 May 28, In Brazil Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unveiled a program to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.
(AP, 5/28/07)
2007 May 29, Brazilian Senate President Renan Calheiros said that he won't resign over accusations he accepted payoffs from one of the country's top construction companies.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 Jun 1, In a key legal step toward assigning blame for Brazil's deadliest plane crash, two US pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers were indicted on charges equivalent to involuntary manslaughter for the Sep 29, 2006, mid-air collision that killed 154 people.
(AP, 6/2/07)
2007 Jun 1, In Brazil federal authorities said an Indian tribe that has had very limited contact with the outside world, has been located in a remote Amazon region. The Metyktire, a subgroup of the Kayapo tribe, consisted of some 87 members.
(AP, 6/1/07)
2007 Jun 1, Marly de Oliveira (69), the Brazilian poet who wrote the award-winning volume "O Mar de Permeio" (The Sea Between Us), died in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 4, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that rich nations should pay poorer countries to preserve their forests because the rich are responsible for most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Police formally accused a brother of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of influence peddling after a nationwide crackdown on illegal gambling. About 600 Federal Police agents took part in the raids carrying 87 arrest warrants and another 50 search and seizure warrants in six states as part of Operation Razor, an investigation into fraudulent public works (www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8320/54/).
(AP, 6/4/07)(AP, 6/5/07)(www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8320/54/)
2007 Jun 4, Emerging economic powers India and Brazil pledged to increase bilateral trade four-fold to 10 billion dollars in the next three years.
(AFP, 6/4/07)
2007 Jun 5, The governor of Brazil's Amazon state signed into law legislation aimed at curbing global warming in an area bigger than France and Spain combined.
(AP, 6/5/07)
2007 Jun 10, In Brazil millions of people packed the streets of Sao Paulo for what organizers said was the world's largest gay pride parade, dancing and waving rainbow flags in a carnival-like atmosphere to condemn homophobia, racism and sexism.
(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Jun 15, In Brazil Marc Van Roosmalen was convicted of trying to illegally auction off the names of monkey species, keeping rare monkeys at his house without authorization and selling a scaffolding donated to the National Institute for Amazon Research where he worked. He was sentenced to 15 years and nine months in a prison. Roosmalen has claimed in media reports that he was framed by powerful logging and ranching interests that operate in the Amazon. In August Roosmalen was ordered released pending an appeal.
(AP, 8/7/07)
2007 Jun 22, Brazil’s government sacked 14 air controllers in response to go-slow actions that contributed to chaos at Brazil’s airports.
(Econ, 6/30/07, p.43)
2007 Jun 27, In Brazil police backed by helicopters raided Rio’s notorious Alemao shantytown and killed 19 suspected drug traffickers in pitched gunbattles.
(AP, 6/28/07)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.34)
2007 Jun 28, Federal authorities in Brazil arrested 10 Brazilians accused of luring South American women to Spain and forcing them into prostitution.
(AP, 6/29/07)
2007 Jun 29, Brazilian authorities began a 3-day raid an Amazon plantation where more than 1,000 laborers were found working 13-hour days, in horrendous conditions, cutting sugar cane for ethanol production.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jun 29, Mercosur, South America’s biggest trade block (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay), held a presidential summit in Asuncion, Paraguay.
(Econ, 7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Jul 4, On the historic occasion of their first summit, the EU and Brazil decided to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, based on their close historical, cultural and economic ties. Brazil and EU leaders met in Lisbon, Portugal.
(www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20070704BRSUM.htm)(Econ, 7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Jul 7, A global poll picked the Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, Peru’s Macchu Picchu, Jordan’s Petra, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid as the new seven wonders of the world. The campaign to name the new wonders was launched in 1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber.
(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 10, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Brazil will budget about $540 million over eight years to complete its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment and possibly building a nuclear-powered submarine.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2007 Jul 12, HM Capital Partners LLC, a leading, Dallas-based private equity firm, and Booth Creek Management Corporation sold Swift & Company to Brazil’s JBS Friboi S.A., the largest beef processor in South America and one of the largest worldwide beef exporters. Swift was the 3rd largest processor of beef and pork in America and the biggest processor of beef in Australia.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.74)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_USA)
2007 Jul 13, A court in Brazil issued an arrest warrant for self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky on charges of money-laundering, but he denied any involvement. The case dates back to 2004, when MSI spent millions of dollars acquiring new players, which raised the interest of Sao Paulo state prosecutors. They wanted to know more about the investment group, its Iranian-born president, Kia Joorabchian, and the origin of the money he and his unidentified partners injected into the club. Brazilian prosecutors said they have also issued an arrest warrant for Joorabchian, a British citizen.
(AP, 7/13/07)
2007 Jul 13, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began hosting the Pan American Games. An estimated 5,500 athletes from 42 countries participated in 38 sports. The games ended July 29.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Pan_American_Games)
2007 Jul 17, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a TAM airlines Airbus-320 slammed into a gas station and a TAM building and burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway at Congonhas airport. All 187 people aboard were killed along with 12 on the ground.
(AP, 7/18/07)(AP, 7/17/08)
2007 Jul 20, Sen. Antonio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhaes (79), one of Brazil's most influential politicians, died. He had held on to power as the country came under a military dictatorship and returned to democracy.
(AP, 7/21/07)(SFC, 7/23/07, p.D6)
2007 Jul 23, It was reported that Rio police had killed 449 people since January, many in clashes with drug traffickers, while more than 60 police officers lost their lives.
(SFC, 7/23/07, p.A13)
2007 Jul 25, Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva fired Defense Minister Waldir Pires in response to a fatal jetliner crash that turned months of anger over breakdowns in the military-run national air system into a full-blown political crisis.
(AP, 7/25/07)
2007 Aug 2, In Brazil a strike by subway workers disrupted the commute of millions of people in Sao Paulo, causing huge traffic jams and long lines at bus stops.
(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 4, Thousands of Brazilians marched in Sao Paulo to denounce President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government as corrupt and indifferent.
(AP, 8/5/07)
2007 Aug 7, Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia (44), an alleged Colombian drug kingpin wanted by the United States, was arrested in a luxury condominium on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He had extensive plastic surgery but was identified by Brazilian and American anti-drug agents using advanced voice recognition technology.
(AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/10/07)
2007 Aug 14, In Brazil police arrested Oscar Maroni Jr., for racketeering and trafficking in women. Maroni, known as the Larry Flynt of Brazil, was also under pressure to stop construction of his 11-story Oscar’s Hotel at the edge of the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, which was cited for impacting air safety.
(WSJ, 9/5/07, p.A1)
2007 Aug 23, In Ponte Nova, Brazil, at least 25 prisoners died after inmates broke out of a cellblock and set a fire in an apparent attempt to settle scores with a rival gang.
(AP, 8/23/07)
2007 Aug 28, Brazil's Supreme Court charged one of the president's closest confidants with conspiracy in a corruption scandal that has toppled much of his inner circle. Analysts said Jose Dirceu, one of 40 people indicted, would rather spend years in prison than go down swinging against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. This was the first time ever that Brazil’s highest court has brought criminal charges against politicians.
(AP, 8/28/07)(Econ, 9/1/07, p.32)
2007 Aug 30, A speeding train carrying hundreds of commuters slammed into an empty train near Rio de Janeiro, killing eight people and injuring more than 80.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Oct 10, Brazil's Supreme Court denied a Lebanese request to extradite a fugitive banker accused of a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and wanted for questioning in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Rana Koleilat was given eight days to leave the country once her passport is returned. She was jailed on fraud charges in Lebanon in 2004, but fled the country. She was arrested in Sao Paulo on March 12, 2006.
(AP, 10/12/07)
2007 Oct 10, In Brazil a truck coming down a hill plowed into rescue workers and gawkers at the site of an earlier collision, a double accident that killed least 28 people and injured 90.
(AP, 10/11/07)
2007 Oct 15, Brazil’s President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva arrived in the Congolese capital Brazzaville for a one-day visit, the first by a Brazilian leader to the African country.
(AFP, 10/16/07)
2007 Oct 17, Hundreds of police agents swooped in on drug gangs in two Rio de Janeiro shantytowns, setting off gunbattles that killed 12 people, including an officer and a boy (4).
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 17, In South Africa the leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa vowed to push the interests of poor nations in stalled international trade talks and said any agreement would have to benefit the developing world.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 21, In Brazil activists trying to invade a 304-acre biotech seed farm, owned by the Swiss firm Syngenta AG, clashed with guards and at least two people were shot dead.
(AP, 10/22/07)
2007 Oct 21, In Brazil a girl (15) was arrested on accusations of breaking and entering a house and jailed with male inmates in Abaetetuba, Para state. She was locked up for weeks with 21 men who she said would only let her eat in return for sex. By her account, officials did nothing, until the story erupted in the national media and outraged Brazilians demanded her transfer.
(AP, 11/24/07)
2007 Oct 26, Shares in Bovespa, the stock exchange of Sao Paulo, Brazil, began trading. The IPO opened at $12.77 and closed at $17.77.
(Econ, 10/27/07, p.88)(http://tinyurl.com/34oyeb)
2007 Nov 8, Brazil’s Petrobras reported the discovery of a large oil reserve with as much as 8 billion barrels of crude in a field called Tupi. This represented about 3 months worth of current world supply, with estimated use at 86 million barrels a day. The oil was sitting between 5.3 and 7km below sea level.
(WSJ, 11/9/07, p.A12)(Econ, 8/30/08, p.36)
2007 Nov 25, In northeastern Brazil a section of stands at a soccer stadium gave way as fans cheered at the end of a game, killing eight people.
(AP, 11/26/07)
2007 Nov 27, In Brazil a Catholic bishop began his second hunger strike in two years to protest a government project to divert river water to irrigate parts of the country's arid northeast.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 28, Brazil and China said they will give Africa free satellite imaging of its landmass to help the continent respond to threats like deforestation, desertification and drought.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 30, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited a teeming hillside shantytown to launch a multimillion-dollar program to build an outdoor elevator, sewage systems, improve roads and upgrade housing for slum residents.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Dec 4, Sen. Renan Calheiros, president of Brazil's Senate, resigned while fighting allegations of corruption. Calheiros, a key ally of President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, retained his position as a senator. A legislative commission voted 17-3 last week to recommend his expulsion after finding evidence that he used third parties to illegally acquire two radio stations and a newspaper.
(AP, 12/4/07)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.43)
2007 Dec 13, Brazil's Senate refused to renew a financial transaction tax that fills the government's coffers, handing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a political defeat that could threaten his social programs for the poor.
(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 16, Argentina and Brazil successfully launched a rocket into space in the first joint space mission by the two South American nations. The VS30 rocket, which carried experiments from both countries, blasted off from Brazil's Barreira do Inferno launch center in northern Rio Grande do Norte state.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 17, The World Trade Organization (WTO) launched an investigation into Washington's multi-billion-dollar farm subsidies that Brazil and Canada say break international trading rules.
(Reuters, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 20, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, thieves homed in on two paintings, the Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" by Pablo Picasso and “O Lavrador de Cafe" by Candido Portinari (1903-1962), in the first successful heist in the 60-year history of Brazil's premier modern art museum. In Jan, 2007, police recovered the paintings and had 2 suspects under arrest.
(AP, 12/21/07)(SFC, 12/21/07, p.A2)(AP, 1/9/08)
2007 Dec 21, Brazil announced it will create a landholder registry and send 700 more federal police to the Amazon River basin in a new effort to monitor and prevent deforestation in the environmentally sensitive region.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 23, Aloisio Lorscheider (b.1924), one of Latin America's most influential cardinals, died in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after a lengthy hospitalization.
(AP, 12/23/07)
2007 Eike Batista, Brazilian businessman, founded OGX, an oil and gas firm. Its IPO in 2008 raised $4.3 billion, a record for Brazil. By 2012 he was Brazil’s richest man and ranked 7th richest in the world.
(Econ, 5/26/12, p.63)
2007 Spain’s Santander Bank acquired ABN’s Brazilian unit.
(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.15)
2007 Researchers from Karlsruhe's Natural History Museum found a 3-millimetre-long (0.118 inch) ant in the Amazon rainforest and dated its origin back to about 120Mil BC, making it the oldest still inhabiting the earth.
(Reuters, 9/16/08)
2007-2016 Ecuadorean officials received about 33.5 million in bribes during this period from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction firm according to the US Dept. of Justice.
(Econ, 2/18/17, p.29)
2008 Jan 1, In Rio Piracicaba, Brazil, a jail fire killed eight inmates who could not be rescued because the guard had left with the keys.
(AP, 1/2/08)
2008 Jan 15, Brazil signed accords with Cuba offering economic aid and sealed a deal to drill for oil off the island’s coast. Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Trade with businessmen in tow signed trade and investment deals totaling some $1 billion.
(WSJ, 1/16/08, p.A1)(Econ, 6/28/08, p.45)
2008 Jan 21, Brazil’s Petrobras announced the discovery of a huge natural gas reserve off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
(WSJ, 1/23/08, p.A10)
2008 Jan 24, In Brazil government officials held a top-level emergency meeting to deal with the problem of Amazon deforestation. Satellite images showed that as much as 2,700 square miles of land was cleared during the last five months of 2007. All logging was banned in 36 municipalities and fines stiffened for illegal cutting.
(AP, 1/24/08)(SFC, 3/22/08, p.A3)
2008 Jan 30, In Brazil heavily armed police cracking down on crime ahead of Rio's famed carnival celebrations engaged in shootouts with criminals in two slums, killing at least seven suspects.
(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 Feb 1, In Brazil men dressed as nuns swilled beer and danced down the cobblestoned streets of a Rio hillside to kick off five days of uninhibited carnival madness.
(AP, 2/2/08)
2008 Feb 6, Samba group Beija Flor was declared Brazil's carnival champion for the fifth time in six years. While Beija Flor's dancers were topless, the judges drew the line at going bottomless, penalizing the rival Sao Clemente group for breaking a rule against display of genitalia during its 80-minute parade.
(AP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 12, President Nicolas Sarkozy said France is ready to transfer technology to Brazil so that an attack submarine, helicopters and the Rafale fighter plane can be built there.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 14, Brazil flew 50,000 doses of yellow fever vaccine to Paraguay following an outbreak there, the first in 34 years.
(SFC, 2/15/08, p.A4)
2008 Feb 21, In Brazil a ferryboat carrying more than 100 passengers collided with a barge carrying fuel tanks and sank to the bottom of the Amazon River. At least 14 people died. 92 people were rescued by several small boats and the state's floating police station.
(AP, 2/22/08)
2008 Feb 23, The presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia gathered in Buenos Aires to try to agree on how to divide scarce supplies of Bolivian natural gas.
(WSJ, 2/23/08, p.A6)
2008 Feb 26, In Brazil a helicopter had just left an oil rig with 17 oil workers and three crew members on board when it went down some 75 miles off the coast. 15 people aboard were rescued mostly unharmed. Rescuers located two bodies inside the sunken wreck, bringing the death toll to three. Two others remain missing.
(AP, 2/27/08)
2008 Feb 29, In Brazil police killed six alleged drug gang members in Rio de Janeiro, while a bodyguard for the state security chief was shot dead what appeared to be an attempted robbery.
(AP, 2/29/08)
2008 Mar 4, In Brazil police used rubber bullets and tear gas to remove 900 activists from a tree farm they had invaded to highlight allegations its Swedish-Finnish operators violated a law forbidding foreign companies from owning certain lands.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 20, Brazilian officials said an outbreak of dengue in Rio de Janeiro state has killed at least 47 people this year.
(SFC, 3/21/08, p.A4)
2008 Mar 29, In Brazil Isabella Nardoni (5) died after falling from her father's sixth-floor Sao Paulo apartment. On April 18 Alexandre Nardoni (29) and his wife, Anna Carolina Jatoba (24), the father and stepmother of the 5-year-old girl, were arrested for allegedly throwing the girl from their apartment window.
(AP, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 1, In Brazil Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, a reputed Colombian drug lord whose cartel is accused of having shipped hundreds of tons of cocaine, was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison in Brazil for crimes committed in that country.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 4, In Brazil officials said floods triggered by two weeks of torrential downpours have killed at least 10 people and forced more than 30,000 people to flee their homes in the normally arid northeast.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 13, In Brazil armed men firing from pickup trucks and flying in a helicopter attacked a maximum-security prison holding some of Brazil's highest-profile inmates but were repelled by guards in Campo Grande, the state capital of Mato Grosso do Sul.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 14, In Brazil a top energy official said a deep-water exploration area could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil, an amount that would nearly triple Brazil's reserves and make the offshore bloc the world's third-largest known oil reserve.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 15, Brazil and Russia signed an agreement to jointly develop top-line jet fighters and satellite launch vehicles.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 15, In Brazil a police raid on drugs and dealers in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown set off a fierce gunbattle that killed at least nine people and wounded seven.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 20, In Brazil Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli, a 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest, went missing after he lifted off under hundreds of balloons from the port city of Paranagua wearing a helmet, an aluminum thermal flight suit, waterproof coveralls and a parachute. Tugboat workers discovered a body off Rio de Janeiro in early July that authorities believed belonged to the cleric. DNA confirmed that it was the body of the priest.
(AP, 4/23/08)(AP, 7/29/08)
2008 Apr 25, Police swarmed a Rio de Janeiro slum in search of a drug lord, touching off a shootout that killed 11 people including a 70-year-old woman. Two bystanders were wounded. Emival Barbosa Machado (50), an Amazon farmer who received death threats after reporting illegal logging to authorities, was shot to death as he left his house in Tucurui.
(AP, 4/26/08)
2008 May 4, In Brazil a boat ferrying people home from a religious festival sank in the Amazon region on the Solimoes River leaving at least 41 dead and dozens missing.
(AP, 5/5/08)(AP, 5/7/08)
2008 May 12, Brazil announced that it is forming a sovereign-wealth fund worth between $10 and $20 billion.
(WSJ, 5/13/08, p.A1)
2008 May 13, In Brazil renowned rain forest defender Marina Silva resigned as the environment minister, saying she lacked the necessary political support to protect the Amazon. A government study said Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 14, In Brazil a reporter and photographer for O Dia were abducted with their driver and held for nearly eight hours in the western Rio de Janeiro shantytown where they had been working undercover investigating paramilitaries. O Dia said it contacted state security officials immediately after the incident, but did not report it publicly until Jun 1 to protect its journalists.
(AP, 6/2/08)
2008 May 20, Painted and feathered Indians waving machetes and clubs slashed Eletrobras engineer Paulo Fernando Rezende, an official of Brazil's national electric company during a protest over a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River. Environmentalists warned it could destroy the traditional fishing grounds of Indians living nearby and displace as many as 15,000 people. The government said the proposed US$6.7 billion (euro4.3 billion) dam would supply Brazil with an estimated 11,000 megawatts of power and is essential to meet growing energy demand.
(AP, 5/20/08)
2008 May 23, In Brazil 12 South American leaders gathered in Brasilia to set up the Union of South American Nations. UNASUR was expected to replace the South American Community, declared in 2004, and unite the Mercosur and Andean Community free trade areas. Members included Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNASUR_Constitutive_Treaty)(Econ, 5/31/08, p.41)
2008 May 27, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva swore in Carlos Minc, former environment secretary for Rio de Janeiro state, as Brazil's new environment minister. Silva used the swearing-in speech to lash developed nations for alleged hypocrisy on environmental policy.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2008 Jun 2, Carlos Minc, Brazil’s new environment minister, said the government will impound cattle caught grazing on illegally cleared pastures with an operation, dubbed "Rogue Bull," to attack deforestation in the rain forest. Government researchers said that preliminary data indicate the Amazon lost at least 2,258 square miles (5,850 square kilometers) of forest cover from August to April 2008.
(AP, 6/3/08)
2008 Jun 2, The United States lost an appeal in its long-running dispute with Brazil over U.S. subsidies for cotton farmers at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
(Reuters, 6/2/08)
2008 Jun 11, Police in southern Brazil fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who tried to invade a supermarket to protest high food prices, part of widespread demonstrations across more than a dozen states.
(AP, 6/11/08)
2008 Jun 11, InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewing giant, offered $46 billion, or 65 dollars a share, in cash for Anheuser-Busch in a bid to create an unrivaled global brewing giant.
(AFP, 6/12/08)(Econ, 6/21/08, p.77)
2008 Jun 11, In Brazil bankers set an IPO price of $689 per share in OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA, a firm created by Eike Batista (50) to drill for oil in Brazilian offshore tracts.
(WSJ, 6/12/08, p.B1)
2008 Jun 12, In Brazil 3 armed robbers stole two Pablo Picasso prints from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art and 2 other paintings in a rapid strike in which they bypassed more valuable works. By August 18 police recovered all of the paintings and arrested 3 suspects.
(AP, 6/13/08)(AP, 8/7/08)(AP, 8/18/08)
2008 Jun 15, Eleven Brazilian soldiers allegedly turned over three shantytown residents to a drug gang that executed them and left their bodies in a garbage dump. Police arrested the soldiers the next day and Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral denounced the soldiers as criminals.
(AP, 6/16/08)
2008 Jun 17, Brazil's environment minister said grain crushers have extended a two-year-old moratorium on the purchase of soybeans planted in areas of the Amazon rain forest cut down after 2006.
(AP, 6/17/08)
2008 Jun 20, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed a new 3.8 million acre (1.5 million hectare) Indian reservation in the heart of the Amazon rain forest's logging frontier.
(AP, 6/21/08)
2008 Jul 8, Brazilian police arrested a former Sao Paulo mayor and two prominent financiers in a case that grew out of an influence-peddling scandal involving senior government officials.
(AP, 7/9/08)
2008 Jul 11, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to support East Timor during talks in Dili with Timorese leaders including President Jose Ramos-Horta.
(AFP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 12, In Jakarta, Indonesia, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged cooperation on biofuels during talks in a bid to take advantage of surging oil prices.
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Brazil police said at least eight alleged drug traffickers were killed during a raid in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown.
(AP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 19, In Bogota the presidents of Brazil and Colombia vowed to boost trade and investment between their nations ahead of crucial world trade talks next week.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 19, Brazilian actress and comedian Dercy Goncalves (101), known for her vulgar wit and scandalous behavior, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 25, In Goiania, Brazil, Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho Santos stabbed to death and dismembered Cara Marie Burke (17), a British citizen, while high on crack cocaine. In 2009 Santos was sentenced to 19 years for the killing and two more for hiding the body.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2008 Jul 26, Brazil's Embraer (EMBR3.SA), the world's third-biggest commercial jet maker, said it would invest 148 million euros in two new plants in Portugal -- its first industrial units in Europe that will make wings and tailpieces for exports.
(AP, 7/26/08)
2008 Jul 29, In central Brazil the torso of Cara Marie Burke, 17, from London, was found in a suitcase in Goiania. She had been stabbed to death by Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho dos Santos (20) over the weekend in his apartment. Santos was arrested on July 31 and confessed. Reports said he was a cocaine user.
(AFP, 8/1/08)
2008 Jul 31, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched the Amazon Fund to provide grants to projects intended to stop the Amazon rainforest from shrinking.
(Econ, 8/9/08, p.37)
2008 Aug 11, Brazil's environment minister said he granted a license for the Santo Antonio hydroelectric dam but attached stringent conditions to protect Amazon Indian reservations and nature preserves. The dam is expected to cost 9.5 billion reals (US$5.9 billion) and go online in 2012. The dam is one of two planned for the Madeira river in the Amazon state of Rondonia.
(AP, 8/11/08)
2008 Aug 16, Dorival Caymmi (b.1914), Brazilian composer, died. He had composed over 100 songs and catapulted to fame when Carmen Miranda performed one of his songs in 1938.
(AP, 8/17/08)
2008 Aug 22, Brazil extradited Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia to the United States to face racketeering charges.
(AP, 8/22/08)
2008 Aug 26, Brazil asked the WTO for the right to impose $4 billion in annual sanctions against US goods and services to penalize the US for handing out illegal cotton subsidies.
(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A9)
2008 Aug 26, In Brazil Olavo Egydio Setubal (b.1923), industrialist and former mayor of Sao Paulo, died. His industrial and financial empire, which grew up from a metal shop, included Banco Itau Holding Financiera SA, Brazil’s 2nd largest bank.
(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=29439734)(WSJ, 8/30/08, p.A5)
2008 Aug 28, Brazilian authorities said more than 200 oil-slicked penguins had washed up dead over the last 4 days on the beaches of Florianopolis, a popular Brazilian island resort, and that they are searching for a cause.
(AP, 8/28/08)
2008 Aug 30, Brazilian officials said Amazon deforestation jumped 69 percent in the past 12 months, the first such increase in three years, as rising demand for soy and cattle pushes farmers and ranchers to raze trees.
(AP, 8/31/08)
2008 Sep 1, Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva suspended the entire leadership of Abin, the nation’s intelligence agency, after it was accused of tapping the phones of the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress.
(AP, 9/2/08)(WSJ, 9/2/08, p.A14)(Econ, 9/6/08, p.45)
2008 Sep 11, In Brazil Daniel Dantas, businessman, found $300 million of his money frozen by the courts under accusations of laundering public money and offering bribes. His fortune was estimated at over $1 billion. On Dec 2 Dantas was convicted of trying to bribe police officers. He was fined $5 million and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but appealed the conviction.
(Econ, 9/20/08, p.82)(Econ, 12/6/08, p.51)
2008 Sep 15, According to a new UN report Brazilian police carried out a "significant proportion" of the 48,000 murders that swept Brazil last year, casting doubt on the government's ability to curtail drug violence and reign in vigilante militias.
(AP, 9/15/08)
2008 Sep 16, Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg said Norway will give Brazil US$1 billion by 2015 to preserve the Amazon rain forest, as long as Latin America's largest nation keeps trying to stop deforestation.
(AP, 9/16/08)
2008 Sep 18, Peru’s Pres. Alan Garcia led a deputation of half his cabinet and over 200 business leaders to see Brazil’s Pres. da Silva.
(Econ, 9/13/08, p.44)
2008 Sep 22, In southern Brazil 5 hooded gunmen killed 15 people on an alleged drug trafficker's ranch. The suspected trafficker and two of his sons were among the 15 dead.
(AP, 9/22/08)
2008 Sep 23, Ecuador expelled a leading Brazilian construction firm sending in troops to seize projects worth $800 million. Pres. Correa was battling with the Odebrecht firm over a dam which the government said was badly built.
(WSJ, 9/24/08, p.A24)
2008 Sep 29, Brazilian officials said the Amazon is being deforested more than three times as fast as last year, acknowledging a sharp reversal after three years of declines in the deforestation rate.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 5, Isolated shootings in Brazil soured municipal elections that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's allies hope will give them a leg up on 2010's presidential vote.
(AP, 10/5/08)
2008 Oct 16, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Mozambique to launch a project to make anti-AIDS drugs in the southern African country.
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 22, The DJIA tumbled 514.45 to close at 8519.21, its 7th biggest point drop in history, as investors believed that the global economy is heading into a deep recession. Hungary’s central bank raised interest rates by 3 points, from 8.5% to 11.5%, to prevent a run on its currency. Argentine and Brazilian stock markets each fell about 10%. Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan said he was wrong to think that financial markets could police themselves.
(WSJ, 10/22/08, p.A1)(SFC, 10/24/08, p.C1)(Econ, 10/25/08, p.33)
2008 Oct 26, Brazil held nationwide municipal elections. The ruling party was expected to dominate. Brazil's ruling party lost its chance to retake control of Sao Paulo, South America's biggest city. Fernando Gabeira, an ex-guerrilla who once kidnapped a US ambassador (1969), failed in his bid to become mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 10/26/08)
2008 Oct 31, Brazil's state-run oil company signed an agreement to explore for oil in deep Caribbean waters north of Cuba that officials in Havana say could contain 20 billion barrels of crude.
(AP, 10/31/08)
2008 Nov 3, Two of Brazil’s largest banks agreed to merge in a move to buttress the country’s financial system. Itau Holding Financeira SA will purchase its smaller rival Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA.
(WSJ, 11/4/08, p.C1)
2008 Nov 9, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, finance ministers from 20 leading nations (G20) agreed to boost emerging economies’ role in negotiations to overhaul the international financial system.
(SFC, 11/10/08, p.D1)
2008 Nov 10, In Brazil bandits blew up a police station with dynamite after stealing drugs and weapons in Botucatu city in Sao Paulo state.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2008 Nov 23, In southern Brazil weekend rains caused rivers to overflow their banks. The resulting floods and mudslides left at least 114 people dead. In northeastern Paragominas a mob of about 3,000 people, enraged by a crackdown on illegal logging, trashed a government office, and tried to attack environmental workers.
(AP, 11/25/08)(AP, 11/24/08)(AP, 12/1/08)
2008 Dec 8, In Brazil Police chief Paulo Fernando Fortunato reported that 13 gay men were killed in a park in suburban Sao Paulo between February 2007 and August 2008.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 11, Australian police said detectives have charged 22 men including a policeman, a senior lawyer and a child care worker in connection with a child pornography-sharing network spanning 70 countries. Brazilian information, which was shared via the international policing network Interpol, identified more than 200 suspects in 70 countries.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 16, In Brazil South American leaders agreed to create a regional defense council aimed at preventing local conflicts and reducing dependence on US weaponry. 33 countries from across the Americas had gathered for a 2-day meeting to discuss issues ranging from defense to economics.
(WSJ, 12/17/08, p.A16)(Econ, 12/20/08, p.57)
2008 Dec 23, Brazil and France signed an arms deal that could lead to Latin America's first nuclear submarine.
(AP, 12/23/08)
2008 Dec 26, Brazilian police detained Regivaldo Galvao, a rancher suspected in the 2005 slaying of rain forest activist Dorothy Stang (73), for allegedly illegally acquiring titles to land the US nun died trying to defend.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2008 Dec 31, In Brazil Christian Wolffer (70), owner of the Wolffer Estate winery, bled to death after suffering two deep cuts on his back while swimming on New Year's Eve near the colonial town of Paraty, about 150 kilometers (100 miles) west of Rio de Janeiro. A man suspected of piloting a motorboat that struck and killed Wolffer was detained on Jan 4.
(AP, 1/4/09)
2008 In Brazil police began setting up Pacifying Police Units (UPPS) in some of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to help restore law and order.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.42)
2008 Banco do Brazil bought Nossa Caixa, a mid sized state-owned banking firm.
(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.11)
2009 Jan 14, In Brazil Cesare Battisti (54), a leftist fugitive who wrote police thrillers while evading a life sentence for two political murders, was granted refugee status in Brazil and an official said he could go free this week. Italy's government protested the decision. Battisti escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism. He fled to France and reinvented himself as a mystery writer. Battisti has repeatedly insisted on his innocence. On March 5, 2010, he was sentenced to two years in prison for passport fraud.
(AP, 1/14/09)(AFP, 3/6/10)
2009 Jan 18, The roof of a Brazilian church in Sao Paulo caved in shortly after a religious service, killing 9 people and injuring 106 more.
(AP, 1/19/09)
2009 Jan 21, Brazil’s central bank cut its benchmark overnight rate, the Selic rate, to 12.75%, the highest rate in the America’s, even considering its nearly 7% inflation.
(WSJ, 1/22/09, p.A8)
2009 Jan 24, Mariana Bridi (20), Brazilian model, died from complications related to a generalized infection caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The bacteria is known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics. The infection reduced the flow of oxygen to her limbs, causing her feet to be amputated last week and her hands this week.
(AP, 1/24/09)
2009 Jan 27, In Brazil some 100,000 activists of all stripes converged on the Amazon city of Belem, opening the 9th World Social Forum.
(AP, 1/27/09)
2009 Jan 27, Brazil established a new set of bureaucratic hoops for importers, raising worries about creeping protectionism.
(WSJ, 1/28/09, p.A10)
2009 Jan 30, In Brazil officials in Rio Grande do Sul state said 10 victims had drowned in the city of Pelotas, and that floods had driven thousands from their homes.
(AP, 1/31/09)
2009 Feb 1, In Brazil the world's biggest counterculture political gathering ended with a flurry of photo-snapping, tent folding and farewell embraces, as well as uncertainty about what concrete results were accomplished in the stifling heat of Belem.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009 Feb 3, In Brazil hundreds of riot police occupied one of Sao Paulo's biggest slums following a night of clashes in which three police officers were shot. Residents said the clashes were a response to the police killing of a man on Feb 1 in Paraisopolis.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 3, In Brazil Ocelio Alves de Carvalho was killed on the Kulina Indian reservation. An Indian who witnessed the killing, and tried to stop it, arrived at the police station to report the alleged murder the next day. The witness said body parts were roasted and eaten.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 4, Brazilian police killed at least 10 suspects, including two teenage boys, during operations against drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 7, In Brazil 4 people at the rear of a plane that crashed in a muddy Amazon river managed to open an emergency door and swim to safety as the aircraft sank, dragging 24 others to their death.
(AP, 2/8/09)
2009 Feb 22, In Brazil bubbles, feathers and glitter swirled on the first night of parades in Rio's Carnival, as the city's samba schools battled it out for top honors in what many bill as the world's largest party.
(AP, 2/23/09)
2009 Mar 11, Brazil’s Central Bank cut its benchmark Selic rate by 1.5% to 11.25%. further cuts were expected.
(Econ, 3/28/09, p.44)
2009 Mar 11, In Brazil a prosecutor charged rancher Regivaldo Galvao, accused of murdering US nun Dorothy Strang, with trying to fraudulently obtain a plot of the rain forest that Strang had worked to protect.
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.A2)
2009 Mar 14, President Barack Obama met with visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for talks on the economy, energy and the environment.
(AP, 3/14/09)
2009 Mar 19, Brazil's Supreme Court sided with Amazonian Indians in a land dispute that some have called critical for determining the future of the rainforest that sprawls the size of Western Europe. The court ruling upheld the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation for 18,000 Indians who lay claim to their ancestral land, despite a handful of large-scale farmers who also occupy the territory in the northernmost reaches of Amazon jungle bordering Venezuela.
(AP, 3/19/09)
2009 Mar 24, The WHO’s annual report on TB, presented in Rio, indicated that there were 1.37 million cases of people with both TB and HIV in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available. About 700,000 people were infected with both in 2006.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 26, In Brazil engine pieces from a US plane fell from the sky, hitting 22 houses and a car but sparing passengers and residents on the ground. Arrow Cargo's station manager in Manaus, Rai Marinho, said the company will pay local residents for damages to their property.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 30, Argentina’s health minister acknowledged that the country was in the middle of a dengue fever epidemic with nearly 8,000 people infected. Neighboring Bolivia had about 51,000 cases reported, while Brazil counted some 40,000 cases.
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46371)(SSFC, 4/19/09, p.G3)
2009 Mar 31, In Brazil the state government of Rio de Janeiro said it will build 7 miles of concrete walls around some of its biggest slums in an effort to halt deforestation of the jungle surrounding the metropolis.
(SFC, 4/1/09, p.A2)
2009 Apr 28, Peru’s Pres. Alan Garcia and Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed an agreement for six hydroelectricity schemes in Peru. The Inambari dam would be the first to be built, and most of its power would be exported to Brazil.
(www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11256.aspx)(Econ, 11/21/09, p.42)
2009 Apr 30, Brazil's Supreme Court struck down a 1967 press censorship law enacted during the military dictatorship. In a 7-4 vote the court ruled the law unconstitutionally violated freedom of expression.
(AP, 5/1/09)
2009 May 2, Brazilian officials said floods and mudslides from heavy rains in the northeast have killed at least 14 people in the last month and driven tens of thousands from their homes.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 2, In Brazil Augusto Boal (78), theater director and playwright known for the interactive genre called the "Theater of the Oppressed," died. Seen as a threat to the dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985, Boal was arrested, jailed and tortured before being exiled to Argentina. He returned to Brazil after the fall of the military regime.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 6, Brazilian officials said at least 29 people have been killed by floods and mudslides in northern Brazil as authorities struggled to rush aid to dozens of small cities cut off from civilization by overflowing rivers in the Amazon region.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 7, Argentina and Brazil confirmed five swine flu cases within their borders as the virus affects more nations in South America.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 8, Brazilians huddled in cow pens converted into emergency shelters, as swollen rivers continue to rise and northern Brazil's worst floods in decades boosted the number of homeless to nearly 300,000. The death toll rose to 39, and coffins started popping out of the soaked earth.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 10, Floodwaters receded some in inundated towns across northern Brazil, but the number of homeless rose above 300,000 and two people were missing after an overloaded canoe overturned in swift waters.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 13, In Brazil slum dwellers rioted after the arrest of drug dealers in a Sao Paulo shantytown, burning vehicles and tires, pelting police with rocks and briefly shutting down a major urban highway.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 19, China and Brazil signed a raft of agreements in Beijing including a $10 billion loan for the South American country's state energy company and a deal to send oil to China amid stronger ties between the two developing world giants.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 22, Brazil's Supreme Court approved the extradition to the US of Pablo Rayo Montano, a Colombian-born drug lord accused of running one of the world's largest drug smuggling operations.
(AP, 5/22/09)
2009 May 22, In Brazil a twin-engine plane crashed near a private airport in a northeastern coastal resort area, killing all 11 people aboard.
(AP, 5/23/09)
2009 May 28, In Brazil raging torrents from a ruptured dam and swamped Cocal, a northeastern farming city of about 25,000 in Piaui state, forcing residents to scramble onto rooftops and climb high trees to escape the deadly floodwaters. 4 people were killed.
(AP, 5/28/09)
2009 Jun 1, A missing Air France Airbus A330 jet, Flight 447, carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil soon began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
(AP, 6/1/09)
2009 Jun 2, An airplane seat, a life jacket, metallic debris and signs of fuel were found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean by Brazilian military pilots searching for a missing Air France airliner Flight 447.
(AP, 6/2/09)
2009 Jun 6, Brazilian search crews retrieved the first 2 bodies in the Atlantic from the May 31 crash of Air France Flight 447. Investigators said faulty speed readings had been found on the same type of jets.
(Reuters, 6/6/09)
2009 Jun 7, Brazilian and French ships recovered 14 more bodies from ocean near Air France crash, bringing the total to 16.
(AP, 6/7/09)(SFC, 6/8/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 8, Brazilian and French ships recovered 8 more bodies from Air France Flight 447, bringing the total recovered to 24. The tail section of the plane was also recovered. The plane disappeared during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on May 31 amid strong thunderstorms.
(AP, 6/9/09)(SFC, 6/9/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 12, A Brazilian ship recovered three more bodies from the Atlantic bringing the total to 44. Searchers said weather and currents complicated their job and warned it is unlikely that all the dead from Air France Flight 447 will be found.
(AP, 6/12/09)
2009 Jun 13, Brazil reported that a French ship had found six more bodies from Air France Flight 447, which would bring the total to 50. It went down May 31 with 228 on board.
(AP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 15, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva brought a message of worker solidarity and economic responsibility to the United Nations. He left with some rare, sharp criticism from human rights groups that once championed his government.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 19, The Brazilian government apologized for the torture and abuse of 44 poor farmers under the military regime that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985 and announced reparations for the victims.
(AP, 6/20/09)
2009 Jun 20, It was reported that that the H1N1 swine flu virus has spread to at least 76 countries and caused over 160 deaths, and that Brazilian researchers have identified a new strain of the virus.
(SFC, 6/20/09, p.D12)
2009 Jun 25, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva approved a law that could legalize landholdings by some 1 million squatters occupying a Texas-sized chunk of the Amazon rain forest, despite environmentalist fears it will accelerate deforestation.
(AP, 6/26/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Brazil Sao Paulo state officials launched what they say is Latin America's first passenger bus with an electric engine powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The bus will start test runs on the streets of Sao Paulo in August and will be joined by three similarly powered vehicles next year.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Brazil prison guards foiled a new attempt to smuggle a cell phone into Danilo Pinheiro prison near the city of Sorocaba by a carrier pigeon wearing a tiny backpack. Police said that the practice is becoming almost commonplace.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 11, It was reported that Brazilian police were investigating some 660 “secret acts" passed by the Senate since 1995 which have awarded jobs and pay raises members of staff.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.39)
2009 Jul 11, In Brazil the body of Arturo Gatti (37), former Canadian boxing champion, was found in a hotel room at the northeastern Porto de Galinhas resort. He was apparently strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at the scene with blood stains. His wife, Amanda Rodrigues (23), was soon taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation. A police inquiry later concluded that he committed suicide using the strap of a rucksack on a staircase in the early hours of the morning.
(AP, 7/12/09)(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 25, Brazil agreed to triple its compensation to Paraguay to operate the huge Itaipu hydroelectric dam on their shared border, ending a decades-long dispute between the neighbors. President Fernando Lugo persuaded Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to sign a deal tripling Brazil's payments from $120 million to $360 million a year. On Apr 6, 2011, Brazil's lower house of Congress finally approved the deal.
(AFP, 7/25/09)(AP, 4/21/11)
2009 Aug 1, Brazilian police said they have busted a ring that allegedly sent some 200 women in the last year to the United States, Europe and elsewhere to work as prostitutes. Most of the women were recruited through the Internet or Brazilian brothels and then sent to Las Vegas, the Dominican Republic and France.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 10, Leaders of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUL), a 12-member group inspired by Brazil, met in Quito, Ecuador, in an attempt to further integration. Colombia’s Pres. Uribe did not attend, in part because Ecuador broke of ties with Colombia last year.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.31)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil authorities charged Bishop Edir Macedo and nine other people linked to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God with siphoning off billions of dollars in donations from his mostly poor followers to buy jewelry, TV stations and other businesses for himself. Macedo, who founded the church in 1977, owns a large television network, three newspapers and several radio stations. He also owns a tourism agency and an air taxi company.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil police were reported to be investigating the "Canal Livre" crime TV show saying the show's host, state legislator Wallace Souza (51), was suspected of commissioning at least five murders to boost his ratings and prove his claim that Brazil's Amazon region is awash in violent crime. Police also have accused Souza of drug trafficking.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 26, A Brazilian prosecutor in Amazonas state accused Wallace Souza, a former police officer and TV crime show host, of attempting to have a federal judge assassinated in 2007. Souza was already accused of setting up at least 5 killings to boost his TV ratings. Souza was soon kicked out of the state legislature and on Oct 5 police issued a warrant for his arrest.
(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A2)(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Sep 8, Across northern Argentina and southern Brazil a violent storm that spawned a tornado and mudslides killed at least 15 people. Dozens were injured in the winds and hail as their homes were destroyed.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 14, The leaders of Brazil and Guyana met to inaugurate the $5 million Takutu River Bridge, that is expected to boost trade between Brazil and the Caribbean. Traffic began crossing the bridge nearly two months ago but today’s ceremony was billed as its formal commissioning.
(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Sep 16, Brazil’s JBS Friboi company announced that Texas-based chicken processor Pilgrim’s Pride has agreed to be taken over for $800 million. This and a pending acquisition with Bertin, another Brazilian firm, would make JBS the world’s largest processor of meat.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.74)(http://tinyurl.com/yb7czq9)
2009 Oct 2, In Denmark the IOC opened a meeting hearing the cases led by government leaders and kings to win the right to stage the 2016 Olympic Games. US Pres. Obama spoke for Chicago, Japan's new PM Yukio Hatoyama spoke for Tokyo, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva spoke for Rio de Janeiro, and Spain's King Juan Carlos and PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero spoke for Spain. Brazil won the bid.
(AFP, 10/2/09)(AP, 10/3/09)
2009 Oct 9, In Brazil Wallace Souza, a former police officer and TV crime show host accused of commissioning killings to boost ratings, turned himself in to authorities in Manaus and was jailed on homicide and drug trafficking charges.
(AP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 11, In Brazil an intense fire broke out in a slum in Sao Paulo, South America's largest city, sending residents running across rooftops to escape the flames.
(AP, 10/12/09)
2009 Oct 17, In Brazil drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter during a gunbattle between rival gangs. The weekend gang fight in Rio de Janeiro left 3 police officers killed, and continued into the week leaving at least 32 people dead.
(SSFC, 10/18/09, p.A8)(AP, 10/21/09)(AP, 10/22/09)(Econ, 10/24/09, p.42)
2009 Oct 18, Amazon Chief Almir Surui (35), unveiled a project in partnership with Google, to make public the encroachment of illegal mining and logging on his people’s 600,000 acre reserve in Brazil. Almir was evacuated for his safety to the US in 2006. Eleven chief of the Surui and neighboring tribes have been shot and killed this decade.
(SSFC, 10/18/09, p.A1)
2009 Oct 20, Representatives of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay announced a joint plan in Buenos Aires to establish protected zones to halt deforestation in their countries by 2020.
(SFC, 10/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Oct 22, In Curitiba, Brazil, Jorge Guilherme Marinho Martins (26), the son of fire chief Jorge Luiz Thais Martins, was killed by robbers who wanted to steal his car while he returned from a party. His girlfriend also was shot, but survived. At least eight drug users in the neighborhood were soon killed. In 2011 an arrest warrant was issued for Martins for his alleged involvement in killing the drug users.
(AP, 1/28/11)(http://tinyurl.com/4zmt6t4)
2009 Oct 29, In Brazil a single-prop Cessna Caravan plane went down on the Itui River in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest. Members of the Matis Indian tribe found the plane with 9 survivors of 11 on board.
(AP, 10/31/09)
2009 Oct 29, Honduras filed a case at the UN's highest court accusing Brazil of meddling in internal Honduran affairs by allowing ousted President Manuel Zelaya to stay at its embassy in Tegucigalpa since Sep 21. Representatives of Zelaya finally reached an agreement with the interim government that could help end the months long dispute over the June 28 coup, and possibly pave the way for Zelaya's reinstatement. The agreement would create a power-sharing government and bind both sides to recognize the Nov. 29 presidential elections.
(AP, 10/29/09)(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Oct, Brazil imposed a 2% entry tax on portfolio investments in an effort to stop its currency, the real, from appreciating. This was soon raised to 4% and then to 6%. In 2012 Brazil started to dismantle its capital controls.
(Econ, 10/1/16, SR p.11)
2009 Nov 2, In Brazil some 1.5 million evangelical Christians joined the annual "March for Jesus," an event sponsored by a church whose leaders recently returned after being imprisoned in the US for money smuggling.
(AP, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 8, Brazil’s private Bandeirante University in Sao Bernardo do Campo, outside Sao Paulo, expelled Geisy Arruda (20) for wearing a short, pink dress to class, publicly accusing her of immorality. Arruda made headlines after an Oct. 22 incident, in which she had to be escorted away by police after wearing the mini-dress to class. The dean of the private college in suburban Sao Paulo released the next day announcing a decision to reinstate her. On Oct 6, 2010, Judge Rodrigo Gorga Campos ordered Bandeirante University to pay Geisy Arruda 40,000 reals ($23,800) in damages.
(AP, 11/9/09)(AP, 11/10/09)(AP, 10/7/10)
2009 Nov 11, Brazil emerged from a widespread power outage that plunged its major cities and at least nine states into darkness for over 2 hours, prompting security fears and concern from residents about another black eye for a country hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. Transmission problems had knocked one of the world's biggest hydroelectric dams offline.
(AP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 24, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave a welcoming bear hug Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and urged Western nations to drop threats of punishment over the Iranian nuclear program and instead negotiate a fair solution.
(AP, 11/24/09)
2009 Nov 24, Rio de Janeiro's posh beach neighborhoods lost power for hours in sweltering summer weather, prompting restaurants to toss out spoiled food and business owners to send employees home.
(AP, 11/24/09)
2009 Nov 25, Officials said flooding from heavy rains has killed 12 people in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and forced more than 20,000 to flee their homes. Most of the dead were in southern Brazil, including eight in Rio Grande do Sul.
(AP, 11/25/09)
2009 Nov, In Brazil the secretary of Jose Robert Arruda, governor of the Federal District, was filmed handing over bundles of cash to his boss’s various allies.
(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2009 Dec 4, In southern Brazil at least 20 people were reported dead in mudslides triggered by heavy rains as rivers rose to rooftops and thousands were left homeless.
(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 6, Brazilian thieves tunneled their way to a money transport firm in Sao Paulo and made off with nearly $6 million. A day later 6 men were arrested for the robbery.
(AP, 12/7/09)(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 7, Brazilian authorities arrested 11 people in an alleged US work-visa scam that raked in more than $50 million from thousands of Brazilians since 2002. Some of those scammed went to the US and wound up as illegal aliens because promised jobs didn't exist.
(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 8, Human Rights Watch issued a report saying police in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have killed more than 11,000 people in the past six years, many execution-style.
(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 8, Brazil's largest city of Sao Paulo was been hit by severe floods for the second time in less than a week. Local media reported that six people have died in mudslides caused by heavy rain.
(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 11, In Brazil a new presidential decree suspended up to an estimated $5.7 billion in fines and gave landowners two more years to comply with environmental regulations meant to stop the razing of the Brazilian rain forest.
(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 17, In Brazil a 2-year-old boy with 42 sewing needles stuck in him was airlifted to another hospital in northeastern Bahia state because two of the needles were close to his heart. A police official said Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, the boy's stepfather, had been arrested, that he had confessed to sticking the needles into the boy with the help of a woman and that authorities were investigating whether black magic was involved. On Dec 18 doctors removed 4 of the most life-threatening needles.
(AP, 12/17/09)(SFC, 12/18/09, p.A5)(AP, 12/19/09)
2009 Dec 24, David Goldman, a New Jersey man, and his 9-year-old son, Sean Goldman, were reunited in Brazil after a five-year international custody battle, and immediately headed home to spend the holidays in the US.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2009 Brazil’s federal program Minha Casa Vida Minha (MCMV; My House My Life) was started to fund housing for the poor and middle classes.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.389)
2009 Banco do Brazil bought a 50% stake in Votorantim, a car finance specialist.
(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.11)
2009 Brazil’s population stood at about 192 million people.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.3)
2010 Jan 1, In Brazil a rain-loosened slab of hillside collapsed on 3 houses and an upscale lodge after New Year celebrations at a resort on the island of Ilha Grande near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 26 people. On the mainland, a torrent of reddish mud cascaded into the Carioca slum in the nearby coastal city of Angra dos Reis, killing at least 18 people and reducing rickety shacks to rubble. 10 people died in Sao Paulo state. 3 people died in Minas Gerais as heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides. Nearly 80 other mudslides have been reported throughout the region in recent days. Together with flooding, they have killed at least 76 people.
(AP, 1/1/10)(AP, 1/2/10)(Reuters, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 23, Brazil extradited Manuel Juan Cordero Piacentini, a retired Uruguayan military officer, to Argentina to face charges of human rights abuses allegedly committed more than 30 years ago. Under "Operation Condor," the military dictatorships that ruled much of South America in the 1970s and 1980s secretly cooperated in the torture and disappearances of each others' citizens.
(AP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 24, In India environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China said that talks in New Delhi had further cemented their alliance following the Copenhagen climate change summit. The group, known by the acronym BASIC, pledged to strengthen its unified stance but would seek consensus with developed countries.
(AP, 1/24/10)
2010 Jan 26, Leftists in Brazil for a week of protests against capitalism denounced corporate greed on the second day of the World Social Forum, saying that big companies humbled by the global meltdown must be prevented from controlling natural resources and harming the environment.
(AP, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 27, Brazil's first working-class president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (64), got a hero's welcome at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, wowing 10,000 leftists with a vow to reproach the planet's business titans for causing the global meltdown when he meets with them this week at the Davos Swiss ski resort. Lula fell ill at the air force base in Recife where he was supposed to board a flight to Switzerland and his trip to Davos was canceled.
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 29, In Brazil leftists who converged to protest what they view as uncontrolled capitalism ended the World Social Forum with vows to take advantage of the financial crisis to promote a global socialist agenda.
(AP, 1/30/10)
2010 Feb 1, Brazil’s government approved the 11 billion dollar Belo Monte project on the Xingu river that will flood 500 square km (193 square miles) and supply 11% of Brazil's electricity. Detractors said the dam in northern Para state will trigger droughts along a 100 km (60 mile) stretch of the Xingu, displace thousands of indigenous people, attract an army of job-seekers, and accelerate the deforestation and destruction of the rain forest.
(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Feb 1, Brazil’s Cosan, a producer of ethanol, unveiled a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell to pool their retail operations.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.73)
2010 Feb 10, In Brazil a TV news helicopter pilot steered his crippled, out-of-control aircraft away from a busy highway in Sao Paulo before crashing in a grassy field during rush hour, losing his own life but avoiding greater casualties. A cameraman onboard was seriously injured.
(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 10, A Brazilian health official said 32 elderly people had died in the southeastern city of Santos this week because of a heat wave that has pushed temperatures to unseasonably high levels.
(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 11, In Brazil gunfire erupted in a Rio de Janeiro slum, killing at least seven suspected drug traffickers and a policeman a day before the Carnival celebrations kick off. Jose Roberto Arruda (57), the governor of Brasilia, was detained after a witness in a corruption investigation accused the governor of trying to bribe him.
(AP, 2/11/10)(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2010 Feb 11, Volkswagen announced it was recalling nearly 200,000 vehicles in Brazil because of a problem with the rear wheels that could cause them to seize or fall off.
(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 12, In Brazil the World's Greatest Party opened, but the everything-goes atmosphere of Carnival that has turned Rio de Janeiro into a giant oceanside den of debauchery was under assault. Amid the law-and-order makeover, a 7-year-old girl prepared to samba before a crowd of thousands as a Carnival drum corps queen.
(AP, 2/12/10)
2010 Feb 15, In Brazil Julia Lira, Rio's 7-year-old Carnival drum corps queen, danced at the front of the samba parade. She didn't like the cameras that homed in on her, and reacted as any child might, by having a good cry.
(AP, 2/15/10)
2010 Feb 17, In Brazil the Unidos da Tijuca samba group was crowned champion of the Rio Carnival parades for the first time in more than seven decades. Viradouro, which chose a 7-year-old as a drums corps queen, placed last out of 12 schools in the drum corps category, and scored even lower in the float category.
(AP, 2/17/10)
2010 Feb 28, In Brazil workers cleared some 80 tons of dead fish from Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Increased levels of harmful algae were suspected as the cause of the fie-off.
(SFC, 3/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 4, Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa, ordered all 1,987 passengers and 765 crew to remain aboard the "Vision of the Seas" anchored at Buzios, while teams of doctors treat the 195 passengers suffering vomiting and diarrhea and determine the cause of their illness.
(AFP, 3/4/10)
2010 Mar 11, Brazilian television network SBT broadcast a tape of Luiz Marques Barbosa (83) in bed with a 19-year-old that was widely distributed on the Internet. The station said the video was secretly filmed in January 2009 and sent anonymously to the network. Barbosa was detained in April out of fear he would flee the country.
(AP, 4/20/10)(http://tinyurl.com/y7vwfnz)
2010 Mar 16, Brazilian police and church officials said authorities were investigating three priests accused of sexually abusing altar boys after a video allegedly showing one case of abuse was broadcast on SBT television a week earlier.
(AP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 17, In Ramallah Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva placed a wreath on the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and sharply criticized Israeli policies, leading Israeli officials to suggest he was not being evenhanded. The visit came a day after Israel's hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said he boycotted meetings with Silva because the Brazilian did not pay a similar visit to the grave of Zionist founder Theodor Herzl.
(AP, 3/18/10)
2010 Apr 1, In Brazil Pedro Alcantara de Souza, who headed a union of landless farmers in Para, was shot in the head five times by two men on motorcycles on the outskirts of Redencao.
(AP, 4/2/10)
2010 Apr 6, In Brazil 14 straight hours of rain swamped Rio de Janeiro and killed at least eight people in the city. 3 more died in Rio de Janeiro state. 5 were also are missing in a mudslide. The death toll eventually reached 246.
(AP, 4/6/10)(AP, 4/9/10)(AP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 7, In Brazil rains kept pummeling Rio de Janeiro as officials scrambled to restore transit after at least 96 people were killed by landslides and floods.
(Reuters, 4/7/10)
2010 Apr 8, In Brazil authorities said at least 200 people were buried and feared dead under the latest landslide in the Morro Bumba slum in Niteroi, neighboring Rio de Janeiro. 205 people were already known to have died this week in slides triggered by the record rains.
(AP, 4/8/10)(AP, 4/9/10)
2010 Apr 12, The United States and Brazil signed an agreement meant to bolster military ties, but Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim did not offer any hint about a key defense contract sought by U.S.-based Boeing Co.
(Reuters, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 12, In Brazil rancher Vitalmiro Moura, accused of ordering the 2005 murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang, was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Moura was previously convicted of Stang's murder and then acquitted in an automatic retrial. That decision was overturned last year on a technicality.
(AP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 12, In Brazil the threat of new mudslides forced officials to begin evicting 2,600 families from at-risk areas as they embarked on a slum demolition program on Rio de Janeiro's hills.
(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 14, In Brazil a federal judge in Para state delayed the April 20 auction for construction of what would be the world's third-largest hydroelectric project. The $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam was cleared for construction Feb. 1 by Brazil's Environment Ministry and bidding was set for next week.
(AP, 4/15/10)
2010 Apr 14, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian PM Manmohan Singh arrived in Brazil to participate in bilateral meetings with the leaders of other emerging economies and a BRIC summit on April 16.
(AFP, 4/15/10)
2010 Apr 16, Brazil arrested Nestor Caro Chapparro, said to be one of Colombia's top four drug traffickers. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has accused Chapparro of smuggling more than 5,000 kg of cocaine from Brazil to the US in the late 1990s.
(AP, 4/16/10)
2010 Apr 16, A judge in the capital of Brasilia reversed a decision to suspend contract bidding scheduled for next week and also overturned the suspension of the environmental license for the 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte dam.
(AP, 4/16/10)
2010 Apr 20, Brazil speedily awarded the tender for the controversial Belo Monte hydro-electric dam projected to be the world's third-largest, despite fierce opposition from environmentalists. The tender was awarded to Norte Energia, a consortium led by Chesf, a subsidiary of the state electricity company Electrobras, after a series of court injunctions that had blocked and unblocked the auction process. The reservoir of the dammed Xingu river will cover 516 square km. and leave scores of villages awash.
(AFP, 4/20/10)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.34)
2010 Apr 27, Brazil, a UN Security Council member, demanded that Iran guarantee its nuclear program has no military aims, saying the crisis has become the single most important security issue in the world.
(AFP, 4/27/10)
2010 Apr 28, In Brazil Sao Paulo state prosecutors said Father Jose Afonso (74), a Roman Catholic priest, is facing charges he abused eight boys in cases dating back to 1995, adding to a growing list of allegations against clergy in Latin America.
(AP, 4/29/10)
2010 May 1, In Brazil a jury convicted a rancher of orchestrating the murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang. Regivaldo Galvao, the last of five defendants to stand trial in the case, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The verdict came two weeks after another rancher, Vitalmiro Moura, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of collaborating with Galvao. Galvao was soon released on bail pending an appeal.
(AP, 5/1/10)(AP, 5/19/10)
2010 May 2, Norsk Hydro announced that it was acquiring the aluminium assets of Vale, a Brazilian mining giant, in a deal valued at $4.9 billion.
(Econ, 5/8/10, p.65)
2010 May 3, Paraguay’s Pres. Fernando Lugo and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva met under a heavy police presence in a rough outpost called Pedro Juan Caballero on the Paraguayan side and Ponta Pora in Brazil in a joint effort to fight to drug-trafficking. Lugo's ministers were frustrated by the Paraguayan Senate's vote last week to delay until 2013 a personal income tax that would generate nearly $37 million a year that Lugo desperately needs to fund troops and provisions of martial law he has declared across five states in pursuit of the guerrillas.
(AP, 5/4/10)
2010 May 5, Brazilian local media reported that Brazil is to build a 483-million-dollar nuclear reactor to produce radioactive material for medical use as well as industrial-grade enriched uranium.
(AFP, 5/6/10)
2010 May 8, Iran voiced optimism about Turkish and Brazilian mediation efforts in its nuclear dispute with the West, welcoming in principle ideas aimed at reviving a stalled fuel deal with major powers.
(Reuters, 5/8/10)
2010 May 15, In Brazil a fire destroyed what may be the world's largest scientific collection of dead snakes, spiders and scorpions. The Instituto Butantan’s collection of nearly 80,000 specimens was the main source for research on thousands of species.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 16, Aviation officials closed airports in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland due to a drifting, dense cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 16, In Brazil Marina Silva, former rubber tapper turned environmentalist, joined the presidential race as candidate for the small Green Party on Sunday, pledging clean government and sustainable development.
(Reuters, 5/16/10)
2010 May 16, In Iran Brazil's Pres. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva met with Iranian leaders to try to broker a compromise in the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, even as the US says new sanctions are the only way to force Iran's cooperation.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 17, Iran agreed to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a surprise nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country's disputed atomic program and deflate a US-led push for tougher sanctions. The deal was reached in talks between Brazils’ Pres. Silva, Turkey’s PM Erdogan and Iran’s Pres. Ahmadinejad.
(AP, 5/17/10)(SFC, 5/17/10, p.A2)
2010 May 20, In Brazil a court ordered the arrest of a Polish priest suspected of sexually abusing a teenager in a Rio de Janeiro suburb and turning his parish home into what the judge described as an "erotic dungeon" for sex with adolescents. State prosecutors have accused Marcin Michael Strachanowski (44) of handcuffing a former altar boy (16) to a bed 3 years ago in the parish house where the priest lived and threatening to kill the youth if he spoke of the abuse.
(AP, 5/21/10)
2010 May 24, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched TV Brasil, a new Portuguese-language network based in Mozambique's capital Maputo and tasked with "saying good things" about Brazil. From Maputo, the new channel will be broadcast to more than 40 countries, mostly in Africa and Latin America.
(AFP, 5/24/10)
2010 Jun 6, In Brazil millions of gays and lesbians jammed several of Sao Paulo's main avenues for the 14th annual gay pride parade in South America's largest city.
(AP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 7, The Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) awarded Walmart Brazil and its CEO Hector Nunez the inaugural C.K. Prahalad Award for Global Sustainability Leadership for their historic work to preserve the Amazon.
(PRNewswire, 6/8/10)
2010 Jun 8, In northeastern Brazil Jose Agostinho Pereira (54) was jailed for keeping his daughter imprisoned for 12 years in a remote fishing village. Police said he had raped her repeatedly and had seven children with her. The man was also accused of abusing a young girl he had with his daughter. In Feb, 2011, Pereira was decapitated by fellow inmates who broke into his cell in the city of Pinheiro.
(AP, 6/9/10)(AP, 2/9/11)
2010 Jun 17, Brazil suspended retaliatory measures against US goods over a cotton subsidy dispute, freezing until 2012 a long-running row that has demonstrated the South American nation's trade clout.
(Reuters, 6/17/10)
2010 Jun 21, In Brazil a government study said 51% of men and 42.3% of women were overweight. A recent US study showed 68% of the US population was overweight.
(SFC, 6/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Jun 22, In Brazil floods after days of driving rain killed at least 51 people in the northeast, and left another 120,000 people homeless. After some days the number of missing dropped to 76.
(AP, 6/22/10)(AFP, 6/23/10)(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Jul 1, In Brazil a statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro was reinaugurated after a renovation costing nearly $4 million. The renovation of the Christ the Redeemer statue, which has towered over the city for nearly 80 years, was financed by Brazilian mining giant Vale and the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio.
(AFP, 7/1/10)
2010 Jul 5, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrapped up a state visit to Equatorial Guinea (Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial), which included the signing of multiple cooperation agreements, economic meetings, and festivities.
(PR Newswire, 7/6/10)
2010 Jul 7, In Brazil Bruno Souza, a star goalkeeper and captain of defending club champion Flamengo, surrendered to police to face questioning in connection with the disappearance and suspected death of his ex-lover, Eliza Samudio, last seen alive on June 7. Police believed Bruno was in a home near Belo Horizonte home with Samudio at the time of her murder, and that her body was later cut into pieces, some of which were fed to dogs in a bid to cover the murder.
(AFP, 7/9/10)
2010 Jul 10, It was reported that Amazon river dolphins were being killed by fishermen for bait and that the population was dropping 7 percent a year. The gentle and curious dolphins were easy targets for nets and harpoons as they swim fearlessly up to fishing boats.
(AP, 7/10/10)
2010 Jul 12, In Brazil Paulo Moura (77), clarinet jazz great and Latin Grammy winner, died after a fight against cancer.
(AP, 7/13/10)
2010 Jul 14, Jornal do Brazil said it will end its print editions in September after 119 years, but will continue with a paid online edition.
(SFC, 7/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Jul 16, In Brazil an 11-year-old boy in a school classroom was killed by a stray bullet from a shootout between police and suspected drug gang members in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 7/16/10)
2010 Jul 25, In Brazil about 300 Amazon Indians prevented workers from entering or leaving the construction site of a hydroelectric plant that protesters say is on an ancient burial ground. Native Indians took some 100 workers hostage at the construction site. Indians from eight tribes taking part in the protest demanded compensation for losses caused by construction of the Dardanelos plant in the southern Amazon city of Aripuana. The hostages were released the next day.
(AP, 7/25/10)(Reuters, 7/25/10)(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 25, In Turkey foreign ministers of Turkey and Brazil urged Iran to be flexible and open in dealings with the West over its atomic program as Iran renewed its readiness to resume frozen nuclear talks. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Iran has expressed willingness to have talks with the European Union on its nuclear program after the month of Ramadan ends in early September.
(AFP, 7/25/10)(Reuters, 7/25/10)
2010 Jul 26, In Brazil gunmen used a pickup truck to block an air taxi from taking off at a small airport in the northeastern city of Caruaru and stole money and documents it was carrying for the country's federation of banks.
(AP, 7/27/10)
2010 Jul 27, In Brazil Wallace Souza (51), a former TV crime show host and state legislator accused of commissioning killings to boost ratings, died. He suffered from Budd Chiari syndrome, a rare disorder that causes clots to form in blood vessels in the liver.
(AFP, 7/28/10)
2010 Aug 2, Brazilian authorities said police have dismantled a kidnapping ring that scoured social networking sites for victims.
(SFC, 8/3/10, p.A2)
2010 Aug 2, UNESCO added 6 sites located in Brazil, China, Mexico, France's Reunion Island and the South Pacific nation of Kiribati to World Heritage status.
(AP, 8/2/10)
2010 Aug 9, Brazil formally offered asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death in Iran on an adultery conviction. On July 31 Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested he would be willing to provide the woman refuge.
(AP, 8/10/10)
2010 Aug 9, In Brazil Ed Stafford (34), former British army captain, ended his 2 1/2-year journey as he planned, leaping into the sea as the first man known to walk the length of the Amazon River.
(AP, 8/9/10)
2010 Aug 10, Brazil signed on to UN sanctions against Iran despite misgivings over the measures following its efforts to negotiate a nuclear-swap deal with the Islamic state.
(AP, 8/11/10)
2010 Aug 12, An Iranian man was arrested in Brazil on suspicion of 11 murders allegedly aimed at protecting his illegal electronics smuggling operation. Police in the northeastern state of Ceara say Farhad Marvizi (46) hired two rogue officers and other people to carry out the killings in the last two years.
(AP, 8/13/10)
2010 Aug 17, In Brazil police officers repeated shot a 14-year-old boy just outside his house in Manaus. The boy survived, but was seriously injured. On March 24, 2011, five police officers were detained after Brazilian television released amateur video that showed the shooting. A prosecutor said the officers allegedly involved in the shooting told him they were asking the minor about a gun used in a crime in the neighborhood.
(AP, 3/24/11)
2010 Aug 20, Police in southeastern Brazil said Raimundo Gregorio da Silva, a school janitor, has confessed to killing two female students and dumping their bodies in an abandoned cesspool. Silva was arrested last week after the remains were found, and has confessed to killing Dimitria Vieira (16) in 2008 and another student, Iara Pacheco (19), reported missing since February.
(AP, 8/21/10)
2010 Aug 21, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gunmen engaged in a shootout with police took 30 people hostage at a luxury hotel popular with foreign tourists but within hours freed the captives and surrendered to police. One bystander was killed as she was getting out of a taxi.
(AP, 8/21/10)
2010 Aug 25, Cosan, Brazil’s biggest sugar and ethanol producer, signed a $12 billion joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s largest energy company.
(Econ, 9/4/10, p.41)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell)
2010 Aug 31, Spanish police said that for the first time they have broken up a human-trafficking gang that brought men to the country to work as prostitutes, providing them with Viagra, cocaine and other stimulant drugs to be available for sex with other men 24 hours a day. Authorities arrested 14 people, mainly Brazilians, on suspicion of running the organization and another 17 alleged prostitutes for being in Spain illegally.
(AP, 8/31/10)
2010 Sep 3, Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras unveiled a huge share offering which could raise 64 billion dollars to help finance new exploration projects in the country.
(AFP, 9/3/10)
2010 Sep 14, The British embassy said Britain has offered to build 11 warships for Brazil, as Brazil hones a maritime defense contract to protect recently found vast offshore oil deposits.
(AFP, 9/15/10)
2010 Sep 15, Brazil's government unveiled plans to slow the deforestation and help halt the wildfires that destroy its tropical savanna. The government plans to spend $200 million in the next two years to combat illegal deforestation and prevent fires.
(AP, 9/15/10)
2010 Sep 23, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva officially launched the sale of new shares in the state-run oil company Petrobras seen as the world's biggest capitalization, worth 67 billion dollars. This raised the government’s stake from 40% to 48%.
(AP, 9/24/10)(Econ, 10/2/10, p.31)
2010 Sep 27, Police in Brazil’s state of Rio Grande do Sul arrested Rev. Avelino Backes (70) after finding him in a hospital in the town of Santa Rosa. Backes disappeared in 2008 after being sentenced to seven years in jail for molesting girls aged 9 and 10 in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina in the 1990s.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Sep 28, Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega warned in remarks reported from Sao Paulo that the world is in the grip of a currency "war," with leading nations using devaluation to solve economic problems.
(AFP, 9/28/10)
2010 Sep 30, In Sweden activists from Nepal, Nigeria, Brazil and Israel were named the winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel," for work that included fighting to save the Amazon rain forest and bringing health care to Palestinians cut off from services. The recipients included Nigeria's Nnimmo Bassey (42), Catholic Bishop Erwin Kraeutler (71) of Brazil, Shrikrishna Upadhyay (65) of Nepal, and the organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
(AP, 9/30/10)
2010 Oct 1, Spanish energy giant Repsol announced the sale of 40 percent of its Brazilian affiliate to China's Sinopec for 7.1 billion dollars, securing funding for the development of oil fields in Brazil.
(AP, 10/1/10)
2010 Oct 3, Brazil held presidential elections. Ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff looked poised to sweep to victory. Rousseff, who is trying to become Brazil's first female leader, fell short of getting a majority of votes in presidential elections and faced a runoff in four weeks against an experienced, centrist rival. Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva (45), better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil's presidential and congressional elections. "What does a congressman do? The truth is I don't know, but vote for me and I'll tell you," he said in his campaign advertisements. On Nov 11 Silva convinced the Sao Paulo Electoral court that he could read and write.
(AP, 10/3/10)(AFP, 10/3/10)(AP, 10/4/10)(Reuters, 10/5/10)(SSFC, 11/14/10, p.A4)
2010 Oct 5, In Brazil a ruling posted on the Sao Paulo electoral court's website said there is sufficient doubt about whether comic performer Tiririca, which means "grumpy" in Portuguese, meets a constitutional mandate that federal lawmakers be literate. Francisco Silva, who got more votes than any other candidate for Congress, will have to convince authorities he can read and write if he wants to take office.
(AP, 10/5/10)
2010 Oct 7, In Brazil Globo TV's website said that a 13-year-old boy was killed in the crossfire of a gunbattle during a police operation to recover a stolen vehicle in a shantytown. A 67-year-old woman died and two people were injured in an unrelated shootout between police and gang members. Dozens of armed drug gang members have been setting up roadblocks and robbing drivers en masse in recent days in the Rio de Janeiro area, prompting the firing of 19 police battalion leaders a day earlier.
(AP, 10/7/10)
2010 Oct 13, In Brazil Milton Marcondes of the Humpback Whale Institute said at least 75 humpback whales have died in 2010. The previous high was 41 in 2007.
(AP, 10/14/10)
2010 Oct 15, China's basketball association fined a series of coaches and players in the national team after a bench-clearing brawl put an end to a friendly match with Brazil. The fight had erupted the night of Oct 12 at a game in central Henan province.
(AFP, 10/16/10)
2010 Oct 17, In Brazil three men broke into the home of Wanderley dos Reis, the owner of a small newspaper in Sao Paulo state, and shot and killed him.
(AP, 10/20/10)
2010 Oct 17, In southeastern Brazil a bus carrying people back from a sports festival for special needs athletes fell from a bridge into a river, killing 11 and injuring nearly 30.
(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 18, In northeastern Brazil Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, a veteran reporter who had often received death threats for his reports on crime, died instantly when he was shot five times in the city of Caico.
(AP, 10/20/10)
2010 Oct 26, In Brazil a man accused of raping 40 women turned himself in, only to be let go because Brazilian law prohibits voters from being arrested five days before elections unless they are caught red-handed. The no-arrest provision was included in the Brazilian electoral code enacted in 1932 after a period in which election fraud and arrests to intimidate voters were common.
(AP, 10/27/10)
2010 Oct 26, A Brazilian court ordered McDonald's to pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds while working there a dozen years. The 32-year-old man says he was forced to sample food products each day to ensure that quality standards remained high because McDonald's hired "mystery clients" to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.
(AP, 10/28/10)
2010 Oct 31, Brazil held elections. Dilma Rousseff (62), the hand-picked candidate of Pres. Lula da Silva was the heavy favorite to replace him in the runoff election. Dilma Rousseff was elected over centrist rival Jose Serra 56 percent to 44 percent and will be the first woman to direct Latin America's biggest nation.
(AP, 10/31/10)(AP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 9, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva began a 2-day visit to Mozambique, focusing on education and health care in his last trip to Africa before leaving office.
(AFP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 9, In Brazil authorities negotiated an end to a rebellion in an overcrowded prison in the northeastern state of Maranhao after fighting between rival gangs left 18 inmates dead, including six who were decapitated.
(AP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 11, International and Brazilian human rights organizations submitted a formal petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), denouncing grave and imminent violations upon the rights of indigenous and riverine communities affected by the construction of Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20101111/pl_usnw/DC99718)
2010 Nov 14, In Brazil a gay youth, Douglas Igor Marques Luiz (19), was shot by men in military uniforms in Rio de Janeiro following mammoth gay pride parade. 2 sergeants were arrested on Nov 18. An army statement says one of the suspects acknowledged shooting Luiz.
(AP, 11/17/10)(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 18, Brazil’s federal police said they have dismantled an international human-trafficking ring that provided fake passports to Brazilians wanting to migrate illegally to the US.
(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 22, In Brazil local Rio de Janeiro news media reported that armed men used roadblocks to trap and rob drivers over the weekend, killing a man and alarming public officials who are preparing to receive hoards of summer tourists.
(AP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, In Brazil police in Rio launched a broad crackdown on gangs and drug-trafficking groups rolling out helicopter-backed armored tanks in 20 slums, killing at least two suspects.
(AFP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, In Brazil Roberto Puppo, a native of Bergamo, Italy, was shot and killed. His bullet-ridden body was found in Alagoas on the next day. Authorities believe the killing was ordered by da Silva's boyfriend, an Italian man "suspected of belonging to an international organized crime group." A teenager, who was not identified because he is a minor; and a private security guard identified as Cosme Alves were arrested after a few weeks and charged with the killing.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Nov 24, In Brazil heavily armed men halted buses and cars, robbed their passengers and set the vehicles ablaze in Rio de Janeiro, continuing a wave of violence that has rattled rich and poor alike. Police raided gang-ruled shantytowns, setting off clashes that killed 14 people as authorities tried to halt a wave of violent crime.
(AP, 11/24/10)
2010 Nov 26, In Brazil residents of Rio's northern slums braced for more violence as hundreds of reinforcements joined a widening crackdown on drug gangs that has killed at least 30 people in six days. Some 800 troops backed a police operation at the Alemao complex of shantytowns as drug gang members stood their ground.
(AFP, 11/26/10)(SFC, 11/27/10, p.A4)
2010 Nov 28, In Brazil Rio police, backed by helicopters and armored vehicles, invaded the Alemao slum complex, long held by traffickers, quickly taking over the key drug gang stronghold in a historic victory for the city hosting the 2016 Olympics.
(AP, 11/28/10)
2010 Nov 30, Brazil’s government said troops would remain in the Complexo de Alemao slum, a sanctuary for many drug traffickers, for at least 6 months to maintain order. The recent operation to pacify the slum left at least 37 people dead.
(SFC, 12/1/10, p.A2)(Econ, 12/4/10, p.49)
2010 Dec 3, Outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in a public letter addressed to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. This was made public by Brazil's foreign ministry.
(AP, 12/4/10)
2010 Dec 3, Negotiators for the US and Brazil initialed a text in Rio de Janeiro for a new air transport agreement. Once formally approved, the pact will establish an Open Skies air transportation relationship between the two countries that will expand services and could bring down prices.
(AFP, 12/6/10)
2010 Dec 8, Brazilian mining giant Vale made its Hong Kong trading debut, the first South American firm to list in the city, as the company ramps up its exposure to resource-hungry China.
(AFP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 10, The Brazilian government said gay couples in stable relationships are entitled the same social security pension benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
(SFC, 12/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Dec 15, Brazil’s members of Congress voted themselves a 62% pay rise. Many state governments and municipalities soon followed suit.
(Econ, 1/1/11, p.32)
2010 Dec 15, Australia signed an agreement with Brazil to share knowledge on putting on the Olympics to help preparations with Rio's hosting of the 2016 Games.
(AFP, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 15, The Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States (OAS), condemned Brazil for the forced "disappearance" of 62 suspected leftist militants during its military dictatorship and said it should allow prosecutions for abuses committed during the era.
(Reuters, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 18, In Brazil bridegroom Rogerio Damascena (29) fatally shot his new wife, Renata Alexandre Costa Coelho (25), his best man, Marcelo Guimaraes, and then himself after announcing to horrified guests that he had a "surprise" for them.
(AP, 12/20/10)
2010 Dec 29, Brazilian media reported that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decided not to extradite former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti, a move that could hurt ties with Italy.
(Reuters, 12/29/10)
2010 Dec 30, Brazil's state-run Petrobras confirmed that oil fields recently discovered offshore contained 8.3 billion barrels of recoverable crude and gas, and said the biggest field was being renamed "Lula."
(AFP, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 31, Brazil's president granted political asylum to Italian fugitive Cesare Battisti, but the case must still be heard by the nation's Supreme Court.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Dec 31, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas laid the first stone of what will become a Palestinian embassy in Brazil, the most important Latin American country to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state.
(AFP, 12/31/10)
2010 Larry Rohter authored “Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed."
(Econ, 8/21/10, p.69)
2010 Brazil’s government began allowing taxpayers to deduct costs for cosmetic surgery.
(SFC, 5/1/10, p.A3)
2010 Brazilian census figures for this year showed that nearly 43,000 children under 14 years of age were living with a partner in defiance of laws forbidding these unions. The census put the number of Roman Catholics at about 65% of the population of 192 million, down from 74% in 2000. It also marked the first time in which black and mixed-race people officially outnumbered whites, weighing in at just over 50 percent, compared with 47 percent for whites.
(AP, 9/13/11) (AP, 11/3/12)(AP, 3/17/13)
2011 Jan 1, Brazil's first female president, Dilma Rousseff, took control of Latin America's biggest economy from outgoing popular leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a triumphant handover ceremony. Rousseff called for an overhaul of the tax code in her inaugural speech before Congress.
(AFP, 1/1/10)(Reuters, 1/1/10)
2011 Jan 3, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff kicked off her government with a series of market-friendly signals, including new details on budget cuts and a report that she will turn to the private sector to help solve one of Brazil's biggest infrastructure bottlenecks, a badly needed new terminal at Sao Paulo's main international airport.
(Reuters, 1/3/11)
2011 Jan 4, Italian protesters rallied against the Brazilian president's refusal to extradite ex-militant Cesare Battisti, amid government assurances that relations with Brazil will not be affected.
(AFP, 1/4/11)
2011 Jan 5, In Brazil five sisters in Sao Paulo state went to police and accused their father of sexually abusing them for over 20 years.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 6, Authorities in Brazil said four people from the same family have died in a mudslide in the interior of Sao Paulo state. Civil defense officials said heavy flooding has killed at least 35 people and forced more than 30,000 out of their homes across the country.
(AP, 1/6/11)
2011 Jan 8, Investigators told Brazil’s G1 news website that 2 brothers have been charged with killing their father, a local Afro-Brazilian religious leader, by knocking him out with sleeping pills and then burying him alive in Maranhao state. The brothers told police their father was a violent man who drank too much and didn't accept their homosexuality.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 11, Brazilian authorities said heavy rains have triggered mudslides and floods in southeastern Brazil, killing at least 13 people. Sao Paulo nearly came to halt as flooding blocked traffic in some of the city's main thoroughfares.
(AP, 1/11/11)
2011 Jan 12, Brazilian authorities in Rio de Janeiro said at least 350 people died in three towns north of Rio following early morning mudslides.
(AP, 1/12/11)(AP, 1/13/11)
2011 Jan 14, In Brazil grieving mudslide survivors carried the bodies of loved ones for hours down washed-out mountainsides as the death toll hit 514.
(AP, 1/14/11)
2011 Jan 16, In Brazil survivors of mudslides that have killed 611 carried food, water and blankets to friends, neighbors and relatives still stranded in remote, stricken villages.
(AP, 1/16/11)
2011 Jan 17, Brazil's army on sent 700 soldiers to help throw a lifeline to desperate neighborhoods that have been cut off from food, water or help in recovering bodies since mudslides killed at least 700 people.
(AP, 1/17/11)(Reuters, 1/17/11)(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 19, The World Bank said it will lend Brazil $485 million for rebuilding and disaster prevention efforts following devastating mudslides. At least 207 people were still missing as the death toll from the disaster in a scenic mountain region reached 741.
(AFP, 1/19/11)(Reuters, 1/20/11)
2011 Jan 21, Brazilian officials said about 400 people were registered as missing after mudslides last week that killed at least 806 people.
(AP, 1/21/11)(Reuters, 1/23/11)
2011 Jan 24, Brazilian authorities said heavy overnight storms have caused new flooding in Sao Paulo, killing at least one man, toppling cars into buildings, downing power lines and halting traffic.
(AP, 1/24/11)
2011 Jan 26, In Brazil Joao Batista Groppo (64) was arrested after his wife of 40 years was found locked in a "filthy and dark" cellar. He had allegedly kept his wife locked in a cellar for 16 years. Groppo's girlfriend Maria Furquim was also arrested as an accomplice.
(AP, 1/27/11)
2011 Jan 27, The Brazilian government issued a "partial" installation license allowing the Belo Monte Dam to break ground on the Amazon's Xingu River despite egregious disregard for human rights and environmental legislation, the unwavering protests of civil society and condemnations by its Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF).
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20110127/pl_usnw/DC37400)
2011 Feb 1, In Brazil the Civil Defense department in Santa Catarina state said severe floods triggered by torrential downpours have killed at least six people and driven thousands from their homes.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 4, Police in Brazil said they had freed a 45-year-old woman who had been locked in a house for 20 years with no communication with the outside world. Parana state police said the woman was locked in the home by her partner, a man (60), in the city of Mariluz.
(AFP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 6, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, police faced no resistance in an operation to take control of nine slums commanded by drug traffickers.
(AP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 7, In Brazil a massive fire consumed the warehouses where Rio de Janeiro's samba groups store the props and costumes for Brazil's largest Carnival parade.
(AP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 8, In Brazil over half a million people, most of them Brazilians, called via petition on newly elected President Dilma to halt plans to construct the Belo Monte Dam. Outside the Presidential Palace, several hundred people gathered in protest including indigenous chiefs in full tribal regalia and community leaders from the Xingu River Basin, and delivered the petition signatures to the Dilma Government.
(PRNewswire, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 8, In northeastern Brazil a prison riot, begun a day earlier, ended. 5 prisoners were killed including Jose Agostinho Pereira, who was decapitated by fellow inmates in his cell in the city of Pinheiro. Pereira had been jailed in 2010 for raping and keeping his daughter imprisoned for 12 years in a remote fishing village. He had seven children with her.
(AP, 6/9/10)(AP, 2/9/11)
2011 Feb 9, Brazil, faced with climbing inflation and slowing growth, unveiled $30 billion in cuts to its 2011 budget. Finance Minister Guido Mantega said this would affect "all ministries."
(AFP, 2/9/11)
2011 Feb 11, In Brazil at least 35 people, mostly Rio de Janeiro police officers, were arrested on suspicion of colluding with drug gangs as the Brazilian city attempts to clean itself up before hosting the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games two years later.
(Reuters, 2/12/11)
2011 Feb 15, In Brazil Allan Turnowski, the head of Rio de Janeiro state's investigative police, resigned after an anti-corruption sting resulted in the arrest of 30 officers, including the department's former second-in-command.
(AP, 2/16/11)(SFC, 2/16/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 16, Brazilian authorities said they have arrested 19 Goias state troopers suspected of taking part in a death squad that allegedly murdered and tortured innocent women and children. Officials said Martha Rocha (51), a 27-year police veteran who led a division responsible for protection of women, will replace Allan Turnowski as head of the troubled 12,000-member Rio Civil Police.
(AP, 2/16/11)(AFP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 18, Brazil set out its foreign policy aims under new President Dilma Rousseff, talking up China ties, blaming rich countries for hampering global trade talks, stressing dialogue with Iran, and saying it sees itself as an agent for "world peace."
(AFP, 2/18/11)
2011 Feb 22, In northeastern Brazil police in the city of Pirapemas arrested a man accused of sexually abusing his daughter for 12 years and fathering her two children. The man confessed to abusing his daughter starting when she was 14 years old and fathering two daughters, aged 5 years and 2 months.
(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 Feb 24, Brazil’s Justice Ministry said the murder rate among Brazil's youths has soared to epidemic levels. The number of murdered Brazilians age 15 to 24 rose from 30 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1998 to 52.9 per 100,000 a decade later.
(AP, 2/24/11)(SFC, 2/25/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 25, A Brazilian court suspended work on the $11 billion Belo Monte dam project citing environmental concerns.
(SSFC, 2/27/11, p.A4)
2011 Feb 25, In Brazil Ricardo Jose Neis sped his car through a pack of more than 100 pro-cycling activists in the city of Porto Alegre. At least 40 people were injured. Prosecutors soon asked for his preventive detention on charges of attempted homicide.
(AP, 3/1/11)
2011 Feb 27, In Brazil at least 16 people were electrocuted when a power line fell atop a packed pre-Carnival street parade in the town of Bandeira do Sul in Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 2/28/11)
2011 Mar 3, A Brazilian judged overturned a lower court ruling that suspended work on the $11 billion Belo Monte dam project.
(SFC, 3/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 4, In Brazil Rio's mayor handed the key to the city to the mythical figure who reigns over the chaos of Carnival, officially opening this seaside city's five-day annual exaltation of music, booze and flesh.
(AP, 3/4/11)
2011 Mar 5, In Brazil a passenger bus collided head-on with a lumber truck in the southern state of Santa Catarina, killing at least 25 people. More than 20 were seriously injured.
(AP, 3/5/11)
2011 Mar 14, In Brazil civil defense officials said some 31,000 people have been forced from their homes by flooding in Santa Catarina and Parana states.
(SFC, 3/15/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 19, President Barack Obama landed in Brasilia, the highland capital of Brazil, for the start of a three-country, five-day tour of Latin America to promote greater economic ties and improved regional security.
(AP, 3/19/11)
2011 Mar 20, US President Barack Obama held up emerging powerhouse Brazil as a model of economic and democratic transformation that leaders in the troubled Middle East should try to copy.
(AFP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 25, The World Trade Organization ruled that some anti-dumping duties imposed by the United States on imports of Brazilian orange juice violated international trade rules.
(AFP, 3/25/11)
2011 Mar 27, In Brazil renowned Belgium-born theologian Jose Comblin (88) died of natural causes. Comblin was a leading exponent of liberation theology, which advocates activism on behalf of the poor. The movement swept Latin America in the 1960s following the Second Vatican Council.
(AP, 3/29/11)
2011 Mar 29, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has signed a law that guarantees grandparents the right to visit their grandchildren when the parents are divorced. The presidential approval was published today in the official gazette.
(AP, 3/29/11)
2011 Mar 29, Jose Alencar (b.1931), former Brazilian Vice President (2002-2010) died after a long battle with abdominal cancer.
(AP, 3/30/11)
2011 Apr 2, Brazil’s Veja magazine, in its online edition, reported that at least 20 people affiliated with al Qaeda as well as the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas and two other organizations have been hiding out in the South American country.
(Reuters, 4/2/11)
2011 Apr 7, In Brazil a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro. 12 children were killed including 10 girls and 2 boys between the ages of 12 and 15. Wellington Oliveira (23) shot and killed himself after being confronted by police.
(AP, 4/7/11)(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 19, Brazilian police swept through Rio de Janeiro's largest slum in a crackdown on drug-related crime, arresting 11 people and seizing an estimated three tons of marijuana.
(AFP, 4/19/11)
2011 Apr 21, In Brazil a small plane crashed in the Amazon soon after taking off from Manaus, killing seven people. 8 others on the air taxi survived.
(AP, 4/21/11)
2011 Apr 22, In Brazil gunmen killed Jorge Grando, an environmental activist, his brother and three friends.
(AP, 4/24/11)
2011 Apr 23, In southern Brazil emergency workers said at least 10 people have been killed by landslides and other accidents caused by heavy rains.
(Reuters, 4/23/11)
2011 Apr 29, Brazil's population climbed to more than 190.7 million people in 2010, according to initial results of the decennial census released by the country's official institute of geography and statistics.
(AFP, 4/29/11)
2011 May 5, Brazil's high court ruled that same-sex civil unions must be recognized, a decision welcomed as a watershed by gay activists who also hope it will cool rising violence against homosexuals in Latin America's most populous nation.
(AP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 6, Brazilian federal police confirmed that 16 suspected members of a Serbian gang were arrested between May1-5 across the country. The crackdown concluded a two-year operation that resulted in 35 arrests, the seizure of 1,370 pounds (620 kilograms) of cocaine and the equivalent of $1.2 million.
(AP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 6, Brazil’s Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo launched a disarmament campaign hoping to take more than 1 million guns off the streets by the end of the year.
(AP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 8, In Mozambique Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, opened a new $1.7 billion coal mine, tapping the southern African country's thermal and coking coal reserves of around 23 billion tons.
(AFP, 5/8/11)
2011 May 18, Brazil said it has set up a crisis center to combat increased deforestation in the Amazon rain forest. Satellite data showed a significant increase in deforestation over the past two months.
(SFC, 5/19/11, p.A2)
2011 May 22, In Brazil about 1,000 people gathered in Sao Paulo to protest against proposed laws in favor of Brazilian farmers who are seeking more space to raise cattle. They said that the environmental law changes would increase deforestation in the Amazon.
(AP, 5/22/11)
2011 May 22, In Brazil a boat carrying more than 100 passengers sank in a lake in Rio de Janeiro. Rescue workers said a baby was dead and seven people were missing.
(AP, 5/23/11)
2011 May 24, In northern Brazil rubber tapper Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, an activist fighting to protect the Amazon rain forest from loggers, was shot and killed with his wife by gunmen in the jungle state of Para.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2011 May 25, Brazil's Pres. Dilma Rousseff suspended an anti-homophobia campaign that had been planned to begin at schools this year because she thought the videos and pamphlets weren't appropriate for children.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2011 May 31, Brazilian police arrested nearly 30 people in connection with a series of ATM heists that have left some poorer parts of Sao Paulo with scant access to cash. Five current or former police officers were arrested in the sting and investigators suspect another two dozen police could be involved.
(AP, 5/31/11)
2011 Jun 2, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff launched a program to eradicate the extreme poverty afflicting 16.2 million people in Brazil by 2014, aiming to fulfill a campaign promise.
(AFP, 6/3/11)
2011 Jun 2, In Brazil another rural activist, identified only by his first name, Marcos, was found shot to death in the Amazon, just three days after Brazil's leaders discussed how to stop the region's deadly disputes over logging and protect those whose lives are threatened.
(AP, 6/2/11)
2010 Jun 4, Brazil’s Congress passed its “ficha limpa" (clean record) law. It barred candidates for eight years following a conviction for vote buying or misuse of public funds.
(Econ, 9/28/13, SR p.15)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficha_Limpa)
2011 Jun 7, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff Antonio Palocci stepped down amid questions over how his personal wealth rose sharply while he served as a congressman in 2010.
(AP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jun 14, In Brazil a landless peasant activist was reported killed by a gunshot to his head outside his home in Brazil, the fifth murder in a month likely tied to the conflict over land and logging in the Amazon. The body of Obede Loyla Souza was found over the weekend in the dense forest surrounding his home in the landless settlement of Esperanca.
(AP, 6/16/11)
2011 Jun 16, In Brazil police said Jose Rainha (50), a longtime leader of the MST, a landless rural workers movement, was arrested in rural Sao Paulo state after a 10-month investigation.
(AP, 6/16/11)
2011 Jun 18, Brazilian demonstrators held marches on the weekend calling for marijuana to be legalized after the country's top court ruled the gatherings could go ahead in the name of freedom of speech.
(AFP, 6/20/11)
2011 Jun 19, Brazilian police raided Rio’s Mangueira shantytown, dominated by drug trafficking gangs, in an ongoing program to bring peace to areas near Maracana stadium ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
(AP, 6/19/11)
2011 Jun 20, In Brazil Juan Moraes (11), was shot and killed by police in Rio de Janeiro. The boy’s body was found three days later, dumped in a river near police headquarters, 11 miles (18 km) from where he was shot. 4 police officers, involved in the shooting death were arrested on July 21.
(AP, 7/22/11)(http://tinyurl.com/3wj8rze0)
2011 Jun 20, British-based Rolls-Royce said it had won an order worth $2.2 billion to supply its Trent XWB jet engines to power the Airbus A350 long-haul planes bought by Brazil's TAM airlines.
(AFP, 6/20/11)
2011 Jun 21, In Brazil Kenneth Andrew Craig (42), an American on the US Marshals' list of most-wanted sex offenders, was captured in Rio de Janeiro. Craig had been arrested in 1998 in Deerfield Beach, Florida, after police allegedly found him in a hotel room with two underage boys. He allegedly filmed the two youngsters having sex, but was released on bail and then fled to Brazil.
(AP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 22, The online pranksters at Lulz Security (LulzSec) say they've taken down two government Web sites in Brazil as they continue with their global "Anti-Security" campaign. The cyber attack blocked traffic to the website of the Brazilian presidency and two other government sites.
(AP, 6/22/11)(http://tinyurl.com/3ddjml6)
2011 Jun 23, In Brazil 8 people were killed in an early hours police raid on a Rio slum aimed at cracking down on suspected drug traffickers.
(AFP, 6/23/11)
2011 Jun 26, Jose Graziano da Silva of Brazil was elected as director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN agency tasked with reducing world hunger at a time of high food prices.
(AP, 6/26/11)
2011 Jun 26, In Brazil hundreds of thousands of people danced and wore costumes in the streets of Sao Paulo to celebrate gay pride and call for an end to homophobia.
(AP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 27, A Brazilian state judge approved what the court said is the nation's first gay marriage. Sao Paulo state Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto ruled two men could convert their civil union into a full marriage.
(AP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 29, Peruvian President Alan Garcia inaugurated a giant statue of Jesus similar to Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer. "Christ of the Pacific" is 72 feet (22 m) high and stands atop a 49-foot (15-m) concrete base. It overlooks the Pacific Ocean from Lima. The statue was donated by the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which later admitted paying $29 million in bribes to secure contracts in Peru. In January 2017, vandals covered the statue in messages like "Out of the country Odebrecht." In January 2018, the statue was damaged by fire.
(AP, 6/29/11)(Econ, 2/4/17, p.31)(AP, 1/13/18)
2011 Jun 30, In Brazil a law was published in the official gazette saying prisoners will get one day knocked off their sentences for every 12 hours in the classroom.
(AP, 6/30/11)
2011 Jul 6, Brazil's Transportation Minister, Alfredo Nascimento, resigned amid a scandal over an alleged kickback scheme in his office.
(AP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jul 8, Brazil's Supreme Court said a prosecutor has filed charges against Jose Dirceu, a former top presidential aide, and 36 other people in a 2005 cash-for-votes scandal that rocked the government of then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 7/8/11)
2011 Jul 10, Rio de Janeiro's public defenders' department said the Brazilian state has accumulated more than 60,000 unsolved murders in the last 10 years.
(AP, 7/10/11)
2011 Jul 11, In northeastern Brazil a regional Noar Airlines plane crashed in Recife city, killing all 16 people on board.
(AP, 7/13/11)
2011 Jul 16, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff attended a ceremony marking the startup of operations at a shipyard where the four Scorpene attack submarines will be built. The four diesel-powered submarines will be built as part of a 2008 agreement with France that includes the future construction of Latin America's first nuclear submarine.
(AP, 7/17/11)
2011 Aug 2, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff announced her long-awaited industrial policy. It included the abolishment of a 20% payroll tax for the labor intensive industries of clothing, footwear, furniture and software effective October 1.
(Econ, 8/6/11, p.32)
2011 Aug 2, A Brazilian Air Force plane crashed near the city of Bom Jardim da Serra in the state of Santa Catarina, killing all eight people aboard.
(AP, 8/2/11)
2011 Aug 9, Brazilian police arrested 33 people at the Tourism Ministry on allegations of corruption. Kickbacks to officials involved $1.85 million instead of paying Sao Paulo’s Ibrazi institute to train people in tourism.
(SFC, 8/10/11, p.A2)
2011 Aug 11, Brazilian police arrested seven people and seized more than 2,600 animals in a 2-day crackdown on the illegal trafficking of wild animals. The watchdog group Renctas says about 15% of the $10 billion to $20 billion global illegal animal trade takes place in Brazil.
(AP, 8/11/11)
2011 Aug 11, Brazilian Judge Patricia Acioli was shot to death in front of her house. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. All of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked. A police commander and seven officers were soon arrested in connection with her murder.
(AP, 9/16/11)(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Aug 25, In Brazil a leader of landless workers was shot to death while riding his bike in Barbosa, Para state. Valdemar Oliveira Barbosa was the fourth person murdered in Para since May who was involved in environmental or land rights movements. Catholic Land Pastoral said more than 1,150 rural activists have been killed in Brazil over the past 20 years.
(AP, 8/25/11)
2011 Aug 25, Brazilian scientists reported that a huge underground river appears to flow thousands of feet beneath the Amazon River, and that it was about the same length as the 3,700 mile long Amazon.
(SFC, 8/26/11, p.A2)
2011 Sep 1, Brazilian officials said wildfires have burned about 930 square miles (2,400 square km) of land inside 17 national reserves since the start of the dry season.
(AP, 9/1/11)
2011 Sep 14, Brazil's tourism minister, Pedro Novais, resigned amid allegations of misusing public funds. He became the fifth minister to resign since June. The newspaper Folha de S. Paulo ran articles accusing the minister of allowing his wife to use a government driver for errands. He was also accused of using congressional funds to pay for a maid.
(AP, 9/14/11)
2011 Sep 15, Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced a 30% tax increase on cars with less than 65% local content.
(www.economist.com/node/21530144)
2011 Sep 16, Brazilian federal police say an Irish man (20) has been arrested with nearly two pounds of cocaine in his gut. Police identified the suspect only by his initials, P.B.K. Investigators said that he tried to board a flight in Sao Paulo, headed to Brussels.
(AP, 9/16/11)
2011 Sep 17, In Brazil a 14-year-old girl escaped and told police she was held and raped for four days by inmates after being taken inside the men's Heleno Fragoso prison in northern Para state. The teenager testified she was drugged, beaten and taken by a woman along with two other teenagers into the prison.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Sep 22, In Brazil a 10-year-old student shot and wounded his teacher with a pistol, then killed himself with two bullets into his head at a public school in Sao Caetano do Sul, an industrial suburb on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 9/22/11)
2011 Sep 27, Protesters demanding that Brazil's legislators sweep out corruption planted 594 brooms in front of Congress so the 513 members of the House and the 81 senators could see them the next morning.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Sep 27, Police in northeastern Brazil began arresting members of three families who are believed to have killed 95 people as part of a feud that stretches back years. The Oliveira, Veras and Suassuna families are suspected of murdering 64 members of rival clans. They're also suspected of executing 31 people within their own families.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Sep 27, In Brazil a Guarani Indian, Teodoro Ricardi, was beaten and stabbed to death near the town of Paranhos, Mato Grosso do Sul state. The area has been the scene of much violence against indigenous people. Activists said his killers were apparently hired by a local rancher occupying land claimed by the Guarani tribe.
(AP, 9/31/11)
2011 Sep 29, a Brazilian judge suspended work on the Belo Monte dam saying it would harm fishing on the Xingu River in Para state. The government planned to appeal.
(SFC, 9/30/11, p.A2)
2011 Sep 30, In Brazil a law professor shot and killed one of his female students in Brasilia and hours later drove her body to a police station where he turned himself in. Rendrik Vieira Rodrigues fired three bullets into the head of Suenia Souza Farias (24), apparently because she wanted to end their 3-month-old relationship.
(AP, 10/2/11)
2011 Oct 19, Brazil’s most wanted druglord, Alexander Mendes da Silva, was arrested in the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero.
(AP, 10/19/11)
2011 Oct 20, A Brazilian jury convicted three doctors of killing four patients by removing their organs, which prosecutors said were used for transplants at an expensive private clinic. The case took 25 years for a verdict to be handed down. Doctors Rui Sacramento, Pedro Torrecillas and Mariano Fiore Junior were sentenced to 17 years and six months each in prison.
(AP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct 23, In Brazil five employees of the government's Indian affairs agency and two workers for an electric company were released in good condition. They had been held for five days in the Amazon community of Kururuzinho. The Kaiabi opposed the construction of a dam and demand speedier official recognition of their land in Mato Grosso state.
(AP, 10/25/11)
2011 Oct 27, In Brazil Indian rights activists said hundreds of people have peacefully occupied the construction site of the $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Para state.
(AP, 10/27/11)
2011 Nov 6, In Brazil cameraman Gelson Domingos (46) was hit in the chest by a rifle shot while covering the police confrontation with gang members at the Antares slum in Rio's west side. Domingos died despite wearing a bulletproof vest.
(AP, 11/6/11)
2011 Nov 7, Chevron experienced an oil spill offshore from Rio de Janeiro at its N560 drilling operations. Chevron reportedly stopped the leakage in about 4 days.
(http://tinyurl.com/6reqagd)(Econ, 12/31/11, p.23)(SSFC, 5/20/12, p.F7)
2011 Nov 8, In Brazil students voted for the strike after police raided an administration building and arrested 70 students who were protesting police patrols on the campus of the University of Sao Paulo. Students complained they are subjected to random searches and intimidation by police on campus.
(AP, 11/9/11)
2011 Nov 9, A Brazilian court said the construction of the Belo Monte dam can proceed without additional consultation with indigenous communities.
(SFC, 11/10/11, p.A2)
2011 Nov 10, In Brazil police arrested Antonio Bonfim Lopes, aka "Nem, the most-wanted drug gang leader in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 11/10/11)
2011 Nov 13, In Brazil More than 3,000 police and soldiers backed by armored personnel carriers raced into Rio’s biggest slum before dawn, quickly gaining control of the Rocinha shantytown ruled for decades by a heavily armed drug gang. The city of Rio de Janeiro has more than 1,000 shantytowns where about one-third of its 6 million people live.
(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 14, Brazil’s Federal Register noted that the government for the first time has granted a foreign citizen the right to live permanently in the country based on a same-sex relationship with a Brazilian citizen.
(AP, 11/14/11)
2011 Nov 17, Brazilian authorities began investigating an offshore oil spill. Chevron says that between 400 and 650 barrels of oil have leaked from a well it was drilling off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The leak totaled no more than 3,000 barrels.
(AP, 11/17/11)(Econ, 12/31/11, p.23)
2011 Nov 18, Brazil's Pres. Dilma Rousseff signed a law establishing a truth commission to investigate human rights abuses by the military regime that ruled Latin America's biggest country from 1964 to 1985.
(AP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 18, Brazil's environmental protection agency said nearly 110,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into the Atlantic Ocean because of a leak at an offshore Chevron drilling site. Chevron had said that only 16,800 to 27,300 gallons in total leaked into the ocean.
(AP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 18, In western Brazil gunmen executed a chief of the Kaiowa-Guarani Indian tribe and disappeared with his body. More than 40 "hooded and heavily armed" gunmen raided the Tekoha Guaiviry village in Mato Grosso do Sul state and fatally shot chief Nisio Gomes. It appeared that the gunmen were hired by local ranchers seeking to intimidate and expel the tribe from land that both sides claim as their own.
(AP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 21, Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment, IBAMA, said it will fine Chevron Corp. nearly $28 million for the Nov 7 oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. In December an additional $5.6 million was added for poor contingency planning.
(SSFC, 11/27/11, p.A10)(Econ, 12/31/11, p.23)
2011 Dec 3, In Brazil a tractor-trailer slammed into a bus carrying sugarcane cutters, killing at least 33 people and injuring 13 others in the northeastern state of Bahia.
(AP, 12/3/11)
2011 Dec 4, In Brazil Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (57), footballer and political agitator, died. In 2007 he authored “Football Philosophy."
(Econ, 12/10/11, p.106)
2011 Dec 5, Brazilian police arrested a man suspected in the shooting deaths of eight men over the past two months. Ronis de Oliveira Bastos (22) was arrested on the outskirts of Sao Paulo while riding a bicycle and armed with a .38 caliber revolver.
(AP, 12/7/11)
2011 Dec 7, The Brazilian government said it will invest more than $2 billion to curb the spread of crack cocaine.
(AP, 12/7/11)
2011 Dec 11, Police in Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state said they are investigating the theft of 50 metric tons (55 US tons) of corn from a moving train.
(AP, 12/11/11)
2011 Dec 19, In Brazil a juvenile court judge in the northeastern state of Alagoas sentenced three priests for sexually abusing minors for years. Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while Monsignor Raimundo Gomes and priest Edilson Duarte were given 16 years and four months in prison.
(AP, 12/20/11)
2011 Dec 19, In northern Brazil say a woman gave birth to conjoined twin boys with one body and two heads at the Santa Casa de Misericodia Hospital in Belem.
(AP, 12/21/11)
2011 Dec 20, The South American trading bloc Mercosur -- which includes Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay -- agreed to close its ports to ships flying the flag of the British-controlled Falkland Islands.
(AFP, 12/23/11)
2011 Dec 31, The US ended import tariffs and tax credits that have long sheltered ethanol distilled from corn in the US from the same stuff made from sugarcane in Brazil.
(Econ, 1/7/12, p.57)
2011 Brazil overtook Britain to become the world’s 6th biggest economy.
(www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/26/brazil-overtakes-uk-economy)
2011 In Brazil a Rio de Janeiro city survey found 847 Umbanda houses of worship. Umbanda was founded a little more than a century ago, drawing from older traditions such as Catholicism, the beliefs of enslaved Yoruba people brought from West Africa, the spirituality of Brazil's indigenous groups and the teachings of 19th century French spiritualist Allan Kardec. An estimated 400,000 Brazilians follow the religion.
(AP, 12/10/11)
2012 Jan 3, Brazil’s labor ministry said some 294 employers submit workers to slave-like conditions.
(SFC, 1/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Jan 6, In Brazil a group associated with the Roman Catholic Church said a child from an isolated indigenous community in northern Brazil was killed and the body burned in a region where loggers operate.
(AP, 1/6/12)
2012 Jan 10, Brazil’s Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo said Brazil will grant work visas to 2,400 Haitians who are stuck in two Amazon border towns. He said another 1,600 Haitians in Brazil have been given visas already.
(AP, 1/10/12)
2012 Jan 10, In southeastern Brazil 2 days of downpours left at least 28 people dead in floodwaters and mudslides.
(AP, 1/10/12)
2012 Jan 19, In Brazil a federal court in the northeastern in the state of Alagoas sentenced politician Talvane de Albuquerque to 103 years in prison for the 1998 killing of his running mate, Ceci Cunha, so that he could take her place in Congress. Albuquerque was also found guilty of ordering the murder of Cunha's husband, sister-in-law and her sister's mother-in-law.
(AP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 20, Bolivia joined Brazil and the United States in signing an accord to cooperate in the control of coca plant cultivation. The agreement creates a coca cultivation tracking system, with the US providing GPS equipment and Brazil capturing satellite images.
(AP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 25, In Brazil a building of some 20 stories collapsed in Rio de Janeiro causing 2 other smaller buildings to also come down. At least 17 people were killed and after 3 days 7 people remained missing.
(AP, 1/26/12)(AP, 1/28/12)
2012 Feb 1, In Haiti visitng Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Brazil will offer 6,000 visas to Haitians over a five-year period as one of several efforts that look to help the troubled Caribbean nation get on its feet.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 1, A group of Internet hackers said they took down the website of Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest state-run bank.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A2)
2012 Feb 4, In Brazil the Bahia state's Public Safety Department said on its website that 51 people have been murdered in and near the capital city of Salvador since a police strike began on Feb 1. State officials have said that about 10,000 of the state's 30,000 police are on strike demanding better pay and bonuses.
(AP, 2/4/12)
2012 Feb 5, Brazilian media report 78 people have been murdered in and around the northeastern city of Salvador since the start of a state police strike there five days ago.
(AP, 2/5/12)
2012 Feb 6, In Brazil soldiers clashed with supporters of striking police in Salvador, Brazil's third-largest city, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the feet of people trying to join officers occupying the Bahia state legislature building.
(AP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 6, Brazil requested an injunction to stop Twitter users from alerting drivers to police roadblocks, radar traps and drunk-driving checkpoints could make it the first country to take Twitter up on its plan to censor content at governments' requests.
(AP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 6, In Brazil the wining $9.4 billion bid was announced for the privatization of Guarulhos, Sao Paulo’s main int’l. airport. The winning bid was by a consortium led by Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, and Banco do Brasil, the state-development bank. This was nearly $2 above the 2nd highest bid.
(Econ, 2/11/12, p.40)
2012 Feb 6, In Brazil a 13-story building partially collapsed in an industrial suburb outside Sao Paulo, killing a 3-year-old girl in Sao Bernardo do Campo. One person was missing.
(AP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 9, In Brazil striking police officers in the northeastern city of Salvador evacuated the Bahia state legislative building they occupied in protest for more than a week. The state government has offered a raise of 6.5 percent as well as bonuses but refused to offer amnesty for the striking officers.
(AP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 10, In Brazil police and firefighters in Rio went on strike, a week before glittering Carnival celebrations that typically draw 800,000 tourists were due to start. Union officials expected anywhere from 50% to 70% of 58,000 officers to join the strike. Union members were not content with legislative approval of a 39% raise to be staggered over this year and the next, along with a promise of more in 2014.
(AP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 11, In Brazil police in the northeastern state of Bahia voted to end their 12-day walkout, during which time the homicide rate doubled to more than 130 in the metropolitan area of Salvador. Officials on Feb 13 said current and former police officers may have committed up to 30 murders during the police strike in Bahia state.
(AP, 2/12/12)(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 12, In Brazil Paulo Rodrigues (51), the editor-in-chief of a newspaper that crusaded against corruption in the rough border region with Paraguay, was shot dead in Ponta Pora, Mato Grosso do Sul state, where his Jornal da Praca newspaper and Mercosulnews.com website are based.
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 13, A police strike in Rio de Janeiro ended just days before the world's biggest Carnival bash. The strike never affected security in the city, the number of officers who adhered to it appeared relatively small and authorities never had to call on army soldiers to patrol streets, as was feared.
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 17, In Brazil the globe's biggest Carnival bash opened in Rio. It promised to be an even bigger blowout this year, with 20 percent more tourists expected than in 2011.
(AP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 25, It was reported that Brazilian Sen. Joao Ribeiro will be tried by the Supreme Court for allegedly keeping over 30 workers in “sub-human" condition on his Amazon ranch in Para state.
(SFC, 2/25/12, p.A2)
2012 Feb 25, A fire at Brazil's research station in Antarctica killed two navy personnel and forced the evacuation by helicopter of 44 people. The people at the station at the time of the fire were transferred to Chile's Eduardo Frei station.
(AP, 2/25/12)
2012 Feb 26, In Brazil the Anglican bishop for the northeastern state of Pernambuco was killed along with his wife. Edward Robinson Cavalcanti (68) and his wife Miriam (64) were stabbed to death in their home in the city of Olinda. Their adopted son was the chief suspect. The son was hospitalized after he tried to commit suicide by drinking poison.
(AP, 2/28/12)
2012 Mar 5, In Brazil 30 beached dolphins were rescued by beachgoers. The rescue was captured on video and became an internet sensation.
(http://news.yahoo.com/mass-dolphin-rescue-witnessed-off-rio-coast-035714671.html)
2012 Mar 6, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, truck drivers hauling fuel continued to strike for a 2nd day. They were protesting new regulations restricting hours they can use on some city roadways.
(SFC, 3/7/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 13, In Brazil federal prosecutors said that they are filing criminal charges for the first time related to crimes committed by government representatives during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship. Prosecutors argued that kidnappings and the hiding of bodies so the victims were never found are "permanent crimes." Since such crimes continue to the present, they fall outside the 1961-79 period covered by the amnesty law.
(SFC, 3/14/12, p.A2)(AP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 16, In Brazil Judge Joao Matos ruled that kidnapping charges filed earlier this week against retired army Col. Sebastiao de Moura would go against Brazil's 1979 amnesty law.
(AP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 21, Brazil charged 17 Chevron and Transocean executives with environmental crimes for an oil leak at the Frade field off Rio de Janeiro’s coast last November.
(SFC, 3/22/12, p.D1)
2012 Mar 27, Brazil’s Tourism Ministry said it is asking more than 2,000 websites to remove sexual content that promotes Latin America's biggest country as a sex tourism destination.
(AP, 3/27/12)
2012 Mar 29, In Brazil riot police in Rio de Janeiro used pepper spray and tear gas to chase some 200 protesters away from a celebration by retired soldiers marking the 1964 coup that established Brazil's long military dictatorship. A recent study by the Brazilian government said 475 people were killed or "disappeared" by agents of the military regime.
(AP, 3/29/12)
2012 Mar 30, Amnesty International blasted a Brazilian verdict by an appeals court as "outrageous" and called it an "affront to the most basic human rights. The Superior Court of Justice ruled this week that a man accused of having sex with three 12-year-olds couldn't be convicted of rape because of extenuating circumstances, including the fact the girls had previously worked as prostitutes.
(AP, 3/30/12)
2012 Apr 4, In Brazil officer Rodrigo Cavalcante was killed while on foot patrol in the Rocinha shantytown of Rio de Janeiro. The officer's slaying was the ninth shooting death in the community since February.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 9, Pres. Obama met with Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rouseff. She called on the US to invest more in the world’s 6th biggest economy. Obama confirmed that the US would recognize cachaca, a sugarcane spirit, as a distinct product, no longer calling it Brazilian rum.
(SFC, 4/10/12, p.A5)(Econ, 4/14/12, p.48)
2012 Apr 11, Police in northeastern Brazil arrested 3 people for allegedly killing at least 2 women and eating parts of their flesh. The next day enraged neighbors burned their house to the ground.
(SSFC, 4/15/12, p.A5)(http://tinyurl.com/7t7853v)
2012 Apr 12, Brazil's supreme court voted 8-2 to authorize abortions in cases of fetuses with no brains.
(AP, 4/12/12)
2012 Apr 16, In northeastern Brazil inmates armed with guns and knives seized control of the Advogado Antonio Jacinto Filho prison in Aracaju. They took 80 visitors and 2 guards hostage. The uprising ended after 26 hours and 131 hostages were released after officials agreed to investigate complaints.
(SFC, 4/17/12, p.A2)(SFC, 4/18/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 23, In Brazil political journalist Decio Sa (42) was shot dead in a restaurant in Sao Luis, Maranhao state. He had spent most of his career reporting on corruption.
(SFC, 4/25/12, p.A7)
2012 Apr 24, BTG Pactual, a Brazilian investment bank, raised $3.7 billion reais ($1.9 billion) in an initial public offering (IPO).
(Econ, 4/28/12, p.81)
2012 Apr 25, Brazil’s Congress launched an investigation into the political influence of businessman Carlos Augusto Ramos (aka Carlinhos Cachoeira or Charlie Waterfall). He was thought to have ties with the numbers racket.
(Econ, 5/5/12, p.37)
2012 May 3, Brazil pledged major investment and technology transfer to Africa to repay a "solidarity debt" from a country with a huge black population to the poorest but resource-rich continent.
(AFP, 5/3/12)
2012 May 3, Brazil's top court backed sweeping affirmative action programs used in more than 1,000 universities across this nation. The Supreme Court voted 7-1 to uphold a federal program that has provided scholarships to hundreds of thousands of black and mixed-race students for university studies since 2005.
(AP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 16, In Brazil the Rio Negro crested at 97.7 feet after flooding the center of the Amazon jungle city of Manaus.
(SFC, 5/17/12, p.A2)
2012 May 23, In Brazil subway workers went on strike in Sao Paulo, but ended it five hours later after halting a system used daily by more than 4 million people.
(AP, 5/2/12)
2012 May 30, Brazilian prosecutors said that they asked a court to force oil company Shell and the world's largest chemical company, BASF, to immediately pay $500 million into a compensation fund for hundreds of workers who may have been contaminated at an agricultural chemicals plant. The chemical plant at Paulinia operated from 1977 until it was closed in 2002. Shell originally owned it, but sold the operation to American Cyanamid in 1995. Germany-based BASF bought American Cyanamid in 2000 and took over the chemicals plant. At least 61 former workers at the plant have died in recent years.
(AP, 5/30/12)
2012 Jun 13, In Brazil dialogue began on Green Agriculture: Towards Sustainable Agricultural Economies as part of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development. The final 3-days, set to run from June 20 to June 22, will include 130 top leaders from around the globe.
(SFC, 6/14/12, p.A2)
2012 Jun 19, In Brazil “Rio+20," the biggest UN summit on sustainable development in a decade, approved a draft agreement filled with weasel words and compromises. A decision on managing global oceans was postponed for 3 years.
(Econ, 6/23/12, p.64)
2012 Jun 22, In Brazil “Rio+20," the biggest UN summit on sustainable development in a decade, approved a strategy to haul more than a billion people out poverty and cure the sickness of the biosphere. The gathering of 191 UN members crowned a 10-day forum marking 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit, where leaders vowed the world would live within its environmental means. "Sustainable Development Goals" will replace the UN's Millennium Development Goals from 2015.
(AFP, 6/23/12)
2012 Jun 26, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer and U.S. company Boeing said they've agreed to share technical knowledge and market assessments on the development of a Brazilian military cargo plane.
(AP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 27, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff announced a new, $4 billion economic stimulus package to combat stagnant growth.
(AP, 6/27/12)
2012 Jun 27, Lawyers representing Amazon rain forest residents in Ecuador filed a 2nd lawsuit in Brazil to seize assets of Chevron Corp. as part of their effort to collect an $18.2 billion judgement they won in Ecuador in 2011.
(SFC, 6/28/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 10, In Brazil Eugenio de Araujo Sales (91), the former archbishop of Rio de Janeiro (1971-2001), died. He claimed to have provided shelter to some 5,000 opponents of Brazil’s 1964-1985 political refugees fleeing dictatorships in Argentina and Chile.
(SFC, 7/11/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 12, In Brazil scientists released millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the northern city of Juazeiro in an effort to end dengue fever.
(SSFC, 7/15/12, p.A4)
2012 Jul 21, Mozambique launched a Brazilian funded pharmaceutical plant that will make anti-retroviral drugs to battle the HIV/AIDS scourge in the southern African country. The plant will initially package drugs from Brazil but start producing the pills by the end of the year.
(AFP, 7/21/12)
2012 Jul 31, Venezuela was officially welcomed into the Mercosur trade bloc as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hosted Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez and Uruguay's Jose Mujica along with Chavez for the one-day Mercosur meeting in Brasilia.
(AP, 7/21/12)
2012 Aug 2, In Brazil a federal judge ordered Brazilian mining company Vale to suspend its planned expansion of a rail line in northern Brazil because it would endanger the livelihood of the Awa Guaja Indian tribe living in the region.
(AP, 8/2/12)
2012 Aug 13, The Olympic flag touched down on Brazilian soil, marking the start of four years of preparations ahead of the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 8/13/12)
2012 Aug 15, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a nearly $66 billion investment package to beef up the nation's ailing road and rail systems, part of efforts to solve serious transportation bottlenecks and spur a sputtering economy.
(AP, 8/15/12)
2012 Sep 27, Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency said Chevron has paid a $17.3 million fine for 24 of 25 irregularities detected in the spill of some 155,000 gallons of crude oil in Nov, 2011.
(SFC, 9/29/12, p.D2)
2012 Aug 28, In Brazil construction of the $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam resumed hours after the country’s Supreme Court ordered work to resume.
(SFC, 8/29/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 24, In Brazil a judge ordered the arrest of the president of Google’s local operations for failure to remove YouTube videos that attacked a mayoral candidate.
(SFC, 9/26/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 27, Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency said Chevron has paid a $17.3 million fine for 24 of 25 irregularities detected in the spill of some 155,000 gallons of crude oil in Nov, 2011.
(SFC, 9/29/12, p.D2)
2012 Oct 10, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to convict Jose Dirceu (66), the chief of staff of former Pres. Lula, of corruption. Two other former Workers’ Party men were also convicted.
(Economist, 10/13/12, p.46)
2012 Oct 31, Brazil’s military said it has confiscated 4 tons of drugs, 5 dozen vehicles and 200 boats used by drug traffickers in a 3-week operation along borders with Bolivia and Peru.
(SFC, 11/1/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 2, In Brazil Father Marcelo Rossi, a Latin Grammy-nominated singer, inaugurated the Mother of God sanctuary in Sao Paulo. The not-yet-finished structure will seat 6,000 people and have standing room for 14,000 more.
(AP, 11/3/12)
2012 Nov 10, In Brazil the Public Safety Dept. of Sao Paulo said at least 140 people have been slain over the past two weeks in a rising wave of violence as imprisoned crime leaders called for reprisals against crackdowns on drug trade.
(SSFC, 11/11/12, p.A9)
2012 Nov 14, In Brazil the Justice Ministry authorized sending a top figure of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a prison-based gang, to a maximum security prison in Roraima state, 900 miles (1,450 km) to the northwest in the Amazon. Sao Paulo has seen nearly 150 homicides over the past two weeks and 94 police executed this year in violence linked to the gang.
(AP, 11/15/12)(Econ, 11/17/12, p.33)
2012 Nov 22, In Brazil Joaquim Barbosa was sworn in as the country’s first black Supreme Court justice.
(SFC, 11/23/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 27, Brazil’s government said deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has dropped to its lowest level in 24 years.
(SFC, 11/28/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 28, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced the last 3 of 25 defendants convicted on charges involving a congressional cash-for-votes scheme.
(SFC, 11/29/12, p.A2)
2012 Dec 1, In Brazil some 800 people held a protest march against the privatization of Brazil's iconic Maracana Stadium. Built for the 1950 World Cup, Maracana is being renovated for the city's upcoming sporting events that include the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of 2014 World Cup.
(AP, 12/1/12)
2012 Dec 5, It was reported that Brazilian law enforcement agencies have begun “Operation Purification" against alleged corruption iwthin the police force in Rio de Janeiro state.
(SFC, 12/5/12, p.A2)
2012 Dec 5, Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (104) died in Rio de Janeiro. He had designed Brazil's futuristic capital and much of the United Nations complex.
(AP, 12/6/12)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.154)
2012 Dec 7, In Brazil Michael Misick, the former jet-setting premier of the Turks and Caicos islands, was arrested after having disappeared a couple years ago.
(AP, 12/7/12)
2012 Dec 17, Brazilian prosecutors said Chevron Corp. has offered to pay $150 million to settle two civil lawsuits stemming from a Nov 2011 offshore oil spill. The lawsuits sought $20 billion in damages.
(AP, 12/17/12)
2012 Dec 17, In Brazil the Supreme Court trial of the mensalao (big monthly stipend), a scheme for buying votes, ended. 25 of 38 defendants were found guilty of charges including corruption, money-laundering and misuse of public funds.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.51)
2012 In Brazil the TV series "Avenida Brasil" began. It depicted life in a favela, sparking conversations about race and class, and grew to become one of the country's most successful soaps.
(Econ, 4/18/20, p.63)
2012 Brazil passed legislation backed by farming interests that weakened protection to for some preservation areas of the Amazon rain forest. This included an amnesty for illegal deforestation that occurred before July 2008, including releasing perpetrators from obligation to replant areas in compensation.
(SFC, 3/2/18, p.A2)
2012 In Brazil a quarter of all prisoners in jail were there because of drug offences. This compares with a tenth in 2005.
(Economist, 9/22/12, p.45)
2012 Brazil’s infrastructure this year was rated 104th of 142 countries. Only 14% of its roads were paved.
(Econ, 8/11/12, p.66)
2012 In Brazil the voracious helicoverpa armiger caterpillar, that likely arrived from Asia, was spotted for the first time in the Americas on cotton farms in drought-prone western Bahia. The caterpillar was soon in soybean fields thousands of kilometers away thanks to the long-distance flying power of its moths, consuming everything from tomatoes to sorghum.
(AP, 2/27/14)
2013 Jan 10, In Brazil Chilean artist Jorge Selaron (b.1947), a symbol of his adopted city of Rio de Janeiro, was found dead in front of his house. In 1990 he began a staircase project in the Lapa neighborhood tiling steps and collecting old porcelain bathtubs to use as planters along the sides.
(AP, 1/10/13)
2013 Jan 25, Brazil’s government announced that it is undertaking a 4-year, $33 million study of its Amazon rain forest to compile a detailed inventory of the plants, animals and people that live there.
(SFC, 1/26/13, p.A2)
2013 Jan 27, In southern Brazil a fire swept through the crowded Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria early today. The fire broke out after band members lit flares. There was no alarm, no extinguishers, no sprinklers and almost no escape from the nightclub. 3 people were detained the next day in connection with the blaze that left 237 dead. In April the nightclub's two owners and two band members were charged with murder. 4 others were also charged in connection to the fire.
(SFC, 1/28/13, p.A2)(AP, 1/29/13)(SFC, 2/4/13, p.A2)(Econ, 2/2/13, p.28)(AP, 4/2/13)
2013 Feb 9, In Brazil a wave of arson attacks, about 80 since the end of January, was reported in Santa Catarina state. Local officials described the attacks as a reaction to reports of inmate abuse in the state’s prisons.
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Feb 12, In Brazil a fire on a Carnival float killed four people and injured five in the port city of Santos. The float reportedly caught fire after striking a power line.
(AP, 2/12/13)
2013 Feb 14, H.J. Heinz said it has agreed to be acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, a Brazilian private-equity firm, in a $23.3 billion deal. 3G later bought Kraft and merged it with Heinz in 2015.
(SFC, 2/15/13, p.C4)(Econ, 2/23/13, p.63)(Econ, 7/9/16, p.54)
2013 Feb 18, In Brazil protesters backing the Cuban government blocked the screening of a documentary featuring Cuba's best-known dissident, the blogger Yoani Sanchez, who was in attendance after being allowed to leave the communist island for the first time in nearly a decade. This was the first stop on her 80-day tour of about a dozen nations.
(AP, 2/18/13)
2013 Feb 19, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rouseff announced increased welfare payments to 2.5m poor people.
(Econ, 2/23/13, p.35)
2013 Feb 27, Brazilian police said Father Emilson Soares Correa, a Roman Catholic priest, is being investigated for allegations of sexual abuse of three young girls in his parish in Niteroi, a city across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/27/13)
2013 Mar 15, In Brazil a new oil law that gives a greater share of royalty revenues from the country’s oil fields to non-producing states went into effect and producing states filed appeals against it with the Supreme Court.
(AP, 3/16/13)
2013 Mar 22, Brazilian police surrounded an old Indian museum complex next to Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracana football stadium in a bid to expel a group of indigenous people and their supporters to make way for works related to the World Cup.
(AP, 3/22/13)
2013 Mar 26, China and Brazil signed a deal to do up to $30 billion of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers worked to lessen dependence on the US dollar and euro.
(AP, 3/26/13)
2013 Mar 31, In Brazil a French man and US woman studying Portuguese were held for hours while the woman was sexually assaulted aboard a public transport van they boarded in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach neighborhood. Three men, ages 20 to 22, were soon taken into custody and a third was being sought in connection with the attack. Police later detained a 14-year-old suspected of participating in the attack. On Aug 14 three men were convicted of grand theft, rape and extortion.
(AP, 4/2/13)(SFC, 4/3/13, p.A3)(SFC, 4/9/13, p.A2)(Reuters, 8/15/13)
2013 Apr 5, Brazil’s Public Ministry announced an investigation into a report connecting former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a vast vote-buying scheme that involved the channeling of funds to the governing Workers’ Party.
(SSFC, 4/7/13, p.A6)
2013 Apr 10, Researchers reported a new species of tree-dwelling porcupine in Brazil’s Northeastern Atlantic Forest. With just 2% of the original forest habitat still standing, the newly discovered creature was already considered endangered.
(SFC, 4/11/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 17, It was reported that some 700 Brazilian Indians were occupying part of the lower house of Congress to protest a proposed amendment that would give Congress a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory.
(SFC, 4/17/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 17, Brazil’s police said they have arrested 3 men suspected of involvement in killings of homeless people in Goiania, Goias state.
(SFC, 4/18/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 17, Brazil raised its base interest rate by .025 points to 7.5%.
(Econ, 4/20/13, p.40)
2013 Apr 29, The Catholic Church in Brazil said it has excommunicated Father Roberto Francisco Daniel for defending homosexuality, open marriage and other practices counter to Church teaching in online videos.
(Reuters, 4/30/13)
2013 May 7, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Marcos Pereira da Silva, a pastor of the Assembly of God of the Last Days, was arrested for raping 6 women. He also faced drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
(SSFC, 5/12/13, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/d65sryf)
2013 May 9, Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin unveiled a program that will provide about $650 per month in subsidies for the rehabilitation of addicts who voluntarily enroll in the rehab program.
(SFC, 5/10/13, p.A3)
2013 May 11, It was reported that unsafe cars made in Brazil, coupled with the nation's often dangerous driving conditions, have resulted in a death rate from passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States.
(AP, 5/11/13)
2013 May 14, Brazil’s National Council of Justice said that the country’s notary publics must register same-sex civil unions as marriages if the couple requests it.
(AP, 5/14/13)
2013 May 16, The Brazilian Congress approved legislation to modernize and expand its overcrowded ports, attract private investments to the sector and make it easier for companies to hire skilled foreign workers, in a bid to spur economic growth.
(AP, 5/17/13)
2013 Jun 4, Brazil’s government scrapped a tax on foreign purchases of bonds, in order to encourage currency inflows and slow the weakening of its currency.
(Econ, 6/8/13, p.39)
2013 Jun 4, Brazilian police said they have dismantled an international drug trafficking ring that for almost two years sent cocaine from Colombia and Bolivia to Portugal hidden in crates containing frozen fish.
(AP, 6/4/13)
2013 Jun 5, Brazil said it has sent 110 soldiers to Mato Grosso do Sul state where hundreds of Terena Indians were occupying a ranch they said was on ancestral lands. The Indians were also protesting a proposed amendment that would give Congress a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory.
(SFC, 6/6/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 5, In Brazil the son of billionaire Eike Batista was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a cyclist, the Rio de Janeiro state. He was sentenced to two years of community service, a two-year suspension of his driver's license and a one million real ($500,000) fine. Thor Batista (21) hit the cyclist last year while driving his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren at night through a low-income suburb in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 6/6/13)
2013 Jun 6, In Brazil protests began in Sao Paulo over a 20-centavo (nine-cent) rise in bus fares.
(Econ, 6/22/13, p.40)
2013 Jun 10, Brazil’s government said it plans to build its first auto crash test facility in an effort to improve the poor safety record of vehicles built and sold in the world's fourth-largest automobile market.
(AP, 6/10/13)
2013 Jun 11, Brazil’s government said over 100 Mundurucu Indians have occupied the offices of the federal indigenous affairs agency in Brasilia to protest the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam.
(SFC, 6/12/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 13, In Brazil over 100 protesters and 12 police were injured and 230 people detained as thousands of demonstrators clashed with police in Sao Paulo over hikes in bus and subway fares. Similar protests took place in Rio, Brasilia and Porte Alegre.
(SFC, 6/15/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 15, In Brazil at least 500 protesters complaining against the high cost of staging the World Cup rallied in front of the National Stadium in Brasilia just hours before Brazil played Japan in the opening match of the Confederations Cup.
(AP, 6/15/13)
2013 Jun 17, In Brazil more than 100,000 people were in the streets for largely peaceful protests in at least eight big cities. Demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte were marred by vandalism and violent clashes with police. The wave of protests, which began over a hike in bus prices, was also in large part motivated by widespread images of Sao Paulo police last week beating demonstrators and firing rubber bullets during a march that drew 5,000.
(AP, 6/18/13)
2013 Jun 18, In Brazil some 50,000 protesters energetically returned this evening to the streets Sao Paulo, a demonstration of anger toward what they call a corrupt and inefficient government that has long ignored the demands of a growing middle class.
(AP, 6/18/13)
2013 Jun 19, In Brazil street demonstrations popped up again around the country as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and high prices. Leaders in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo reversed an increase in bus and subway fares which ignited anti-government protests over the past week.
(AP, 6/19/13)
2013 Jun 20, More than a million Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 80 cities in this week's largest anti-government demonstrations yet. Violent clashes broke out in several cities as people demanding improved public services and an end to corruption faced tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. At least one protester was killed in Sao Paulo state after a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators.
(AP, 6/20/13)0
2013 Jun 21, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to battle corruption while improving government services as she acknowledged the anger that has led to vast, sometimes violent protests across the country.
(AP, 6/22/13)
2013 Jun 22, In Brazil tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators again took to streets in several cities. An estimated about 60,000 demonstrators gathered in a central square in Belo Horizonte, largely to denounce legislation that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crime.
(AP, 6/22/13)
2013 Jun 24, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff proposed a wide range of actions to reform the political system, fight corruption and improve public services — all demands angrily asked for by the millions of protesters who've taken to the streets the past week. Rousseff shifted some of the burden for progress onto the back of Brazil's widely loathed congress — in particular, in calling for a plebiscite on political reform that only lawmakers have the authority to call. 9 people were killed during a police operation in a Rio favela after a protest march.
(AP, 6/25/13)(Econ, 6/29/13, p.34)
2013 Jun 25, Brazil's congress late today shelved legislation that had been a target of nationwide protests, hours before another expected round of large-scale demonstrations.
(AP, 6/26/13)
2013 Jun 26, Brazil's senate voted to increase penalties for those found guilty of corruption, responding to a key demand made by protesters across the country. Protesters and police clashed near a stadium hosting a Confederations Cup soccer match, as thousands of demonstrators trying to march on the site were met by tear gas and rubber bullets.
(AP, 6/26/13)
2013 Jun 27, In Brazil some 5,000 protesters battled police in Fortaleza. In Rio some 2,000 people marched without clashes. Demonstrators were angry over corruption and poor public services despite high taxes.
(SFC, 6/28/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 30, In Brazil more than 5,000 anti-government protesters marched near the Maracana stadium before a major international soccer match, venting their anger about the billions of dollars the government is spending on major sporting events rather than public services.
(AP, 6/30/13)
2013 Jul 2, In Brazil Rayfran das Neves Sales, the confessed killer of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang Para, was released after serving less than nine of the 27 years he was sentenced to back in 2005. Para state Judge Claudio Henrique Rendeiro ruled that Neves Sales was entitled to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
(AP, 7/4/13)
2013 Jul 3, Brazilian truckers demanding cheaper fuel, better highways and lower tolls torched toll booths and crippled traffic in several regions, continuing their protests into a third day.
(AP, 7/3/13)
2013 Jul 11, In Brazil tens of thousands of union demonstrators blocked roads and snarled traffic in dozens of cities in a one-day strike aimed at seizing the momentum of huge protests that swept the country last month.
(Reuters, 7/11/13)
2013 Jul 22, Pope Francis arrived in Rio de Janeiro to begin a weeklong visit to participate in the World Youth Day festival.
(AP, 7/22/13)
2013 Jul 25, In Brazil Pope Francis urged young Catholics to shake up the church and make a "mess" in their dioceses by going out into the streets to spread the faith as he visited one of Rio's most violent slums and opened the church's World Youth Day on a rain-soaked Copacabana Beach.
(AP, 7/26/13)
2013 Jul 27, In Brazil Pope Francis challenged bishops from around the world to get out of their churches and preach, and to have the courage to go to the farthest margins of society to find the faithful.
(AP, 7/27/13)
2013 Jul 28, In Brazil Pope Francis wrapped up a historic trip to his home continent with a Mass on Copacabana beach that drew a reported 3 million people.
(AP, 7/28/13)
2013 Jul, In Brazil Amarildo Dias de Souza (42), a bricklayer, disappeared from a Rio de Janeiro slum. In October 25 officers were charged in his torture and death.
(Reuters, 10/22/13)
2013 Aug 4, In Brazil 25 police officers were found guilty of killing 52 inmates during the 1992 riot at Sap Paulo’s Carandiru prison. Each officer was sentenced to a prison term of 624 years.
(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A2)
2013 Aug 4, It was reported that nearly 35,000 disappearances have taken place in the city and state of Rio de Janeiro.
(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A6)
2013 Aug 22, Brazil said it will import thousands of Cuban doctors to work in areas where medical services and doctors are scarce. Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota defended the plan as a way to give "the best possible medical services for the Brazilian population."
(AP, 8/22/13)
2013 Aug 27, In Brazil a commercial building, under construction in Sao Paulo, collapsed and killed at least 6 people.
(SFC, 8/28/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 9, Chilean press reported that the US has spied on communications from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay from the island of Ascension according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
(SSFC, 9/15/13, p.A6)
2013 Sep 20, In Brazil rancher Vitalmiro Moura, accused of ordering the 2005 murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang, was again sentenced to 30 years in prison. Moura was previously convicted of Stang's murder and then acquitted in an automatic retrial.
(SFC, 9/21/13, p.A3)
2013 Oct 2, Brazilian police used pepper spray to stop hundreds of protesting Indians from storming Congress, clamping down on the second day of indigenous rights marches.
(Reuters, 10/2/13)
2013 Oct 7, In Brazil thousands marched in Rio de Janeiro to support teachers seeking pay hikes before masked anarchists turned to violence, setting fires, breaking into buildings and smashing a City Hall gate.
(AFP, 10/8/13)
2013 Oct 11, In Brazil an official report disclosed that the powerful PCC prison gang runs a nationwide criminal business worth $60 million a year with operations extending into neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay.
(AFP, 10/11/13)
2013 Oct 13, Brazilian officials said at least 12 people were killed and six left missing when a boat carrying Catholic pilgrims capsized on the Amazon River.
(SFC, 10/14/12, p.A2)
2013 Oct 18, In Brazil a fire destroyed up to 300,000 tons of sugar and much of the Santos Port warehouses owned by Copersucar, the world's largest trader of the sweetener.
(Reuters, 10/18/13)
2013 Oct 19, In southeastern Brazil animal rights activist clashed with police in front of a laboratory in Sao Roque that used dogs for drug tests.
(AP, 10/19/13)
2013 Oct 22, In Brazil prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro charged an additional 15 state police officers in the torture and death of Amarildo Dias de Souza (42), a bricklayer who disappeared from a city slum in July. Ten officers were charged earlier this month.
(Reuters, 10/22/13)
2013 Oct 25, Brazilian police said a group of hit men shot to death 7 people at a house in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 10/26/13, p.A2)
2013 Oct 25, In Brazil protesters went on a rampage in Sao Paulo, smashing windows and teller machines and battling riot police in violence blamed on the "Black Bloc" anarchist group. The protests began as a peaceful march to demand free public transportation for students before turning violent. Police fired tear gas and arrested 92 people.
(AFP, 10/26/13)
2013 Oct 28, In Brazil one person was injured and 90 detained while trucks and buses were torched in Sao Paulo late today in renewed violence after police fatally shot a 17-year-old boy.
(AFP, 10/28/13)
2013 Oct 30, In Brazil oil giant OGX, once the jewel in the EBX crown, was forced to file for bankruptcy protection after debt-restructuring talks with its creditors failed. Eike Batista's debt-ridden EBX empire appeared to be on its last legs as the Brazilian magnate desperately tried to sell assets and lure investment to keep his sinking ship afloat.
(AFP, 11/2/13)
2013 Nov 2, Brazil’s O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said President Dilma Rousseff will allow state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA to increase domestic fuel prices "two or three times" a year through the use of a formula without triggering significant consumer price gains.
(Reuters, 11/2/13)
2013 Nov 13, In Brazil the remains of Joao Goulart, ousted as president ahead of the 1964-85 military dictatorship, were exhumed to determine if he was poisoned.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Nov 14, Brazilian government figures showed that deforestation in the Amazon increased by nearly a third over the past year.
(Reuters, 11/14/13)
2013 Nov 15, Brazil’s Supreme Court Pres. Joaquim Barbosa issued warrants for the arrest of Jose Dirceau, the former chief of staff to Pres. Lula da Silva in 2003-05, and eleven others for charges including bribery and conspiracy in the “mensalao" (big monthly stipend) case. They were among 25 found guilty in the case last year.
(Econ, 11/23/13, p.39)
2013 Nov 16, In Brazil Jose Genoino, the former chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, surrendered to police after a court ruled that those convicted in a corruption scandal should serve their terms immediately.
(AFP, 11/16/13)
2013 Nov 16, In Brazil the 12th edition of the Games of the Indigenous People ended in Cuiba, Mato Grosso state.
(SSFC, 11/17/13, p.A7)
2013 Nov 27, In Brazil a giant crane collapsed at the construction site of Sao Paulo's Itaquerao stadium killing two workers. An engineer reportedly warned his supervisor that it appeared the ground was not stable enough to support the 500-ton piece of roofing.
(AP, 11/29/13)(SSFC, 12/1/13, p.A6)
2013 Dec 1, In Brazil Ambrosio Vilhalva, a Guarani tribal elder, was stabbed to death at the entrance of his community known as Guyra Roka, Mato Grosso do Sul state. The indigenous leader had decades fought for his people's right to live on their ancestral lands.
(AFP, 12/3/13)
2013 Dec 6, Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to open a £240-million manufacturing plant in Brazil.
(AFP, 12/6/13)
2013 Dec 14, Brazil was rocked by a fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident as a young construction worker fell to his death.
(AFP, 12/14/13)
2013 Dec 17, US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden offered to help Brazil defeat US spying, but in an open letter said he needs permanent political asylum to do so.
(AFP, 12/17/13)
2013 Dec 18, Brazil’s defense minister said Sweden's Saab has edged out French and US rivals to win a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply Brazil's air force with 36 new fighter jets.
(AFP, 12/18/13)
2013 Dec 22, In Brazil 14 people died when a bus drove off a road and plunged into a ravine in Sao Paulo state.
(AFP, 12/22/13)
2013 Dec 24, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff flew over the flood-hit southeastern state of Espirito Santo, where at least 14 people have died in days of torrential rain. 47 cities in Espirito Santo, which borders Rio de Janeiro state, were affected by the flooding.
(AFP, 12/24/13)
2013 Dec 25, In Brazil angry farmers, convinced that Tenharim tribesmen in Amazonas state had kidnapped three local men nine days earlier, torched several Tenharim huts and the offices of the federal indigenous affairs agency, as well as several of its vehicles and river boats.
(AP, 2/5/14)
2013 Dec 26, Brazilian officials said at least 44 people have died and more than 60,000 have been left homeless following torrential rain in the southeast over the past few weeks.
(AFP, 12/27/13)
2013 Napoleon Chagnon authored “Noble Savages: My Life Among the Two Dangerous Tribes – the Yanomamo and the Anthropologists."
(Econ, 2/23/13, p.80)
2014 Jan 13, In Brazil 10 public buses were destroyed after 12 people were shot and killed overnight in Campinas, Sao Paulo state. Police said the surge of violence began with the murder of an off-duty policeman.
(AFP, 1/13/14)
2014 Jan 17, Brazilian authorities said the death toll in last weekend's flash flooding in the southern town of Itaoca has risen to 17, with nine people still missing.
(AFP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 18, In Brazil an estimated 150 black and leftist militants staged a boisterous rally outside the JK Iguatemi shopping mall in Sao Paulo to protest attempts to bar underprivileged youths from shopping malls in middle-class areas.
(AFP, 1/18/14)
2014 Jan 18, Brazilian police said that they had broken up a bank robbery scheme that had diverted 73 million reais ($31 million) from a lottery run by state-owned lender Caixa Economica Federal.
(Reuters, 1/18/14)
2014 Jan 25, In Brazil at least 1,000 demonstrators protested in Sao Paulo against the World Cup, due to open on June 12, in a demonstration that devolved into violence late in the night.
(AP, 1/26/14)
2014 Jan 28, In Brazil a dump truck smashed into a pedestrian bridge on a busy highway in northern Rio de Janeiro, causing the walkway to collapse onto three cars and a motorcycle below. At least 4 people were killed.
(AP, 1/28/14)
2014 Jan 29, In Brazil an anti-corruption law went into effect. It made companies liable for bribes paid by their employees and for acts of corruption against domestic and foreign public officials.
(AP, 1/29/14)
2014 Feb 4, In Brazil at least 6 people were killed during shootouts between officers and suspected drug gang members in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/4/14)
2014 Feb 4, A Cuban doctor working in Brazil has sought political asylum in the office of a conservative party complaining that Cuba's government takes too big a slice of her pay. Under an agreement signed last year with Cuba through the Pan-American Health Organization, or PAHO, the Cubans get only one fifth of the 10,000 reais ($4,100) a month that Brazil pays each physician in the program. The rest goes to the Cuban state.
(Reuters, 2/5/14)
2014 Feb 5, Brazil police said the bodies of 3 men whose disappearance led to a clash between an Amazon tribe and settlers have been found in Amazonas state. Last week police arrested five Tenharim men on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the outsiders in December.
(AP, 2/5/14)
2014 Feb 10, Brazil’s Band TV said that 49-year-old journalist Santiago Andrade remains in a coma on life support, but that doctors have declared him brain dead. He was hit in the head on Feb 6 by a powerful flare fired during a protest against a 10-cent hike in bus fares in Rio.
(AP, 2/10/14)
2014 Feb 11, Brazil’s Environment Ministry said it will begin a program to save the endangered three-banded armadillo, the mascot for this year’s World Cup.
(SFC, 2/12/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 12, In Brazil some 15,000 landless peasants demanding land reform engaged police in Brasilia. At least 32 people were injured.
(SSFC, 2/16/14, p.A6)
2014 Feb 13, US federal authorities said they have detained 57 migrants from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Brazil in separate incidents near Puerto Rico's west coast. Authorities planned to prosecute 19 of those migrants, five of them on human smuggling charges.
(AP, 2/13/14)
2014 Feb 15, Brazil’s Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported that water is being rationed to nearly six million people living in eleven states.
(SSFC, 2/16/14, p.A4)
2014 Feb 15, Apple opened a retail store in Rio de Janeiro, its first retail store in South America. Its 16GB iPhone 5s was priced at $1,076.
(Econ, 3/8/14, p.39)
2014 Feb 22, In Brazil 9 members of a gang that specialized in blowing up teller machines were killed in a shootout with police after some 80 officers confronted 15 armed men after they used dynamite to blow up a cash machine in Itamonte, Minas Gerais state.
(SSFC, 2/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Feb 23, In Brazil a 34-year-old football fan was beaten to death by supporters from a rival team following a high-profile match in the Sao Paulo state championship.
(AP, 2/24/14)
2014 Mar 9, Brazilian officials inaugurated the Arena da Amazonia in the jungle city of Manaus, the ninth World Cup stadium to become available for football's showcase event. Three still have to be finished, including the one hosting the opener in Sao Paulo in about three months.
(AP, 3/9/14)
2014 Mar 21, In Brazil top officials from Rio de Janeiro said they want elite federal police sent to the city to help quell a wave of violence in so-called "pacified" slums. The announcement came hours after suspected drug gang members attacked three police shantytown outposts, injuring three officers and burning one of the metal shipping containers they use as offices in slums.
(AP, 3/21/14)
2014 Mar 28, Brazilian prosecutors sought the arrest of 13 executives from 3 int’l. companies allegedly involved in a cartel to raise prices for the construction and upkeep of subway and train systems in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 3/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Mar 30, In Brazil more than 1,400 police officers and Marines rolled into a massive complex of slums near Rio de Janeiro's international airport before dawn as part of the "pacification" program that began in 2008 and is meant to secure Rio ahead of not the World Cup and also the 2016 Summer Olympics.
(AP, 3/30/14)
2014 Mar, In Brazil former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa was arrested in a money laundering probe of the oil company. Costa ran the refining division of Petrobras from 2004-2012. He soon accused more than 40 politicians of involvement in a vast kickback scheme.
(Econ, 9/13/14, p.44)
2014 Apr 5, In Brazil more than 2,000 soldiers stormed into the Mare slum complex of Rio de Janeiro with armored personnel carriers and helicopters in a bid to improve security two months before the start of the World Cup.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 8, China and Brazil signed a corn-import deal.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.27)
2014 Apr 11, In Brazil squatters in Rio de Janeiro clashed with police after a Brazilian court ordered that 5,000 people be evicted from abandoned buildings of a telecommunications company.
(AP, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 19, In Brazil angry residents of a city near Rio de Janeiro torched four buses to protest the death of a man killed a day earlier by a bullet on his way to a Good Friday church service. They said Anderson Santos Silva (21) died while trying to protect his mother and 9-year-old sister from bullets from a gunfight involving police.
(AP, 4/19/14)
2014 Apr 22, Brazil's Congress passed a bill guaranteeing Internet privacy and enshrining access to the Web on the eve of a major conference in Sao Paulo on the future of Internet governance that's expected to draw representatives from some 80 countries.
(AP, 4/23/14)
2014 Apr 22, In Brazil violence flared in Rio de Janeiro’s tourist Copacabana Beach area after dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira (25) was found shot dead, heightening fears about security in a city that will host seven World Cup games including the July 13 final.
(AFP, 4/27/14)
2014 Apr 24, In Brazil Paulo Malhaes, a former army colonel who acknowledged he tortured and killed political prisoners during Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime, was suffocated to death by three men who broke into his house and stole two computers and some of the antique guns he collected.
(AP, 4/26/14)
2014 Apr 25, Brazil’s Supreme Court, citing lack of evidence, absolved former Pres. Fernando Collor de Mello in a corruption case that dated back to 1992.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 26, In Brazil about 2,000 people gathered in downtown Sao Paulo in a demonstration demanding the legalization of the production and sale of marijuana in Latin America's largest country.
(AP, 4/26/14)
2014 May 13, It was reported that the cost of Brazil’s World cup stadium has nearly tripled to $900 million in public funds, largely because of allegedly fraudulent billing.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A20)
2014 May 13, In Brazil bus drivers demanding higher pay began a 48-hour strike in Rio de Janeiro, forcing hundreds of thousands of passengers to seek alternative ways to get to work.
(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 15, In Brazil protesters blocked two of Sao Paulo's main highways, burning tires, waving banners and causing chaos during the morning commute in the sprawling metropolitan area as officials braced for a wave of anti-government demonstrations in several Brazilian cities, many of them protesting the high spending on next month's World Cup.
(AP, 5/15/14)
2014 May 17, In Brazil inmates at a penitentiary in the northeastern city of Aracaju took four prison officers hostage and refused to allow nearly 130 prisoners' relatives to leave the grounds. The inmates demanded to be transferred from the maximum-security prison to others. The hostages were released the next day and relatives were allowed to leave after authorities met demands that some prisoners be transferred.
(AP, 5/18/14)(SFC, 5/19/14, p.A2)
2014 May 20, In Brazil several leading politicians were arrested as part of a large corruption and money laundering probe in Cuiaba, a World Cup host city that has had some of the worst delays and other problems as the soccer tournament approaches.
(Reuters, 5/21/14)
2014 May 21, In Brazil civil police in 14 states went on a 24-hour strike demanding higher pay. A strike by Sao Paulo bus drivers demanding higher pay began losing steam as it entered a second day.
(AP, 5/21/14)
2014 May 21, Brazil and a host of governmental and private partners agreed to create a $215 million fund to expand protected areas of the Amazon rain forest by more than 34,000 square miles and to help pay for its management over the next 25 years.
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 5, In Brazil some overland commuter train operators went on strike calling for better wages in Sao Paulo, a week before the city hosts the World Cup opener.
(AP, 6/5/14)
2014 Jun 6, Brazil's biggest city confronted a second straight day of commuting chaos, as striking subway workers and a protest over housing conditions tangled the streets of Sao Paulo less than a week before it hosts the opening match of the World Cup.
(Reuters, 6/6/14)
2014 Jun 7, In Brazil the 3rd day of a strike by subway workers snarling Sao Paulo threatened to disrupt the World Cup with the kickoff in the city just five days away.
(AFP, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 8, In Brazil Anderson Gomes Aleixo forced his wife to invite her friend to their house. He then killed Francisco de Assis Coelho Neves with a knife and dismembered the body in their bathroom. Aleixo had grown jealous when he found out that his wife and a childhood friend were chatting on Facebook.
(AP, 6/25/14)
2014 Jun 9, Brazilian police and striking subway workers clashed early today in a central Sao Paulo commuter station, with union officials threatening to maintain the work stoppage through the World Cup opening match here this week. Union members voted to temporarily suspend the strike they began last week, but also decided they would take a new vote on Jun 11 to determine whether to resume the work stoppage June 12.
(AP, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/10/14)
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up an anti-World Cup protest on the morning the Brazilian mega-city hosts the tournament's opening match.
(AFP, 6/12/14)
2014 Jun 12, Brazil launched the World Cup with an emotion-fuelled 3-1 victory over Croatia.
(AP, 6/13/14)
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil bus drivers in northeastern city of Natal went on strike for higher wages a day before the city’s first World Cup match between Mexico and Cameroon.
(AP, 6/13/14)
2014 Jun 16, In Brazil a suspected Mexican drug trafficker wanted in the United States was arrested in Rio de Janeiro as he tried to board a plane to watch Mexico play in the World Cup soccer competition.
(Reuters, 6/17/14)
2014 Jun 18, Cameroon lost to Croatia 4-0 at the World Cup in Brazil. Germany’s Der Spiegel later reported that the match was fixed according to Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match-fixer. Perumal later denied the details of the report.
(Econ, 7/12/14, p.56)
2014 Jun 26, FIFA banned Uruguay striker Luis Suarez from all football activities for four months for biting an opponent at the World Cup in Brazil.
(AP, 6/26/14)
2014 Jul 2, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of soccer fans raucously celebrating Argentina's 1-0 World Cup victory over Switzerland a day earlier.
(AP, 7/2/14)
2014 Jul 2, The RSA Security division of EMC Corp. said in a research report that a "malware-based fraud ring" had infiltrated the online payment method in Brazil known as the boleto, diverting payments to accounts held by members of the ring.
(AP, 7/3/14)
2014 Jul 3, In Brazil an unfinished overpass collapsed in the World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte. Two people were reported killed.
(AP, 7/4/14)
2014 Jul 8, In Brazil World Cup semifinals the German soccer team beat Brazil’s national team in a record-breaking 7-1 game.
(http://tinyurl.com/l5496fm)
2014 Jul 9, In Brazil some 200 Ghanaian Muslim tourists, who entered the country to watch World Cup games, asked for asylum. Ghana’s government rejected their claims.
(SFC, 7/11/14, p.A2)(SSFC, 7/20/14, p.A4)
2014 Jul 13, In Brazil 15 journalists were injured at an anti-World Cup protest including a Canadian, Peruvian and Italian and two Brazilians working for foreign news agencies. None of the 15 were seriously injured. Rio de Janeiro police department later suspended four officers caught on video beating the journalists.
(AP, 7/16/14)
2014 Jul 13, Germany won its 4th World Cup title. Argentines celebrating their team's gutsy performance in a 1-0 loss to Germany in the World Cup finals in Brazil. In Buenos Aires Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a group of rock-throwing vandals who disturbed a rally.
(AP, 7/14/14)
2014 Jul 15, In Brazil leaders of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) met for their 6th annual summit. They created two financial institutions: The New Development Bank (NDB) to finance infrastructure with $50 billion to start and the $100 billion Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) to tide over members in financial difficulties.
(AP, 7/15/14)(Econ, 7/19/14,p.62)
2014 Jul 17, In Brazil China's President Xi Jinpin pressed a charm offensive with Latin America, signing deals with Brazil, meeting regional leaders and proposing a $20 billion infrastructure fund that highlights Beijing's growing interests in the region.
(AP, 7/18/14)
2014 Aug 7, In Brazil police in Rio said they have arrested over 20 people as alleged members of a paramilitary militia group that charged monthly fees for protection against drug gangs and for illegal services like cable TV connections. Members included former police, firefighters, private security and off-duty prison guards.
(SFC, 8/8/14, p.A2)
2014 Aug 13, In Brazil socialist politician and presidential candidate Eduardo Campos (49) and six other people were killed when their small plane crashed near Santos, ahead of the Oct. 4 presidential election. Running mate Marina Silva soon replaced Campos on the PSB ticket.
(AP, 8/14/14)(SFC, 8/19/14, p.A2)
2014 Aug 14, It was reported that a drought in the Sao Paulo, Brazil, the worst in 84 years, has forced local authorities to put water pumps below the gates of the main reservoir for the 2nd time this years.
(SFC, 8/14/14, p.A2)
2014 Aug 25, Brazilian authorities negotiated with prison inmates holding two guards hostage after an uprising in Cascavel in which they killed 5 fellow prisoners, beheading two of them following a riot a day earlier. The rioting at Cascavel penitentiary ended early Aug 26 with the transfer of some 800 inmates to other prison facilities.
(AFP, 8/25/14)(AP, 8/26/14)
2014 Aug 28, Brazilian prosecutors in Para state said they have dismantled the country’s largest deforestation gang and that eight suspected members have been taken into custody for environmental damages estimated at $222 million.
(SFC, 8/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Sep 15, In Brazil Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, escaped injury during a robbery by three gunmen.
(AP, 9/16/14)
2014 Sep 23, Brazil’s prosecutor's office said in a statement that tycoon Eike Batista and seven former directors of oil company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes have been charged with deceiving investors with false information regarding the company's production potential. Prosecutors said the stock manipulation caused the market to lose more than $6 billion.
(AP, 9/24/14)
2014 Sep 23, At a UN metting on climate control more than 30 countires set the first-ever deadline top end deforestation by 2030, but Brazil said it would not join because it was not included in the planning process.
(SFC, 9/24/14, p.A2)
2014 Sep 30, Officials said the US will pay Brazilian cotton producers $300 million to settle a decade-old dispute over cotton subsidies, the first concrete step to repair ties hurt by an espionage scandal.
(Reuters, 9/30/14)
2014 Oct 5, Brazil held presidential elections. Polls showed Pres. Dilma Rousseff as the front runner in a race that is likely to go to a runoff on Oct. 26. Her main rivals were Marina Silva, a hero of the global conservation movement now with the Brazilian Socialist Party, and Aecio Neves, a senator and former state governor. Rousseff won 41.6 percent of the vote and Aecio Neves took second place with 33.6 percent.
(Reuters, 10/5/14)(Reuters, 10/6/14)
2014 Oct 14, Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro said they have arrested 47 people in an operation to dismantle a ring of illegal abortion clinics following the recent deaths of two women who sought to end their pregnancies. Police said arrest warrants have been issued for another 28 people suspected of being part of the ring.
(AP, 10/14/14)
2014 Oct 16, Brazilian police captured Tiago Rocha (26), a man who soon confessed to 39 murders. Police linked a gun found in the home of the suspect to the killings of at least six women this year.
(AP, 10/16/14)
2014 Oct 23, Brazilian companies Cutrale and Safra said they are again raising their bid for banana producer Chiquita, to $681 million, a day before Chiquita shareholders are expected to vote on a combination with Irish fruit importer Fyffes. Shareholders rejected the proposal.
(AP, 10/23/14)(AP, 10/24/14)
2014 Oct 26, Brazilians voted in an election that put leftist Pres. Dilma Rousseff (66), with strong support among the poor, against centrist Sen. Aecio Neves (54), who is promising pro-business policies to jumpstart a stagnant economy. Rousseff won with 51.6% of the vote.
(Reuters, 10/26/14)(Reuters, 10/27/14)
2014 Oct 27, In southeastern Brazil a truck loaded with vegetable oil collided head-on with a bus full of high school students, killing 11 people, most of them teenagers near the city of Ibitinga.
(AP, 10/28/14)
2014 Nov 8, In Brazil At least 7 people were killed after a passenger bus was forced off a bridge when another vehicle tried to pass it in Bahia state.
(AP, 11/8/14)
2014 Nov 9, In Brazil a driver in Sao Paulo lost control of his car and ran over 15 people standing on a sidewalk after leaving a church service. At least two people were critically hurt as the driver fled the scene. Substances that appeared to be cocaine and marijuana were found in the abandoned car.
(AP, 11/10/14)
2014 Nov 13, Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro arrested Phillip John Smith (40), a convicted pedophile and murderer from New Zealand, after a week on the run from New Zealand. He remained in Brazilian custody pending his return to New Zealand.
(AP, 11/13/14)
2014 Nov 14, Police in Brazil arrested Renato Duque, the former director of services of the state-run oil company Petrobras, for his alleged role in a money-laundering scheme as authorities conduct a widening probe of corruption involving the company.
(AP, 11/14/14)
2014 Nov 14, In northeastern Brazil a jury in Olinda delivered sentences of 20-23 years in prison for three people, arrested in 2012, convicted of killing two women, eating parts of their bodies and using some of their flesh to make and sell stuffed pastries.
(AP, 11/15/14)
2014 Nov 17, The president of Brazil’s Petrobras announced the creation of a compliance department to deal with the unfurling corruption scandal that has shaken the state-owned oil giant.
(SFC, 11/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Nov 20, In northeastern Brazil 8 people were killed following a head-on car crash that also left three others seriously injured near Esplanada.
(AP, 11/21/14)
2014 Nov 25, In Brazil a court ordered Rio de Janeiro state to pay for psychological treatments and provide monthly stipends for the widow and children of Brazilian laborer Amarildo de Souza, who was killed in police custody last year. In Rio de Janeiro one police officer was killed and another injured in a drive-by shooting during a routine patrol.
(AP, 11/26/14)
2014 Nov 29, Brazilian officials said Sao Paulo, the drought-hit megacity of 20 million, has about two months of guaranteed water supply remaining as it taps into the second of three emergency reserves.
(Reuters, 11/29/14)
2014 Nov, Police in Brazil arrested two dozen executives from the country’s six largest construction firms as part of a widening corruption probe.
(Econ, 1/3/15, p.26)
2014 Dec 8, Amazon Indians on the Peru-Brazil border say they continue to receive death threats from loggers after the September murder of four local chiefs in a remote forest region overrun by illegal felling.
(Reuters, 12/8/14)
2014 Dec 11, Brazil’s National Truth Commission report named 377 people allegedly responsible for 434 deaths and disappearances, and thousands of acts of torture during the military regime of 1964-1985. The truth commission said more than 8,000 members of indigenous tribes could have been killed at the hands of authoritarian regimes between 1946 and 1988, the vast majority during the 1964-1985 dictatorship.
(SSFC, 12/14/14, p.A22)(AP, 3/8/19)
2014 Dec 19, In Brazil a federal investigation into a kickback scheme at state-owned Petrobras ensnared 30 executives. In Sao Paulo prosecutors accused 33 businessmen of running a “cartel" to profit from the city’s subway system.
(SFC, 12/20/14, p.A2)
2014 Dec 27, In southeastern Brazil at least 8 people were killed after a passenger bus plunged into a ravine while trying to avoid an oncoming truck in Espirito Santo state.
(AP, 12/27/14)
2014 Dec 27, In Brazil a helicopter crashed in marshland near the coastal city of Bertioga, Sao Paulo state, killing 5 people.
(AP, 12/27/14)
2014 David Goldblatt authored “Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer."
(Econ, 6/7/14, p.88)
2014 Brazil’s population numbered about 203 million people.
(Econ, 10/18/14, p.23)
2015 Jan 14, Brazil approved the medical use of a marijuana derivative to treat people suffering from severe seizures and other conditions.
(SFC, 1/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Jan 16, In Brazil protesters in Sao Paulo clashed with police who used tear gas and sound bombs to disperse crowds, as thousands rallied against the latest round of bus fare hikes.
(AFP, 1/16/15)
2015 Feb 4, Embattled Brazilian oil giant Petrobras said that Maria das Gracas Foster, the company's chief executive officer, and five other top figures stepped down amid a long-running and massive kickback scandal at the firm.
(AP, 2/4/15)(Econ, 2/7/15, p.60)
2015 Feb 5, Police in Brazil issued 62 arrest, search and other legal orders in the investigation into a massive kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras. This included a warrant compelling the treasurer of Brazil's ruling Workers' Party to testify.
(AP, 2/5/15)
2015 Feb 6, In Brazil police surprised a group of suspects trying to blow up an automatic teller machine in the eastern city of Salvador, sparking a shootout that killed at least 13 of the would-be robbers.
(AP, 2/6/15)
2015 Feb 11, In Brazil an explosion on an oil ship off the coast of Espirito Santo state killed at least 5 people. Four workers remained missing.
(AP, 2/12/15)
2015 Feb 17, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro's world-famous samba school parades held their grand finale as the five-day-long Carnival celebration came to an end. At least 3 people were electrocuted while standing atop a Carnival float that hit a power line in the city of Nova Iguacu.
(Yahoo News, 2/17/15) (AP, 2/17/15)
2015 Feb 18, In Brazil 9 people burned to death when the bus they were riding on hit a light post and burst into flames in the Rio de Janeiro district of Sao Goncalo.
(AP, 2/18/15)
2015 Feb 20, In Brazil some 5,200 workers at an assembly line at one of three General Motors plants ground to a halt as workers went on strike to protest the planned layoffs of nearly 800 employees.
(AP, 2/20/15)
2015 Feb 21, Brazil's environmental agency detained Ezequiel Antonio Castanha in Para state. The land land-grabber was thought to be the Amazon's single biggest deforester. Castanha's group was estimated to have clear-cut some 58 square miles (15,000 hectares).
(AP, 2/24/15)
2015 Feb 24, Brazilian union officials said truck drivers are blocking roads in six states to protest hikes in fuel prices and tolls.
(AP, 2/24/15)
2015 Feb 24, In Brazil inspectors conducting routine water testing in Rio’s sewage filled Guanabara Bay found thousands of carcasses of twaite shad fish. This was the site for sailing events in next year’s Olympics.
(SFC, 2/26/15, p.A6)
2015 Feb 27, Brazilian authorities arrested Victor Arden Barnard (53), a self-professed minister put on a US most-wanted list for allegedly molesting two girls in a "Maidens Group" at his religious fellowship in rural Minnesota.
(AP, 2/28/15)
2015 Mar 6, Brazil’s Supreme Court approved an investigation of dozens of top politicians including a former president and leaders of congress.
(SFC, 3/7/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 6, Paraguayan radio journalist Gerardo Servian was reported shot to death in the Brazilian city of Ponta Pora, bordering a crime-ridden area that is a hotbed for drugs and arms smuggling.
(AP, 3/6/15)
2015 Mar 7, In Brazil recent rains led to increased mosquitoes transmitting dengue fever. Since January 224,000 cases were reported to date.
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.42)
2015 Mar 14, In southern Brazil a bus accident killing 54 people near Joinville, Santa Catarina state.
(AP, 3/15/15)(SFC, 3/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 15, In Brazil an estimated 1.5-2.2 million people took to the streets across the country in protest over corruption, with many calling for Pres. Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.
(AFP, 3/16/15)(Econ., 3/21/15, p.29)
2015 Mar 16, Brazilian police launched a new round of arrests in the corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras, a day after massive nationwide demonstrations against leftist President Dilma Rousseff.
(AFP, 3/16/15)
2015 Mar 26, Brazil’s federal police said they had uncovered "criminal organizations" suspected of causing a shortfall of at least 6 billion reais ($1.9 billion) in unpaid taxes. More than 50 companies in the industrial, financial and agricultural sectors were being investigated for allegedly bribing officials at the Finance Ministry's tax appeals court to reduce annual fines on unpaid taxes.
(AP, 3/27/15)
2015 Mar 28, Brazil said it has accepted China's invitation to join a Beijing-backed international infrastructure bank.
(AP, 3/28/15)
2015 Apr 2, In Brazil 5 people were killed when their helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. The dead included Thomaz Rodrigues Alckmin (31), the son of Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Brazilian police fired tear gas to break up a protest in a Rio de Janeiro slum that erupted after a 10-year-old boy was killed in what officers called a shootout with drug traffickers.
(AFP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 4, In Brazil a fire at a fuel storage facility near Santos port, the country's largest, entered its third day with firefighters working around the clock to stop the flames from spreading.
(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 10, In Brazil the federal prosecutors' office in Brasilia confirmed media reports that a prosecutor was looking at a $900 million price difference and possible corruption in the $5.4 billion purchase of 36 Gripen fighter planes from Sweden's Saab AB in 2009.
(Reuters, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 10, Brazilian police arrested three former congressmen, broadening their corruption investigation beyond state-run oil firm Petrobras to state lender Caixa Economica Federal and the federal health ministry.
(Reuters, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 10, In Brazil firefighters extinguished the fires that for 10 days engulfed six fuel storage tanks at a liquid bulk storage facility in the port city of Santos.
(AP, 4/11/15)
2015 Apr 12, In Brazil some 660,000 anti-government demonstrators turned onto the streets in 152 cities throughout the country to demand the impeachment of Pres. Dilma Rousseff.
(AP, 4/12/15)(Econ., 4/18/15, p.32)
2015 Apr 14, In Brazil an operation to remove squatters from a Rio de Janeiro building erupted into chaos as police stormed in and squatters set the structure alight. The building was planned as a hotel for the 2016 Olympics.
(SFC, 4/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 16, In Brazil fish continued to die in Rio’s Rodrigo de Freitas lake. Waste management had already collected 37 tons in the die-off that began late last week. The lake was scheduled to hold Olympic rowing events.
(SFC, 4/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 18, In Brazil 8 people were shot dead at a site in San Paulo where Pavilhao 9, a soccer fan group of the Corinthians, held a barbeque.
(AP, 4/19/15)
2015 May 19, In Brazil China’s PM Li Keqiang pledged $103 billion in loans and investments to upgrade ports and other transport infrastructure.
(http://tinyurl.com/qyet3lj)(Econ, 7/4/15, p.27)
2015 May 22, China and Peru agreed to study the feasibility of a controversial 5,300 km (3,300 miles) transcontinental railroad that will connect Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Peru, on the third leg of a Latin America visit.
(Reuters, 5/23/15)
2015 May 25, In northeastern Brazil an overnight prison riot in the Feira de Santana regional prison left at least 7 dead after a fight between two gangs escalated and led to about 70 people, many visiting family members, being held hostage for several hours.
(AP, 5/25/15)
2015 May 27, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff ended a 3-day state visit to Mexico. She and Pres. Enrique Pena Nieto promised a new start in relations, pledged to boost trade and signed agreements to facilitate investment and expand air links.
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.30)
2015 Jun 3, Brazil’s Central Bank raised interest rate by half a point to 13.75% in an effort to bring inflation down from 8% to 4.5%.
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.27)
2015 Jun 19, Brazilian police arrested Marcelo Odebrecht and Otavio Marques de Azevedo, the presidents of two of the country's largest construction companies, for their alleged involvement in the massive corruption scheme at Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras.
(AP, 6/19/15)
2015 Jun 19, In Brazil well-known medium Gilberto Arruda (73), popular with the stars, was killed and the tomb of another was desecrated in the latest wave of violence targeting spiritualists in several days.
(AFP, 6/19/15)
2015 Jun 29, Pres. Obama opened two-days of talks with Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff. To coincide with the visit America promised to lift a 14-year-old ban on imports of Brazilian beef.
(SFC, 6/30/15, p.A3)(Econ, 7/4/15, p.27)
2015 Jun 30, In Brazil the Sao Paulo City Council voted 48-1 to prohibit the use of ride-sharing applications like Uber in the city. The capital city of Brasilia also approved such a ban.
(SFC, 7/2/15, p.C1)
2015 Jul 10, European plane-maker Airbus flew its E-fan plane from Lydd, England, to the French port of Calais. About 12 hours before Airbus' Channel flight, French pilot Hugues Duval took his two-engine, one-seat Cricri electric plane from Calais to Dover and back.
(AP, 7/10/15)
2015 Jul 23, Brazil's government said the jobless rate in Latin America's largest country rose for the sixth straight month in June.
(AP, 7/23/15)
2015 Jul 31, Brazil's state-owned oil company received the equivalent of more than $20 million that was recovered as a result of an investigation into a corruption-kickback scandal engulfing Petrobras. This represented about 80 percent of the nearly $29 million repatriated in April from a Swiss bank account opened by former Petrobras executive Pedro Barusco. He's charged with receiving bribes from some of the country's top construction firms.
(AP, 7/31/15)
2015 Jul, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff scrapped an 11-year agreement with Ukraine to launch satellites aboard Ukrainian Cyclone-4 rockets from its Alcantara spaceport in Maranhao province.
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.29)
2015 Aug 3, Brazil's federal police arrested former government minister Jose Dirceu, one of the most senior members of the ruling Workers' Party to be jailed so far in a probe of alleged corruption at state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 8/3/15)
2015 Aug 6, In northeastern Brazil Gleydson Carvalho, a radio journalist in the town of Camocim, Ceara state, was shot five times at point blank range. Police suspected political motives for the murder.
(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 8, In Brazil at least 30 boats of all sizes paraded across Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay to protest contamination in the waters where sailing events will be held next year during the Olympic Games.
(AP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 13, In Brazil at least 17 people were shot to death within the span of about three hours in the suburbs of Sao Paulo. Police soon began investigating whether the string of murders were a coordinated act of revenge by off-duty officers following the nearby deaths of two colleagues.
(AP, 8/14/15)(Reuters, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 15, Brazil's labor ministry said its inspectors have found 11 men hired by the construction firm building the athletes' village for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics living in slave-like conditions.
(AP, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 16, In Brazil demonstrators took to the streets of cities and towns across the country for a day of nationwide anti-government protests.
(AP, 8/16/15)
2015 Aug 20, Brazil’s attorney general filed corruption charges against Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the lower house of Congress. He was accused of accepting $5 million in bribes in connection with the construction of two Petrobras drilling ships.
(SSFC, 8/23/15, p.A4)
2015 Aug 24, Brazil's government announced it will slash the number of ministries and reduce its spending, in an effort to show commitment to austerity that could be politically costly for President Dilma Rousseff.
(Reuters, 8/24/15)
2015 Sep 7, President Dilma Rousseff said Brazil will welcome Syrian refugees with open arms. Brazil has already taken in more than 2,000 Syrian refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
(AFP, 9/8/15)
2015 Sep 15, Norway said it will make a final $100-million payment to Brazil this year to complete a $1-billion project that rewards a slowdown in forest loss in the Amazon basin.
(Reuters, 9/15/15)
2015 Sep 27, Brazil pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent by 2030 as its contribution to a UN climate agreement, but said it will include reductions from past efforts against deforestation to help it reach the target. Pres. Dilma Rousseff presented the country's pledges during a speech at the UN General Assembly in NYC.
(Reuters, 9/27/15)
2015 Sep, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Brazil’s credit rating from investment grade to junk. In a fortnight the real plunged from 3.8 to the dollar to 4.2. The country was said to be losing 100,000 formal jobs a month.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.38)
2015 Oct 2, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a major government reshuffle, axing eight ministries in a cost-cutting measure that analysts say also aims to protect the embattled leader from impeachment threats.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 21, Brazil's opposition filed a new impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff, accusing her of illegal accounting practices.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern Brazil a mudslide erupted from a reservoir of waste at the partly Australian-owned Samarco iron ore and minerals mine, ripping the roofs off houses in Bento Rodrigues, Minas Gerais state. 122 homes were buried in mud. At least 12 people were killed. Losses to municipalities were later estimated at 1.2 billion reais ($308 million), not considering the environmental problems.
(AFP, 11/6/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A2)(Reuters, 2/4/16)
2015 Nov 10, In Brazil 2 executives of the country’s second-biggest private bank were killed in a jet crash in Goias state. The unnamed pilot and co-pilot were also killed.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 12, The Brazilian government said its environmental protection agency has fined Volkswagen $13 million over the automaker's emissions cheating scheme.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Brazil ice vendor Fabiano Machado da Silva (33) was killed by a crowd of ten people in the Ipanema neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 24, Brazil's environmental assets exchange BVRio launched an app that promises to help foreign traders and buyers of Brazilian timber make sure the product hasn't been illegally logged.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 25, Brazilian police arrested Senator Delcidio do Amaral, a senior ruling party senator and a billionaire investment banker, in the intensifying probe of a huge corruption network centered on state oil giant Petrobras.
(AFP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 27, Brazil announced plans to sue Samarco's co-owners, BHP and Brazilian miner Vale, for damages for 20 billion reais ($5.2 billion) over the Nov 5 bursting of a dam in Bento Rodrigues.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Brazil Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, triggered an impeachment process against Pres. Dilma Rousseff on grounds that she illegally manipulated government accounts. Cunha was one of 34 sitting congressmen under investigation in the bribery scandal centered on Petrobras.
(AFP, 12/3/15)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.36)
2015 Dec 3, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's party appealed to the Supreme Court to block impeachment proceedings against her.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Brazil impeachment proceedings against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced their first major hurdle with the formation of a special congressional committee that will analyze the accusations against her.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 9, Brazil's Supreme Court suspended impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff until it can rule on the constitutional validity of the opposition bid to impeach her.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Brazil dozens of cities staged protests asking Congress to impeach President Dilma Rousseff.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 15, Brazil's federal police carried out sweeping raids in the homes and offices of top political figures ensnared in a massive corruption investigation.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 16, Fitch became the 2nd of three big credit-rating agencies to downgrade Brazil’s debt to junk states. Standard & Poor’s soon followed Fitch. On Dec 18 finance minister Joaquim Levy resigned in despair after a year on the job.
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.7,14)
2015 Dec 17, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the release of billionaire financier André Esteves, who has been in jail since Nov. 25 on suspicion he sought to obstruct a corruption investigation.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)fs
2015 Dec 17, The popular WhatsApp smartphone messaging application came back to life in Brazil as a court threw out a two-day suspension that had infuriated millions of users. A judge had suspended it because the Facebook-owned service failed to disclose information requested by prosecutors as part of a criminal investigation.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 18, A judge in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais froze the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Brazil gunmen opened fire in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown killing two boys ages 11 and 17.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Brazil police in Rio de Janeiro tortured five young people, aged between 13 and 23, on Christmas night, allegedly burning them and sexually molesting them after demanding extortion money.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 31, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the so-called LDO law overruling more than 50 amendments made by lawmakers in the nation's budget guidelines law for this year, including reductions to her flagship social program and a ban on state foreign financing for some projects.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Misha Glenny authored “Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio."
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.78)
2015 Dec, Brazil declared a national public health emergency due to the mosquito-born Zika virus.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.73)
2016 Jan 8, In Brazil police used tear gas, stun grenades and pepper spray to disperse sometimes violent demonstrations against bus fare increases in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 1/8/16)
2016 Jan 13, Brazil's federal police indicted mining companies Samarco, Vale and VogBR and seven of their executives for the Nov 5 dam burst that caused Latin America's biggest environmental tragedy on record.
(AP, 1/14/16)
2016 Jan 14, Brazil’s federal Judge Maria Carolina Valente do Carmo suspended the operating license for a massive hydroelectric dam in the Amazon jungle state of Para weeks before the first of its 24 turbines is scheduled to begin generating electricity. She said Norte Energia consortium has failed to comply with a previously established requirement that called for the reopening the regional offices of the federal indigenous affairs department in the area where the dam is being built.
(AP, 1/15/16)
2016 Jan 15, The Brazilian government announced it will direct funds to a biomedical research center to help develop a vaccine against the Zika virus linked to brain damage in babies.
(AP, 1/16/16)
2016 Jan 23, In Brazil 40 inmates escaped in the northeastern city of Recife. 36 were soon returned to custody, two killed, one hospitalized and one remained at large.
(AFP, 1/24/16)
2016 Jan 27, Brazil's Federal Police launched the latest stage of a sweeping investigation into corruption at state-controlled firms, with six arrest and 15 search warrants issued in the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina.
(Reuters, 1/27/16)
2016 Feb 4, Brazilian officials said they're sending a set of samples related to the Zika outbreak to the United States, a move which follows complaints that the country was hoarding disease data and biological material.
(AP, 2/5/16)
2016 Feb 19, The Brazilian government announced nearly $6 billion in spending cuts in its 2016 budget amid the country's worst recession in decades.
(AP, 2/19/16)
2016 Mar 2, Mining company Samarco and its owners, BHP Billiton and Vale SA, reached a deal with the Brazilian government to pay an estimated 20 billion reais ($5.1 billion) in damages over 15 years for a deadly dam spill in November.
(Reuters, 3/3/16)
2016 Mar 3, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to charge Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the federal Chamber of Deputies, with accepting bribes linked to the award of Petrobras of contracts for building two oil-drilling ships.
(Econ, 3/12/16, p.33)
2016 Mar 4, Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was briefly detained for questioning in a federal investigation of a vast corruption scheme, fanning a political crisis that threatens to topple his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Brazil Marcelo Odebrecht, former head of the country’s biggest construction company, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for corrupt dealings with Petrobras.
(Econ, 3/12/16, p.12)
2016 Mar 9, In Brazil prosecutors filed charges against former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva connected to claims of money laundering and misrepresentation of assets.
(SFC, 3/10/16, p.A2)
2016 Mar 11, Brazilian officials said mudslides and flooding caused by overnight heavy downpours have killed at least 15 people including a 4-year-old boy in low-income neighborhoods on Sao Paulo's outskirts.
(AP, 3/11/16)
2016 Mar 13, In Brazil tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets in hope of bringing down President Dilma Rousseff over corruption and a crumbling economy.
(AFP, 3/13/16)
2016 Mar 15, Brazil's Supreme Court said it had accepted a plea agreement offered by prosecutors to Senator Delcídio do Amaral, a legislative ally of President Dilma Rousseff until he was arrested last year in a far-reaching corruption scandal. Newsmagazine Veja said that Amaral in the plea agreement accused Rousseff aides of trying to pay him to keep quiet.
(Reuters, 3/15/16)
2016 Mar 16, It was reported that former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take over as chief of staff for his successor Dilma Rousseff. The move offers Lula short-term protection from prosecutors who have charged him with money laundering and fraud. Dilma's invitation to Lula raised expectations of a sharp policy swing. The appointment triggered large protests in several Brazilian cities.
(AP, 3/16/16)(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 17, In Brazil a federal judge in Brasilia issued an injunction suspending the appointment of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as minister. Supporters of da Silva clashed briefly with opponents of his Workers' Party outside the presidential palace, where he was due to be sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff.
(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 18, Brazilian riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to clear anti-government protesters from Sao Paulo's central Avenue Paulista, ahead of a planned demonstration in favor of embattled President Dilma Rousseff.
(Reuters, 3/18/16)
2016 Mar 19, In Brazil Roger Agnelli (56), the former head of mining giant Vale, died along with six other people when a small plane crashed into a residential building in Sao Paulo.
(AFP, 3/20/16)
2016 Mar 22, Brazilian police arrested dozens of suspects in a massive anti-corruption sweep across the country targeting what they called a "professional" bribe-paying network at construction giant Odebrecht.
(AFP, 3/22/16)
2016 Apr 4, Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo said politicians from seven parties were named as clients of a Panama-based firm at the center of a massive data leak over possible tax evasion.
(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 5, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge ruled that the lower house of Congress must open impeachment proceedings against Vice-President Michel Temer because he faces the same allegations of breaking fiscal rules as Pres. Rousseff.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 5, In Brazil a gas explosion ripped through an apartment complex north of Rio de Janeiro early today, killing 5 people and injuring 13.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 11, In Brazil a congressional committee voted 38-27 that the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff move forward, bringing the possible ouster of the embattled leader a step closer.
(AP, 4/12/16)
2016 Apr 13, In Brazil three parties decamped from the government of Pres. Dilma Rousseff diminishing her chances of surviving impeachment.
(SFC, 4/14/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 17, Brazil’s lower house voted 367-137 in favor of impeachment sending the issue to the Senate. If a majority there votes to put Rousseff on trial, she'd be suspended while Vice President Michel Temer temporarily takes over. The exact date of the Senate vote is not known, but it's widely expected by the middle of next month.
(AP, 4/18/16)
2016 Apr 29, A former head of Brazil's forestry service said Brazil was still losing tropical forests the size of two soccer fields every minute, despite attempts to tackle illegal logging and improve local land rights.
(Reuters, 4/29/16)
2016 May 1, Pacific Alliance members (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) eliminated tariffs on 92% of their trade with each other and planned to phase out the rest over 17 years.
(Econ, 5/7/15, p.26)
2016 May 4, Shares in miner BHP Billiton tumbled after Brazil's federal prosecutor launched a $43 billion civil suit for a dam break last November that killed 19 people and caused the worst environmental disaster in the country's history.
(AP, 5/4/16)
2016 May 5, A justice on Brazil's supreme court suspended Eduardo Cunha, the leader of the country's lower house of Congress, removing one of the nation's most powerful politicians who is reviled by many for numerous corruption allegations.
(AP, 5/5/16)
2016 May 9, In Brazil acting Speaker Waldir Maranhao annulled last month’s vote on impeaching Pres. Dilma Rousseff.
(SFC, 5/10/16, p.A5)
2016 May 10, In Brazil the mayor of Sao Paulo signed a decree authorizing the use of smartphone-based ride-sharing applications like Uber. Cab drivers protested that Uber is unfair competition because its drivers don’t have to pay city fees or undergo official inspections.
(SFC, 5/10/16, p.C2)
2016 May 11, Senators in Brazil began debate on whether to oust President Dilma Rousseff. If a simple majority of the 81 senators vote in favor, Rousseff will be suspended from office and Vice President Michel Temer will take over for up to six months pending a decision on whether to remove her from office permanently.
(AP, 5/11/16)
2016 May 12, In Brazil centrist VP Michel Temer, of the centrist Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), took the helm of the country, hours after the Senate voted to suspend President Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers’ Party (PT), to stand trial for breaking budgetary laws.
(Reuters, 5/12/16)(Econ, 5/7/16, p.25)
2016 May 23, Brazilian federal police arrested João Cláudio Genu, a former treasurer of one of the parties in the country's ruling coalition, as part of a wide-ranging graft probe centered on state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 5/23/16)
2016 May 24, In Brazil an official with the Landless Workers Movement (MST) promised a new wave of farm occupations following President Dilma Rousseff's suspension to stand trial in the Senate. One percent of Brazil's population owns 45 percent of all the country's land, according to a US government report.
(Reuters, 5/25/16)
2016 May 25, Brazil's Congress authorized a major increase in the budget deficit, handing interim president Michel Temer a first victory in his bid to tackle the Latin American giant's sickly economy.
(AFP, 5/25/16)
2016 May 25, In Brazil a video was posted featuring the girl (16) naked on a bed and apparent rapists bragging that she had been raped by more than 30 men. They were suspected of assaulting her on May 21 in Rio de Janeiro. Online social networks quickly erupted with outrage over the video as police launched an investigation.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2016 May 28, The World Health Organization said there is "no public health justification" for postponing or canceling the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of the Zika outbreak.
(AP, 5/28/16)
2016 May, In Brazil the police of Rio de Janeiro killed 40 people this month.
(Econ, 7/30/16, p.25)
2016 Jun 2, In Brazil Italo Ferreira (10), chased by police, stepped on the gas in a stolen car until police stopped him with a bullet to the head in Sao Paulo. Police said they fired in self-defense because Italo was armed and shot at them from the car. Investigators later alleged the crime scene was tampered with.
(AFP, 6/22/16)
2016 Jun 9, A bus in southern Brazil veered off the side a highway and crashed, leaving 16 dead and 30 injured on the outskirts of Mogi das Cruzes.
(AP, 6/9/16)
2016 Jun 12, In Brazil indigenous activists from the Guarani-Kaiowa group set up a camp in Mato Grosso do Sul state, in a push to have their ancestral land claims formally recognized by the government. Two days later armed farmers attacked the camp, killing one person and seriously wounding six.
(Reuters, 6/29/16)
2016 Jun 17, Brazil's Environment Ministry said it has fined mining company Samarco 142 million reais ($41.6 million) for damages to three protected areas resulting from a tailings dam burst in November.
(Reuters, 6/17/16)
2016 Jun 19, In Brazil five armed men stormed the Hospital Souza Aguiar in Rio de Janeiro to free a suspected drug trafficker. One patient was killed.
(SFC, 6/20/16, p.A2)
2016 Jun 20, In Brazil Oi telecom operator made the largest bankruptcy in the country’s history. The company was $19 billion in debt.
(Econ, 6/25/16, p.59)
2016 Jun 24, Brazil’s acting Pres. Michel Temer renewed a bilateral automotive arrangement with Argentina for four years.
(Econ, 7/2/16, p.29)
2016 Jun 30, Brazil's federal police raided the offices of at least 12 builders to seek evidence of a cartel handling railway projects.
(Reuters, 6/30/16)
2016 Jun, In Brazil a chilly snap in the first days of the southern hemisphere winter claimed the lives of at least six people this month in Sao Paulo, home to an estimated 16,000 homeless population.
(AFP, 6/29/16)
2016 Jul 6, In Brazil Several thousand people demonstrated in Rio de Janeiro, calling for a "boycott" of the Olympic Games less than a month ahead of an event plagued by a financial crisis and crime. Most of the protesters were teachers who have been on strike for three months demanding payment of back wages.
(AFP, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 6, The Vatican said Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto of Paraiba who was accused of turning a blind eye to suspected pedophile priests in his diocese.
(Reuters, 7/6/16)
2016 Jul 7, Brazilian police seized documents and questioned suspects to investigate Panama's FPB Bank in connection to a sweeping graft probe of political corruption at state-run companies.
(Reuters, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 13, In Brazil Hector Babenco (70), the Argentine-born Brazilian director of “Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985), died on Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 7/15/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 15, Brazil said it has deported the Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist Adlene Hicheur after rejecting a request for an extension to his work visa. He was convicted in 2012 for his involvement in a French terror plot. Local press reports said Hicheur had been deported to France.
(Reuters, 7/16/16)
2016 Aug 2, Brazil's federal police said they had arrested two people and raided properties over alleged corruption at building firm Queiroz Galvao, widening a sweeping investigation (Operation Carwash) focused on state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 2, In Brazil Olympics chief Thomas Bach called for a complete overhaul of the anti-doping system after revelations of state-backed cheating by Russia rocked preparations for the Rio Games.
(AFP, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 5, Brazilian police arrested Moroccan boxer Hassan Saada (22) for allegedly sexually assaulting two female cleaners on August 3 in Rio’s Olympic Village.
(AFP, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 5, Rio de Janeiro hosted a glittering Olympics opening ceremony party, hoping to draw a line under a turbulent seven-year build-up dogged by recession, drugs scandals, crime and infrastructure stumbles. Security was tight after protests by thousands of Brazilians angry at political upheaval, corruption and the cost of the Games.
(AFP, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 6, Ivo Pitanguy (90), a plastic surgeon whose skill drew celebrities to his operating table from around the world and made him a cultural icon in beauty-obsessed Brazil, died one day after passing the Olympic torch for the Rio Games.
(Reuters, 8/7/16)
2016 Aug 10, Brazil's Senate voted to put suspended President Dilma Rousseff on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal rules in managing the federal budget.
(AP, 8/10/16)
2016 Aug 14, In Brazil American swimmer Ryan Lochte said he, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen were held at gunpoint and robbed several hours after the last Olympic swimming races ended. That claim started unraveling when police said that investigators could not find evidence to substantiate it. Police later said the men, while intoxicated, vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.
(AP, 8/19/16)
2016 Aug 15, Brazil’s Thiago Braz won an unexpected gold medal and set an Olympic record in pole vaulting.
(Econ, 8/20/16, p.25)
2016 Aug 18, Brazilian cyclist Kleber Ramos and Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi were disqualified from the Olympic Games for having failed doping tests. Ramos tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO Cera while Chen took the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.
(AFP, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 18, Kimia Alizadeh won the first ever Olympic medal by an Iranian woman after claiming taekwondo bronze in Rio.
(AFP, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 19, In Brazil Cheick Sallah Cisse was the toast of the Ivory Coast as he won their first ever Olympic gold medal with a killer kick in the last second of the men's under-80kg taekwondo final.
(AFP, 8/20/16)
2016 Aug 19, In Brazil Usain Bolt of Jamaica won his 9th gold medal in the 4x100 relay. Three Olympics, three races at each, three gold medals every time.
(AP, 8/20/16)
2016 Aug 20, Brazil claimed its first Olympic gold in soccer with a win over Germany.
(AP, 8/21/16)
2016 Aug 21, In Brazil the curtain descended on two weeks of high drama at the Rio Games as Tokyo took up the baton and promised to go one better in 2020.
(AFP, 8/22/16)
2016 Aug 21, The Rio police force executed search warrants to seize passports and evidence from Ireland team leader Kevin Kilty, chief executive Stephen Martin and secretary general Dermot Henihan, who are accused of illegally selling Olympic tickets.
(AP, 8/21/16)
2016 Aug 29, Suspended Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff told senators in emotional testimony at her trial that voting for her impeachment would amount to a "coup d'etat."
(AFP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 31, Brazil’s Senate voted 61-20 to impeach Dilma Rousseff, the country’s first female president, making her join the ranks of nearly 12 million unemployed in Latin America's biggest country. The Senate also voted against banning her from politics for eight years, which had been widely considered automatic with an impeachment conviction.
(AFP, 9/1/16)(Econ, 9/3/16, p.29)
2016 Aug, The Brazilian government announced that it would suspend plans for the $9 billion Sao Luiz de Tapajos hydroelectric dam in the Amazon, citing likely impacts on indigenous people and the environment. Munduruku chief, Arnaldo Kaba Munduruku, made a five day journey from the Tapajos basin of northern Para State to London to win backing to fight on until the lands around the dam site are legally recognized as belonging to his people.
(Reuters, 8/19/16)(Econ, 11/5/16, p.29)
2016 Sep 1, In Brazil Michel Temer (75) was sworn in as presient to replace Dilma Rousseff following a bitter impeachment fight.
(AFP, 9/2/16)
2016 Sep 5, Brazil's federal police launched an operation to investigate fraud at pension funds of major state-run companies, carrying out seven arrest warrants, over a hundred search warrants and freezing assets worth 8 billion reais ($2.46 billion).
(Reuters, 9/5/16)
2016 Sep 6, A German court dismissed appeals by 84 Russian athletes seeking to compete at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. Another 10 Russians had a similar application rejected a day earlier as punishment for state-backed doping in the country.
(AP, 9/6/16)
2016 Sep 8, In Brazil the 2016 Paralympic Games opened in Rio de Janeiro. The theme of the opening was: “The heart knows no limits; everybody has a heart."
(CSM, 9/8/16)
2016 Sep 12, In Brazil the Chamber of Deputies stripped the congressional seat from Eduardo Cunha in a 450-10 vote. He had been accused of numerous corruption allegations and obstructing justice. Cunha was in his fourth term and just months ago was considered one of the most powerful men in Brazil.
(AP, 9/13/16)
2016 Sep 13, In Brazil a fire began at the Estrada de Alpina slum in Sao Paulo and quickly took hundreds of homes in its path. The favela is thought to contain about 500 homes.
(Reuters, 9/14/16)
2016 Sep 15, Brazil's federal police said they were conducting search and seizure warrants as part of an investigation into fraudulent public contracts that includes loans from the country's massive state development bank BNDES.
(Reuters, 9/15/16)
2016 Sep 25, In Brazil gunmen killed Ricardo Guimaraes, a retired police captain running for a post on the city council of Itaborai, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 9/26/16, p.A2)
2016 Sep 26, Brazilian authorities said they have arrested Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister who was part of the government of ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe involving state oil giant Petrobras.
(AP, 9/26/16)
2016 Oct 2, Brazilians furious at recession and corruption voted in nationwide municipal elections expected to deal a drubbing to the long-dominant left. The first-round balloting ended in humiliation for the nation's former governing Workers' Party.
(AFP, 10/2/16)(AFP, 10/30/16)
2016 Oct 16, In Brazil a prison riot in the far northern state of Roraima left 25 inmates killed and women visitors taken hostage. Seven of the dead were beheaded and six burned to death.
(AFP, 10/17/16)
2016 Oct 17, In Brazil 8 inmates were killed and burned in a fresh prison riot. Police believed the riot was related to clashes a day earlier between rival factions in another jail that left 25 detainees dead.
(AFP, 10/17/16)
2016 Oct 30, Brazil held nationwide municipal elections in a 2nd round of voting following the first-round on October 2. Marcelo Crivella, a Pentecostal bishop, was elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 10/30/16)(Econ, 11/5/16, p.30)
2016 Oct 31, In southern Brazil a bus and a tanker truck filled with milk burst into flames when they collided, killing 20 people and injuring at least 10 near Cafezal do Sul in Parana state.
(AP, 10/31/16)
2016 Nov 16, Brazilian federal police arrested , Anthony Garotinho, a former Rio de Janeiro state governor, for his alleged involvement in a vote-buying scheme. Military police in Rio de Janeiro shot pepper spray at demonstrators protesting austerity measures. Thousands of state employees have not been paid, or have been paid months late.
(AP, 11/16/16)
2016 Nov 17, In Brazil Sergio Cabral, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro state, was arrested as part of a corruption investigation linked to a World Cup project and other works worth billions of dollars, a blow to Brazil's ruling party that may fuel political instability. Several others were also arrested who served in Cabral’s 2007-2014 administration.
(Reuters, 11/17/16)(SFC, 11/17/16, p.A4)
2016 Nov 19, In Brazil a military helicopter providing support to a police operation in Rio de Janeiro crashed, killing the four officers on board.
(AP, 11/20/16)
2016 Nov 28, In Colombia a plane carrying Brazil’s Chapecoense team soccer team crashed killing 71 people. Six survivors suffered severe trauma injuries. 21 journalists were among the 77 people onboard the British Aerospace 146. The Bolivian plane ran out of fuel moments before slamming into the Andes mountains.
(AP, 11/29/16)(AP, 11/30/16)(SFC, 12/2/16, p.A2)
2016 Nov, In Brazil Edmar Bacha (b.1942) became the third economist to join the Brazilian Academy of Letters, whose members are known as the “immortals." He was one of the architects of the Real Plan, which tamed inflation in 1994.
(Econ, 4/15/17, p.31)
2016 Dec 4, In Brazil demonstrators marched in major cities across the country, protesting government corruption and a recent vote in Congress that was widely perceived as an effort to intimidate judges and prosecutors currently leading graft probes.
(Reuters, 12/4/16)
2016 Dec 5, Brazilian police raided the homes of two former members of a parliamentary inquiry into graft at state oil company Petrobras, seeking evidence they extorted money from contractors who wanted to avoid being summoned as witnesses.
(Reuters, 12/5/16)
2016 Dec 6, Brazil's currency and stocks seesawed as a Supreme Court decision to remove Senate president Renan Calheiros because he has been indicted on embezzlement charges raised doubts about upcoming votes on the government's austerity agenda.
(Reuters, 12/6/16)
2016 Dec 11, In Brazil Yuri Lourenco da Silva (19), the son of singer Tati Quebra Barraco, was killed along with and another man in a police operation early today in the City of God slum.
(AP, 12/11/16)
2016 Dec 14, In Brazil Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns (95) died after a long struggle with lung and kidney problems. Arns, archbishop of Sao Paulo between 1970 and 1998, was one of the Catholic Church's most prominent pro-democracy voices in Latin America.
(AP, 12/14/16)
2016 Dec 15, Brazilian federal prosecutors charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with more corruption charges tied to the massive probe into graft at state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 12/15/16)
2016 Dec 19, In Brazil a judge ruled that former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face a fifth corruption trial, as charges pile up against the man seen as a front-runner to win the 2018 presidential election.
(Reuters, 12/19/16)
2016 Dec 21, Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA pleaded guilty in a US court to violating American foreign bribery laws as part of a deal resolving a sweeping corruption probe of Brazil's state oil company. Odebrecht admitted that it had paid bribes to win contracts across Latin America including Peru. It said that it had paid $29 million in Peru between 2005 and 2014 to secure concessions.
(Reuters, 12/21/16)(Econ, 3/25/17, p.29)
2016 Dec 26, In Brazil Kyriakos Amoiridis (59), the Greek ambassador to Brazil, was last seen. His wife Francoise reported him missing on Dec 28. On Dec 29 his burned-out rental car was found with a body inside. On Dec 30 police said Françoise and police officer Sergio Moreira had arranged and possibly carried out the killing of Amiridis in a home where the diplomat and his wife were staying in a poor section in the northern suburb of Rio as Officer Sergio Moreira (29) confessed that he killed the ambassador.
(AFP, 12/30/16)(Reuters, 12/30/16)(Reuters, 12/31/16)
2016 Dec 27, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said it's trying to find Brazilian migrants who disappeared during an attempt to reach the United States by way of the Bahamas. Families of the missing migrants lost contact with them on Nov 6, and reported the issue to authorities on Nov 15.
(AP, 12/27/16)
2016 Dec 31, In Brazil a gunman stormed a house party and killed 13 people and himself late today during New Year celebrations in the southeastern city of Campinas. The shooter was believed to have been angry over a separation from his former wife, who was among those killed. The couple's 8-year-old son also died.
(Reuters, 1/1/17)(SFC, 1/2/17, p.A2)
2016 Alex Cuadros authored “Brazillionaires The Godfathers of Modern Brazil."
(Econ, 6/11/16, p.85)
2016 Brazil’s gross domestic product shrank 3.6 percent in 2016 following a dip of 3.8 percent in 2015.
(AP, 3/7/17)
2016 In Brazil a woman was reportedly murdered every two hours this year.
(SFC, 3/14/18, p.A4)
2016 Italy ranked as the world’s 8th biggest economy, just ahead of Brazil.
(Econ, 1/30/16, p.68)
2016 The US allowed Brazilian beef into the country after two decades of talks.
(Econ, 3/25/17, p.59)
2017 Jan 1, In Brazil a rebellion began late today at the Anisio Jobim prison complex in Manaus. By the next day 57 people were killed in the riot sparked by a war between rival drug gangs. Many of those slain were beheaded or dismembered. An estimated 225 inmates escaped and only 48 were recaptured. Officials later said members of the FDN, Familia do Norte (Family of the North), organized the massacre seeking to wipe out the Sao Paulo-based rival Comando da Capital (PCC).
(Reuters, 1/2/17)(AP, 1/3/17)(AP, 2/22/17)(Econ, 1/7/17, p.26)
2017 Jan 3, Nigerian anti-drug officers said they found 9.15 kg (20 pounds) of cocaine worth $4.7 million "factory-packed" inside a new pair of shoes that arrived at Abuja airport on a flight from Brazil.
(Reuters, 1/3/17)
2017 Jan 5, Brazilian President Michel Temer said the country will build new prisons in every state to relieve overcrowding after a "horrific" riot that left 56 inmates dead.
(AFP, 1/5/17)
2017 Jan 6, Brazil was hit by its second explosion of grisly prison violence this week, as inmates beheaded and mutilated their rivals at the Monte Cristo Farm Penitentiary (PAMC) in Roraima state, leaving at least 33 dead.
(AFP, 1/6/17)
2017 Jan 8, Brazilian authorities confirmed that four more inmates have died in a penitentiary rebellion in the city of Manaus, as the overall death toll from a week of bloodshed in Brazilian prisons approached 100.
(AP, 1/8/17)
2017 Jan 15, Brazilian police entered the Alcaçuz prison in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte where authorities expect the death toll from a riot to rise from the current 10. Members of rival drug gangs apparently started the clash a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/15/17)
2017 Jan 16, Brazilian authorities said a new uprising has broken out at the Alcaçuz prison where 26 inmates were killed by a rival gang faction over the weekend.
(Reuters, 1/16/17)
2017 Jan 16, British company Rolls Royce, in a deal with American, British and Brazilian regulators, agreed to pay £671 million to settle allegations that it had in the past secured sales with bribery of officials in six countries in schemes that lasted more than a decade.
(Econ, 1/21/17, p.54)(Reuters, 5/8/20)
2017 Jan 17, Brazilian police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a renewed clash between drug gangs in the Alcaçuz prison where 26 inmates were butchered by rivals in recent days.
(Reuters, 1/17/17)
2017 Jan 18, In Brazil a heavily armed military police force entered the Alcacuz prison without violence. Authorities said they were transferring 220 inmates to other prisons to avoid more clashes.
(AP, 1/19/17)
2017 Jan 19, In Brazil images on Globo television showed prisoners at the Alcacuz Penitentiary in the yard, throwing rocks at each other and setting up barriers. Injured inmates could be seen being carried away.
(AP, 1/19/17)
2017 Jan 19, In Brazil a plane crash killed Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki just weeks before he was scheduled to issue a ruling that could have revealed accusations against politicians in several Latin American countries. Four others were also killed. The crash was likely to delay, though not derail, the "Car Wash" investigation, the largest corruption investigation in Brazil's history.
(AP, 1/20/17)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.30)
2017 Jan 20, Police in Peru arrested former transport official Edwn Luyo as part of a massive graft scandal implicating Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and several regional governments. Luyo headed the committee that awarded Odebrecht a contract in 2009 to build Lima's elevated metro.
(AP, 1/21/17)
2017 Jan 21, In northeastern Brazil military police took control of Alcacuz prison after fighting between rival gangs had left 26 inmates dead, the latest in a spate of violence in the country's penitentiaries.
(AP, 1/21/17)
2017 Jan 26, Brazilian police issued an arrest warrant for businessman Eike Batista, famous for amassing and then losing a multi-billion-dollar fortune.
(AP, 1/26/17)
2017 Jan 27, Brazilian construction company Odebrecht said it was willing to sell off its remaining projects and businesses in Peru as it faces a massive graft inquiry and calls from the government to leave the Andean country.
(Reuters, 1/27/17)
2017 Jan 30, The head of Brazil's Supreme Court validated 77 plea bargains with officials from a construction giant targeted by a major corruption probe, a step that is likely to significantly widen investigations into top politicians and businessmen.
(AP, 1/30/17)
2017 Jan 30, In Brazil fallen tycoon Eike Batista (60) was arrested at Rio de Janeiro's airport after returning to face corruption charges. He personified Brazil's economic boom and once boasted he'd become the world's richest man.
(AFP, 1/30/17)
2017 Jan 31, Brazil said unemployment hit a record 12 percent between October and December, even as the economy is forecast to slowly exit deep recession.
(AFP, 1/31/17)
2017 Jan, In Brazil Joao Doria, the new mayor of Sao Paulo, helped paint over 70 panels of street art along Avenida 23 de Maio dating back to 2015. The move sparked a protest and the mayor promised a museum of street art to showcase authorized, privately funded murals by artists chosen by an independent committee.
(SFC, 3/25/17, p.A4)
2017 Feb 2, Brazil's Supreme Court named Justice Edson Fachin to oversee cases against politicians caught in a giant corruption probe after the previous judicial pointman Teori Zavascki was killed in an air crash.
(AFP, 2/2/17)
2017 Feb 4, In Brazil police in Espirito Santo state went on strike. During the ten day strike 143 people were murdered as all hell broke out in Vitoria, the state capital.
(Econ, 2/25/17, p.30)
2017 Feb 7, Brazilian federal troops began to reestablish control over the state of Espirito Santo, where scores of people are reported to have been killed since the police went on strike. Police stopped patrolling on Feb 4 and criminals quickly ran amok.
(AFP, 2/7/17)
2017 Feb 8, A Brazilian zoologist said an outbreak of yellow fever has claimed the lives of more than 600 monkeys and dozens of humans in the Atlantic rainforest region, threatening the survival of rare South American primates.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 9, In Brazil more than 100 people have been reported killed, with schools and businesses closed and public transportation at a standstill, as a six-day strike by police in the state of Espirito Santo showed no signs of abating.
(Reuters, 2/9/17)
2017 Feb 9, Panamanian prosecutors took law firm partners Ramon Fonseca Mora and Jurgen Mossack into custody and searched their offices. The Mossack-Fonseca firm has been accused of setting up offshore accounts that allowed the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht to funnel bribes to multiple countries. On April 21 Mora and Mossack were released on bail.
(SSFC, 2/12/17, p.A4)(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.A4)
2017 Feb 10, In Brazil Public Safety Director Andre Garcia said 703 military police officers in Espirito Santo have been charged with the crime of revolt. Military police patrol Brazil’s cities and are barred by law from going on strike.
(SFC, 2/11/17, p.A2)
2017 Feb 11, In Brazil military police in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo rejected a return-to-work agreement aimed at ending a strike that has paralyzed several cities and led to an outburst of violence in which more than 130 people have reportedly died. More than 3,000 federal troops now patrolled the streets.
(AP, 2/11/17)
2017 Feb 12, Brazil’s state's Department of Public Safety said in a statement that nearly 900 military police officers are on duty in Espirito Santo. On a normal day, around 2,000 officers would be patrolling. Families and friends of the police officers continued their protest outside barracks, demanding higher pay for the officers.
(AP, 2/12/17)
2017 Feb 14, Brazilian President Michel Temer issued a decree to deploy 9,000 soldiers in Rio de Janeiro's metropolitan area until Feb. 22, one week before Carnaval ends. The soldiers are to help out amid police officers' strike threats and riots led by anarchists during state legislature votes on austerity measures as the annual Carnaval celebrations take off.
(AP, 2/14/17)
2017 Feb 16, In southeastern Brazil two passenger buses collided head-on, killing at least nine people and injuring 46 near the city of Teodoro Sampaio west of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 2/16/17)
2017 Feb 24, Revelers across Brazil began Carnival celebrations, taking to the streets to dance, drink beer and spirits, and blow off steam at a time of economic angst and fury with politicians over a sprawling corruption scandal.
(AP, 2/25/17)
2017 Feb, Brazil’s only aircraft carrier, never battle-ready, was mothballed.
(Econ 7/8/17, p.31)
2017 Mar 11, In Brazil Watila Santos (38) died from yellow fever in Casimiro de Abreu, 93 miles (150 km) from Rio de Janeiro. Around 30,000 of the city's 42,000 people were soon vaccinated.
(AP, 3/18/17)
2017 Mar 15, Brazilian civil servants, rural workers and labor confederations staged nationwide demonstrations against President Michel Temer's pension reform plan, with hundreds of protesters occupying the premises of the finance ministry in Brasilia.
(Reuters, 3/15/17)
2017 Mar 17, Brazilian federal police raided dozens of meatpacker offices, including industry giants JBS SA and BRF SA, following a two-year investigation into alleged bribery of regulators to subvert inspections of their plants. "Operation Weak Flesh" had already uncovered about 40 cases of meatpackers who had bribed inspectors and politicians to overlook unsanitary practices.
(Reuters, 3/17/17)
2017 Mar 21, Brazil's federal police raided the offices of people close to several prominent senators in the latest phase of a sweeping, three-year corruption probe.
(Reuters, 3/21/17)
2017 Mar 21, Brazil’s agriculture ministry said Hong Kong has banned all meat imports from Brazil, another blow from a police investigation into corruption among health inspectors and the alleged selling of rotten products by some meatpackers.
(Reuters, 3/21/17)
2017 Mar 31, Tens of thousands of Brazilians returned to the streets to protest reforms backed by President Michel Temer's conservative government.
(AFP, 3/31/17)
2017 Mar, Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA, ordered the suspension of two JBS meat packing plants and 13 others in southwest Pará state for buying cattle raised on pastures cleared by slashing and burning the forest. It fined the company 24 million reais ($7.7 million). JBS denied purchasing livestock from ranchers on land blacklisted by IBAMA and won an injunction from a federal judge allowing its plants to continue buying cattle. The agency appealed the ruling.
(Reuters, 4/2/17)
2017 Mar, In Brazil the howler-monkey population in Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais states was reported to be crashing. Doctors suspected this was due to yellow fever. Since December 371 human cases have been reported, a third of them fatal.
(Econ, 3/18/17, p.79)
2017 Apr 6, The former head of Brazilian aquatics confederation was arrested in a fraud probe that allegedly involved sports officials embezzling public funds. Federal police arrested five people for the alleged embezzlement of up to 40 million reais ($13 million) in public funds to benefit the country's water sports association.
(AP, 4/6/17)(Reuters, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 6, Brazilian prosecutors said a federal court has suspended the operating license of the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on environmental grounds. They said operators must complete basic sanitation works in the city of Altamira before filling the dam's reservoir.
(Reuters, 4/7/17)
2017 Apr 7, In Brazil six inmates died at the Unidade Prisional do Puraquequara in Manaus where riots killed dozens of prisoners earlier this year. The circumstances of the deaths were unclear.
(AP, 4/8/17)
2017 Apr 12, In Brazil Marcio Faria, a former Odebrecht executive, testified in a plea bargain that construction giant Odebrecht paid $40 million to President Michel Temer's party and another party in 2010 to ensure a contract with the state oil company.
(AP, 4/13/17)
2017 Apr 12, In Brazil Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin authorized prosecutors to investigate eight government ministers, 24 senators, 30 lower house deputies and three governors in a corruption probe centered on state-controlled oil company Petrobras.
(Econ, 4/22/17, p.29)
2017 Apr 28, In Brazil nationwide strikes led by unions to protest President Michel Temer's austerity measures crippled public transport in several major cities across the nation, while factories, businesses and schools closed.
(Reuters, 4/28/17)
2017 Apr 30, In Brazil Eike Batista, the mining and oil magnate who was once Brazil's richest man, left prison for house arrest ahead of a trial on corruption charges.
(Reuters, 4/30/17)
2017 May 2, In Brazil several public buses were torched in Rio de Janeiro. Police said ski-masked bandits were suspected, possibly in retaliation for a police operation.
(SFC, 5/3/17, p.A2)
2017 May 7, It was reported that Brazilian officials are urging residents to stop killing wild monkeys in an attempt to halt an expanding yellow fever outbreak.
(SSFC, 5/7/17, p.C14)
2017 May 15, Albanian authorities said they have blocked 26 metric tons of poultry imported from Brazil because it was found to contain high levels of salmonella. The poultry had arrived at the Durres port some days ago.
(AP, 5/15/17)
2017 May 17, Brazil’s O Globo newspaper reported that Pres. Michel Temer had been caught on tape endorsing the payment of hush money to politician Eduardo Cunha, already convicted of taking bribes. The tape was recorded by billionaire Joesley Batista Sobrinho. In the weeks that followed the Batistas sold more than 300m Reais’ worth of JBS shares and bought dollars.
(Econ 5/20/17, p.29)(Econ 5/27/17, p.32)
2017 May 18, Brazilian Pres. Michel Temer resisted calls to resign after allegations surfaced that he condoned the bribery of a potential witness in a graft investigation, raising doubts about the future of austerity measures in Congress and sending markets tumbling.
(Reuters, 5/18/17)
2017 May 21, In Brazil unions and leftist groups and parties staged protests throughout the country demanding that Pres. Michel Temer leave office following allegations of corruption.
(AP, 5/21/17)
2017 May 22, Shares in Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA tumbled after a May 19 deadline passed for the company to accept an 11.2 billion reais ($3.4 billion) fine prosecutors have proposed to settle charges its controlling shareholders paid extensive bribes to politicians.
(Reuters, 5/22/17)
2017 May 23, Brazilian police arrested presidential aide Tadeu Filippelli and two ex-governors as part of an investigation into the 2014 World Cup's most expensive stadium, another black eye for the country's political establishment that adds pressure on President Michel Temer.
(Reuters, 5/23/17)(SFC, 5/24/17, p.A2)
2017 May 25, Brazil's Pres. Michael Temer cancelled an order to deploy the military to the streets of the capital after criticism that the move, made a day earlier, was excessive and merely an effort to hold onto power amid increasing calls for his resignation.
(AP, 5/25/17)
2017 May 25, It was reported that researchers in Brazil are experimenting with a new treatment for severe burns using the skin of tilapia fish, an unorthodox procedure they say can ease the pain of victims and cut medical costs.
(Reuters, 5/25/17)
2017 Jun 1, Brazilian federal police carried out raids in a probe of suspected corruption in the 2012 mayoral race in Sao Paulo, South America's largest city. Federal police in Rio de Janeiro carried out raids and served one arrest warrant in a probe of suspected fraud in contracts to supply meals to schools and prisons.
(Reuters, 6/1/17)
2017 Jun 3, Former Brazilian lawmaker Rodrigo Rocha Loures, a close aide and friend of President Michel Temer, was arrested at his home in a corruption investigation that also targeted the president.
(Reuters, 6/3/17)
2017 Jun 9, Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal's 4-3 vote late today to reject allegations of illegal campaign finance gave Pres. Michel Temer a lifeline amid widespread calls that he resign in the face of a corruption scandal.
(AP, 6/10/17)
2017 Jun 13, In Brazil Sergio Cabral, a former governor of Rio de Janeiro, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
(Econ 6/17/17, p.34)
2017 Jun 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart Michel Temer signed a statement on "strengthening a strategic dialogue on foreign policy issues" following talks at the Kremlin.
(AP, 6/21/17)
2017 Jun 23, Norway’s PM Erna Solberg warned Brazil’s Pres. Michel Temer to curb deforestation in the Amazon or Norway will reduce its financial contribution to the Amazon fund.
(SFC, 6/24/17, p.A2)
2017 Jun 26, A Brazilian court sentenced former finance minister Antonio Palocci to 12 years in prison for corruption and money laundering in the country's massive corruption probe known as "Operation Car Wash." Brazil’s attorney general formally accused pres. Michel Temer of corruption, making him the first sitting president in Latin America to face criminal charges.
(Reuters, 6/26/17)(SFC, 6/27/17, p.A2)
2017 Jun 30, Brazilian labor unions staged peaceful nationwide demonstrations against scandal-hit President Michel Temer, seeking to stop his unpopular administration from pushing through Congress changes to labor and pension laws.
(Reuters, 6/30/17)
2017 Jul 1, Brazilian police in Mato Grosso captured Luiz Carlos da Rocha, a major drug lord known as "White Head," who used plastic surgeries to help him evade authorities for nearly three decades. Police also seized approximately $10 million worth of the drug lord's assets, including planes, properties and luxury cars.
(AP, 7/2/17)
2017 Jul 3, In Brazil the billionaire Batista family's 10.3 billion-real ($3.1 billion) leniency deal sparked anger over what many saw as lax penalties and a lack of transparency. Many Brazilians questioned Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot's plea deal by which he decided not to jail brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista - who admitted to bribing nearly 2,000 politicians.
(Reuters, 7/4/17)
2017 Jul 12, In Brazil former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was found guilty of corruption and money laundering and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.
(SFC, 7/13/17, p.A3)
2017 Jul 13, In Brazil a congressional committee rejected a recommendation to try Pres. Michel Temer for corruption.
(SFC, 7/14/17, p.A5)
2017 Jul 13, Brazil’s Pres. Michael Temer signed into law an overhaul of the country’s 1943 labor law, to become effective in four months time.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.52)
2017 Jul 17, A spasm of violence in Rio claimed another life as a policeman was shot dead, a day after a gun battle sparked panic on the road to the airport and prompted some drivers to seek shelter in the trunks of their cars. Officers were fired on during the morning shift change in a favela called Mangueira.
(AFP, 7/17/17)
2017 Jul 27, Brazilian federal police arrested former Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Aldemir Bendine on suspicion he received large bribes from construction conglomerate Odebrecht.
(Reuters, 7/27/17)
2017 Jul 28, In Brazil thousands of soldiers began patrolling Rio de Janeiro amid a spike in violence. The deployment aimed at fighting organized crime gangs, which control many of the city's hundreds of slums.
(AP, 7/28/17)
2017 Aug 2, Brazil’s legislators voted 263 to 227 against referring Pres. Michel Temer, indicted on June 26, to the Supreme Court.
(Econ, 8/19/17, p.27)
2017 Aug 3, In Brazil federal police and labor investigators raided a Word of Faith Fellowship church and school in Franco da Rocha. The South Carolina-based church was accused of physical and psychological abuse of students and funneling students from Brazil to the US to work for little or no pay at church associated businesses.
(SFC, 10/11/17, p.A3)
2017 Aug 5, In Brazil thousands of army troops raided Rio de Janeiro slums in a pre-dawn crackdown on crime gangs, leaving parts of the city looking like a war zone on the first anniversary of the opening of the Olympic Games.
(AFP, 8/5/17)
2017 Aug 5, The South American trade bloc Mercosur, meeting in San Paulo, decided to suspend Venezuela for failing to follow democratic norms.
(AP, 8/5/17)
2017 Aug 18, Brazilian authorities announced two new phases of their Car Wash operation, ensnaring US asphalt maker Sargeant Marine, six Greek shipping companies and a former Brazilian congressman in the wide-ranging graft probe.
(Reuters, 8/18/17)
2017 Aug 21, Brazil's army went into action again to support police in raids on some of Rio de Janeiro's most violent favelas. A soldier (19) was arrested on suspicion of having tipped off gangs several hours before the operation took place.
(AFP, 8/21/17)
2017 Aug 22, In northern Brazil a boat carrying 70 people sank late today on the Xingu River in Para state. 15 people made it to shore and 10 bodies were recovered.
(SFC, 8/24/17, p.A2)
2017 Aug 23, Venezuela's fugitive former top prosecutor Luisa Ortega (59) resurfaced in Brazil claiming to possess "a lot" of proof of President Nicolas Maduro's corruption and to warn that her life remains in danger.
(AFP, 8/23/17)
2017 Aug 24, In Brazil a commuter boat carrying more than 100 passengers flipped and sank on the Bay of All Saints off the coast of Salvador city. At least 18 people were killed and dozens left missing.
(SFC, 8/25/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 1, Brazilian President Michel Temer visited China as his country seeks investments to shore up its flagging economy. Temer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of next week's summit of BRICS nations in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.
(AP, 9/1/17)
2017 Sep 4, In Brazil more than 800 federal police fanned out in five states and the federal district to serve 190 search and seizure warrants and more than 120 arrest warrants in a crackdown on a drug-trafficking ring.
(AP, 9/4/17)
2017 Sep 8, In Brazil regional authorities confirmed the alleged massacre of several indigenous people from an uncontacted Amazonian tribe reportedly killed by illegal miners in August in the Sao Paulo municipality of Olivenca on the Vale do Javari indigenous land in Amazonas state. Prosecutors were also investigating another complaint about the alleged killing of indigenous people from the isolated Warikama Djapar tribe in Ma, which has not been confirmed.
(AFP, 9/8/17)
2017 Sep 10, Brazil Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin ordered the arrest of billionaire Joesley Batista, one of the owners of the world´s largest meatpackers, JBS SA, and one of his executives.
(Reuters, 9/10/17)
2017 Sep 13, Brazilian police arrested Wesley Batista, the CEO of the world's largest meatpacker, for allegedly using their own plea bargains to gain an advantage in financial markets.
(AP, 9/13/17)
2017 Sep 14, Brazil's attorney general, Rodrigo Janot, charged Pres. Michel Temer with obstruction of justice and leading a criminal organization.
(SFC, 9/15/17 p.A4)(Econ, 9/23/17, p.31)
2017 Sep 14, Brazil's federal police conducted a raid and search operation at the house of Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi in Brasilia, related to an ongoing bribery and graft scandal.
(Reuters, 9/14/17)
2017 Sep 27, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted 6-5 to authorize state schools to promote specific religions. Students however cannot be compelled to attend religious classes.
(SFC, 9/28/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 28, A new poll in Brazil says embattled President Michel Temer's already dismal approval rating has sunk even further to a new historic low. Just 3 percent of respondents in the Ibope Institute survey approved of Temer's administration, while 77 percent disapprove. The rest rated his performance as average.
(AP, 9/28/17)
2017 Oct 4, In Brazil Cesare Battisti (62), an Italian fugitive and former leftist guerrilla convicted of murder in his own country was detained him at the Bolivian border. On Oct 6. a judge ordered him released. Battisti was convicted of being a member of an armed gang in his homeland in 1979, then escaped from prison near Rome in 1981.
(AFP, 10/7/17)
2017 Oct 5, The president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Carlos Nuzman, was arrested amid an investigation into a vote-buying scheme to bring last year's Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. According to investigators Nuzman's net worth increased 457 percent in the last 10 years as Brazilian Olympic Committee president.
(AP, 10/5/17)
2017 Oct 6, Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Nuzman (75) was suspended by the IOC, a day after being arrested in Rio de Janeiro and accused of storing gold bars in Switzerland.
(AP, 10/6/17)
2017 Oct 10, In Brazil some 500 soldiers, some in armored vehicles, swept into Rio de Janeiro's Rocinha favela to support a police raid after gun fights broke out between rival drug gangs.
(AFP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 23, In Brazil police shot and killed Spanish tourist Maria Esperanza Ruiz Jimenez (67) in a Rio de Janeiro slum after the guided tour car she was riding in failed to stop at a police road block. Two military police officers were soon arrested in connection with the shooting death.
(Reuters, 10/23/17)(AP, 10/24/17)
2017 Oct 25, The Brazilian unit of Bayer AG said it has received regulatory approval to sell its FOX Xpro fungicide, potentially boosting its agro-chemical business in one of the world's largest grains-producing nations.
(Reuters, 10/25/17)
2017 Oct, In Brazil sao Paulo health authorites started a huge vaccination program after a dead monkey infected with yellow fever was found in the city. The virus has been blamed for at least 261 Brazilian deaths since December.
(SSFC, 10/29/17, p.C14)
2017 Nov 10, In Brazil hundreds of people marched through Sao Paulo to protest the implementation of new labor rules and express their opposition to proposed changes to the social security system. The labor law goes into effect Nov. 11.
(AP, 11/10/17)
2017 Nov 11, Brazilian authorities said a prison uprising in the southern state of Parana has ended. Two inmates were left dead and six others injured in the 43-hour-long riot at the Cascavel penitentiary. Inmates had reportedly demanded better food and the transfer of three guards to other facilities.
(AP, 11/11/17)
2017 Nov 14, Brazil's statistics agency said there were 2.79 million births in 2016, a 5 percent decrease from the year prior. The birth rate has fallen by its fastest rate in nearly three decades after the Zika and microcephaly crisis of 2016.
(AP, 11/14/17)
2017 Nov 14, Brazil’s government said Germany and Britain will provide a combined $153 million to expand programs to fight climate change and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
(Reuters, 11/14/17)
2017 Nov 16, Prosecutors in Brazil said a court has convicted mining tycoon Bernardo Paz of money laundering and sentenced him to more than nine years in prison. A judge issued the conviction earlier this year. Paz founded the Inhotim park in Minas Gerais state, which has become one of the most important art centers in Latin America.
(AP, 11/18/17)
2017 Nov, Brazil ended a widower's pension that tended to reward men who murdered their wives.
(SFC, 3/14/18, p.A4)
2017 Dec 1, Three senior Brazilian law enforcement officials, including the former prosecutor general, said new leaders of the federal police and prosecutors' offices are curbing an anti-corruption drive that challenged centuries of impunity in Latin America's biggest country.
(Reuters, 12/1/17)
2017 Dec 6, Brazilian police and soldiers captured Rogerio Avelino da Silva, aka Rogerio 157, one of Rio de Janeiro's most wanted alleged drug trafficking bosses.
(AFP, 12/6/17)
2017 Dec 12, Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture launched a program to ensure farmers comply with anti-corruption, environmental and child labor laws, after a highly publicized meatpacking scandal raised doubts about the country's food products.
(Reuters, 12/12/17)
2017 Dec 13, Brazilian police raided the offices and homes of two members of Congress in the country's latest corruption probe as the government makes a last-ditch effort to vote on an overhaul of the national pension system.
(Reuters, 12/13/17)
2017 Dec 13, Paraguay police arrested Marcelo Fernando Pinheiro Veiga, one of Brazil's most wanted drug and arms traffickers, in the city of Encarnacion.
(AP, 12/13/17)
2017 Dec 15, In Brazil a baby girl was born to a woman in the first-ever birth with a uterus transplant from a dead donor.
(AFP, 12/7/18)
2017 Dec 29, Brazil's official government gazette said the government has issued a decree backtracking on plans to weaken the definition of slave labor in response to criticism and a court suspension of the original edict. The original mid-October decree, backed by Brazil's powerful farm lobby, narrowed the definition of slave labor to limiting the ability of workers to move freely while disregarding other abuses.
(Reuters, 12/29/17)
2017 In Brazil a record 63,880 people were slain this year. Brazil has long been the world leader in overall homicides.
(SFC, 8/10/18, p.A2)
2018 Jan 3, Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras said it has agreed to pay $2.95 billion to settle a class action suit in New York brought on behalf investors harmed by a huge corruption scandal.
(AFP, 1/3/18)
2018 Jan 6, In Brazil the state government Rio Grande do Norte declared a "state of calamity" for public security due to a police strike that has lasted nearly 20 days. Civilian and military police officers walked off the job Dec. 19 demanding back pay and better working conditions.
(AP, 1/6/18)
2018 Jan 11, Brazilian scientists said the cetacean morbillivirus is the main cause for the death of close to 200 gray dolphins since late November on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state.
(AP, 1/11/18)
2018 Jan 12, Authorities in southern Brazil said two people have died amid heavy rains that have forced more than 1,700 to flee their homes. Two more people were missing after two days of downpour unleashed flooding and landslides.
(AP, 1/12/18)
2018 Jan 16, The World Health Organization announced that it now considers all of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state at risk for yellow fever, recommending that all international visitors to the state be vaccinated.
(AP, 1/16/18)
2018 Jan 18, In Brazil a baby was killed and 17 people were injured when a motorist drove into a crowded boardwalk along Copacabana beach. The driver said he had not been drinking but lost control of his car. He also said that he has epilepsy.
(AP, 1/19/18)
2018 Jan 20, In Brazil the government of Minas Gerais state declared a state of emergency for its public health system because of an outbreak of yellow fever in 94 of its 853 cities.
(SSFC, 1/21/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 24, In Brazil an appellate court unanimously upheld a graft conviction against former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and increased his prison sentence by more than two years to 12 years and one month.
(SFC, 1/25/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 27, In northeastern Brazil gunmen barged into a party and shot dead a number of people in Fortaleza. Local press said 18 people were killed with six injured.
(AP, 1/27/18)
2018 Feb 1, Brazilian federal police served 100 search-and-seizure warrants as part of an investigation into alleged graft involving a pension fund for post office workers.
(Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 6, In Brazil a section of a busy roadway overpass collapsed in the center of Brasilia, plunging slabs of concrete on top of parked cars and an outdoor restaurant. No casualties were reported.
(Reuters, 2/6/18)
2018 Feb 7, In Brazil police and military forces said they have arrested 23 people in a series of raids over the last two days in violence-plagued parts of Rio de Janeiro two days before the city's famed Carnival celebrations.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 7, Brazil's Health Ministry confirmed more than 350 cases of yellow fever as infections pick up steam in the state at the center of the last outbreak.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 8, Brazil's federal police arrested Congressman Joao Rodrigues on corruption charges at Sao Paulo's international airport, saying they feared he could try to escape to Paraguay.
(AP, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 9, Brazilian President Michel Temer criticized the leftist government of neighboring Venezuela for leading that country into a crisis that is causing an exodus of refugees into northern Brazil.
(AP, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 10, Brazilians let off steam during the first full day of Carnival, a holiday long considered a safety valve for social and political tensions.
(AP, 2/10/18)
2018 Feb 10, Brazilian police arrested Gordon Fowler (42), a homeless man from Guyana, accused of attacking Venezuelan migrants in Boa Vista, a city in northeastern Brazil that's coping with a wave of migrants from the struggling neighboring nation.
(AP, 2/11/18)
2018 Feb 15, In central-western Brazil a truck collided with a bus carrying 43 passengers, and at least seven people were killed.
(AP, 2/15/18)
2018 Feb 15, In Brazil overnight heavy rain and high winds in Rio de Janeiro left four people dead in the Alemao slum complex of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 2/15/18)
2018 Feb 16, Brazil's federal government issued a decree to put the military in charge of Rio de Janeiro's local police amid a spike in violence.
(AP, 2/16/18)
2018 Feb 17, Brazilian President Michel Temer announced the creation of a public security ministry after giving the military full control over security in crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 2/18/18)
2018 Feb 18, In Brazil eight guards and 10 inmates were taken hostage during a riot in an overcrowded Rio de Janeiro prison. All the hostages were freed early the next day.
(Reuters, 2/19/18)
2018 Feb 19, Brazil's lower house approved a decree to put the military in charge of Rio de Janeiro's security forces amid a spike in violence. The Senate was scheduled to debate it the next day.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 20, Brazil's Senate overwhelmingly approved the takeover by the army of Rio de Janeiro's security following a breakdown of law and order in drug-ravaged neighborhoods.
(AFP, 2/21/18)
2018 Feb 25, The Jornal do Brasil, an emblematic Rio de Janeiro daily founded in 1896, returned to print after eight years of exclusively digital production.
(AFP, 2/26/18)
2018 Feb 26, Brazilian President Michel Temer signed a decree creating a public security ministry as part of efforts to combat high crime rates, especially in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/26/18)
2018 Mar 8, It was reported that Brazil’s government estimated that between 500 and 1,200 Venezuelans cross the border into Brazil every day. Brazil has promised to digest all the migration from Venezuela, but little has been done.
(AFP, 3/8/18)
2018 Mar 9, A Brazilian prosecutor said the leader of Romania's ruling Social Democrats and speaker of its lower house of parliament, Liviu Dragnea, is under investigation in Brazil on suspicion of money laundering. Brazilian authorities were investigating whether Dragnea and others had used ill-gotten funds to buy beach properties in the country through third parties.
(Reuters, 3/9/18)
2018 Mar 14, German industrial group Siemens announced plans to invest a billion euros in Brazil over the next five years.
(AFP, 3/14/18)
2018 Mar 14, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro city council member Marielle Franco (38) was killed after receiving four shots to her head. Franco was an expert on police violence and often criticized authorities for their handling of public security. Her driver Anderson Gomes was also killed. On May 9 reports in O Globo and O Dia newspapers quoted an unidentified police informant pointing the finger at councilman Marcello Siciliano and ex-policeman Orlando Oliveira de Araujo, who is behind bars but allegedly remains a militia commander. In 2020 Adriano Magalhes da Nbrega, thought to be involved in Franco's killing, was killed by special forces in Bahia state.
(AP, 3/15/18)(SFC, 3/17/18, p.A2)(SFC, 3/24/18, p.A2)(AFP, 5/9/18)(SFC, 2/11/20, p.A2)
2018 Mar 15, Brazil's troubled national oil company Petrobras posted net losses of 446 million reais ($139.7 million) for 2017, reflecting continued fallout from the "Car Wash" corruption scandal, but sharply improving on the previous year.
(AFP, 3/15/18)
2018 Mar 16, In Brazil a one-year-old boy and two adults in Rio de Janeiro were killed by stray bullets during a confrontation between police and gunmen in the Alemao slum complex.
(AP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 22, US Pres. Donald Trump authorized initial exemptions for the EU, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Canada and Mexico from looming steel and aluminum tariffs.
(AP, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 27, In Brazil some 3,400 soldiers and 500 police entered the Lins Complex in Rio de Janeiro in a show of force following recent violence.
(SFC, 3/28/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 29, In Brazil federal police arrested several people in connection with an investigation into whether Pres. Michel Temer accepted bribes for favors to companies operating the country's largest port in Santos. They included Antonio Celso Grecco, head of Rodrimar, the company at the center of the inquiry.
(SFC, 3/30/18, p.A2)
2018 Apr 5, Brazil's Supreme Court rejected former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's plea to remain free until he exhausts all his appeals clearing the way for his imprisonment.
(Reuters, 4/6/18)
2018 Apr 7, Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (72) turned himself in to police to begin a 12-year sentence for money laundering and corruption.
(AP, 4/8/18)
2018 Apr 10, In northern Brazil gunmen attacked the Santa Izabel prison in Para state trying to stage a mass escape of prisoners. 20 people were killed in a gunbattle with police including 19 prisoners and one guard.
(SFC, 4/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Apr 19, The European Union decided to ban meat imports from 20 Brazilian plants amid concerns about sanitary controls.
(AP, 4/20/18)
2018 Apr 20, Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Huanacuni said that Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru had decided to temporarily leave the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), given differences over choosing the secretary general of the group. UNASUR was promoted by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela remained in the bloc.
(AP, 4/20/18)
2018 Apr 26, In Brazil as many as 2,000 indigenous people marched through Brasilia to protest what they say is an unprecedented governmental assault on their rights and lands.
(AP, 4/26/18)
2018 May 1, In Brazil an abandoned high-rise building occupied by squatters in downtown Sao Paulo caught fire and collapsed. Firefighters said at least one person was killed in the collapse and that there could be more. 44 people were soon reported missing after the 24-storey building collapsed.
(AP, 5/1/18)(AFP, 5/2/18)
2018 May 23, Brazilian authorities announced that five grain trading houses, including Cargill Inc and Bunge Ltd, and dozens of farmers have been fined a total of 105.7 million reais ($29 million) for activities connected to illegal deforestation.
(Reuters, 5/23/18)
2018 May 24, Brazil's government and several unions that represent truckers said late today that they had reached a deal for the suspension of a strike for 15t days.
(SFC, 5/26/18, p.A2)
2018 May 25, Thousands of Brazilian truckers angry over fuel price hikes blocked roads, the fifth day of a strike that led thousands of schools to shutter. The airport in Brasilia canceled flights as it ran out of fuel due to the strike.
(AP, 5/25/18)(AFP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 27, Brazil's government agreed to slash diesel prices. Pres. Michel Temer agreed to cut the diesel price by 0.46 reais a liter for 60 days.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 May 28, A Brazil truckers' strike, paralyzing fuel and food deliveries across the country, entered an eighth day but with hopes of relief after unpopular President Michel Temer caved in to the strikers' key demand.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 May 29, Brazilian truckers frustrated by rising fuel prices struck for a ninth day in several states, though sporadic deliveries of gasoline and goods were starting to ease a shutdown that has led to widespread shortages and disturbances.
(AP, 5/29/18)
2018 May 29, Brazil's environmental agency rejected for a fourth time a Total license application to drill for oil in the amazon basin.
(Reuters, 6/1/18)
2018 May 30, Brazilian oil workers began a 72-hour strike in a new blow to President Michel Temer following a nationwide trucker protest that has strangled Latin America's largest economy for over a week.
(Reuters, 5/30/18)
2018 May 31, Brazil's economy showed signs of returning to normal, as the nation's largest oil workers association ended a strike well ahead of schedule and an 11-day truckers protest appeared to dissolve, except in the nation's far south.
(Reuters, 5/31/18)
2018 Jun 8, In Brazil tennis star Maria Bueno (78), nicknamed the "Sao Paulo Swallow" for her ability to dominate the net, died in Sao Paulo. Her accomplishments included three Wimbledon and four US championship singles titles.
(AFP, 6/9/18)
2018 Jun 12, Brazil's President Michel Temer issued two decrees introducing stricter rules on miners for the recovery of degraded areas and compensating municipalities affected by mining that takes place elsewhere.
(Reuters, 6/12/18)
2018 Jun 19, Justices on Brazil's highest court acquitted Sen. Gleisi Hoffmann, the Workers' Party president, of corruption and money-laundering charges in a case stemming from the country's massive graft investigation.
(AP, 6/20/18)
2018 Jun 22, In Brazil hundreds of women marched in Rio de Janeiro to demand the legalization of abortion.
(AP, 6/22/18)
2018 Jun 26, It was reported that Brazil has expanded the area cultivated with genetically modified (GM) crops by 1.1 million hectares.
(Reuters, 6/27/18)
2018 Jul 4, Police in Brazil searched the offices of Philips and executed arrest warrants for two people linked to the Dutch electronics company as part of an investigation into suspected fraud in the supply of medical equipment to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics and the Rio de Janeiro Health Department.
(AP, 7/4/18)
2018 Jul 5, A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the suspension of labor minister Helton Yomura as part of a corruption investigation.
(AP, 7/5/18)
2018 Jul 5, Boeing and the Brazilian jet maker Embraer said they will attempt to form a joint venture that would push the US aerospace giant more aggressively into the regional aircraft market.
(AP, 7/5/18)
2018 Jul 6, Brazil, the five-time world champions, left the World Cup empty handed after losing to Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals in Russia.
(AP, 7/8/18)
2018 Jul 9, Brazil's Attorney General Grace Mendonca said corruption scandal-tainted construction giant Odebrecht has agreed to pay a multi-million dollar settlement to the Brazilian government for bribing public officials. The deal gives Odebrecht 22 years to complete the 2.7 billion reis ($700 million) payment.
(AFP, 7/10/18)
2018 Jul 20, Human Rights Watch urged the Brazilian government to establish buffer zones nationwide when pesticides are sprayed and reduce the use of highly toxic products. Some 4,000 pesticide poisoning case were reported in Brazil last year.
(SFC, 7/21/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 25, In South Africa leaders of the BRICS emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) began an annual three-day summit, with attention focused on the threat of a US-led global trade war. The meeting opened with a business forum.
(AFP, 7/25/18)
2018 Jul 26, In South Africa the leaders of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, meeting in the wake of tariff threats by US President Donald Trump, signed a declaration supporting an open and inclusive multilateral trading system under World Trade Organization rules at their summit. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed at the three-day meeting to fight unilateralism and protectionism.
(Reuters, 7/26/18)
2018 Aug 1, In Brazil Caucher Birkar, a Cambridge University professor of Iranian Kurdish origin, was named one of four winners of the prestigious Fields medal, often known as the Nobel prize for mathematics at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. The other winners included: Germany's Peter Scholze (30), who teaches at the University of Bonn and is one of the world's most influential thinkers in arithmetic algebraic geometry; Alessio Figalli (34), an Italian mathematician at ETH Zurich who jokes that the one equation still baffling him is how to spend more time with his professor wife; Akshay Venkatesh (36), an Indian-born, Australian-raised prodigy who began his undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at the University of Western Australia when he was just 13.
(AFP, 8/1/18)
2018 Aug 4, In Brazil the Workers' Party named jailed former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its nominee for the country's top job.
(SSFC, 8/5/18, p.A4)
2018 Aug 6, Brazil's Workers' Party announced that former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad will become its presidential candidate if jailed ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who leads in national polls, is barred from running in the October election.
(AP, 8/6/18)
2018 Aug 10, Brazil's security minister Raul Jungmann said politicians and public servants have been linked to the murder of high-profile Brazilian lawmaker and black rights activist Marielle Franco.
(AFP, 8/11/18)
2018 Aug 17, The UN Human Rights Committee ruled that Brazil's imprisoned leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cannot be disqualified from upcoming presidential elections because his legal appeals are ongoing.
(AFP, 8/17/18)
2018 Aug 18, Brazil's "queer museum," forced to close last year after conservatives attacked it for allegedly promoting pedophilia, blasphemy and bestiality, reopened in the shadow of Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. A crowdfunding campaign raised more than a million reais ($275,000) allowing it to reopen for a month, with free admission, at the School for Visual Arts in Rio de Janeiro's Parque Lage.
(AFP, 8/18/18)
2018 Aug 18, In northern Brazil a local merchant was robbed and severely beaten in an incident blamed on Venezuelan suspects, in Pacaraima, where an estimated 1,000 immigrants are living on the street. Dozens of locals then attacked the two main immigrant makeshift camps and burned their belongings, leading Venezuelans to cross the border back into their home country. Brazilian federal police, in charge of immigration, estimated that about 500 Venezuelans cross over to Brazil every day.
(AFP, 8/18/18)
2018 Aug 20, In Brazil at least 14 people were killed in Rio de Janeiro during operations by soldiers and police against drug gangs in impoverished favelas and a suburb.
(AFP, 8/20/18)
2018 Aug 20, In Brazil the government of the northern state of Roraima asked the country's supreme court to halt the entry of Venezuelan immigrants, as the border state struggles to cope with a flow that has already sparked violent confrontations.
(AP, 8/20/18)
2018 Aug 24, Brazil's health officials said more than 4 million children still needed to be vaccinated against measles. More than 1,380 people have been infected in an outbreak linked to cases imported from Venezuela.
(SFC, 8/25/18, p.A2)
2018 Aug 28, It was reported that Brazil's Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna, has seen about half of its native forests and grasslands converted to farms, pastures and urban areas over the past 50 years. Farmers continued to plow under vast stretches of the biome, propelled largely by Chinese demand for Brazilian meat and grain.
(Reuters, 8/28/18)
2018 Sep 1, Brazilian justices voted 6-1 barring former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from the October presidential election. Da Silva's left-leaning Workers' Party issued a statement vowing to appeal, but there appeared to be scant chance it would succeed.
(AP, 9/1/18)
2018 Sep 2, Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro caught fire and at least part of its collection of 20 million items was destroyed.
(AP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 6, A Brazilian Supreme Court judge rejected an appeal by jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to overturn his ban on running in next month's elections.
(AFP, 9/6/18)
2018 Sep 6, In Brazil Congressman Jair Bolsonaro (63), the far-right front-runner, was in serious condition after he was stabbed at a rally in the southeastern city of Juiz de Fora, just a month before the vote, raising fears of increased violence in the wide-open race. The suspect, identified by authorities as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira (40), was arrested within seconds.
(AFP, 9/7/18)(AP, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 11, Brazil's Worker's Party said former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad will replace jailed former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its candidate for October's general election.
(SFC, 9/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Sep 11, Brazilian prosecutors said police have arrested Beto Richa, former governor of Paraná, as part of an investigation into wrongdoing involving a government program aimed at bolstering policing in rural areas of the state.
(Reuters, 9/11/18)
2018 Sep 12, In Brazil countries on both sides of the whaling divide voted to renew quotas for limited whale hunts for indigenous communities in Alaska, Russia, Greenland and the Caribbean -- taking into account their cultural and subsistence needs.
(AFP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 13, In Brazil the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted to back a proposal which would safeguard whales in perpetuity, after a bitter debate. The biennial meeting of the 89-nation body passed the host country's "Florianopolis Declaration" which sees whaling as no longer being a necessary economic activity.
(AFP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 14, Japan's determined bid to return to commercial whale hunting was blocked by anti-whaling nations in a tense vote at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Brazil.
(AFP, 9/14/18)
2018 Sep 27, The US Justice Department announced that US and Brazilian authorities have fined Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras more than $853 million for covering up a massive bribery scheme involving Brazilian politicians and political parties. Brazil will receive 80 percent and the other 20 percent will be divided between the US Dept. of Justice and the SEC.
(AP, 9/27/18)(SFC, 9/28/18, p.A2)
2018 Sep 28, In southeastern Brazil a teenager (15) entered a school and fired on students, leaving two injured in the city of Medianeira, Parana state.
(AP, 9/28/18)
2018 Sep 29, In Brazil tens of thousands of women took to the streets, protesting what they see as the misogynist ways of one of Brazil's most divisive presidential candidates in years: right-wing Congressman Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 9/29/18)
2018 Oct 7, Brazilians began voting in a polarized presidential race. Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonar, a former Army captain and veteran lawmaker, nearly won the presidency outright in Sunday's first-round election, taking 46 percent of votes to leftist Fernando Haddad's 29 percent.
(AP, 10/7/18)(Reuters, 10/8/18)
2018 Oct 10, Prosecutors in Brazil said Paulo Guedes, the chief economic advisor to far-right presidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro, is under a federal investigation for alleged fraud tied to the pension funds of major state-run companies.
(Reuters, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 18, Brazilian presidential hopeful Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers Party accused his right-wing rival Jair Bolsonaro of creating a criminal group along with businessmen to spread false election-related messages on WhatsApp.
(Reuters, 10/18/18)
2018 Oct 28, Brazil held presidential elections. Voters were picking between far-right Congressman Jair Bolsonaro and former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad. Bolsonaro (63) won 55 percent of the run-off vote.
(AP, 10/28/18)(AFP, 10/29/18)
2018 Nov 1, Brazilian Judge Sergio Moroat, at the center of one of the largest corruption investigations in history, said he will become justice minister in the incoming government of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 2, A senior Palestinian official condemned Brazilian far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's announcement a day earlier that he would move his country's Israel embassy to Jerusalem.
(AFP, 11/2/18)
2018 Nov 8, Brazilian police arrested seven lawmakers in Rio de Janeiro. Three others were taken into custody earlier. They were served with arrest warrants based on allegations they accepted bribes in exchange for supporting then-Gov. Sergio Cabral's "criminal organization".
(AP, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 9, Brazilian police arrested Joesley Batista, a former chairman of the world's largest meatpacker, whose testimony was central to allegations of corruption against the president. Ricardo Saud, a former executive at the holding company that controls JBS, was also arrested. The arrests were part of an investigation into a graft scheme that dates to 2014-2015 in which executives paid bribes to civil servants and politicians linked to the Agriculture Ministry in exchange for favorable decisions and regulation that helped JBS eliminate competition.
(AP, 11/9/18)
2018 Nov 14, Cuba said it would pull 8,517 of its doctors from Brazil after the South American nation’s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro questioned their training and demanded changes to their contracts.
(Reuters, 11/14/18)(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A3)
2018 Nov 20, Brazil's incoming justice minister, the former anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro, picked Mauricio Valeixo to be director-general of the federal police with a mission to fight graft and organized crime.
(Reuters, 11/20/18)
2018 Nov 29, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao was arrested for allegedly taking about $10 million in bribes since 2007, adding to a string of corruption arrests of senior political figures.
(AP, 11/29/18)
2018 Nov 30, The Pan-American Health Organization reported a big jump in measles cases in the Americas this year, with Brazil surpassing crisis-hit Venezuela as the nation with the most confirmed cases.
(AP, 12/1/18)
2018 Dec 4, Brazil's Supreme Court said it had authorized a federal investigation into allegations that Onyx Lorenzoni, the incoming chief of staff for far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, had taken illegal campaign donations.
(Reuters, 12/4/18)
2018 Dec 4, The US Department of Agriculture says a unit of Brazil's JBS is now recalling a total of more than 12 million pounds of raw beef that was shipped around the country because it may be contaminated with salmonella. JBS Tolleson in Arizona already recalled about 7 million pounds of beef in October.
(AP, 12/4/18)
2018 Dec 7, In northeastern Brazil at least 12 people were killed, including six policemen, in an early morning shootout between police and bank robbers on the main street in Milagres, Ceará state.
(Reuters, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 8, Authorities in Brazil said two more people have died after bank robbers attempted to carry out heists in Ceara state, bringing the death toll to 14. The dead included six hostages executed by the criminal group.
(AP, 12/8/18)(SFC, 12/10/18, p.A2)
2018 Dec 8, In Brazil José Bernardo da Silva and Rodrigo Celestino, members of Brazil's landless activist group MST, were killed late today in a rural area in the northeast state of Paraíba.
(AP, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 8, In Brazil ten women on the Globo TV network accused self-styled spiritual healer Joao Teixeira de Faria, known as John of God, of sexually abusing them at a clinic in the central-western state of Goias.
(AP, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 8, In Brazil a major oil leak in Rio de Janeiro was caused by fuel thieves who punctured a pipeline in the Guanabara Bay. About 15,850 gallons (60,000 liters) were released into the bay.
(AP, 12/10/18)
2018 Dec 10, Brazil's incoming foreign relations minister said Brazil will pull out of a United Nations pact on dealing with rising migration, joining the United States and a growing number of countries in rejecting the agreement.
(Reuters, 12/11/18)
2018 Dec 11, In southern Brazil Euler Fernando Grandolpho (49) opened fire at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Campinas killing four people and wounding four more before taking a bullet in the ribs and then shooting himself in the head.
(SFC, 12/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Dec 13, Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro faced growing scrutiny as a government financial crime unit questioned payments made to his son and wife that totaled more than $300,000.
(AFP, 12/13/18)
2018 Dec 13, In Brazil Justice Luiz Fux ordered the arrest of Cesare Battisti, an Italian communist militant convicted of murder in his home country. The president would have the final word over his extradition to Italy. Battisti escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism.
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 14, Brazil launched the first of five navy attack submarines it is building under a $7.6-billion technology-sharing deal struck with France.
(AFP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 15, In Paraguay Carlos Eduardo Sales Cardoso (aka Capile), the leader of the Brazilian criminal organization Pure Third Command, was captured in Asuncion and will be expelled from the country.
(AP, 12/16/18)
2018 Dec 16, In Brazil Joao Teixeira de Faria (76), better known as "Joao de Deus" or "John of God," was arrested after women came forward in Brazilian media and to police to allege he sexually forced himself on them on pretext of "curing" them of ailments. Police conducted raids on properties linked to Faria and found handguns, gemstones and -- hidden behind a false panel in a wardrobe -- a suitcase containing the equivalent of $300,000 in cash.
(AFP, 12/23/18)
2018 Dec 17, In Brazil a fire began late today in the low-income Educandos neighborhood of Manaus and was extinguished several hours later. At least 600 wooden houses were destroyed.
(AP, 12/18/18)
2018 Dec 17, US plane maker Boeing and Brazil's Embraer said they have approved the terms of a partnership to create a joint venture now worth $5.26 billion -- more than when they first announced it in July.
(AFP, 12/17/18)
2018 Dec 22, A Brazilian court shot down a fresh injunction by a judge over a plan by plane makers Boeing of the US and Embraer of Brazil to create a $5.26-billion joint venture.
(AP, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 27, In Brazil Gen. Walter Souza Braga Netto, the man in charge of military intervention into Rio de Janeiro's public security, called the operation an unmitigated success with all its objectives reached. The operation officially ends Dec. 31.
(AP, 12/27/18)
2018 Dec 28, In Brazil Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he said would be a "new era" in ties with "great power" Brazil ahead of meeting with the Latin America's country's incoming far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.
(AFP, 12/28/18)
2018 Dec 29, Brazil's far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said he plans to issue a decree allowing all Brazilians without criminal records to own firearms, welcome news to many core supporters who want him to loosen Brazil's strict gun laws.
(Reuters, 12/29/18)
2018 In Brazil three-quarters of the 6,220 people killed this year by police were black.
(Econ., 7/6/20, p.7)
2019 Jan 1, Former Brazilian army captain Jair Bolsonaro took office as president promising to overhaul many aspects of life in Latin America's largest nation.
(AP, 1/1/19)
2019 Jan 2, New Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued an executive order making the Agriculture Ministry responsible for deciding on lands claimed by indigenous peoples, in a victory for agribusiness that will likely enrage environmentalists. The temporary decree will expire unless it is ratified within 120 days by Congress. It strips power over land claim decisions from indigenous affairs agency FUNAI.
(Reuters, 1/2/19)
2019 Jan 3, The new government of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro hit the ground running on its first day of business, rushing through changes to put a conservative stamp on the country by trashing progressive achievements of past administrations.
(AFP, 1/3/19)
2019 Jan 5, In Brazil a special deployment of troops began fanning out in the northern city of Fortaleza with orders to stop a spike in violent attacks by criminal gangs against banks, buses and shops. Intelligence reports published by media suggested gangs were revolting against tough new measures recently imposed in the state's prisons.
(AFP, 1/5/19)
2019 Jan 7, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said funding of nongovernmental organizations working in Brazil will be rigidly controlled, reflecting increased oversight by his new right-wing administration over such groups.
(Reuters, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 7, Suely de Araujo, the head of Brazil's environmental protection agency Ibama, resigned after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the amount of money the unit spends to rent vehicles in his latest attack on the agency. Ibama is tasked with policing the Amazon rainforest to stop deforestation and illegal mining.
(Reuters, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 8, In Brazil groups of criminals in the northeastern state of Ceara carried out fresh attacks for a seventh day on public infrastructure and businesses. At least four buses and a construction site were torched overnight in Fortaleza.
(AP, 1/8/19)
2019 Jan 11, The share price in Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer soared as markets reacted favorably to the country's President Jair Bolsonaro approving a merger with us giant Boeing. Embraer will only retain control of its military division.
(AFP, 1/11/19)
2019 Jan 12, Brazil's government issued a statement saying it recognized Venezuela's Congressional leader, who opposes President Nicolas Maduro, as the rightful president of Venezuela.
(Reuters, 1/12/19)
2019 Jan 14, A Brazilian police officer died and three others were hospitalized after their helicopter crashed in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay.
(AP, 1/14/19)
2019 Jan 15, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro decreed the easing of national gun laws as part of his law-and-order agenda, despite fears it could aggravate already staggering violent crime.
(AFP, 1/15/19)
2019 Jan 16, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina's President Mauricio Macri said after their first meeting that they agreed on their opposition to Venezuela's authoritarian government.
(Reuters, 1/16/19)
2019 Jan 17, Rio de Janeiro state prosecutors said they were temporarily suspending an investigation into suspicious payments handled by the former driver of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's son, Flavio, due to a Supreme Court ruling.
(Reuters, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 18, Jornal Nacional, Brazil's most respected newscast, said that 48 deposits of 2,000 reais each were deposited into the bank account of Senator-elect Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, between June and July 2017, when he was a Rio de Janeiro state lawmaker.
(AFP, 1/19/19)
2019 Jan 22, In Switzerland the annual World Economic Forum opened in Davos. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gave the keynote address vowing an investment-friendly agenda and attacking leftwing politics in Latin America. US President Donald Trump along with the leaders of France, Britain and Zimbabwe stayed away from the forum as they fought political fires back home.
(AFP, 1/22/19)
2019 Jan 25, Jean Wyllys, Brazil's second openly gay congressman, said he will not serve the new term for which he was re-elected due to death threats and he now plans to live abroad. His Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) said his seat in Brasilia will go to a substitute lawmaker who is also gay: Rio councilman David Miranda, the husband of Pulitzer Prize-winning US journalist Glenn Greenwald.
(Reuters, 1/25/19)
2019 Jan 25, In Brazil a dam collapsed at a mine owned by corporate giant Vale in Minas Gerais state. The dam collapse killed at least 84 people with hopes fading for over 200 still missing. The overwhelming majority of the dead and missing were Vale employees or contractors, buried in up to 15 meters (50 feet) of mud that stretched for 12 km (eight miles) and was at some points up to 300 meters (yards) wide. After two months the death toll reached 212 with 93 still missing.
(AFP, 1/27/19)(AFP, 1/30/19)(AP, 3/25/19)
2019 Jan 27, Brazilian officials suspended the search for potential survivors of a dam collapse that has killed at least 40 people amid fears that another nearby dam owned by the same company was also at risk of breaching. Firefighters called for the evacuation of some 24,000 people from Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 1/27/19)(Reuters, 1/27/19)
2019 Jan 27, The Minas Gerais state court in Brazil blocked 5 billion reais ($1.33 billion) in Vale SA assets to pay for damages from a tailings dam that burst at an iron ore mine.
(Reuters, 1/27/19)
2019 Jan 28, In Brazil the confirmed death toll rose to 60, with 292 people still missing for the Jan. 25 dam break in Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 1/28/19)
2019 Jan 29, Brazilian prosecutors arrested three employees of miner Vale SA and two contractors, as a criminal investigation began after a devastating dam rupture expected to leave a death toll of more than 300 people.
(Reuters, 1/29/19)
2019 Jan 30, In Brazil three state and federal agencies asked that residents refrain from using water directly from the Paraopeba River or 100-meters (109 yards) around it following the Jan. 25 Vale mining dam collapse in Brumadinho.
(AP, 1/31/19)
2019 Jan 31, Brazil's Minas Gerais state labor prosecutors' office said it had frozen more than 800 million reais ($219 million) of miner Vale's funds as compensation for victims of the Jan. 18 deadly tailings dam burst.
(Reuters, 1/31/19)
2019 Feb 1, Brazilians payed homage to the 110 victims killed and 238 who are still missing after a Vale mining dam collapsed a week ago in the city of Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 2/1/19)
2019 Feb 2, Officials in Brazil said the death toll from the collapse of a dam holding back mining waste rose to 121. Another 226 people remained missing.
(AP, 2/2/19)
2019 Feb 4, In Brazil the death toll from the failure of a tailings dam operated by miner Vale SA rose to 134 while 199 people are still unaccounted for.
(Reuters, 2/4/19)
2019 Feb 7, In Brazil torrential downpours and strong winds killed at least five people and left a trail of destruction in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/7/19)
2019 Feb 8, In Brazil a fire tore through the sleeping quarters of the Flamengo soccer club in Rio de Janeiro's western region, killing 10 people and injuring three.
(AP, 2/8/19)
2019 Feb 11, A Brazilian Supreme Court justice suspended two criminal proceedings against the country's leader. The ruling by Justice Luiz Fux puts a hold on charges of slander and incitation to rape against President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AP, 2/12/19)
2019 Feb 11, Venezuelan opposition envoy Maria Teresa Belandria was received as her country's official ambassador in Brazil, and said Brazil's government will provide all possible support to get humanitarian aid to the border.
(Reuters, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 15, Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining company Vale SA as part of a criminal investigation into the causes of the Jan. 25 deadly dam disaster.
(Reuters, 2/15/19)
2019 Feb 18, Brazil's government banned new upstream mining dams and ordered the decommissioning of all such dams by 2021, targeting the type of structure that burst last month in the town of Brumadinho, where the death toll rose to 169 people with 141 people yet to be located.
(Reuters, 2/18/19)
2019 Feb 22, Brazilian authorities moved humanitarian aid to the country's northern border with Venezuela even though the international crossing has been closed.
(AP, 2/22/19)
2019 Feb 23, A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Venezuela left warehouses in Colombia headed for the nearby border crossing, despite President Nicolas Maduro's insistence they would not be allowed to cross. Opposition leader Juan Guaido said a first aid shipment has entered Venezuela from Brazil. Three members of the Venezuelan national guard deserted their posts early today. Venezuelan troops blocking a border bridge with Colombia fired tear gas to repel dozens of opposition lawmakers and activists walking toward the frontier to receive humanitarian aid from the Colombian side. At least two protesters were killed near the Brazilian border. Two aid trucks went up in flames. Some 60 members of security forces defected into Colombia, but the National Guard at the frontier crossings held firm.
(Reuters, 2/23/19)(AP, 2/23/19)(Reuters, 2/24/19)
2019 Feb 24, Officials in the Brazilian border state of Roraima say they've treated 22 Venezuelans who suffered bullet or buckshot wounds during a confrontation over aid shipments. The border was closed for a third day.
(AP, 2/24/19)
2019 Feb 26, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro withdrew an executive order signed in January that would have increased the number of officials able to effectively keep government documents and data secret.
(Reuters, 2/27/19)
2019 Mar 1, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro's world-famous carnival celebration got underway.
(AP, 3/1/19)
2019 Mar 7, FUNAI, Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, said it has sent an expedition to the Amazon region looking for members of the Koruba tribe that has had little or no contact with the outside world to steer them clear of the rival Matis group and avoid a bloody clash of cudgels against arrows.
(Reuters, 3/7/19)
2019 Mar 11, In Brazil heavy rains overnight caused the deaths of at least 12 people in and around Sao Paulo.
(AP, 3/11/19)(SFC, 3/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Mar 12, In Brazil two police officers were arrested in the killing of Rio city councilor and black gay rights activist Marielle Franco, almost a year to the day after the brazen murder shocked the country. A sergeant in the military police, Ronnie Lessa (48), was arrested on suspicion of being the shooter. Elcio Vieira de Queiroz (46), who had been sacked from the military police, also was arrested in the pre-dawn operation.
(AFP, 3/12/19)
2019 Mar 13, In Brazil Before Guilherme Taucci Monteiro (17) and Henrique de Castro (25) launched an assault on a K-12 public school in Suzano, a suburb of Sao Paulo. Monteiro opened fire with a .38 caliber handgun and de Castro used a crossbow. Seven were killed at the school, including five students, a teacher and a school administrator. Before assaulting the school, they shot and killed a man who owned a used car dealership nearby. Instead of facing officers Monteiro shot de Castro in the head and then shot himself.
(AP, 3/13/19)(AP, 3/14/19)
2019 Mar 18, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters, an unusual move for a foreign head of state that was not on the public agenda for his first official trip to Washington.
(Reuters, 3/18/19)
2019 Mar 19, President Donald Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the so-called Trump of the Tropics, launching what officials tout as a new alliance between their right-wing governments.
(AFP, 3/19/19)
2019 Mar 19, Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser was awarded the 2019 Templeton Prize, worth $1.4 million, for his work blending science and spirituality. Gleiser, a professor at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, has written best-selling books and appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, discussing science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of the universe and life on Earth.
(Reuters, 3/19/19)
2019 Mar 21, Brazil's former President Michel Temer was arrested in an investigation of alleged graft in the construction of nuclear plant Angra 3, rattling the political class and threatening to delay a major pension reform.
(Reuters, 3/21/19)
2019 Mar 22, In Chile a group of South American presidents formed Prosur, a new regional bloc to replace Unasur, founded in 2008. The new bloc included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.
(SSFC, 3/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Mar 31, Brazil said it had a opened a new diplomatic office in Jerusalem that would serve as part of its embassy to Israel, which is located in Tel Aviv.
(Reuters, 3/31/19)
2019 Mar 31, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro Gov. Wilson Witzel said in an interview that snipers were already operating in the state. He said he would empower policemen to shoot down any criminal seen carrying a rifle.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Mar 31, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu warmly received President Jair Bolsonaro, on the Brazilian leader's first state visit to Israel.
(AP, 3/31/19)
2019 Apr 1, A Brazilian state lawmaker asked the public prosecutors' office to open an investigation into the police's use of sharpshooters to kill alleged criminals in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the Western Wall alongside PM Benjamin Netanyahu, becoming the first head of state to do so with an Israeli premier. Such visits can be seen as granting tacit approval to Israeli sovereignty over the site.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Israel Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early today. The criminal group had arrived in five armored cars and were armed with high-caliber rifles and body armor.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Brazil a ferry collided with a bridge pillar in Belem, Para state. Witnesses saw two cars fall into the Moju river. The accident caused the span's central roadway to plunge into the river, cutting access to one of the country's busiest ports.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 7, In Brazil thousands of supporters, many chanting "Free Lula!," protested outside the jail where former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is being held on the anniversary of his incarceration.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Brazil flash floods caused by overnight torrential rain killed at least three people in Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Brazil at least two people were killed when two buildings collapsed in the hillside Itanhanga favela west of Rio de Janeiro following a storm that struck the Rio area three days ago. The death toll from the collapsed building soon rose to ten with 14 people listed as missing.
(AFP, 4/12/19)(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 14, A Banco de Brasil commercial highlighting Brazil's diversity was pulled following a request by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who Bolsonaro reached out directly to the bank's president to demand the advertisement be pulled.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Brazil thousands of indigenous people decorated with traditional feathers and body paint converged on Brasilia to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 26, Thousands of indigenous Brazilians turned up for a march in Brasilia, protesting ministerial changes implemented by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that they say are hurting their people.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 30, Brazil's Education Minister said he has cut the budget of three federal universities (Brasilia, Bahia and Fluminense) because of their ideological stance and poor performance.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A2)
2019 May 3, It was reported that police killings in the state of Rio de Janeiro have hit a record high, rising by 18% in the first three months of this year in a spike partly attributed to a zero tolerance for criminals campaign by state leaders.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 6, In Brazil at least eight people died when police raided a drug-scarred Rio de Janeiro neighborhood.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Brazil’s pro-gun Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, whose tough-on-crime rhetoric helped get him elected last year, signed a controversial order allowing Brazilians to own firearms if they meet certain criteria. Truckers, lawyers and politicians are among millions of Brazilians now eligible to carry loaded weapons in public.
(AFP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 7, In Brazil the head of the human rights commission of Rio de Janeiro's legislative assembly blamed state Gov. Wilson Witzel for a surge in police killings, which totaled a record 434 for the first three months of this year.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 10, In Brazil a few thousand people gathered in the center of Rio de Janeiro to protest against stiff budget cuts imposed by the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to the public education sector.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, A Brazilian supreme court judge said that President Jair Bolsonaro and his Justice Ministry had five days to respond to opposition assertions that a recently passed gun decree was unconstitutional.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Brazil Alfredo Sirkis, head of a government-backed climate forum, was fired. He said the firing was probably related to the forum's initiative to organize 12 Brazilian states to create a council on climate change that would act independently from the federal government.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Venezuela announced it was re-opening its land border with Brazil after Maduro ordered it shut in February. Maritime links with the Caribbean island of Aruba were also reopened. The border with Colombia and links with other parts of the former Dutch Antilles remained closed.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 17, Authorities in Brazil raised to $73 million a fine that mining giant Vale will face if it does not present within 72 hours a technical report on the risks and possible impact of the rupture of a dam in Minas Gerais.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 17, In Brazil atrophying growth forecasts and waning confidence in President Jair Bolsonaro sent local stocks and currency to their lowest level of the year this week, as analysts warned of further falls.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira (60), reportedly suspected of extorting priests and covering up sexual abuse.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 19, In northern Brazil seven gunmen attacked a bar in Para state killing eleven people in Belem.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A2)
2019 May 23, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to make homophobia and transphobia crimes like racism. Six judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law (1989) until the country's congress approves legislation specifically dealing with LGBT discrimination. The five remaining judges were set to vote in a court session on June 5.
(http://tinyurl.com/y42y8sb3)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, In northern Brazil clashes began today between inmates at a jail near Manaus, Amazonas state. At least 55 inmates were left dead.
(AFP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, The Brazilian government reported a case of atypical mad cow disease in an animal in Mato Grosso state. The case was considered "atypical" as the animal contracted the BSE protein spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 6, Brazil's Supreme Court approved an 8.6 billion dollar deal allowing state oil company Petrobras to sell its TAG pipeline network in a big win for the firm and the ruling party.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 13, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to criminalize homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 14, Brazil kicked off a general strike that is likely to paralyze major cities across Latin America's largest country. The strike is primarily against the pension reform the Bolsonaro administration is currently pushing for in Congress.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, A Brazilian judge absolved Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, the man who stabbed then-presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in his torso last year, citing his mental illness and ordering him held indefinitely in a prison mental facility.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Brazil leaked personal messages published by a news website showed the judge who led the corruption trial that jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advised prosecutors to influence public opinion against the leftist leader.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Brazil Anderson do Carmo (42), an evangelical pastor and the husband of a prominent federal lawmaker, was shot 30 times, many of the bullets hitting him in his pelvic region, around dawn in the garage of his house in Niteroi, in the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Two days later, one of the 51 children he had adopted with Flordelis dos Santos Souza, a lawmaker from Rio state, confessed to carrying out the hit. The adopted son said he had acted on the orders of one of dos Santos Souza's four biological children. In 2020 Flordelis was accused of masterminding the murder of her husband in a plot involving several of the couple's 55 children, all but four of whom were adopted.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(The Telegraph, 8/25/20)
2019 Jun 18, Brazil's Senate rejected a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that loosened the country's strict gun laws, dealing a blow to the far-right leader who had lobbied for lawmakers to approve the measure. The decree now goes to the lower house. For the decree to be killed, both the Senate and the lower house must reject it.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 20, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro said if Congress does not substantially reform Brazil's political system, he will consider running again in 2022.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he has the authority to demarcate land held by indigenous communities.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 25, Spanish authorities caught Brazilian Sgt. Manoel Silva Rodrigues carrying 86 pounds of cocaine on a presidential plane carrying Pres. Jair Bolsonaro to the G20 summit in Japan.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 26, Scientists from Argentina and Brazil said the fossil remains of Vespersaurus paranaensis, a desert-based carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to capture small prey 90 million years ago, has been unearthed in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of southern Brazil's Parana state.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 28, The EU signed a historic trade agreement with the four-nation South American bloc known as Mercosur. The agreement creates a market of 780 million people with the EU.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Brazil thousands protested in support of Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who is battling claims he conspired with prosecutors on his anti-corruption drive to keep former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from another presidential run.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jul 2, France said it was "not ready" to ratify a huge trade deal agreed by the European Union and the four South American countries of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), as farmers and environmentalists step up their resistance to the accord.
(AFP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 5, In Brazil police in Rio de Janeiro said that at least 12 bodies have been found in a clandestine grave in Itaborai, about 25 miles from Rio. Authorities believed the grave could have been used by a paramilitary group.
(SSFC, 7/7/19, p.A8)
2019 Jul 6, In Brazil Joao Gilberto (b.1931), singer and composer who helped bossa nova gain global popularity, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Gilberto)(SFC, 7/8/19, p.C3)
2019 Jul 16, In Brazil Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli suspended the investigation of Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, regarding suspicious bank deposits.
(Econ, 7/27/19, p.28)
2019 Jul 17, Brazilian police said they've shut down a clandestine factory that was producing fake Ferraris and sham Lamborghinis in the southern state of Catarina.
(SFC, 7/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Jul 23, Iran threatened to cut its imports from Brazil unless it allows the refueling of at least two Iranian ships stranded off the Brazilian coast, a sign of the global repercussions of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic.
(Bloomberg, 7/24/19)
2019 Jul 25, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge ordered the state oil giant Petrobras to refuel two Iranian ships stranded off the country's coast.
(AFP, 7/25/19)
2019 Jul 25, In Brazil a group of thieves stole $30 million worth of gold and other precious metals from Sao Paulo's airport. The gold was destined for Toronto and New York.
(ABC News, 7/26/19)(SSFC, 7/28/19, p.A4)
2019 Jul 29, In northern Brazil at least 52 prisoners were killed by other inmates during clashes between organized crime groups at the Altamira prison in Para state. 16 of the inmates had been decapitated. Four inmates died of asphyxiation while being transferred to a safer lockup bringing the death toll to 58.
(SFC, 7/30/19, p.A2)(SFC, 8/1/19, p.A4)
2019 Aug 5, Brazil’s far-right president said in a controversial interview that criminals should be killed “in the street like cockroaches".
(The Independent, 8/6/19)
2019 Aug 5, In Brazil journalist Adecio Piran, in an online article for Folha do Progresso, warned his readers in Novo Progresso that the surrounding Amazon was about to go up in flames. The article said growers and ranchers were planning to set a coordinated series of fires in the forest and nearby land on Aug. 10, in a "Day of Fire" inspired in part by Pres. Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 9/11/19)
2019 Aug 6, Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio’s agent said Victoria's Secret has hired Sampaio as its first transgender model, as the struggling lingerie brand seeks to modernize its image.
(Reuters, 8/6/19)
2019 Aug 6, New data from the Brazilian space institute pointed to a surge in deforestation in the Amazon in the last quarter. This was the biggest surge since the institute adopted its current methodology in 2014.
(SFC, 8/7/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 10, A Brazilian appeals court judge ordered the release of Eike Batista, the mining and oil magnate who was once Brazil's richest man, revoking a temporary prison order that would expire on August 12. Police had arrested the eccentric former billionaire in Rio de Janeiro on a temporary basis on August 8 on suspicion of money laundering and insider trading.
(Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019 Aug 10, In southern Brazil an armed group broke into a club in the city of Mostardas before dawn and shot at employees and customers, killing five people and leaving four others severely injured.
(Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019 Aug 10, Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that Germany will partially suspend funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving the Amazon forest due to increasing deforestation.
(Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019 Aug 15, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed European leaders’ concerns about his government’s environmental policies after Norway followed Germany and froze millions of dollars in financial aid to an Amazon rainforest preservation fund.
(Bloomberg, 8/15/19)
2019 Aug 19, It was reported that around half a billion bees died in four of Brazil’s southern states in the year’s first months. The die-off highlighted questions about the ocean of pesticides used in the country’s agriculture and whether chemicals are washing through the human food supply, even as the government considers permitting more. Most dead bees showed traces of the insecticide Fipronil.
(Bloomberg, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 20, In Brazil a man took dozens of hostages on a bus on the 8-mile-long Rio-Niteroi bridge. Police shot him dead after a 4-hour standoff. All the hostages were freed unharmed.
(SFC, 8/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 21, Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro followed the authoritarian playbook when he claimed, without evidence, that non-governmental organizations and environmental groups caused the forest fires currently destroying large swathes of the Amazon rainforest.
(he National Interest, 8/22/19)
2019 Aug 22, Paris and the UN called for the protection of the fire-plagued Amazon rainforest as Brazil's right-wing president accused his French counterpart of having a "colonialist mentality" over the issue.
(AFP, 8/22/19)
2019 Aug 23, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said the army may be enlisted to help combat fires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest, as international condemnation and calls for tough action to quell the unfolding crisis continued to mount.
(Reuters, 8/23/19)
2019 Aug 23, Finland, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, raised the idea of banning Brazilian meat imports in response to Bolsonaro’s lax stewardship of the Amazon.
(Bloomberg, 8/24/19)
2019 Aug 24, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said he’s sending troops to battle fires roaring through vast expanses of the Amazon as President Donald Trump offered US support to combat the disaster. Brazil said about 44,000 Brazilian troops were planned to deploy.
(AP, 8/24/19)(SSFC, 8/25/19, p.A6)
2019 Aug 25, Earth Alliance, an initiative founded by Leonardo DiCaprio with philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth, launched a $5-million emergency fund to help preserve the Amazon rain forest.
(Reuters, 8/26/19)
2019 Aug 25, G7 leaders meeting in France said they are preparing to help Brazil battle fires burning across the Amazon region and repair the damage as tens of thousands of soldiers got ready to join the fight against blazes that have caused global alarm. Brazil's government soon rejected the offer, but then laid out potential terms for the aid's acceptance.
(AP, 8/25/19)(SFC, 8/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 27, In Brazil a letter signed by more than 500 career public servants warned that the country's environmental protection system could collapse as policies and political rhetoric encourage illegal land grabbing and the Amazon and other biomes.
(SFC, 8/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Aug 28, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that South American countries would meet to determine a common policy in defense of the Amazon rainforest, and took another swipe at France for an offer of $20 million in aid.
(Reuters, 8/28/19)
2019 Aug 29, Brazil banned most legal fires for land-clearing for 60 days in an attempt to stop burning that has devastated parts of the Amazon region.
(SFC, 8/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 30, In Brazil federal agents exchanged gunfire with illegal miners in the Amazon state of Para, in a dramatic example of how the government has stepped up environmental enforcement in the wake of rainforest fires.
(Reuters, 8/31/19)
2019 Aug, Brazil's Amazonas state recorded more than 6,600 fires this month, 2.5 times more than the same month a year ago.
(SFC, 9/18/19, p.A3)
2019 Sep 4, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro accused Chile's former leader Michelle Bachelet, now the UN human rights chief, of meddling in his country's affairs after she criticized a rise police violence and an erosion of democracy.
(Reuters, 9/4/19)
2019 Sep 6, Brazil's leading meat export industry group and other agribusiness associations joined with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to call for an end to deforestation on public lands, demanding government action as the Amazon rainforest burns.
(Reuters, 9/6/19)
2019 Sep 6, In Colombia leaders of several South American nations gathered in Leticia to boost protection for the Amazon region. Their meeting ended with little concrete action. Since the start of the year some 95,500 fires have hit Brazil, up 59% from a year earlier.
(SFC, 9/7/19, p.A4)
2019 Sep 9, In Brazil miners protested the government's crackdown in Pará by closing a major highway used to transport soybeans and corn to a key river port in the state, demanding that officials stop burning their equipment during raids. A regional head of Brazil's environmental authority was fired two days later, after he made public comments saying he would no longer burn machinery, some of it seized from illegal miners, in an area heavily affected by forest fires. Evandro Cunha dos Santos was tapped a week earlier to run environmental enforcement in the northern state of Pará.
(Reuters, 9/11/19)
2019 Sep 10, Brazilian federal police arrested Marcio Lobao, the son of a former energy minister, as part of an investigation into corruption and money laundering involving construction of the Belo Monte dam. Parana state prosecutors said Lobao and his father received bribes worth about $12 million from the Odebrecht construction conglomerate and another company between 2008 and 2014.
(SFC, 9/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 10, Amazon.com Inc said it will launch its Prime subscription service in Brazil, where it has struggled against tough local competition in Latin America's largest economy.
(Reuters, 9/10/19)
2019 Sep 13, In Brazil at least 11 people were killed in a fire that raced through Badim Hospital in Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 9/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 17, A Human Rights Watch report found that more than 300 people have been killed over the past decade in conflicts over the use of land and resources in the Amazon, many by organized criminal networks profiting from illegal deforestation.
(Reuters, 9/17/19)
2019 Sep 20, It was reported that theft from Brazil's Petrobras pipelines soared to a record high 261 incidents in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states last year, up from just one case in 2014.
(Reuters, 9/20/19)
2019 Sep 24, Far-right Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro blamed the international media and environmental organizations for spreading “lies" about the fires that are ravaging the Amazon rainforest during a nationalist speech that opened the 2019 United Nations General Assembly.
(Huffpost, 9/24/19)
2019 Sep 26, Brazil's main environmental agency said it has detected 105 crude oil spills from an undetermined source polluting waters off its northeast coast.
(SFC, 9/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 9, Southwest Airlines Co and Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas said they have grounded a total of 13 Boeing Co 737 NG airplanes, after US regulators ordered urgent inspections.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 15, In Brazil a seven-story residential building collapsed in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, killing at least one person.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Brazil a small plane crashed on a street shortly after takeoff in the city of Belo Horizonte, killing at least three people.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 25, In China Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping in Beijing, as the Latin American leader looks to balance his tilt toward the US.
(Bloomberg, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 27, Pope Francis called for an end to the plundering of the Amazon basin, as he closed an assembly of Roman Catholic bishops who discussed the challenges the Church faces in the region.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Brazil the chief executive of state-run oil giant Petrobras said oil slicks washing up on beaches along more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of the northeast coastline could be the worst environmental "attack" in the country's history.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 30, Brazil's Justice Minister Sergio Moro said that he has asked the top public prosecutor to investigate a statement by a Rio de Janeiro doorman that links President Jair Bolsonaro to suspects in the March 14, 2018, murder of Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco. President Jair Bolsonaro said he could cancel the license of Brazil's largest TV network Globo after it reported an allegation connecting him with a former police officer accused of the killing of councilwoman Franco.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Nov 1, Brazilian police raided the offices of a Greek company as they investigate an oil tanker carrying heavy Venezuelan crude that was allegedly spilled at sea, tarring thousands of kilometers of Brazil's coastline over the past two months. Police said oceanographic and geolocation data showed that the Greek ship was the only one navigating near the origin of the spill between July 28 and 29, after docking in Venezuela on July 15. The next day Delta Tankers, which manages the Greek-flagged Bouboulina ship, reiterated the vessel sailed from Venezuela in laden condition on July 19, heading directly, with no stops at other ports, for Melaka, Malaysia, where the tanker discharged its entire cargo without any shortage.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, In Brazil Paulo Paulino Guajajara, also known as Lobo or "wolf", was killed in an attack, the latest fatality in an escalating battle between illegal loggers and indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest. One logger also died in the attack in Maranhao state.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)(SFC, 11/4/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 5, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he would push for a constitutional amendment to allow the government to cut public sector employee salaries, hours and benefits to help it comply with a public spending cap.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 7, Major global oil firms snubbed a second Brazilian oil auction in a row, passing up promising offshore blocks and forcing officials to reconsider a bidding system that gives a privileged position to state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 8, Brazil's leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a strong rival of right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, was released from prison.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 12, Brazil's Congress officially ratified the government's landmark social security reform bill into law, in a ceremony notable for the absence of President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Brazil a 2-day meeting of the BRICS heads of state opened in Brasilia. Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies (China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa) criticized what they view as politically motivated protectionism at a time of a global slowdown and said their countries are doing their best to counter the trend.
(AP, 11/13/19)(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Brazil supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido entered the country’s embassy in Brasilia, a move coinciding with the arrival of Russian and Chinese leaders for an international summit (BRICS).
(Bloomberg, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 18, Brazilian government data showed that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest rose to its highest in over a decade this year, confirming a sharp increase under the leadership of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Police in Brazil said four homeless people have died and four hospitalized after drinking from a bottle containing a "suspicious" liquid given them by unidentified people in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 21, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro launched a new political party, the Alliance for Brazil (APB), under the banner of fighting graft and advancing Christian values, a breakaway move that could fragment his base.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Dec 1, Brazilian officials said nine people were trampled to death as police pursuing suspects clashed with people at a street parade in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 2, US President Donald Trump said he would restore tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina, surprising officials in the two South American countries who sought explanations.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 10, Brazilian authorities widened a political graft investigation to target telecom firms Oi and Telefonica Brasil over alleged irregular payments to a company part-owned by the son of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 13, It was reported that some 17,000 Brazilians were apprehended at the US-Mexico border in the El Paso Sector in the fiscal year ending in October, a 600% increase from the previous high in 2016.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 15, The UN Secretary General said global efforts to tackle climate change have stalled due to a lack of ambition, as the COP25 conference in Madrid drew to a close with a watered-down agreement. Brazil, Australia and the United States were singled out for their refusal to compromise on their own emissions targets.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 19, The Arab League condemned Brazil’s opening of a trade office in the contested city of Jerusalem, warning the move will “seriously damage" Brazil’s political and economic interests in the Arab world.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2020 Jan 16, It was reported that foul tasting and smelling tap water has been running for more than a week in dozens of neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. The local O Globo newspaper has reported a spike in cases of diarrhea, gastroenteritis and vomiting in Rio's west zone.
(SFC, 1/16/20, p.A2)
2019 Brazilian police killed more than 5,800 people this year.
(Econ., 9/19/20, p.34)
2020 Jan 17, It was reported that Brazil’s government plans to push abstinence-based sex education to help cut teenage pregnancy rates, in a controversial move inspired by an evangelical Christian pressure group and Donald Trump’s policy in the US.
(The Guardian, 1/17/20)
2020 Jan 17, Leaders of native tribes in Brazil issued a rallying call to protect the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous people from what they called the "genocide, ethnocide and ecocide" planned by the country's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 1/18/20)
2020 Jan 20, In Brazil 26 inmates escaped from a prison in the northwestern state of Acre early today, with all but one remaining at large.
(Reuters, 1/20/20)
2020 Jan 21, Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said he will create an "Amazon Council" to protect and ensure the "sustainable development" of the world's largest rainforest, following intense criticism of his environmental policies.
(Reuters, 1/21/20)
2020 Jan 25, Brazilian authorities said flooding and landslides following heavy rains in the southeast have killed at least 30 people.
(SSFC, 1/26/20, p.A4)
2020 Jan 25, Brazilian miner Vale SA raised the emergency level at the Sul Inferior dam at its Gongo Soco mine in Barão de Cocais, in the southern state of Minas Gerais, after heavy rainfall eroded the structure's reservoir.
(Reuters, 1/26/20)
2020 Feb 7, Government data showed that aggressive deforestation is starting earlier this year in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, with destruction doubling in January compared with a year ago.
(AP, 2/7/20)
2020 Feb 7, It was reported that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed into law quarantine rules for Brazilians who will be brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 2/7/20)
2020 Feb 10, Brazil authorized its national public security force to support efforts to fight deforestation in the Amazon, amid worries that 2020 could see another surge in destruction of the world's largest rainforest.
(Reuters, 2/10/20)
2020 Feb 22, Brazil's famed Carnival kicked off in earnest, as millions of scantily-clad revelers poured into the streets, many of whom took the opportunity to parody or otherwise comment on the nation's deeply polarized political climate.
(Reuters, 2/22/20)
2020 Feb 26, Brazil confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Latin America, a man in Sao Paulo who returned recently from Italy. The disease reached the Amazon region by mid-March.
(Reuters, 2/26/20)(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Feb 24, The captain of the Stellar Banner cargo ship ran his vessel agound of the coast of Brazil to prevent it from sinking. Days later oil was detected leaking from the partially submerged ship. The ship was carrying iron ore destined for China.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.A4)
2020 Feb 26, Brazil's Environment Ministry reported the firing of two senior climate officials, leaving the posts vacant at a time when the country is under growing scrutiny for the greenhouse gases released by clearing the Amazon rainforest. The right-wing government of President Jair Bolsonaro had already reduced the emphasis on climate change within the ministry, turning a vice-minister-level role on climate change into a directorship.
(Reuters, 2/27/20)
2020 Mar 3, A new report said deforestation of lands occupied by isolated indigenous tribes in the Brazilian Amazon more than doubled between July 2019 and July 2018 to the highest rate in more than a decade.
(Reuters, 3/3/20)
2020 Mar 5, Brazil confirmed eight cases of the new coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/6/20)
2020 Mar 7, President Donald Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where the two leaders discussed the US-led effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
(Bloomberg, 3/8/20)
2020 Mar 12, Researchers crunched data on changes in dozens of ecosystems to conclude that Caribbean coral reefs could collapse in 15 years while the Amazon rainforest could die back within 50 years. The finding was questioned by some experts.
(Reuters, 3/12/20)
2020 Mar 13, Brazil's federal audit court suspended late today an increase of 20 billion reais ($4.1 billion) to social assistance for elderly and disabled people.
(Reuters, 3/14/20)
2020 Mar 16, In Brazil local media reported that as many as 1,000 inmates had fled four jails ahead of a planned lockdown of the facilities over the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/17/20)
2020 Mar 17, Brazil's government called for a state of emergency to loosen fiscal rules as it faced challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and oil price war. Brazil reported its first death due to the virus and closed its border to Venezuelans for an initial 15 days, citing strains on the public health system and what its president described as Venezuela's inability to respond.
(Reuters, 3/18/20)
2020 Mar 17, Brazil's Sao Paulo state prison authority said more than 500 prisoners have been recaptured who fled four jails ahead of a planned lockdown of the facilities over the coronavirus pandemic. Local officials had cancelled temporary leaves because of fears that prisoners could bring the new coronavirus back with them.
(AP, 3/17/20)(SFC, 3/18/20, p.A2)
2020 Mar 19, Brazil's confirmed cases of coronavirus surged past 600.
(AP, 3/20/20)
2020 Mar 22, Brazil's health ministry statistics showed 1,546 confirmed cases, up from 234 cases a week before. The respiratory disease caused by the virus has killed 25 people.
(Reuters, 3/23/20)
2020 Mar 24, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro laid to rest a diplomatic spat with China in a call with President Xi Jinping, with the two agreeing to work together to fight coronavirus as Brazil's largest city went into lockdown. In a televised speech Bolsonaro urged local governments to abandon "scorched-earth" strategies of closing schools and shops, and blasted the media for spreading "the sensation of fear".
(Reuters, 3/24/20)(Econ, 3/28/20, p.29)
2020 Mar 25, Brazil recorded more than 2,500 cases of coronavirus and 59 deaths.
(AP, 3/26/20)
2020 Mar 26, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (65) told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he feels Brazilians’ natural immunity will protect the nation from the coronavirus pandemic. The nation’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 3,400 and deaths top 90. 25 of Brazil’s 27 governors signed a joint letter this week begging Bolsonaro to back strict anti-virus measures.
(AP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 28, Brazil's federal government launched an advertising campaign against social distancing measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the latest flashpoint in a battle between President Jair Bolsonaro and state governors trying to stop the virus' spread.
(AP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 28, A Brazilian court blocked a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that exempted places of worship from confinement orders. The federal court in Rio de Janeiro state ruled that religious services pose a public health risk. The government can still appeal the decision.
(AFP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 29, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro called on all but the elderly to get back to work, defying his own health ministry on coronavirus guidelines.
(SFC, 4/2/20, p.A6)
2020 Mar 31, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro called for a pact against the coronavirus "to save lives without leaving jobs behind." Brazil had 1210 deaths from the virus.
(Economist, 4/4/20, p.26)
2020 Apr 1, Brazil reported that an indigenous woman in a village deep in the Amazon rainforest has contracted the novel coronavirus, the first case reported among Brazil's more than 300 tribes.
(Reuters, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 2, Brazil is Latin America's worst affected nation by the coronavirus so far, with nearly 7,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 240 deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the virus as "a little flu" and told Brazilians to get back to work.
(Reuters, 4/2/20)
2020 Apr 4, In Brazil a member of the Guajajara indigenous tribe was found shot in the head and hospitalized.This and five recent killings in the Arariboia Indigenous Territory prompted the state of Maranhao to seek federal help. Attacks have targeted members of the tribe known for their fight against illegal deforestation.
(SFC, 4/7/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 4, Brazil counted 2,369 hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients over the last four weeks. The health ministry counted 18,000 more admissions for respiratory cases than during the same period last year.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.24)
2020 Apr 8, Brazil reported 14,049 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 688 people dead.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.25)
2020 Apr 9, In Brazil a Yanomami youth (15) died after testing positive for coronavirus in Boa Vista, Roraima state. This raised fears that the epidemic will spread among the largest indigenous tribe in northern Brazil.
(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 9, General Motors Co said it plans to keep its Brazilian factories shut down for at least 60 more days due to the coronavirus crisis, as the final batch of unionized workers voted on the automaker's proposal for the shutdown and for a plan to cut salaries by up to 25%.
(Reuters, 4/9/20)
2020 Apr 10, Brazilian government data showed that deforestation in its Amazon rainforest rose in March, indicating that illegal loggers and land speculators have not stopped destroying the forest with the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 12, Brazil's Health Minister Henrique Mandetta criticized people for gathering in public without referring directly to Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, who hit the streets over the weekend, drawing crowds and greeting followers.
(Reuters, 4/13/20)
2020 Apr 13, In Mozambique Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos (49), aka Fuminho, was arrested in Maputo after spending more than two decades on the run. He was one of Brazil's most wanted criminals and the alleged leader of the São Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang, accused of shipping tons of cocaine around the world.
(BBC, 4/14/20)
2020 Apr 16, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro fired Health Minister Henrique Mandetta, who had garnered support for his handling of the pandemic that included promotion of broad isolation measures enacted by state governors. Nelson Teich, an oncologist, was named as the new health minister. Brazil has 29,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,760 deaths.
(AP, 4/17/20)(SFC, 4/17/20, p.A5)
2020 Apr 18, Brazil reported 2,917 new coronavirus cases and 211 deaths in 24 hours. Total deaths rose to 2,352 from 2,141.
(Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 19, Mozambique expelled a fugitive Brazilian cocaine trafficker following his arrest this week. Brazilian media reported that Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos left Mozambique early this morning in a Brazilian Air Force plane bound for Brazil.
(Reuters, 4/19/20)
2020 Apr 22, The UN in a report said there was evidence of rising violence against women in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, and a doubling in the number of femicides in Argentina during the coronavirus-related quarantine.
(NBC News, 4/27/20)
2020 Apr 24, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro sacked the head of the federal police. Hours late justice minister Sergio Moro resigned and accused the president of political interference in the police to shield his family.
(Econ., 5/2/20, p.23)
2020 Apr 24, Brazil's health ministry confirmed nearly 53,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 3,600 deaths. Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse.
(AP, 4/24/20)
2020 Apr 30, Brazil’s virtually uncontrolled surge of COVID-19 cases spawned fear that construction workers, truck drivers and tourists from Latin America’s biggest nation will spread the disease to neighboring countries that are doing a better job of controlling the coronavirus. The official count of coronavirus cases rocketed past 85,000 and deaths surpassed 5,900 — more than the amount suffered by China. Experts considered both figures to be significant under-counts due to a lack of widespread testing.
(AP, 4/30/20)
2020 Apr, Brazil's government created the "auxilio emergencial," a basic income to poor people to face the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In September the benefit was halved, but extended until the end of 2020.
(https://tinyurl.com/y9r4fmep)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.51)
2020 May 2, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge issued an injunction suspending for 10 days a move by the right-wing government to expel Venezuela's 30 diplomats and consular staff.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 2, In Brazil there have been 4,970 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 421 deaths over the last 24 hours. The nation has now registered 95,559 confirmed cases of the virus and 6,750 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 2, It was reported that Inmates at a prison in Manaus, Brazil, a city deep in the Amazon that has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, have taken seven prison guards hostage. Local television stations cited a video allegedly recorded by an unidentified inmate, who complained of sweltering heat and a lack of electricity in the prison.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 3, Brazil's President Bolsonaro, who has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum for dismissing the threat of the coronavirus, attacked Congress and the courts in a speech to hundreds of supporters as the number of cases blew past 100,000.
(Reuters, 5/4/20)
2020 May 5, In Brazil the mayor of Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon rainforest region, asked world leaders for help fighting the novel coronavirus, which has brought his city's health system to the brink of collapse. Brazil hit a record for daily coronavirus deaths, indicating that it is still in the thick of its battle even as some areas of the country begin to reopen.
(AFP, 5/5/20)(Reuters, 5/6/20)
2020 May 6, Brazil, one of the world's emerging hot spots, registered a record number of cases and deaths, prompting the health minister to flag the possibility of strict lockdowns in hard-hit areas.
(Reuters, 5/7/20)
2020 May 7, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro authorized the deployment of armed forces to combat deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon region. Environmental advocates say the measure may help in the short term but is not a lasting solution. Government data a day later showed that deforestation in the rainforest rose sharply in April.
(Reuters, 5/8/20)
2020 May 7, Brazil's Health Ministry registered 9,888 new cases, bringing its total to 135,106 with 9,146 deaths. Jair Bolsonaro went to the Supreme Court to ask that state be forced to roll back restrictive measures, despite the surge in the nation's coronavirus cases and deaths.
(Reuters, 5/8/20)(SFC, 5/9/20, p.A4)
2020 May 8, Brazil's 5th largest city, Fortaleza, became the nation's third metropolis to enter lockdown for COVID-19.
(SFC, 5/9/20, p.A4)
2020 May 8, Brazil's Supreme Court overturned rules that limit gay and bisexual men from donating blood in a decision considered a human rights victory for LGBT+ people in the country.
(Reuters, 5/9/20)
2020 May 11, Brazil's federal police arrested Gonzalo Sanchez (69), a former Argentine navy officer accused of dictatorship-era crimes against humanity and kidnapping. He had been on the run since 2005.
(SFC, 5/14/20, p.A2)
2020 May 15, Brazil’s health minister Dr. Nelson Teich resigned after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. Officials say almost 15,000 people have died in Brazil from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, though some experts say the figure is significantly higher due to insufficient testing.
(AP, 5/15/20)
2020 May 16, Brazil's Health Ministry registered 14,919 new confirmed cases in the prior 24 hours, taking the total to 233,142.
(Reuters, 5/16/20)
2020 May 18, In Brazil military and federal police officers burst into a home and shot João Pedro (14) in the stomach with a high-caliber rifle at close range. There was no sign of illegal activity at the house in the Salgueiro complex of favelas in Rio de Janeiro. His body was tracked down the next day, inside a police forensic institute. He was one of more than 600 people killed by police in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the first months of this year.
(AP, 6/17/20)
2020 May 18, Brazil recorded 674 new deaths and announced a total of 254,220 confirmed cases.
(Reuters, 5/19/20)
2020 May 20, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro unveiled rules expanding the prescription of chloroquine, the predecessor of an anti-malaria drug promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump, for coronavirus patients despite a lack of clinical proof that it is effective.
(AP, 5/20/20)
2020 May 24, Brazil has now surpassed Russia with a total number of confirmed cases standing at 347, 398.
(Good Morning America, 5/24/20)
2020 May 24, President Trump said the United States would suspend travel from Brazil, after a surge in coronavirus cases made the South American nation one of the world's hotspots. Brazil now has more than 22,000 deaths and 347,000 confirmed cases.
(AP, 5/24/20)
2020 May 26, Police in Rio de Janeiro raided the governor's residence and 10 other addresses as part of a widening probe into the alleged embezzlement of part of the $150 million in public funds earmarked for building field hospitals. Gov. Wilson Witzel denied any wrongdoing and accused Pres. Bolsonaro of ordering the raid as political retribution. Brazil has 375,000 coronavirus cases and 23,000 deaths so far.
(AP, 5/26/20)(SFC, 5/27/20), p.A4)
2020 May 27, Brazil's Federal Police executed more than two dozen search and seizure warrants in six states as part of an investigation into a network that allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices.
(SFC, 5/28/20, p.A3)
2020 May 28, Brazil had 411,821 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 25,598 deaths. A study by the Federal Univ. of Pelotas and Rio Grande de do Sul state has concluded that the caseload is seven time the official number.
(Econ., 5/30/20, p.26)
2020 May 30, Brazil reported a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus. Brazil now has 498,440 confirmed cases, a level of contagion second only to the United States. The death increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/30/20)
2020 Jun 4, Brazil recorded a record 1,473 coronavirus fatalities taking its total tally to more than 34,000. The official number of infections rose to nearly 615,000, second only to the US.
(The Guardian, 6/4/20)
2020 Jun 5, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge banned most police operations in the favelas for the remainder of the pandemic.
(Econ., 6/13/20, p.47)
2020 Jun 6, Brazil's government stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus deaths and infections in an extraordinary move that critics call an attempt to hide the true toll of the disease in Latin America's largest nation. President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted that disease totals are “not representative" of the country's current situation.
(AP, 6/6/20)
2020 Jun 11, Brazil reported 30,412 new coronavirus cases, bringing its cumulative total to above 800,000. Shops reopened in the country's two largest cities.
(Reuters, 6/12/20)
2020 Jun 12, In Brazil two members of the Yanomami ethnic group were shot to death be illegal gold prospectors in the Amazon regions Roraima state.
(SFC, 6/29/20, p.A2)
2020 Jun 13, Brazil has recorded nearly 40,000 deaths from the coronavirus, th world's third highest number.
(Econ., 6/13/20, p.26)
2020 Jun 16, The World Health Organization's regional director for the Americas Carissa Etienne said that the region is fast approaching 4 million cases of coronavirus and the pandemic continues to accelerate. Etienne said Brazil accounts for 23% of the more than 3.8 million cases in the Americas and 23% of the almost 204,000 deaths in the region.
(Reuters, 6/16/20)
2020 Jun 19, Brazil’s Health Ministry said that total coronavirus cases now stood at 1,032,913, up more than 50,000 from a day earlier.
(AP, 6/19/20)
2020 Jun 21, The World Health Organization reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours. The WHO said Brazil led the way with 54,771 cases tallied and the US next at 36,617. Over 15,400 came in in India.
(NBC News, 6/21/20)
2020 Jun 22, Global cases of the novel coronavirus surpassed 9 million, as Brazil and India grappled with a surge in infections, and the United States, China and other hard-hit countries reported new outbreaks.
(Reuters, 6/22/20)
2020 Jun 24, Africa's first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial started today as volunteers received injections developed at the University of Oxford in Britain. The large-scale trial is being conducted in South Africa, Britain and Brazil.
(AP, 6/24/20)
2020 Jul 4, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro approved a law requiring masks on streets and in public transportation. He vetoed clauses requiring masks in churches, schools, shops and factories. Brazil has confirmed more than 61,500 deaths and over 1.5 million coronavirus infections, the 2nd most in the world behind the US.
(SSFC, 7/5/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 7, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro said he has tested positive for COVID-19. Sources close to the president said that Bolsonaro began exhibiting symptoms of the virus July 4.
(Good Morning America, 7/7/20)
2020 Jul 7, Doctors reported that a Brazilian man infected with the AIDS virus has shown no sign of it for more than a year since he stopped HIV medicines after an intense experimental drug therapy aimed at purging hidden, dormant virus from his body.
(AP, 7/7/20)
2020 Jul 8, The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that Brazil must take emergency measures to protect its Indigenous communities from the novel coronavirus.
(The Conversation, 7/9/20)
2020 Jul 10, Inpe, Brazil's national space agency, published figures showing 400 square miles of deforestation in the Amazon in June. Total deforestation from January to June was 1,890 square miles, up 25% from the same period last year.
(SFC, 7/15/20, p.A4)
2020 Jul 13, Brazil's government fired Lubia Vinhas, an official at the national space agency Inpe whose department is responsible for satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest.
(SFC, 7/15/20, p.A4)
2020 Jul 16, Brazil's federal health ministry reported that the country had passed 2 million confirmed cases of virus infections and 76,000 deaths.
(AP, 7/16/20)
2020 Jul 25, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that he had tested negative for the new coronavirus, based on a fourth test since he said July 7 that he had the virus.
(AP, 7/25/20)
2020 Aug 1, Facebook announced that it has obeyed a Brazilian judge's order for a worldwide block on the accounts of 12 of President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters who are under investigation for allegedly running a fake news network.
(AP, 8/1/20)
2020 Aug 4, The government of Brazil said an eighth minister in President Jair Bolsonaro's Cabinet has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Brazil has confirmed more than 2.8 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began. The official death toll has risen to 94,665, with 51,603 new cases and 1,154 deaths in the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 8/4/20)
2020 Aug 8, Brazil surpassed a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. The Health Ministry said there had been a total of 3,012,412 confirmed infections with the new coronavirus.
(AP, 8/8/20)
2020 Aug 13, The Chinese city of Shenzhen's government identified a Brazilian meat plant owned by Aurora, the country's third largest processor of chicken and pork, as the source of chicken wings that tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Authorities in the Chinese city of Xian separately reported that the outer packaging of shrimp imported from Ecuador also tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 8/13/20)
2020 Aug 28, Brazil's main prosecutor's office said that Wilson Witzel, a former federal judge and the governor of Rio de Janeiro, has been removed from office for 180 days due to corruption charges.
(SFC, 8/29/20, p.A2)
2020 Aug 29, Brazil registered another 758 novel coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 41,350 new cases. The nation has now registered 120,262 coronavirus deaths and 3,846,153 confirmed cases.
(Reuters, 8/29/20)
2020 Sep 4, Brazil’s health ministry to date has confirmed more than 4 million cases of the coronavirus disease and 125,000 deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has expressed opposition to administering vaccines that are yet to be proven on Brazilian soil.
(AP, 9/5/20)
2020 Sep 6, It was reported that fires in the Brazilian Amazon have been as destructive as last year’s, but they have drawn less attention in a year overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Enormous blazes — often intentionally set but worsened by unusually dry conditions — have also scorched 7,861 square miles, or about 10 percent, of the area known as the Pantanal from January to August, an area slightly larger than New Jersey.
(NY Times, 9/6/20)
2020 Sep 9, Brazilian lab and hospital group DASA S.A. said it has agreed to conduct clinical Phase 2 and 3 trials in Brazil for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by COVAXX, a unit of privately-owned United Biomedical Inc.
(Reuters, 9/9/20)
2020 Sep 13, It was reported that a vast swath of a vital wetlands is burning in Brazil, sweeping across several national parks and obscuring the sun behind dense smoke. Nearly 5,800 square miles (1.5 million hectares) have burned in the Pantanal region since the start of August — an expanse comparable to the area consumed by the historic blazes now afflicting California. More than 20,000 fires were detected in the first two weeks of this month, more than burned in the whole of September in 2019.
(AP, 9/13/20)(Econ., 9/19/20, p.77)
2020 Sep 21, A new study that analyzed the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil has found a link between the spread of the virus and past outbreaks of dengue fever that suggests exposure to the mosquito-transmitted illness may provide some level of immunity against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 9/21/20)
2020 Sep 22, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro defended his administration’s record protecting the Amazon rainforest, telling the United Nations’ virtual meeting of global leaders that his country has been wrongly portrayed as an environmental villain.
(AP, 9/22/20)
2020 Sep 23, Brazil's government said it was adding 43 more firefighters to a small force battling blazes that have charred a Belgium-sized swath of the world's largest tropical wetlands.
(AP, 9/23/20)
2020 Sep 23, Brazil recorded 33,281 additional confirmed cases in the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 9/23/20)
2020 Sep 28, Seventy world leaders signed the “Leaders Pledge for Nature" and vowed to take steps to halt the catastrophic human-made decline. Non-signers included President Donald Trump, his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro and Australian PM Scott Morrison.
(https://tinyurl.com/y64tmyrf)(NBC News, 10/16/20)
2020 Oct 7, Brazil surpassed 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases late today and verged on 150,000 dead, the second-most in the world.
(AP, 10/8/20)
2020 Oct 10, Brazil registered 559 additional coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 26,749 new cases. It has now registered 5,082,637 confirmed cases and 150,198 total deaths.
(Reuters, 10/11/20)
2020 Oct 16, Brazil and Paraguay reopened borders that were closed for more than six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(SFC, 10/17/20, p.A6)
2020 Oct 19, Prosecutors in Brazil leveled charges against Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, with commanding a criminal organization and laundering money when he was a state lawmaker between 2007 and 2018. 16 others were also charged.
(SFC, 11/5/20, p.A4)
2020 Oct 23, Brazilian pharmaceutical company União Quimica said it has signed an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 starting in the second half of November. This is the second agreement to produce the Russian vaccine in Brazil, where four other vaccines are already being tested.
(Reuters, 10/23/20)
2020 Oct 23, Brazilian regulator Anvisa authorized a biomedical center to import 6 million doses of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, one day after President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil would not buy the Chinese vaccine.
(AP, 10/23/20)
2020 Nov 1, In Brazil small groups of protesters gathered in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to demonstrate against any mandate for the taking of a coronavirus vaccine, supporting a rejection campaign encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AP, 11/1/20)
2020 Nov 3, It was reported that Brazilian health regulator Anvisa has authorized resumption of a clinical trial of Johnson & Johnson's experimental COVID-19 vaccine. J&J's trial in Brazil had been suspended since Oct. 12, so a safety panel could evaluate an unexplained illness of a participant in its planned 60,000-person Phase III study.
(Reuters, 11/3/20)
2020 Nov 3, In northern Brazil a fire at an electricity substation interrupted power supply to 13 of 16 municipalities in Amapa state. Full restoration was expected to take as long as ten days.
(SSFC, 11/8/20, p.A6)
2020 Nov 9, In Brazil Governor João Doria said São Paulo has begun building a facility to produce 100 million doses a year of China's Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19, which will be ready by September next year.
(Reuters, 11/9/20)
2020 Nov 11, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa allowed resumption of late-stage clinical trials for China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, which had been suspended due to the death of a study subject that was registered in Sao Paulo as a suicide.
(AP, 11/11/20)
2020 Nov 13, The Chinese city of Wuhan said it had detected the novel coronavirus on the packaging of a batch of Brazilian beef, as it ramped up testing of frozen foods this week as part of a nationwide campaign. The beef had entered the country at Qingdao port on Aug. 7 and it reached Wuhan on Aug. 17, where it remained in a cold storage facility until recently.
(Reuters, 11/13/20)
2020 Nov 15, Brazil held municipal elections. Candidates backed by Pres. Bolsonaro nearly all fared poorly. Big winners were the mainstream parties.
(Econ., 11/28/20, p.30)
2020 Nov 19, In Brazil a Black man died after being beaten by supermarket security guards in the city of Porto Alegre on the eve of Black Consciousness Day observations, sparking outrage after videos of the incident circulated on social media. Carrefour soon released a statement lamenting the “brutal death" of João Alberto Silveira Freitas, and said it will end its contract with the security company, fire the store manager who was on duty and close the Porto Alegre store out of respect for the victim.
(AP, 11/20/20)
2020 Nov 19, The first 120,000 doses of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech that is being tested in Brazil, arrived at São Paulo's international airport.
(Reuters, 11/19/20)
2020 Nov 20, Brazil surpassed 6 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, becoming the third country in the world to pass that milestone after the United States and India. Brazil recorded 38,397 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 552 deaths from COVID-19. The official death toll has risen to 168,613.
(Reuters, 11/20/20)
2020 Nov 29, Brazil completed municipal elections. Pres. Jair Bolsonaro suffered big losses with only five candidates he supported winning their races, none of them in major cities.
(SFC, 12/1/20, p.A3)
2020 Nov 30, In southern Brazil some 30 bank robbers armed with “bazookas" took over the city of Criciúma, Santa Catarina state, late today setting cars on fire, starting gun fights with police and eventually leaving money strewn across the streets to encourage residents to run into the road – enabling their getaway.
(The Independent, 12/1/20)
2020 Dec 3, Brazil's São Paulo's Butantan Institute biomedical center received 1 million doses of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd that is undergoing late-stage testing by the institute at 16 locations in Brazil.
(Reuters, 12/3/20)
2020 Dec 9, Brazil reported 53,453 more confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate since mid-August, and 836 deaths.
(Reuters, 12/9/20)
2020 Dec 9, Brazil’s Gol Airlines became the first in the world to return the Boeing 737 Max jetliners to its active fleet, using a 737 MAX 8 on a flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre.
(AP, 12/9/20)
2020 Dec 10, Brazil's São Paulo state started producing the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, Governor João Doria said, even though the federal government of President Jair Bolsonaro has yet to approve its use.
(Reuters, 12/10/20)
2020 Dec 11, Brazil's Health Ministry said it is studying 58 suspected cases of COVID-19 re-infection after confirming the first case of a person getting re-infected with the illness caused by the coronavirus. The pathogen of the sample collected in June belonged to the B.1.1.33 strain and the October sample was from the B.1.1.28 strain.
(Reuters, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 12, The Brazilian government unveiled its long-awaited national vaccination plan against COVID-19 with an initial goal of vaccinating 51 million people, or about one-fourth of the population, in the first half of 2021.
(Reuters, 12/12/20)
2020 Dec 14, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said China's health authorities are not transparent in their authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use.
(Reuters, 12/14/20)
2020 Dec 16, Brazil's number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surged past 7 million, with an all-time high of more than 70,000 cases and 936 deaths.
(SFC, 12/17/20, p.A5)
2020 Dec 19, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has refused to take any coronavirus vaccine, said that he did not think the world's rush for a vaccine was justified because the pandemic is in his view coming to an end. Brazil registered 50,177 new cases, bringing the total to 7,213,155. Deaths rose by 706 to 186,356.
(AP, 12/19/20)
2020 Dec 22, In Brazil police arrested Marcelo Crivella (63), the outgoing mayor of Rio de Janeiro, in connection with an alleged kickback scheme. The evangelical bishop turned politician is scheduled to leave office on Jan. 1 after losing a re-election bid in a landslide to his predecessor Eduardo Paes.
(SFC, 12/23/20, p.A4)
2020 Dec 24, Sao Paulo's state health secretary said the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd showed efficacy between 50% and 90% in Brazilian trials.
(Reuters, 12/25/20)
2020 Dec 26, Brazil registered 307 new COVID-19 deaths, and 17,246 new cases of coronavirus. Brazil now has nearly 7.5 million confirmed cases and 190,795 deaths from the virus.
(Reuters, 12/26/20)
2020 Dec 29, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has requested regulatory approval to launch Phase 3 trials in Brazil.
(Reuters, 12/29/20)
2020 Dec 31, Brazil reported 56,773 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 1,074 deaths from COVID-19. A Brazilian lab said it has detected two cases of the new coronavirus variant that has spread rapidly in Britain, and urged reinforcement of quarantine measures for travelers coming from Europe.
(Reuters, 12/31/20)
2020 Brazil was flooded with misinformation about the coronavirus this year, and two students fought it by creating the Sleeping Giants Brazil Twitter site to call out Brazilian websites for spreading “hate speech and Fake News," and torpedoing those sites’ advertising revenue. The US Sleeping Giants campaign started in November 2016, shortly after Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 United States presidential election, with the launch of a Twitter account aiming to boycott Breitbart News.
(AP, 12/13/20)
2020 Deforestation of the Amazon region was expected to reach 28-42%.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A10)
2021 Jan 6, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro accused syringe makers of pushing up their prices after the government failed to buy hundreds of millions of syringes via auction for its COVID-19 vaccination drive, leading it to requisition surplus supplies.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 8, The Brazilian production partner for a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech filed for emergency use authorization with health regulator Anvisa, the day after announcing results from a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Brazilian researchers said they have identified the concerning new coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa in a woman who contracted COVID-19 for the second time, and said it was the first such case reported in the world.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 11, Ford Brazil said it will close its factories, laying off 5,000 workers, as supply and demand were hurt by the pandemic.
(Econ., 1/16/21, p.24)
2021 Jan 12, Local partners in Brazil said CoronaVac, a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac, showed "general efficacy" of 50.4% in a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, India's Bharat Biotech said it has signed an agreement with a medicine distributor to supply its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to Brazil, even as the shot's emergency use approval in its home country has faced criticism.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 13, It was reported that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Brazilian pharmaceutical company Uniao Quimica have agreed on supplies of 10 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to Brazil in the first quarter of 2021.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 15, Brazil's Air Force delivered emergency supplies of oxygen to the jungle state of Amazonas, where hospitals overwhelmed by resurging coronavirus cases were airlifting patients to other states to save them from dying of suffocation.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 16, The newspaper Estado de S. Paulo reported that Brazil's government will not seek to bar Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from 5G network auctions slated for June this year.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a convoy of trucks carrying emergency oxygen supplies for Brazil's northern Amazonas state, where a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard, has departed and is set to arrive at the border by tomorrow morning.
(AP, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 23, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a second emergency use request of China's CoronaVac vaccine, which will allow for the distribution of 4.8 million new doses that were partly manufactured in Brazil.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Feb 6, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said Pfizer Inc has applied for full regulatory approval in Brazil of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech Se.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 10, It was reported that Italian police have intercepted cocaine worth £228 million. The cocaine was hidden in containers full of exotic fruit from Ecuador and coffee and frozen meat from Brazil.
(The Telegraph, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a request by biomedical institute Fiocruz to import more doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford from the Serum Institute of India.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 15, France's largest bank BNP Paribas pledged to stop financing firms producing or buying either beef or soybeans cultivated on land in the Amazon cleared or converted after 2008.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 19, Brazil's health ministry said it intends to buy 30 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine to be produced locally by the Butantan public health institute and delivered between October and December. The ministry said it has already ordered 100 million of the vaccine together with Butantan to be delivered by September.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 25, Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000. It is the world’s second-highest for the same reason the second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb, The coronavirus extinguished a centuries-old tribe in Brazil's Amazon region. The last member of the Juma people died from Covid this month.
(NY Times, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 2, Scientists said a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant that emerged in Brazil and has now been found in at least 20 countries can re-infect people who previously recovered from the disease. Scientists estimated that the P.1 variant was 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than the initial form of the virus.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 8, Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that Pfizer Inc will deliver an additional 5 million COVID-19 vaccination doses, which would increase the number of shots expected from the drugmaker by the end of June to 14 million.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, A Supreme Court justice in Brazil tossed out several criminal cases against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, allowing him to challenge President Jair Bolsonaro in next year’s election.
(NY Times, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 10, Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blasted the government of President Jair Bolsonaro for mishandling the pandemic and economy in a speech marking a return to the political stage after his graft convictions were overturned.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Preliminary data from a study in Brazil indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd is effective against the P1 variant of the virus first discovered in Brazil.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned that new COVID-19 cases infections are still rising in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where a resurgence has caused record daily deaths.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said it has given final approval for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University, which will be manufactured domestically by the Fiocruz biomedical institute. The government said it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 12, It was reported that crooks in Brazil have infiltrated the country's four largest gasoline chains, where they are estimated to control hundreds, if not thousands, of stations.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 18, In Brazil 4 protesters were arrested as police started to employ a dictatorship-era national security law against critics of President Jair Bolsonaro. Lawyers and activists rallied to provide them with legal help and accused the government of trying to silence dissent.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 22, Hundreds of Brazilian business leaders and economists blasted President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the coronavirus crisis and called for a new policy approach as the country enters a critical phase of its COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, It was reported that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has agreed to help Brazil acquire sedatives and other drugs it urgently needs for the intubation of patients seriously ill with COVID-19 due to a shortage in the current surge of serious cases.
(Reuters, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 23, Carissa Etienne, the WHO's regional director for the Americas, warned that the coronavirus is surging "dangerously" across Brazil, urging all Brazilians to adopt preventive measures to stop the spread.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 24, Brazil topped 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, becoming the second country, after the US, to do so amid a spike in infections that has seen the South American country report record death tolls in recent days. The health ministry reported 2,009 daily COVID-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 29, In Brazil Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo (53), a career diplomat famed for his bashing of Xi Jinping’s China and devotion to Donald Trump, tendered his resignation, ending what critics call the most calamitous chapter in the history of Brazilian diplomacy. Defence minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva also announced he was leaving the government.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Apr 6, Brazil reported 4,195 COVID-19 fatalities bringing the total to 336,947. Cases surged by 86, 979 over the past 24 hours pushing that total to 13.1 million.
(SFC, 4/7/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 7, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said there would be “no national lockdown," ignoring growing calls from health experts a day after the nation saw its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours since the pandemic began.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 13, France suspended all flights from Brazil amid mounting fears over the P.1 variant of the coronavirus that has been sweeping across Brazil.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 14, Brazil's city of Sao Paulo warned its ability to care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients was on the verge of collapse as it ran perilously low on key drugs.
(AP, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 15, An emergency shipment of sedatives needed to intubate severely ill COVID-19 patients arrived in Brazil late late today from China. Brazil has recorded a total of 365,444 coronavirus deaths, second only to the US, and 13,746,681 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 22, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro shifted his tone on preservation of the Amazon rainforest at the US-led climate summit, exhibiting willingness to step up commitment even as many critics continue doubting his credibility.
(AP, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 23, It was reported that Brazil’s COVID-19 vaccination program is being put at risk by people failing to show up for their second shot, with 1.5 million people missing appointments for the follow-up dose needed to maximize protection. A recent real-world study from Chile found that the Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine, which has accounted for some 80% of Brazil's program, is just 16% effective after one shot.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 26, Brazil’s health authority rejected Russia’s Covid vaccine even though scientific research suggests it is safe and effective.
(NY Times, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 29, Brazil became the 2nd country to top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. Brazil announced another 3,001, bringing that total to 401,186.
(SFC, 4/30/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 29, Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 said that they were suing Brazilian regulator Anvisa for defamation, accusing it of having knowingly spread false information without testing their product.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr, In Brazil deforestation this month 40se 43% over the same month in 2020, to 224 square miles.
(SFC, 5/10/21, p.A4)
2021 May 6, In Brazil a police raid on a drug gang in a poor Rio de Janeiro neighborhood left 28 people dead in the deadliest operation ever carried out by the security forces in the city.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 11, Brazilian states halted vaccination of pregnant women after a death in Rio de Janeiro led health regulator Anvisa to warn against the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for expecting mothers.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 16, It was reported that Covid-19 is ravaging Brazil and that experts are working to understand why it appears to be killing babies and small children at an unusually high rate.
(NY Times, 5/16/21)
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Brazil is slightly smaller than the continental United States. It is Latin America's largest country and the world's fifth-largest. It covers more than 40% of South America, bordering every country on the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Capital is Brasilia. Brazil is about 75% Roman Catholic.
(AP, 9/30/06)
Brazil has 27 states which include a Federal District (Brasilia); Acre (Rio Branco); Alagoas (Maceio); Amapa (Macapa); Amazonas (Manaus); Bahia (Salvador); Ceara (Fortaleza); Espiritu Santo (Vitoria); Goias (Goiania); Maranhao (Sao Luis); Mato Grosso (Cuaiba); Mato Grosso do Sul (Campo Grande); Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte); Para (Belem); Paraiba (Joao Pessoa); Parana (Curitiba); Pernambuco (Recife); Piaui (Teresina); Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro); Rio Grande do Norte (Natal); Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre); Rondonia (Porto Velho); Roraima (Boa Vista); Santa Catarina (Florianopolis); Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo); Sergipe (Aracaju); Tocatins (Palmas).
206 indigenous societies, 330,00 Indians, inhabit Brazil. This included the Waiapi in the northeast; the Guaran-Kaiowa; Araras; Kaiapo (Kaapor); Korubo; Paracana; Potiguara, Tembe; Timbira; Xukuru.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.D1)(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B5)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1)
260Mil BC Scientists in 2011 reported the discovery of the remains of a saber-toothed vegetarian. The leaf-crunching animal, about the size of a large dog, lived 260 million years ago in what is now Brazil. Its upper canine teeth were nearly 5 inches long.
(AP, 3/25/11)
254.7Mil BC In 2012 scientists dated the 40km Araguainha crater, on the border of Brazil’s Mato Grosso and Goias states, to this time. They believed that the release of oil and gas from the impact of a meteorite led to the great Permian extinction.
(Econ, 7/27/13, p.64)
230Mil BC A small dinosaur, later named Buriolestes schultzi, lived about this time. In 2017 fossils of the dinosaur were reported found in the Santa Maria formation of southern Brazil.
(Econ, 11/12/16, p.70)
110Mil BC In 2002 a pterosaur fossil from this time was discovered in Brazil that indicated it skimmed over water for food and had a huge bony crest on its head.
(SFC, 7/19/02, p.A5)
90Mil BC The Baurusuchus salgadoensis lived in an area of southeastern Brazil known as the Bauru Basin, some 700 kilometers (450 miles) west of modern-day Rio de Janeiro. The fossilized skeletons appear to be closely related to another ancient crocodile species, the Pabwehshi pakistanesis discovered in Pakistan.
(AP, 6/9/05)
90Mil BC A desert-based carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to capture small prey lived about this time. In 2019 fossil remains of Vespersaurus paranaensis were unearthed in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of southern Brazil's Parana state.
(AP, 6/26/19)
80Mil BC A land-bound reptile, described as a possible link between prehistoric and modern-day crocodiles, roamed arid and hot terrain that became Brazilian countryside about this time. A fossil of Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi was found in 2004 and displayed in 2008.
(AP, 1/31/08)
48000 BC Charcoal from camp fires in the Pedra Faruda site of Piaui state were carbon dated in 1987 to about this time.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.A18)
13000 BC Human teeth and skull fragments from the Pedra Faruda site of Piaui state were carbon dated to about this time. Niede Guidon began excavations at the site in 1970.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.A18)
9500 BC A female skull, aged 20-25, from this about this time was found near Belo Horizonte in c1995 and named Luzia. It was found to have characteristics similar to people from the South Pacific.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A13)
1000BC-1000AD A civilization in Amazonia, called Patiti or Enin by archeologists, dug channels for an elaborate crop irrigation system.
(SFEC, 12/6/98, p.T12)
1000 In Brazil megaliths were arranged into an astronomical observatory in the Rego Grande area of the Amazon. The stones were uncovered in the 1990s during deforesting operations in the area. In 2016 scholars in the field of archaeoastronomy determined that an indigenous culture had arranged the megaliths about this time.
(SFC, 12/15/16, p.A4)
1250-1400 In the Upper Xingu region of Brazil's Mato Grosso state thousands of people occupied 19 settlements in 2 clusters over this period according to archeological findings in 2003.
(Econ, 9/20/03, p.76)
1492 Research in 2003 indicated that the Kuikuro people in the Amazon basin had a "complex and sophisticated" civilization with a population of many thousands prior to this time.
(AP, 9/19/03)
1500 Jan 26, Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon reached the northeastern coast of Brazil during a voyage under his command. Pinzon had commanded the Nina during Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World.
(MC, 1/26/02)
1500 Mar 9, Pedro Cabral (~1460-1520), Portuguese navigator, departed to India. He left Lisbon with 13 ships headed for India and was blown off course.
(WUD, 1994 p.206)(SFC, 4/20/00, p.A14)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03128a.htm)
1500 Apr 22, Pedro Alvares Cabral (c1460-c1526), Portuguese explorer, discovered Brazil and claimed it for Portugal. He anchored for 10 days in a bay he called "Porto Seguro" and continued on to India. [see Apr 23]
(WUD,1994, p.206)(AHD, p.185)(TL-MB, 1988, p.8)(HN, 4/22/98)(SFC, 4/20/00, p.A14)
1500 Apr 23, Pedro Cabal landed at Terra da Vera Cruz and claimed Brazil for Portugal. The native population was later estimated to have been from 1 to 11 million people. [see Apr 22]
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03128a.htm)(AP, 4/23/98)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A10)
1500 Capt. Vicente Yanez Pinzon, master of the Nina in 1492, is credited with the discovery of Brazil. He took an opossum back to Europe. It was the 1st marsupial Europeans saw.
(SFC, 7/1/00, p.B5)
1500-1800 "Chapters of Brazil Colonial History" by Joao Capistrano de Abreu (1853-1927) covered this period. It was first published in 1907. The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1502 Jan 1, Guanabara Bay was first encountered by Europeans when one of the Portuguese explorers Gaspar de Lemos and Goncalo Coelho arrived on its shores. Guanabara Bay is an oceanic bay located in southeastern Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lies the city of Rio de Janeiro, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanabara_Bay)
1502 Portuguese traders took peanuts from Brazil and Peru to Africa.
(SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8)
1540 Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador, was appointed governor of the province of Rio de la Plata. His advocacy of Indian rights caused him to be arrested and banished to a Spanish outpost in North Africa.
(ON, 10/03, p.5)
1541 When Pizarro's half-brother prepared to explore the lands east of Quito, Francisco de Orellana led an advance expedition and wound up exploring the Amazon basin, following the current to emerge at the mouth of the river in August 1542. From there, he returned to Spain (by way of Trinidad), full of tales of riches and strange tribes led by women like the Amazons of Greek mythology. Orellana died in a return expedition to the Amazon River four years later.
(HNQ, 2/11/01)
1541 Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador, became the 1st European to see the Iguacu Falls. He named the falls Saltos de Santa Maria but the Tupi-Guarani name persisted.
(SFEC, 10/8/00, p.17)
1542 Aug 24, In South America, Gonzalo Pizarro returned to the mouth of the Amazon River after having sailed the length of the great river as far as the Andes Mountains.
(HN, 8/24/98)
1543 Sugar cane was introduced to Brazil about this time. Fermented sugar cane later became the base for cachaca, a light rum that is the national spirit. Cachaca is used to prepare the national drink, the caipirinha.
(Hem, 4/96, p.10)
1547 Hans Staden of Germany was shipwrecked on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. He was later rescued and in 1557 published an illustrated account of his adventures.
(Arch, 5/05, p.30)
1549 Sao Salvador, later Bahia in Brazil, was founded by Thome de Souza, Portugal’s first governor of Brazil. Portuguese conquerors founded Salvador.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1550 African slaves were shipped to Brazil to work sugar plantations.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1554 The hamlet of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was founded by Jesuit missionaries.
(Econ, 9/3/11, p.61)
1556 Jun 16, Pedro Fernandes Sardinha, The 1st bishop of Bahia, was shipwrecked between the rivers São Francisco and Cururipu and murdered by the Indians. The Caytes of the Brazilian coast ate the crews of every wrecked Portuguese ship they found. They ate the first Bishop of Bahia, two Canons, the Procurator of the Royal Portuguese Treasury, 2 pregnant women and several children.
(WSJ, 7/8/96,p.A9)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/13466a.htm)
1560 The first blacks set foot in Brazil.
(SFC, 9/21/96, p.A8)
1565 Mar 1, Spanish occupier Estacio de Sá founded Rio de Janeiro. He destroyed the existing French colony.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.21)(SC, 3/1/02)
1567 Jun 20, Jews were expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique.
(MC, 6/20/02)
1570 The Convento de Penha was built on a 164-meter cliff overlooking Vitoria in the state of Espiritu Santo, Brazil.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.13)
1591 British sailor Anthony Knivet found himself stranded on Ilhabella island near Santos, Brazil. He was shipwrecked there after sailing as a crew member of a 5-ship flotilla under Sir Thomas Cavendish. The story of his adventures was published in 1625 by Richard Hakluyt, a director of the Virginia Company,
(Econ, 12/17/11, p.54)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Knivet)
1600-1700 Brazil’s Ouro Preto which means Black Gold in Portuguese, was founded in the 17th century after huge gold deposits were discovered under its steep hills.
(AP, 4/19/03)
1624 The Dutch conquered Salvador.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1627 Mar 3, Piet Heyn conquered 22 ships in Bay of Salvador, Brazil.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1636 Nov 17, Henrique Dias, Brazilian general, won a decisive battle against the Dutch in Brazil.
(HN, 11/17/98)
1638 Jan 5, Petition in Recife, Brazil, led to the closing of its two synagogues.
(MC, 1/5/02)
1641 Cristoval de Acuna, a Jesuit missionary, first wrote about the Amazon River to the king of Spain.
(SFC, 12/16/00, p.A22)
1645 Apr 7, Michael Cardozo became the 1st Jewish lawyer in Brazil.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1645 In Brazil two priests and 28 lay people were slaughtered by Dutch Calvinists and indigenous people, and in some cases had their hearts torn from their chests after being tortured and mutilated.
(AP, 10/15/17)
1654 Apr 26, Jews were expelled from Brazil.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1661 Aug 6, Holland sold Brazil to Portugal for 8 million guilders.
(MC, 8/6/02)
1695 Nov 20, Zumbi, a Brazilian leader of a hundred-year-old rebel slave group, was killed in an ambush in Palmares. In January 2003 legislation established November 20 as Black Consciousness Day.
(http://tinyurl.com/gsg6wt8)(SFC, 8/16/01, p.A8)(SSFC, 11/18/12, p.G3)
1696 In the late 1600s the Xukuru Indians fought the Portuguese to a stand off in what was later referred to as the "War of the Barbarians."
(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/bhqlp)
1711 Sep 22, A French corsair captured Rio de Janeiro following its surprise appearance in Rio's harbor on 12 September. Four Portuguese ships of the line were lost, and the city had to pay a ransom to avoid destruction of its defenses.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rio_de_Janeiro)
1723 Sao Francisco church in Salvador was completed with its walls lined with gold.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1727 Brazil planted its first coffee.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1728 The first diamonds found in Brazil reached Lisbon, Portugal. [see 1730]
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.13)
1730 Diamonds were discovered in Brazil, which became the leading supplier until the 1866 discovery in South Africa. [see 1728]
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1746 Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, Brazil’s Martyr of Independence, was born.
(www.v-brazil.com/culture/historic-characters/tiradentes.html)
1756 Feb 7, In Brazil the Indian Chief Sepe Tiaraju was killed at the hands of Portuguese and Spanish soldiers.
(AP, 2/7/06)
1763 The capital of Brazil was changed from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.
(USAT, OW, 4/22/96, p.3)(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1766-1769 The French expedition of Louis Antoine de Bougainville sailed on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe. Botanist Jeanne Baret, disguised as a man, likely collected a flower (bougainvillea) near Rio de Janeiro that was named after the captain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Bar%C3%A9)
1789 May 10, Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, rebel for Independence, was arrested. He was betrayed by Joaquim Silverio dos Reis, a participant of the movement, in exchange of waiving of his due taxes; Silverio’s name is carved in Brazilian History as The Betrayer.
(www.v-brazil.com/culture/historic-characters/tiradentes.html)(SFC, 2/26/99, p.E2)
1789 In Brazil poet and dentist Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier helped launch the first Brazilian rebellion against the country's Portuguese rulers.
(AP, 4/19/03)
1792 Apr 21, Jose da Silva Xavier, aka Tiradentes (teeth puller), considered by many to be Brazil's George Washington, was drawn and quartered by the Portuguese. He was hung in Rio de Janeiro. His body was broken to pieces. A document was written With his blood declaring his memory infamous. His head was exposed in Vila Rica. Pieces of his body were exposed in the cities between Vila Rica and Rio, in an attempt to scare the people who had listened to his independence ideas.
(AP, 4/19/03)(www.v-brazil.com/culture/historic-characters/tiradentes.html)
1796-1799 Baroque sculptor Aleijadinho (Antonio Francisco Lisboa), completed his greatest work: the sculptures of Congonhas do Campo, 66 wooden images that include the 12 prophets.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.10)
1808 Napoleon chased Portugal’s royal family to Brazil. King Joao VI of Portugal and his court were installed in Rio de Janeiro by a British fleet.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.5)(Econ, 9/11/10, SR p.3)
1808-1821 Rio de Janeiro was made the capital of the Portuguese empire.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.3)
1809 The Portuguese crown, now in Brazil, granted authors and inventors exclusive rights to their works in Brazil fro 14 years.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.38)
1811-1843 Some 500,000 slaves arrived at Valongo, Brazil’s main landing stage for African slaves. This port area of Rio de Janeiro was re-discovered in 2010 as the city prepared for the 2016 Olympics.
(Econ, 1/28/12, p.35)
1813 Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff was nominated consul general of Russia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He acquired a farm (named "Mandioca", or manioc) in the north of Rio and collected plants, animals and minerals. He hosted and entertained foreign naturalists and scientists, and explored the flora, fauna and geography of the province of Minas Gerais with French naturalist Augustin Saint-Hilaire from 1813 to 1820.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Langsdorff)
1817 The multi-volume "Flora Brasiliensis" was commissioned by Maximilian I of Austria. The definitive volume on Brazilian botany was completed in 1906.
(WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A14)
1819 Johann Baptist von Spix discovered the Spix macaw of Brazil (Cyanopsitta spixii). The last wild Spix macaw disappeared in 2000.
(SFC, 10/7/99, p.A15,18)(SFC, 12/27/00, p.C2)
1821 Anita Ribeiro (d.1849), later wife of Italian revolutionary Garibaldi, was born in Laguna Brazil.
(ON, 10/06, p.5)
1822 Sep 7, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Brazil)(AP, 9/7/97)
1822-1831 Pedro I ruled Brazil.
(EWH, 4th ed., p.854)
1822-1889 The period of the Brazilian monarchy.
(Hem, 8/96, p.68)
1823 Homosexual acts were decriminalized.
(SFC, 1/11/99, p.A10)
1825 Mar 25, The first Brazilian Constitution was promulgated by Peter I and solemnly sworn in the Cathedral of the Empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Brazil)
1826 Dom Pedro IV, emperor of Brazil, attained the Portuguese throne.
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T1)
1828 May 18, The Battle of Las Piedras, ended the conflict between Uruguay and Brazil.
(HN, 5/18/98)
1830-1897 Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel, aka Antonio Conselheiro, was born in Quixeramobim, Ceara. He founded the settlement of Canudos in Bahia that was destroyed by government forces.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1831 Apr 7, Pedro I of Brazil abdicated in favor of his 5-year-old son, Pedro de Alcantara, Pedro II.
(EWH, 4th ed., p.855)
1832 Apr 4, Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reached Rio de Janeiro.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1832 Apr 8, Charles Darwin began a trip through Rio de Janeiro.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1839 Italian revolutionary Garibaldi arrived in Brazil to aid the rebels.
(ON, 10/06, p.5)
1839-1908 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis, mulatto writer. His novels included "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas," (1880) and "Dom Casmurro," (1899). The works were republished in 1998 by the Oxford Library of Latin America.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1847 In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a mansion was donated by a wealthy Brazilian to the government to serve as a center for the study of indigenous traditions. The Indian Museum was abandoned in 1977. Indigenous people built hjomes on the site and in 2013 faced eviction under plans to refurbish the area to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup.
(AP, 1/13/13)
1853-1927 Joao Capistrano de Abreu, historian. He later wrote "Chapters of Brazil Colonial History, 1500-1800," first published in 1907. The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1864 Oct 7, The USS Wachusett captured the CSS Florida in a naval engagement fought at the neutral harbor of Bahia, Brazil. Many of the Confederate crew were ashore at the time.
(AH, 10/04, p.15)
1864 Brazil under Emperor Pedro II invaded Uruguay. In response Paraguay’s Pres. Francisco Solano Lopez attacked Brazil’s province of Matto Grosso.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.46)
1865-1870 South America’s War of the Triple Alliance saw Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay aligned against Paraguay. The Triple Alliance believed Paraguay was undermining the region’s political stability. The war ended in crushing defeat of Paraguay with as much as 90% of its adult male population killed.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.A1)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.45)
1865-1875 After the American Civil War some southerners moved to Brazil where the government offered land grants and slavery was still permitted.
(NH, 7/96, p.74,75)(SFC, 4/28/15, p.A2)
1866 Mar 1, Paraguayan canoes sank 2 Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1866 Henry Wickham (1846-1928) ventured from Britain to South America hoping to shoot exotic birds and ship home feathers for lady’s hats. This venture failed as the birds exploded from the rifle shots. He returned to the Amazon region and in 1876 gathered seeds of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, which produced latex. Less than 4% of some 70,000 seeds germinated, but this was enough to ship seedlings to Ceylon, India, Malaya and Singapore and begin a global rubber plantation boom.
(WSJ, 2/27/08, p.D10)
1869 Aug 12, In Piribebuy, Paraguay, 1,600 poorly armed men, many of them mere children, spent 5 hours resisting the assault of 20,000 allied Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan forces intent on conquest, before finally being overwhelmed. At the end of the battle, in which the Hospital de Sangre was burnt down, along with all the wounded inside, many prisoners were decapitated.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piribebuy)
1869 Paraguay’s army surrendered to the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Pres. Lopez refused to surrender.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.46)
1870 Mar 1, Francisco S. Lopez (43), President of Paraguay (1862-70), was killed in the War of the Triple alliance. The Brazilian army had cornered him at Cerro Cora. A rough post-war census counted just 29,000 males over the age of 15 left in Paraguay.
(http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/L/Lopez-Fr.html)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.46)
1871 Mar 5, In Brazil Maria do Carmo Jeronimo was born as a slave in the town of Carmo de Minas in Minas Gerais state under the rule of Emperor Pedro II. Jeronimo died in 2000, but the lack of a birth certificate prevented her being recognized as the world’s oldest woman.
(SFC, 6/16/00, p.A34)
1871 Brazil’s parliament passed the law of free womb, which stated that children born to slave mothers would not themselves be slaves.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.52)
1873 Alberto Santos-Dumont (d.1932), aviation pioneer, was born.
(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.M1)
1873 Britain sent an agent, Henry Wickham, to Brazil to get rubber seeds. The Seedlings were cultivated in Kew Gardens and transplanted to Malaysia.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)
1876 Jun 25, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brazil's Emperor Dom Pedro was among the witnesses.
(SFC, 2/3/97, p.D1)(ON, 1/03, p.5)
1880 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), Brazilian mulatto writer, wrote "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas." The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1881 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), a Brazilian mulatto writer, authored "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas," his fifth novel.
(Econ., 8/15/20, p.74)
1883 Sep 21, The 1st direct US-Brazil telegraph connection was made.
(MC, 9/21/01)
1885 May 18, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (1945-50), was born.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1885 Brazil passed a law freeing slaves between the ages of 60 and 65 in exchange for three final years of service. By the following year slaves began running away from their masters in large numbers.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.52)
1887 Mar 5, Heitor Villa-Lobos, composer, was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(HN, 3/5/01)(MC, 3/5/02)
1888 Feb 11, In Brazil volunteer police commissioner Joaquin Firmino de Araujo Cunha was murdered in Rio do Peixe, a town which later changed its name to Itapira. The man responsible for the murder was reported to be James Warne, a British-born American doctor and slave owner.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.48)
1888 May 13, Slavery was abolished in Brazil. Some 4 million slaves had been imported, the most of any nation in the western hemisphere.
(WSJ, 8/6/96, p.A1)(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/98)
1888 In Brazil Joao Batista, Baron of Drummond, opened a zoo in Rio de Janeiro. To pull in business he printed animals on tickets and displayed a winning animal on a flag at the end of the day and paying 20 times the cost of the ticket. Side betting soon developed.
(Econ, 5/5/12, p.38)
1889 Nov 15, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Emperor Dom Pedro II was overthrown and military officers established a republic.
(AP, 11/15/97)(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1889 Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), mulatto writer wrote " Dom Casmurro." The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1889-1937 Prof. John Wirth (d.2002) of Stanford covered this period of Brazil in his book "Minas Gerais in the Brazilian Federation."
(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A29)
1890 Feb 20, Giovanni Rossi left Italy with a group of anarchists, from Genoa, headed
to Palmeiras, Paranà, in Brazil, where they established the anarchist "Cecilia Colony". Its population, primarily male, had about 300 members. This experiment in anarchist communism and free love lasted for about five years, running up against not only material problems, but especially emotional and sexual difficulties. The colony dissolved in 1894, but Rossi remained in Brazil, in Taquary, then Rio dos Cedros, as director of an agricultural research station. He published the book “Le Paranà au 20° siècle."
(http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/RossiGiovanni.htm)
1891 Nov 23, Deodoroda Fonseca, the 1st president of Brazil, was ousted by a navy revolt.
(AP, 11/23/02)
1891 Brazil enacted a constitution that called for moving the seat of government away from the coastline in order to spur development.
(Econ, 7/30/16, p.26)
1893 Sep 6, Floriano Vieira Peixoto, acting president of Brazil, faced a rebellion by officers of his navy led by Admiral Custodio Jose de Mello.
(ON, 12/06, p.11)
1893 Oct, Floriano Vieira Peixoto, acting president of Brazil, contacted his ambassador in Washington with instructions to buy a fleet of warships for a new navy. Dr. Salvador de Mendonca soon authorized Charles R. Flint, an American businessman, to purchase ships and weapons for Brazil. Over the next 21 days Flint spent $1.5 million acquiring ships and guns including the new Zalinski dynamite gun.
(ON, 12/06, p.11)
1893 Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel, aka Antonio Conselheiro, founded the settlement of Canudos in the "certao" region of Bahia, Brazil. He was a charismatic religious leader and established an independent community of some 25,000. the movement favored the deposed monarchy and was crushed by government troops.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)(Econ, 1/10/04, p.74)
1894 Jan, US Rear Admiral Andrew Benham led a fleet of US Navy ships into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro escorting American merchants ships. The outgunned Brazilian rebel fleet made no serious challenge.
(ON, 12/06, p.12)
1894 Feb 13, In Brazil peace talks between Pres. Peixoto and navy rebels broke down completely when Admiral Saldanha da Gama led a landing party that stormed a republican fort at Nictheroy on the Guanabara Bay opposite from Rio de Janeiro. The rebels were driven back.
(ON, 12/06, p.12)
1894 Mar 13, The Dynamite Squadron of ships, purchased and outfitted in the US, steamed into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. Rebel sailors immediately surrendered in exchange for safe passage to Argentina aboard Portuguese warships. The rebellion ended a weeks later when the rebel flagship, Aquidbada, was captured off Desterro by the American crew of the Nictheroy, the former Morgan steamship El Cid.
(ON, 12/06, p.12)
1894 Charles Miller, the son of an English railway engineer, returned to Sao Paulo from a British boarding school. He brought back a football and popularized the game of soccer in Brazil.
(Econ, 10/29/16, p.30)
1895 Feb 28, Guiomar Novaes, pianist (Brazilian Order of Merit), was born in Brazil.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1896 Dec 31, The Teatro Amazonas opened in Manaus. The theater was built by the rubber barons over 15 years with everything imported from Europe.
(SFEC, 7/16/00, p.T12)
c1896 Police were sent to Canudos, Brazil, but were repelled by the settlement in what came to be call the First Military Expedition to Canudos. The government feared a threat to the national order and sent the Second Military Expedition of 550 soldiers, who were also repelled by the settlement. In the Third Military Expedition 1,500 troops under Colonel Antonio Moreira Cesar, aka The Ground Trembler" and "The Beheader," were defeated at Canudos and the colonel was killed.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1897 Sep, Antonio Conselheiro, the founding leader of Canudos, died of dysentery.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1897 Oct 5, In Brazil after 3 failed military campaigns Pres. Prudente de Morais sent 8,000 soldiers with Krupp cannons, dynamite and machine guns in the Fourth Military Expedition to overcome the settlement of Canudos led by Antonio Conselheiro. After a 4-month battle government forces defeated the settlement. In 1902 Euclides da Cunha wrote "Os Sertoes," (The Arid Region), translated into English as "Rebellion in the Backlands." In 1981 Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru wrote a fictional account of the event in the epic work: "The War of the End of the World."
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1897 Belo Horizonte was founded in the state of Minas Gerais as the first modern planned city of Brazil.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.9)
1898 In Brazil the Paricatuba villa was built across the Rio Negro from Manaus at the height of the region’s rubber boom. This briefly transformed Manaus into one of the richest cities in the world. The sprawling villa was initially intended to house the Italian immigrants who arrived to work in the rubber trade.
(AP, 5/30/14)
1900-1973 Maria Martins, Brazilian sculptor. She was portrayed in a 1934 painting by Marcel Duchamp "Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas."
(SFC, 5/2/00, p.D1)
1902 Oct 31, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet, journalist and short story writer, was born.
(HN, 10/31/00)
1902 Euclides da Cunha wrote "Os Sertoes," (The Arid Region), translated into English as "Rebellion in the Backlands," on the 1893-1897 events at Canudos led by Antonio Conselheiro.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1906 David Casement, a British consul, was sent to Brazil, first as consul in Pará, then transferred to Santos, and lastly promoted to consul-general in Rio de Janeiro. When he was attached as a consular representative to a commission investigating murderous rubber slavery by the British-registered Peruvian Amazon Company, effectively controlled by the archetypal rubber baron Julio Cesar Arana and his brother, Casement had the occasion to do work among the Putumayo Indians of Peru similar to that which he had done in the Congo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement)
1907 "Chapters of Brazil Colonial History, 1500-1800" by Joao Capistrano de Abreu (1853-1927) was first published. The Oxford Library of Latin America published a new edition in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1908 Jun, Japanese immigration to Brazil began when 781 Japanese arrived on the ship Kasato Maru. Nearly 800 Japanese set sail on the "Kasato Maru" ship from Kobe in search of better living conditions and arrived at Santos Port only to find a grueling life working on farmland.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A8)(AFP, 4/24/08)
1908 Sep 29, Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis (b.1839), Brazilian writer, died. Widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature, he did not gain widespread popularity outside Brazil in his own lifetime.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machado_de_Assis)
1908-1998 Silvio Caldas, one of the country’s best-loved singers, sang in a deep, husky voice. He recorded over 500 records and his favorite was "Chao de Estrelas" by Orestes Barbosa.
(SFC, 2/5/98, p.A21)
1909 Carlos Chagas (1879-1934), a Brazilian doctor, described how a fatal infection, that became known as Chagas disease, was transmitted as a single cell parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, carried by insects that typically bite their sleeping victims on the face. In 1921 Chagas won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. In 2010 scientists at UC San Francisco reported the development of a protease inhibitor, K777, which appeared to kill the parasite.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Chagas)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A20)
1910 In Brazil a 100-kg aquamarine stone was found whose value in 1996 would exceed US$25 million.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.13)
1912 Algot Lange, the son of an opera singer, authored “In the Amazon Jungle." In 1910 he had gone on an adventure in the upper Amazon between Brazil and Peru and only survived with the aid of Mangeroma cannibals.
(WSJ, 4/28/07, p.P8)
1912 In Brazil the 367-km Madeira-Mamore railway was built for booming rubber exports from Porto Velho to the Bolivian border. It was rendered obsolete by new Asian plantations almost before it opened.
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.29)
1914 Feb, In Brazil a 22-man party, that included former Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, started down the Rio da Duvida (River of Doubt) in the Amazon Basin for a 2-month adventure. In 2005 Candice Millard authored “The River of Doubt" Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey."
(SSFC, 10/23/05, p.M3)
1915 By this year Malay plantations produced 107,860 tons of rubber compared with 37,200 tons in Brazil.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)
1916 A Brazilian civil statute formally enshrined the hierarchical and patriarchal view of family and sexual relations.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A10)
1917 In Brazil Ernesto de Santos Donga wrote the song "Pela telefone." It was considered to be the first recorded samba.
(Wired, 2/98, p.128)
1917 Mar 22, In Brazil Caixa Economica de Sao Paulo first opened its doors. In 2008 the bank was bought by Banco do Brazil.
(http://tinyurl.com/2wkhujw)(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.11)
1918 Sep 25, Brazil declared war on Austria.
(HN, 9/25/98)
1919 May 29, A solar eclipse occurred that was photographed by two British expeditions, one in Africa and the other in Sobral, Brazil. Arthur Eddington, British astronomer, confirmed Einstein’s prediction of the deflection of light from Principe, a Portuguese island off the Atlantic coast of Africa. In 1980 Harry Colling and Trevor Pinch published "The Golem," an account of the expedition. The play “Rose Tattoo" by Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams was originally titled “The Eclipse of May 29, 1919."
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.E3)(www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~suchii/Edd.on1919.html)
1919 General Electric Corp. entered the emerging market of Brazil.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.9)
1921 Carlos Chagas (1879-1934), a Brazilian doctor, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his 1909 discovery of how a single cell parasite carried by insects transmitted a disease (Chagas disease) to sleeping victims.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Chagas)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)
1924 Brazil’s finance ministry set up a body to hear appeals by firms that feel wronged by tax collectors. It became known as CARF, the Administrative Council for Fiscal Resources.
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.68)
1925 Mr. Roberto Marinho (1904-2003) inherited the Rio newspaper O Globo 23 days after it was founded by his father who suddenly died. He learned the business as a reporter and editor and took over as editor in chief in 1931. The operation later expanded to dominate the television market.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)(WSJ, 9/29/99, p.A1)(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A14)
1925 Percy Harrison Fawcett, former British cricketer and soldier, vanished along with his son Jack in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. In 2009 David Grann authored “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon."
(WSJ, 2/27/09, p.W6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_City_of_Z)
1926 Jun 12, Brazil quit the League of Nations in protest over plans to admit Germany.
(HN, 6/12/98)
1927 Henry Ford obtained a Connecticut-sized land in the Brazilian jungle and began creating his Fordlandia factory town for the creation of a rubber plantation and processing facility to supply his factories with tires and gaskets. A strike in 1930 wrecked Fordlandia. It was rebuilt and struggled on for a decade until succumbing to leaf blight and insects. In 2009 Greg Grandin authored “Fordlandia: The rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle city."
(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.F7)
1928 Carlos Moreira de Castro (Carlos Cachaca, d.1999 at age 97) helped found the Mangueira samba school.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.C2)
1928 Henry Ford built a factory in Brazil's Amazon rainforest at a company town called Fordlandia. It lasted 17 years as pests killed off rubber trees and vice doomed the town.
(Econ., 1/16/21, p.24)
1930 Nov 3, Getulio Vargas (1883-1954) seized power in Brazil on the grounds of election fraud. He soon put a moratorium on pension payments. From 1930-1934, he was provisional president and dictator. From 1934-1937, he was congressionally elected president. From 1937-1945, he was dictator with the backing of the revolutionary coalition. From 1951 to 1954, he was popularly elected president.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A1)(http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=428)
1930-1954 Prof. John Wirth (d.2002) of Stanford covered this period of Brazil in his book "The Politics of Brazilian Development 1930-1954." It won the Bolton Prize in 1971.
(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A29)
1931 Jun 18, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was born. He served 2 terms as president of Brazil (1994-2002)
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)
1931 Oct 12, The Rio de Janeiro 98-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer was unveiled atop Corcovado Mountain as a belated monument to 100 years of independence from Portugal (1822). It was designed by Brazilian artist Carlos Oswald and French sculptor Paul Landowski.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.T2)(SFC, 10/14/03, p.D7)
1932 Jul 23, Alberto Santos-Dumont (b.1873), aviation pioneer, hanged himself in Guaraja, Brazil after hearing a bomber discharge its load on fellow countrymen. In 2003 Paul Hoffman authored "Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight."
(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.M1)
1932 Brazilian women won the right to vote.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A1)
1932 Brazil enacted a no-arrest provision that prohibited voters from being arrested five days before elections unless they are caught red-handed. It was included in the Brazilian electoral code after a period in which election fraud and arrests to intimidate voters were common.
(AP, 10/27/10)
1933 Oct 10, At Rio de Janeiro, nations of the Western Hemisphere signed a non-aggression and conciliation treaty.
(HN, 10/10/98)
1937 Mussolini helped inspire the Estado Novo of Brazil’s Pres. Getulio Vargas. The system of labor and industrial syndicates continued to influence labor relations to 2007.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.5)
1938 The Cammargo Correa Group was begun as a family business. It has since mushroomed into a construction giant.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.5)
1939 Brazil established a 714-sq. mile national park at the Iguacu Falls site on the Argentine border.
(SFEM, 10/8/00, p.15)
1940 Oct 23, Pele, legendary Brazilian soccer player who scored 1,281 goals in 22 years, was born.
(HN, 10/23/98)
1940 Brazil’s penal code included Clause VIII in Article 107, which said that a sex criminal’s punishment may be cancelled if the victim subsequently weds.
(WSJ, 7/12/04, p.A1)
1940 The Brazilian Reinsurance Institute, later called IRB, was founded by Pres. Getulio Vargas. The self-regulating institution remained a state monopoly into 2006.
(Econ, 1/7/06, p.68)
1941 Jorge Amado (1912-2001), Brazilian Communist novelist, was exiled to Argentina.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)
1941 The Brazilian government founded the steelmaker CSN. It was privatized in the early 1990s.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.10)
1942 Jan, Chile and Argentina were the only two Latin American countries that did not comply at once with the Rio de Janeiro Conference recommendation to those countries who had not already done so to sever diplomatic and commercial relations with the Axis powers, Germany, Italy and Japan. Chile eventually broke Axis relations in January 1943 and Argentina complied in January 1944. The conference of Western Hemisphere foreign ministers also called for suppression of pro-Axis activity in the Americas, establishment of an Inter-American defense board and economic cooperation within the hemisphere.
(HNQ, 9/24/00)
1942 Feb 23, Stefan Zweig (b.1881), Austrian Jewish writer (Die Welt von Gestern), committed suicide with his wife in Brazil. Zweig's nostalgic but rather impersonal memoirs of the "Golden Age of Security", The World of Yesterday, was published posthumously in 1943. His last novel (The Ecstasy of Transformation) was published posthumously in Germany in 1982. In 2008 it was translated into English as “The Post-Office Girl." In 2014 George Prochnik authored “The Impossible Exile: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World."
(www.kirjasto.sci.fi/szweig.htm)(WSJ, 6/21/08, p.W9)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.91)(Econ, 6/14/14, p.76)
1942 Aug 13, Brazil-based Bemol was founded by three grandsons of Moroccan Jewish immigrants who had arrived in 1887. By 2020 it was the largest department store in the Amazon.
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/bemol/)(Econ., 11/7/20, p.30)
1942 Aug 22, Brazil declared war on the Axis powers. She was the only South American country to send combat troops into Europe.
(HN, 8/22/98)
1942 Jorge Amado (d.2001 at 88) authored his novel "The Violent Land." It focused on the bloody rivalry of 2 powerful cocoa farmers in the Brazilian frontier.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)
1942 Companhia do Vale do Rio Doce, a state mining concern, was founded. It was pivotal in developing the Amazon Basin.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A10)
1943 Jul 19, American planes sank the German U-513 submarine off the coast of southern Brazil. In 2011 researchers from the Vale do Itajai University found the submarine off the coast of Santa Catarina state.
(AP, 7/15/11)
1943 Brazil adopted a rigid labor law transplanted from Benito Mussolini’s Italy.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.52)
1944 Dec 20, In Brazil the Fundacao Getulio Vargas (Getulio Vargas Foundation, often abbreviated as FGV or simply GV) was founded as an institution of higher education. Its original goal was to train people for the country's public- and private-sector management.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funda%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Get%C3%BAlio_Vargas)
1946 Apr 22, Dectuplets were born in Bacacay, Brazil, 8 males and 2 females.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1948 The Safra banking family arrive in Brazil from Lebanon and proceeded to establish one of the country's biggest banks.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A15)
1949 Hans Stern (1922-2007), German-born jeweler, opened his first H. Stern boutique in Rio de Janeiro. By 2007 the firm had some 160 boutiques around the world.
(WSJ, 11/3/07, p.A6)
1950 Jun 24, In Brazil the Maracana stadium in Rio was officially inaugurated for the opening of soccer’s World Cup, the first in 12 years due to WW II.
(www.soccerhall.org/history/WorldCup_1950.htm)
1950 Jul 16, Brazil, host for soccer’s World Cup, lost the final game to Uruguay 2-1. Uruguay’s goals came in 13 minutes late in the second half. Alcides Ghiggia (1926-2015) scored the winning goal.
(Econ, 7/12/14, p.33)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_FIFA_World_Cup)
1950 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), wrote "Kadiweu Religion and Mythology." He studied the Kadiweu and Kaapor Indians of Brazil.
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1951 Getulio Vargas, former autocrat, was elected president of Brazil and ruled to 1954.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)(Econ, 4/15/06, p.39)
1951 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), wrote "Art of the Kadiweu Indians."
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1952 Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) was founded to provide long-term financing for endeavors that contribute to the country's development.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNDES)
1952 Margaret Mee (1909-1988), botanical artist, left Britain for Brazil and for 3 decades documented Amazonian rain forest plant life in large watercolors.
(WSJ, 1/26/99, p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/yafb9m)
1953 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), founded the Museum of the Indian in Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1953 Brazil’s Petrobras was founded under the slogan “o petroleo e nosso" (the oil is ours) as the country produced 2,700 barrels of oil per day and consumed 137,000 per day. In 2006 Brazil became independent from foreign oil.
(AP, 4/22/06)(Econ, 2/14/15, p.33)
1953 In Brazil JBS Friboi began as a butchers founded by Jose Sobrinho in Anapolis, Goias state. By 2011 it was the world’s largest meat producer.
(Econ, 9/24/11, SR p.22)
1953 Volkswagen began manufacturing cars in Brazil.
(Econ, 11/15/08, SR p.6)
1954 Aug 24, In Brazil Pres. Getulio Vargas killed himself in the midst of a scandal.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)(http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=428)
1954 Director Sam Fuller trekked to the rainforest with a 16mm Bolex, 75 boxes of cigars and 2 cases of vodka hoping to make a film. Producer Darryl Zanuck called it off. The 1995 documentary film "Tigrero" was made by Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismaki. It covered the 1954 trek into the Brazilian rainforest by Sam Fuller.
(SFC,12/5/97, p.C12)
1956 Jan 31, Brazil’s Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek (1902-1976) took office. He vowed to modernize the country and made economic growth his main goal.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek)
1956 Apr 12, Henrique da Rocha-Lima (b.1879), Brazilian scientist, died. Working in Germany, he with Stanislaus von Prowazek (1875-1915) discovered Rickettsia prowazekii, the pathogen of endemic typhus, which he named after the German zoologist.
(www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/3185.html)
1956 Brazil’s Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek pushed through a law to move the seat of government inland.
(Econ, 7/30/16, p.26)
1956 African honeybees were imported to Brazil by a scientist who let them escape. By 1990 they had worked their way north to southern Texas and began to spread across the southwest.
(WSJ, 8/16/06, p.A12)
1957 Feb, Brazil began work began on its new capital, Brasilia. This was led by urban planner Lucio Costa, architect Oscar Niemeyer and landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek)
1957 Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1923-1997), wrote "Indigenous Language and Cultures in Brazil."
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1957 Roberto Marinho, head of Rio's O Globo newspaper, won his 1st television concession from Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek.
(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A14)
1958 Jun 29, Brazil won its first World Cup in thrilling fashion, defeating host Sweden 5-2 in the final and in the process becoming the first team to win the tournament outside its continent. The tournament is largely remembered for the emergence of 17-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele.
(AP, 6/2/18)
1958 Jorge Amado (d.2001 at 88), Brazilian writer, published his novel "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon."
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)(www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9182926)
1958 Leonel Brizola (1922-2004) was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, the youngest state governor (36) in Brazilian history.
(SFC, 6/24/04, p.B6)
1959 Nov 17, Heitor Villa-Lobos (b.1887), Brazilian composer, pianist and conductor, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Lobos)
1959 The film "Black Orpheus" was directed by Marcel Camus. It featured the music of Luis Floriano Bonfa (d.2001 at 78).
(SFC, 1/13/01, p.A24)
1960 Apr 21, Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), founded in 1952, helped fund its development.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.3)(AP, 4/21/97)(HN, 4/21/98)(Econ, 4/18/09, p.81)
1960-1969 In the 1960s Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist (1922-1997), wrote his 6-volume work "Studies of the Anthropology of Civilization."
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1960-1969 Carlos Marighella and Carlos Lamarca founded revolutionary groups in Brazil during the 1960s and financed their operations by robbing banks and kidnapped foreign ambassadors as exchange for jailed colleagues.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1961 Jan, Janio Quadros took the oath as president of Brazil.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1961 Aug 25, Brazilian president Janio Quadros resigned. He was replaced by vice-president Joao Goulart.
(chblue.com, 8/25/01)(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1962 Apr 16, Brazil nationalized US businesses.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1962 Vinicius de Moraes, inspired by the stroll of a young woman (18) headed for Copacabana, wrote a poem that became known as “The Girl of Ipanema." It was put to music by Jaoa Gilberto and Stan Getz and sung by Gilberto’s wife, Astrud. The song won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1964. The young woman, Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, never made a dime off the song but opened a modeling agency and a clothing store near the site.
(SSFC, 9/30/07, p.G3)
1962 In Brazil the first residents of Sao Paulo’s Edificio Copan, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, began moving in. City hall issued its first residency permit in May, 1966.
(Econ, 2/27/15, p.26)
1962 Havaianas, a brand of rubber and plastic flip-flops, were introduced in Brazil. In 1994 Havaianas introduced a new line of one-shade sandals in black, royal blue, pink and purple and the brand began to gather worldwide popularity.
(AP, 7/24/12)
1963 Dec 4, In Brazil Sen. Arnon de Mello (1911-1983), the father of future president Fernando Collor, shot and killed Senator Joseph Kairala of Acre in the Senate, but was never tried. The intended victim was Mello’s political enemy Senator Silvestre Pericles.
(http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnon_Afonso_de_Farias_Melo)(Econ, 7/28/12, p.31)
1964 Mar 27, In a cable to the US State Department Lincoln Gordon, US ambassador to Brazil, requested a naval task force and deliveries of fuel and arms to the coup plotters "to help avert a major disaster here." US documents declassified in 2004 showed the extent of American willingness to provide aid to Brazil's generals during a coup that ushered in 21 years of often bloody military rule.
(AP, 4/3/04)
1964 Mar 31, In Brazil a coup was put in motion and was over by April 4, when Pres. Goulart fled to exile in Uruguay. The entire episode was bloodless.
(AP, 4/3/04)
1964 Apr 2, A military coup in Brazil by Gen. Humberto Castello Branco ousted Pres. Joao Goulart and altered the traditional power structure. Gen'l. Golbery do Couto e Silva was a leader in the coup. Business interests led by Jorge Oscar de Mello Flores (d.2000 at 88) supported the military coup.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)(WSJ, 7/7/99, p.A17)(SFC, 8/3/00, p.D2)(MC, 4/2/02)
1964 Dec 2, Brazil sent Juan Peron back to Spain, foiling his efforts to return to his native land.
(HN, 12/2/98)
1964 The Brazilian film "Black God, White Devil" was directed by Glauber Rocha.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, DB p.44)
1964-1985 A military dictatorship ruled over Brazil. As many as 353 people died while under custody. The dead of the leftist opposition were either "disappeared" or registered as suicides or fatalities from accidents or shootouts.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1965 Dec 4, The Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) was founded as the official opposition party to the supporters of military rule gathered under the National Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA) umbrella.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Democratic_Movement_Party)
1965 Brazil’s Forest Code of this year required private landowners to leave to leave forests standing on part of their farms. In the Amazon this was set at four-fifths. This particular requirement has never been effectively implemented.
(Econ, 12/3/11, p.47)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Forest_Code)
1965 Roberto Marinho broke into Brazil’s television industry. By 1995 Rede Globo became the world's fourth largest TV network.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)
1965 Peru cut a trail through the jungle to Inapari, its border town across from Assis, Brazil.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.40)
1966 Jan 11, In Brazil 550 died in landslides in mountains behind Rio de Janeiro after rain.
(MC, 1/11/02)
1966 The Copan building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, designed Oscar Niemeyer (b.1907), was completed. Begun in 1953 the massive residential structure shaped like a wave became a South American landmark.
(AP, 12/12/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer)
1967 Fernando Henrique Cardoso (b.1931) authored “Dependency and Development in Latin America." Cardoso later served as president of Brazil.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)
1967 Singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil founded the tropicalista (tropicalismo) movement. It was a group of singers, artists and radicals that turned Brazilian culture inside out. They began experimenting with electric instruments and the rhythms of rock, but in 1970 the military regime sent them into exile in Europe. In 1997 Caetano Veloso authored "Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil." An English translation was made in 2002.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, DB p.58)(Wired, 2/98, p.129)(SSFC, 11/3/02, p.M3)
1967 Brazil passed legislation stipulating that journalists must obtain a diploma and register with the labor ministry, in order to prevent troublemakers from voicing their opinions. In the name of national security, legislation censored news media, composers, playwrights and writers and allowed for the seizure of publications. In 2009 Brazil’s Supreme Court struck down the press censorship legislation.
(Econ, 10/25/08, p.48)(AP, 5/1/09)
1967 Brazil, in an attempt to foment progress (and diminish regional inequalities), created a tax free zone was created called Zona Franca de Manaus. Manaus is the only city in Amazonas where an industrial park has been developed.
(www.v-brazil.com/information/geography/amazonas/economy.html)
1967 Dr. Philip D. Marsden began fieldwork in Brazil and was named a professor of tropical medicine at the Univ. of Brasilia, where he became a leading authority on Leishmaniasis, an often fatal disease borne by sand flies.
(SFC,10/27/97, p.C2)
1969 Sep 4, In Brazil Fernando Gabeira helped kidnap the US ambassador in Rio, Charles Elbrick (d.1983), to protest the military dictatorship. Elbrick was released unhurt four days later, but Gabeira was banned from entering the US.
(AP, 10/27/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Burke_Elbrick)
1969 The Brazilian film "Antonio da Mortes" was directed by Glauber Rocha.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, DB p.44)
1969 Explorer Loren McIntyre, on assignment for National Geographic made contact with the Mayoruna people, a tribe in the Amazon border region between Brazil and Peru. In 1991 Petru Demetru Popescu authored “Amazon Beaming," an account of McIntyre’s encounter with the tribe.
(Econ, 10/15/16, p.81)
1969 Embraer SA, an aircraft maker, was founded by Brazil’s military dictatorship in an effort to develop an aviation industry. The company was privatized in 1994.
(WSJ, 9/13/04, p.A8)(Econ, 9/11/10, SR p.10)
1970-1998 Brazilian Gold miners worked in the Yanomani reservation near Venezuela beginning in the 1970s and during this period introduced diseases that cut the Indian population by more than half.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.A1)
1971 Mar 19, At least 160 people perished in landslides north of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(AP, 3/19/03)
1971 Jul 6, In Brazil rubber tapper Raimundo Irineu Serra (b.1892) died. He founded the Santo Daime (Saint Gimme) religion. It was based on a shamanic brew of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and Psychotria viridis leaf.
(Econ, 5/12/12, IL p.24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestre_Irineu)
1971 Brazil passed legislation limiting the amount of rural land foreigners could buy. In the 1990s it was deemed incompatible with the new democratic constitution. The law was revived in 2010 as state-owned firms began buying up vast tracts of land.
(Econ, 9/24/11, p.48)
1971 Brazil’s army discovered rebel bases in Araguaia, a remote region in the northern jungle state of Para. They sent more than 10,000 troops to crush the uprising in the proceeding years. Some 60 rebels were killed, as well as local civilians, and others were jailed or disappeared.
(AP, 6/19/09)
1972 Singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil returned to Brazil. Gil then served as minister of culture in his home city of Salvador.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, DB p.58)
1972 Brazil’s rubber-bearing Madeira-Mamore railway ceased running.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.34)
1972 The hospital ship S.S. Hope sailed to Brazil to train doctors and nurses for a year under Project Hope.
(SFC, 9/28/02, p.A17)
1972-1974 A group of rebels formed in the state of Para, the only rural armed movement against the dictatorship.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A14)
1973 Brazil’s Agricultural Research Corp. (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquesa Agropecuaria, aka Embrapa) was set up as a public company by the ruling generals. It grew to become the world’s leading tropical research institution.
(Econ, 8/28/10, p.59)
1973 The Arab oil embargo doubled Brazil’s import bill with a year.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1973 Paraguay’s Pres. Stroessner led a $20 billion joint venture with Brazil to build Itaipu, at this time the world’s largest hydroelectric dam.
(SFC, 8/17/06, p.A10)
1973-1996 The Pastoral Land Commission, a Catholic supported human rights group, said that there have been 575 murders of rural workers over this time in the Para state and only three trials. One defendant received a suspended sentence and the other 2 escaped from jail.
(SFC, 6/26/96, p.A8)
1974 Mar 15, In Brazil General Ernesto Geisel (1907-1996) became president and ruled for 5 years. He gradually ended political repression, lifted press censorship and allowed political exiles to return. Under his rule the foreign debt doubled to $43 billion.
(SFC, 9/13/96, p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Geisel)
1974 Oct 2, Pele (b.1940), Brazilian soccer player born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, came out of retirement to join the NY Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Steve Ross (1927-1992), chairman of Warner Brothers and founder of the Cosmos, offered him a reported $7 million for a 3-year contract. In 2006 Gavin Newsham authored “Once in a Lifetime: The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos."
(SFC, 6/26/06, p.E3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9)
1974 Antonio Henrique Amaral of Brazil painted his "Battlefield," a phalanx of menacing forks with shreds of banana.
(WSJ, 3/17/00, p.W12)
1974 Brazil opened BR-163, a 1,097-mile unpaved road from Santarem to Cuiaba. Paving of the road was expected to be completed by 2008.
(Econ, 7/24/04, p.33)
1974 Brazil introduced the 1st Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Curitiba.
(SSFC, 8/7/05, p.A11)
1974 In Brazil Rev. Frederick Birten Morris of the United Methodist Church was arrested. During 16 days in captivity in an army barracks he was beaten and tortured with electric shocks several times before being released and deported. In 2008 Brazil’s Justice Ministry's Amnesty Commission decided to compensate him 285,000 reals (US$154,000) plus a monthly pension of 2,000 reals (US$1,080).
(AP, 9/27/08)
1974 A meningitis outbreak killed 4,000 people in a few weeks. 90 million people were soon inoculated by a new vaccine created by the French Merieux laboratory.
(SFC, 1/27/01, p.A24)
1975 Oct 25, Vladimir Herzog (b.1937), Croatia-born Jewish journalist, was murdered by Brazil’s military regime.
(Econ, 11/27/04, p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Herzog)
1975 Brazilian soccer star Pele (b.1940) signed a $4.7 million contract with the New York Cosmos. Pele left the Cosmos in 1977 and 8 years later the team disbanded.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.32)
1975 In Brazil the military government launched a "pro-alcohol" program as a source of fuel in response to the first oil crisis which hit in 1973. The country at the time was importing 80% of its fuel and suffered in its balance of payments.
(WSJ, 6/27/97, p.A9A)
1975 The “Black Frost" harmed half of Brazil’s coffee trees. In response to the frost groves were moved north from Parana state.
(WSJ, 5/26/06, p.C5)
1975 An oil tanker from Iraq dumped nearly 8 million gallons of crude oil into Guanabara Bay and washed onto Rio’s beaches, which closed for 3 weeks.
(SFC, 7/19/00, p.A12)
1975 French retailer Carrefour began operating in Brazil.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.68)
1976 Aug 22, In Brazil former Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek (b.1902) was killed in a car accident. In 2013 an investigation was ordered due to suspicion that his death was ordered by the military regime. In 2014 a national Truth Commission said there was no evidence that the military regime of the time was responsible for the accident.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juscelino_Kubitschek)(SFC, 1/24/13, p.A2)(SFC, 4/23/14, p.A2)
1976 Dec 6, Joao Goulart (b.1919), former president of Brazil (1961-1964), died in Argentina. He was ousted in a 1964 coup and went into exile in Argentina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Goulart)(SSFC, 11/17/13, p.A4)
1976 Janice Perlman, American sociologist, authored “The Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio De Janeiro," a look at the favelas (slums) of Rio. An update followed in 2010.
(Econ, 7/24/10, p.81)
1976 In central Brazil Joao Teixeira de Faria, aka John of God, opened a spiritual hospital in Abadiania, offering treatment for everything from depression to cancer. In 2019 more than 250 women including his daughter came forward to allege abuse that ranged from being felt up during treatments to rape.
(AP, 2/18/19)
1976 Gen’l. Juan Jose Torres, ousted as president of Bolivia in 1971, was kidnapped by a death squad in Argentina and killed. He was a victim of the Condor Plan, a South American military pact between Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay to exchange intelligence information and help each other hunt down suspected leftists.
(SFC, 11/23/99, p.A16)
1976 Italian carmaker Fiat began manufacturing cars in Brazil.
(Econ, 11/15/08, SR p.6)
1977 Jun 23, The Brazil congress legalized divorce with a constitutional amendment, despite opposition from Roman Catholic Church. The amendment would be signed into law by President Ernesto Geisel.
(www.wiwomensnetwork.org/chrontwo1.html)
1977 Dec 9, Clarice Lispector (b.1920), Ukraine-born Brazilian-Jewish writer, died in Brazil. From 1952-1959 she lived in the US. Her books included “The Passion According to G.H" (1964). In 2009 Benjamin Moser authored “Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarice_Lispector)
1977 Dec 26, In Brazil law #6,515 established the Divorce Act.
(www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Brazil.htm)
1977 The Brazilian film "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" starred Sonia Braga. It was based on a novel by Jorge Amado.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1977 In Brazil Edir Macedo (b.1945) founded The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. In 1990 he bought Rede Record for $45 million. In 2004 Rede Record broadcast network began expanding into the TV market taking on the dominant TV Globo. In 2005 the church founded the PRB political party. By 2007 the Pentecostal congregation had 2 million members and had expanded to over 100 countries.
(SFEC, 9/6/98, p.A19)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.50)(WSJ, 1/5/07, p.A1)(Econ, 1/5/08, p.31)
1978 Jul 3, The Amazon Pact was established. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela signed the Amazon Pact, a Brazilian initiative designed to coordinate the joint development of the Amazon Basin.
(http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Amazon+Pact)
1978 Oct 18, Zbigniew Ziembinski (b.1908), actor and director, died in Rio de Janeiro. He is considered to be the father of modern Brazilian theatre.
(Econ, 11/26/16, p.33)
1978 Brazil’s Unified Black Movement, inspired by militant American outfits, was founded but failed to gain traction.
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.52)
1978 In Brazil the Jardim Gramacho landfill sprang up on unstable, ecologically sensitive marshland overlooking the bay of Rio de Janeiro and, for nearly 20 years, functioned with little or no oversight. In 1996 Rio authorities stepped in, ending child labor at the site, registering the catadores and restricting the kinds of trash the dump took in to just household waste from Rio and four outlying cities. The landfill closed in 2012 and was transformed into a vast facility to harness the greenhouse gases.
(AP, 6/1/12)(SFC, 6/2/12, p.A2)
1978-1996 Over 200,000 sq. miles, 12.5%, of the Amazon rain forest was destroyed.
(SFC, 1/27/98, p.A10)
1979 Feb 7, Josef Mengele (b.1911), Nazi concentration camp doctor and medical experimenter, accidentally drowned in Bertioga, Brazil. He was secretly buried in another man's grave in Brazil. [See Jun 6, 1985] In 1985 his identity was confirmed by DNA. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele)
1979 Mar 15, In Brazil Gen. Joao Baptista Figueiredo (d.1999 at 81) began serving as president and continued to 1985. Aureliano Chaves (d.2003 at 74) served as VP. Figueiredo was the last of 5 generals to rule during the 1964-1985 dictatorship. He oversaw the transition to democracy begun by his predecessor Ernesto Geisel. Inflation during his rule rose from 43% a year to 230% a year when he left office.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Baptista_de_Oliveira_Figueiredo)(SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)(SFC, 5/2/03, p.A26)
1979 Aug 28, Brazil’s presiding General Joao Figueiredo declared a reciprocal amnesty law that prevented the prosecution of soldiers and military agents for acts of violence during the dictatorship.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)(Econ, 11/27/04, p.37)(http://tinyurl.com/37ryof)
1979 The Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), founded in 1965, was renamed the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Democratic_Movement_Party)
1979 The Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems Project was established as a collaborative research project between the Smithsonian Institution and the Brazilian Institute for Research in the Amazon. It was later renamed the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments project.
(NH, 7/98, p.35)(http://pdbff.inpa.gov.br/iquem.html)
1980 Jul 9, In Brazil at least 3 and as many as 7 died in a stampede to see the Pope at a stadium in Fortaleza.
(http://tinyurl.com/36kdnt)
1980 The film "Bye Bye Brazil" was directed by Carlos Diegues. It brought international recognition to Brazilian cinema.
(WSJ, 11/17/98, p.21)
1980 In Brazil the Workers’ Party (PT) was founded by a group of people including Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Marina Silva. It later became recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing leadership movements of Latin America.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_Party_%28Brazil%29)(Econ, 8/29/09, p.32) (Econ, 4/24/10, p.35)
1980 Inflation in Brazil reached 110%. The rising cost of imported oil, dating back to 1973, increased short term foreign debt and heralded a decade and a half of instability.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1980 In Brazil the TAMAR project to protect sea turtles was begun by Maria and Guy Marcovaldi.
(SFC, 11/2/98, p.A12)(www.beach-pousada-brazil.com/tamar.htm)
1981 Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru wrote a fictional account of the 1893-1897 events at Canudos, Brazil, in the epic work: "The War of the End of the World."
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1981 Silvio Santos, born as Senor Abravanel, founded Sistema Brasileiro de Televisao and built it into a large network.
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A5)
1982 Jun 8, In Brazil a Vasp 747 crashed in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, killing 137 people.
(AP, 9/30/06)(www.airdisaster.com/photos/1980.shtml)
1982 Leonel Brizola (1922-2004), former governor of Rio Grande do Sul (1959-1962), was elected governor of Rio de Janeiro state. He was elected governor again in 1990.
(SFC, 6/24/04, p.B6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonel_Brizola)
1983 In Brazil a national security law made it a crime to harm the heads of the three branches of government or expose them to danger.
(AP, 3/19/21)
1983 A severe drought plagued northeast Brazil.
(SFC, 5/18/98, p.A10)
1984 Feb 25, In Cubatao, Sao Paulo, Brazil, an explosion from a gasoline leak in a pipeline burned a nearby shantytown with than 500 deaths.
(HSAB, 1994, p.46)
1984 Benedita da Silva was elected to the lower house and became the first black woman in the Brazilian Congress. She later was elected as a senator.
(SFC,11/6/97, p.D2)
1984 In Brazil the Landless Rural Worker’s Movement (MST) was founded and began winning land by illegally occupying unused areas. 3% of the nation’s 167 million people owned 66% of the arable land.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A10)(SFC, 7/6/00, p.A12)(Econ, 4/28/07, p.41)
1984 Brazil’s military government created an Amazon nature reserve. In 2017 a federal court blocked plans to open up about 30% of the area to mining.
(SSFC, 9/3/17, p.C14)
1985 Jan 15, Tancredo Neves (1910-1985) became the 1st elected president of Brazil in 21 years. Just one day before he was scheduled to take the oath of office (March 15, 1985), Neves became severely ill. He suffered from abdominal complications and developed generalized infections. After seven operations, Tancredo Neves died on April 21, 1985. He was succeeded by José Sarney, who served to 1990.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tancredo_Neves)
1985 Apr 21, Tancredo Neves, elected president of Brazil on Jan 15, died. José Sarney became president.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Brazil_%281985-present%29)
1985 Jun 6, Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" of the Nazi Holocaust near Sao Paolo, Brazil.
(AP, 6/6/97)(HN, 6/6/98)
1985 Jun 21, American, Brazilian and West German scientists announced that skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were those of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.
(AP, 6/21/97)(www.paperlessarchives.com/mengele.html)
1985 In Brazil those who could not read and write were not allowed to vote until this year.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.14)
1985 In Brazil the 535 mile Carajas train was inaugurated as part of a massive federal development program.
(WSJ, 4/29/99, p.A1)
1985 Marcelo Carvalho de Andrade (26) of Brazil, mountain climber, former model and surgeon, came up with a plan to help protect the rain forest while waiting out a storm on the north face of Argentina’s Aconcagua mountain, the highest peak in South America.
(SFC, 7/7/99, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/22ekjj)
1985 In Brazil Joao Canuto de Oliveira, trade union leader, was shot to death. In 2003 Brazil convicted ranchers Adilson Laranjeiras and Vantuir Goncalves de Paula in the shooting.
(AP, 5/24/03)
1986 The film "The Mission" was directed by Roland Joffe. It was about Indian and Jesuit relations in colonial Brazil.
(SFEM, 10/8/00, p.17)
1986 In Brazil Marcelo Carvalho de Andrade formed Pro-Natura, non-governmental organization dedicated to saving the rain forests through sustainable development. The first program was set up in Desengano State Park to prevent clandestine logging.
(SFC, 7/7/99, p.A8)
1986 Hernandes Filho, a former Xerox marketing executive, and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes, founded the Reborn in Christ Church and rode the wave of popularity of evangelical churches in Brazil, the world's largest Roman Catholic country. The couple were arrested in 2007 for taking a large amount of undeclared cash into the US. Both pleaded guilty to evading US currency requirements and conspiracy.
(AP, 1/23/07)(SFC, 6/9/07, p.A5)
1986 Brazil chopped 3 zeroes off its currency in the Cruzado Plan as part of an attempt to reduce inflation. The official name was the Economic Stabilization Plan but it was popularly known as the Cruzado Plan because it involved a change in the name of the currency from Cruciero to the Cruzado, with 1000 crucieros being equal to one cruzado. Its main measures were a general price freeze, a wage readjustment and freeze, readjustment and freeze on rents and mortgage payments, a ban on indexation, and a freeze on the exchange rate.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)(www.applet-magic.com/cruzado.htm)
1986 In Brazil a financial scandal led the Bolsa de Valores do Rio de Janeiro (BVRJ) to bankruptcy.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.Spe.Adv.)
1986 The Commodities & Futures Exchange (BM&F) of Brazil began trading.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.Spe.Adv.)
1986 Brazil began construction of a rocket base at Alcantara, forcing some 300 local families to resettle elsewhere.
(WSJ, 10/9/08, p.A13)
1988 Feb 24, A week of tropical rainstorms left at least 275 people dead in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.
(http://tinyurl.com/r629d)
1988 Apr 25, Lygia Clark (b.1920), Brazilian artist, died in Rio de Janeiro. She was often associated with the Brazilian Constructivist movements of the mid-20th century and the Tropicalia movement.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lygia_Clark)(Econ, 10/22/16, p.75)
1988 Oct 5, Brazil accepted a constitution that obliged the government to make transfers to the 26 states and protect the jobs of public workers. It included a basic pension for men over 65 and women over 60, whether or not they pay into the system. This created a difficult environment for the control of spending. The new constitution also annulled the right of husbands to prohibit their wives from accepting employment. The new constitution also recognized Indian rights to reclaim their original lands and to preserve their way of life. Almost 600 reserves were established, encompassing 12.5% of Brazil’s territory, but many only existed on paper. The constitution also declared health care to be the right of the citizen and its provision to be the duty of the state. It also said Brazil will not develop, deploy or make use of nuclear weapons.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A1)(Econ, 9/4/04, p.37)(Econ, 2/4/06, p.36)(SSFC, 6/10/07, p.A15)(Econ, 7/30/11, p.33)(Econ, 3/10/12, p.26)(Econ, 2/25/17, p.27)
1988 Oct 5, Brazil’s new constitution set up a hyper-proportional system to ensure that all voices in the country would be heard. It also discouraged contact with isolated tribes, except to prevent medical emergencies, warfare between tribes and other catastrophes.
(Econ, 4/1/17, p.30)(Econ., 7/11/20, p.23)
1988 Dec 22, Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper and political and environmental activist, was murdered in Acre state by a death squad allegedly directed by Hildebrando Pascoal.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)(SFC, 12/22/08, p.A17)
1988 Brazil granted Indians some territory and pledged to demarcate the land within five years. Hitherto Indians were considered wards of the state and denied full rights for centuries.
(AP, 2/8/06)
1988 Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) began publishing yearly accounts of deforestation. In 2004 it created the DETER system to alert the formation of new large-scale deforested areas.
(Econ, 11/2/13, p.21)
1988 In Brazil Mira Schendel (b.1919), a Swiss-born artist and the mother of Brazil’s minimalist geometric tradition, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Schendel)(Econ, 6/7/14, p.89)
1989 May 30, Landless farmer-workers stormed a farm in the state of Espirito Santo to pressure for agrarian reform. Jose Machado, the owner, opened fire with hired guns. Machado and a hired off-duty policeman were killed and four squatters were injured. In 1997 Jose Rainha, a land reform advocate, was sentenced to 26.5 years in prison for the killing. Rainha argued that he was in another state with witnesses and that the squatters acted in self defense but was still convicted in a 4-3 vote.
(SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)
1989 Sep 3, In Brazil a Varig 737-300 plane crashed in the Amazon jungle with 52 people aboard. 14 died and 34 were injured.
(http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetGOjg/030989.txt)
1989 Brazil’s United Health system (SUS) was created from the merger of two state systems.
(Econ, 7/30/11, p.33)
1989 Brazil made racism a crime with prison sentences of up to five years.
(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
1989 In Brazil Jorge Paulo Lemann and two partners bought the Brahma beer company for $50 million. A decade later they acquired Antarctica, a rival, to become AmBev. In 2004 a merger with Belgium-based Interbrew created InBev. In 2008 InBev paid $52 billion for Anheuser-Busch of America.
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.60)
1990 Mar 16, Brazil announced the Collor Plan. It was a collection of economic reforms and inflation-stabilization plans carried out during the presidency of Fernando Collor de Mello, between 1990 and 1992. The plan was officially called New Brazil Plan. It combined fiscal and trade liberalization with radical inflation stabilization measures.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plano_Collor)
1990 Aug, Jose Luiz Santana, the former president of Brazil's nuclear energy commission, known by its Portuguese acronym CNEN, said in 2005 that the military was preparing a test explosion when the program was ultimately dismantled in August 1990.
(AP, 8/30/05)
1990 Dec 3, President Bush began a five-nation South American tour as he arrived in Brazil.
(AP, 12/3/00)
1990 In Brazil US pop star Michael Jackson landed by helicopter at the top of one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious favelas and sang “They Don’t Care About Us."
(Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.18)
1990 Maria das Gracas Marcal, a 2nd generation scavenger, helped found the Street Scavengers Association. It grew to become a model organization of uniformed scavengers that collected 15% of the total waste of downtown Belo Horizonte.
(SFC,11/17/97, p.A14)
1990 Wagner Conhedo, a trucking operator, obtained a $7 mil loan from Paulo Cesar Farias, campaign finance chief of then Pres. Collor, to purchase the Vasp SA airline. Orestes Quercia, governor of the state that privatized Vasp, made agreement with Conhedo to ease a towering debt burden that later cost the state millions of dollars when Conhedo fell behind in payments.
(WSJ, 7/1/96, p.A6)
1990 Chico Mendes, environmental activist and a leader of Amazon rubber tappers in the state of Acre, was murdered. Darli Alves da Silva and his son, Darci, were convicted in the murder case.
(SFC, 7/2/96, p.A12)
1990-1993 Witch’s Broom disease, a cocoa destroying fungus, arrived in Brazil in the early 1990s.
(SFC, 9/4/00, p.B10)
1991 Feb 2, Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, an environmental activist and head of the Farmworkers Union, was killed. Jose Serafim Sales was convicted for the shooting in 1995 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. He later escaped. In 2000 rancher Jeronimo Alves Amorim was convicted for ordering the killing and was sentenced to 19 ½ years in prison.
(SFC, 6/8/00, p.A16)
1991 Mar 26, The Treaty of Asuncion established the southern common market: (Mercado Comun del Sur) Mercosur, between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. They were later joined by associate members Chile (1996), Bolivia (1997), Peru (2001) and Venezuela (2004). Mexico was granted observer status in 2004.
(www.itcilo.it/english/actrav/telearn/global/ilo/blokit/mercoa.htm)
1991 In Brazil Karen Worcman (29) helped found the Museum of the Person. By 2009 it was Latin America’s largest oral history center.
(www.archimuse.com/mw99/bios/au_3204.html)(www.museudapessoa.net)(WSJ, 3/16/09, p.A1)(www.museudapessoa.net)
1991 Arminio Fraga joined Brazil’s central bank as head of int’l. affairs.
(WSJ, 6/2/00, p.A1)
1991 The Amazon forest lost was 3 million acres this year.
(NH, 7/98, p.35)
1992 Mar 13, Dulce Pontes (b.1914), a Brazilian Catholic Franciscan Sister, died. She was the founder of the Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce also known as the Charitable Works Foundation of Sister Dulce. In 2019 she was canonized as a Catholic saint.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irm%C3%A3_Dulce_Pontes)
1992 Jun 5, In Brazil government leaders at the Rio Earth Summit opened for signing the UN Convention on Biological Diversity dedicated to promoting sustainable development. The convention recognized plants as part of countries’ national heritage and outlawed biopiracy. The Convention entered into force on 29 December 1993, which was 90 days after the 30th ratification.
(https://www.cbd.int/history/default.shtml)(Econ, 9/12/15, p.55)
1992 Jun 12, President Bush, addressing the Earth Summit in Brazil, declared America's environmental record "second to none." In a letter to U.S. senators, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said the Soviet Union had shot down nine U.S. planes in the early 1950's and held 12 American survivors.
(AP, 6/12/97)
1992 Jun 14, The Earth Summit concluded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The world’s industrial nations reached an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). By 1996 it was clear that the goals were not being met.
(TMC, 1994, p.1992)(SFC, 7/11/96, p.A10)(AP, 6/14/97)(Econ, 12/5/09, SR p.3)
1992 Sep 29, Lawmakers in Brazil voted overwhelmingly to impeach President Fernando Collor de Mello. He was impeached following allegations of corruption in a kickbacks scandal. The proceedings were largely ignored by the Rede Globo TV network.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.A-9)(AP, 9/29/97)(SFC, 8/31/00, p.A10)
1992 Oct 2, In Brazil Col. Ubiratan Guimaraes led the "Carandiru massacre," where 111 inmates where killed during a raid to quell a prison riot in Sao Paulo. Guimaraes was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to 632 years in prison, but awaited a 2nd trial. In 2006 Guimaraes (63) was murdered at his apartment in Sao Paulo. In April, 2013, 23 police officers were each sentenced to 156 years in jail. Dozens more faced trial.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A14)(SSFC, 7/1/01, p.A18)(AP, 9/11/06)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.48)(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A4)
1992 Dec 29, Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello resigned. Vice-President Itamar Franco succeeded Collor as president. Franco proceeded to heal the economy damaged by Collor’s erratic policies.
(AP, 12/29/97)(Econ, 5/14/16, p.25)
1992 Paulo Cesar Farias symbolized the corruption that led to the downfall of the Mello government. He was treasurer of Mello’s presidential campaign and allegedly took suitcases of cash out of the country on jets that belonged to his air taxi company.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A8)
1992 Brazil signed the American convention on Human Rights.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1992 Guilherme de Padua, TV soap actor, was charged with the stabbing death of his co-star Daniela Perez. She was stabbed 18 times with scissors. He originally confessed but later claimed that his wife, Paula de Alameida Thomaz, carried out the stabbing in a fit of jealousy. The case finally came to trial in 1997. He was found guilty and sentenced to 19 years.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.C1)(SFEC, 1/26/97, p.A15)
1992 Brazil’s steel industry was privatized.
(USA Today, OW, 4/22/96, p.5)
1992 In Brazil Radio La Colifata, roughly translated as “crazy one," began operating in Buenos Aires to help mentally ill patients communicate with their peers. Initially taped segments were broadcast, but by 2007 live programming reached over 30 stations in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America.
(SFC, 1/9/07, p.D3)
1992 In Brazil Proheto Tiete was launched to clean up the San Paulo’s Tiete river. In 2006 Janes Jorge authored “The River the City Lost."
(Econ, 10/22/11, p.44)(http://tinyurl.com/426wywz)
1993 Apr 21, Brazil voted against a monarchy.
(http://countrystudies.us/brazil/84.htm)
1993 July 23, A handful of men shot and killed 6 children and teenagers at the Candelaria Cathedral and 2 more at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1996 one of the four men accused, former police officer Nelson dos Santos Cunha, confessed to having taken part. About 2,000 children roam Rio’s streets and in 1994, 936 youths under 18 were murdered. In 1996 a court cleared 2 policemen and another man in killings. Two other policemen were convicted earlier. In 1997 a court reduced the sentence of Cunha from 261 years to 18 years. In 1998 Marcos Aurelio Alcantara (30) was convicted and sentenced to 204 years in jail.
(SFC, 4/28/96, A-14)(SFC, 11/28/96, p.B6)(WSJ, 12/11/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/20/97, p.A1)(SFC, 8/27/98, p.A14)
1993 Aug 29, In Rio’s Vigario Geral favela 21 residents were massacred by police to avenge the killing of 4 colleagues. 52 policemen were accused in the massacre and in 1997 Paulo Roberto Alvarenga was the first to be tried. He was sentenced to 450 years in prison but the law limited him to serve no more than 30 years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vig%C3%A1rio_Geral_massacre)(SFC, 4/28/97, p.A12)(Econ, 4/9/05, p.31)
1993 In Brazil Pres. Itamar Franco named Fernando Henrique Cardoso as Finance Minister, the 4th in 18 months. Cardoso enacted the Plano Real economic program and slashed inflation from 2,700% to 2% in 1998. This success enabled Cardoso to win elections for president in 1994.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-13)(SFC, 2/26/99, p.E2)
1993 Castor de Andrade (d.1997 at 71), a Rio "godfather," was arrested with 13 other suspected gaming bosses and convicted of criminal association and forming armed gangs. Police evidence revealed multi-million payoffs to congressmen, police chiefs, judges, businessmen, police officers and the former president Fernando Collor de Mello.
(SFC, 4/14/97, p.A19)
1993 At Brazil’s Carandiru Prison riot troopers killed 111 inmates in their efforts to quell a rebellion. The Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) was founded at Taubate jail in Sao Paulo state to fight for prisoner’s rights and avenge the massacre by police of more than 100 prisoners at Carandiru. The PCC grew to become the country’s most powerful gang.
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A14)(Economist, 9/22/12, p.45)
1993 In Joao Pessoa, capital of Paraiba state, Sen Ronaldo Cunha Lima fired 2 shots at a political rival in a restaurant.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)
1993 In Brazil Congressman Jair Bolsonaro strode to a podium in the lower house and delivered a speech that shook its young democracy: He declared his love for the country's not-so-distant military regime and demanded the legislature be disbanded.
(Reuters, 10/5/18)
1994 Jun 9, Latin American countries signed the pioneering Convention of Belem, which required them to educate their people about women’s rights, to fight machismo and to pass laws to protect women from violence.
(Econ, 9/21/13, p.39)(http://tinyurl.com/ldkqjyk)
1994 Jul 1, Brazil under finance minister Henrique Cardoso adopted the Real Plan, named for a new currency fixed to the US dollar with a "crawling peg." Inflation had hit 7,000% as Cardoso launched the new currency.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-1,13)(WSJ, 4/26/96, p.A-15)(WSJ, 6/12/97, p.A19)
1994 Jul 17, Brazil defeated Italy to win its fourth World Cup title in Los Angeles. The 15th FIFA World Cup was hosted by the United States.
(AP, 7/17/99)(http://tinyurl.com/m6z96z3)
1994 Oct, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected president.
(USAT, OW, 4/22/96, p.1)
1994 Dec 8, Antonio Carlos Jobim (67), Brazil composer (Girl From Ipanema), died.
(MC, 12/8/01)
1994 Dec 12, The Brazilian Supreme Court acquitted former President Fernando Collor de Mello of the corruption charges that had forced him to resign in 1992.
(AP, 12/12/99)
1994 Brazil’s central bank increased interest rates to nearly 50% in response to the Mexican debt crises and devaluation.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1994 Rev. Edward Dougherty, a priest from New Orleans, became Brazil’s first Catholic television preacher.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B14)
1994 In Brazil Marino Silva was the first rubber-tapper to be elected to the federal senate. She was elected on a platform opposing deforestation.
(USAT, 4/22/96, p.4-D)
1994 An investor group led by Banco Bozano, Simonsen SA, bought the loss-ridden aircraft maker Embraer SA from the Brazilian government.
(WSJ, 3/21/97, p.A17)(WSJ, 9/13/04, p.A8)
1994 In Brazil some 5,800 square miles were cleared by fire for agriculture and ranching in this year.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.T5)
1995 Jan 1, Fernando Henrique Cardoso took office as Brazil's 37th president. He pushed up interest rates to 25% and stabilized the economy.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-13)(AP, 1/1/00)
1995 Aug, Pres. Cardoso introduced Law 9140, which acknowledged military responsibility for 136 deaths under previous governments.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1995 Brazil joined the World Trade organization (WTO) and accepted int’l. intellectual property rules.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.38)
1995 Sao Paulo Gov. Mario Covas (d.2001 at 70) dismissed nearly 200,000 civil servants to pull the state out of near-bankruptcy.
(SFC, 3/8/01, p.C4)
1995 Gen’l. Nilton Cerqueira and Helio Luz took command of the uniformed police and plainclothes detectives in Rio de Janeiro where crime was out of control. They instigated bonuses for bravery under fire.
(WSJ, 9/23/96, p.A1)
1995 Ricardo Correa moved his shoe operations from Brazil to China. A reduction in trade barriers in the early 1990s along with an appreciating currency and pressure from cheap Chinese labor had combined to stagnate Brazil’s shoe exports. By 2008 some 3,000 Brazilians worked in China’s footwear industry.
(Econ, 9/13/08, p.75)
1995 The Marinhos family dominated television in Brazil.
(WSJ, 12/1/95, p.A-10)
1995 Amazon forest lost was 7 million acres this year.
(NH, 7/98, p.35)
1995 Jorge Luiz Fernandez, aka George the Smotherer, killed two innocent people while trying to eliminate a witness to a previous murder.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A12)
1995 Ten squatters and 2 policemen were killed when some 300 police stormed a squatter camp near Corumbiarra. In 2000 2 police officers were convicted of murder and sentenced to 18 and 16 years in prison.
(SFC, 8/19/00, p.A10)
1995 Former Bolivian dictator Luis Garcia Meza Tejada (1980-1981) was extradited to Bolivia from Brazil and began serving a 30 year prison sentence, in the same prison where he once kept his enemies.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Garc%C3%ADa_Meza_Tejada)
1995-1996 Fiat SpA of Italy invested $1 bil over this period for new engines, updated models, and new projects in Brazil
(WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A11)
1995-1997 In Brazil Rodrigo Baggio organized efforts to provide computer education to the children of Rio’s slums. He formed the Committee for Computer Science Democratization, which had opened schools in 32 Rio slums over the last 2 years.
(SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)
1996 Jan, In Varginha a trio of women claimed to have seen an alien being with oily, brown skin and rubbery limbs. It also had 3 rounded protrusions from an oversized head and was said to smell very bad.
(WSJ, 6/28/96, p.A1)
1996 Apr 12, Pres. Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed a decree allowing up to 18,000 inmates of Brazil’s prisons to go free.
(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-9)
1996 Apr 17, Brazilian police killed 23 (19) workers who demanded land and injured 50 during a protest that blocked an Amazon highway in Eldorado dos Carajas. The governor of the Para state blamed Colonel Mario Pantoja and suspended him pending an inquiry. Local landowners reportedly paid Col. Pantoja $85,000 to eliminate 10 leaders of the Landless Rural Worker's Movement. Over 150 policemen were charged with murder. Trials of the policemen began in 1999. 2 officers were convicted of murder. 124 police officers were acquitted in 2002.
(WSJ, 4/19/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 6/26/96, p.A8)(SFC, 7/31/97, p.A10)(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A8)(SFC, 8/20/99, p.D2)(AP, 6/13/02)
1996 Apr 22, Marina Silva was a Goldman Award winner for her work against deforestation.
(USAT, 4/22/96, p.4-D)
1996 May 22, A consortium led by Houston Industries, AES Corp., and Electricite de France purchased control of the state owned electrical utility Light Servicos de Eletricidade SA for 1.7 bil. Light served 3 million customers in and around Rio and was snapped up for $2.2 billion. Service following the divestment was dismal.
(WSJ, 5/22/96, p.A-16)(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A1)
1996 Jun 3, Korean Samsung Display Devices will build a plant in Manaus to produce 4 million picture tubes a year beginning in Jan 1998.
(WSJ, 8/8/95, p. B6C)
1996 Jun, Rudiger Dornbusch, MIT economist, said that Brazil’s real is 30-40% overvalued. He foresees a possible collapse in 1-2 years.
1996 Jun 11, An explosion ripped through a mall in Sao Paulo and killed 44 people, more than 100 were injured. A gas leak was thought to be the cause.
(SFC, 6/12/96, p.A8)
1996 Jun 23, Paulo Cesar Farias was found shot through the heart. The body of his girlfriend was found nearby at his beach house. TV Globo reported that she shot him and killed herself.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A8)
1996 Jun 30, In Acre Itamar Pascoal was shot to death by Jose Hugo Alves, who fled the scene with Agilson Santos. A few days later Santos' body turned up in front of TV Gazeta. His limbs were cut off with a chain saw and his eyes were carved out. His son (15) was later found burned and disfigured.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A10)
1996 Jul 6, It was reported that a Brazilian fisherman, Nathon do Nascimento, choked to death when a 6-inch fish jumped out of the water and into his throat during a long yawn.
(SFC, 7/6/96, p.A17)
1996 Aug 12, The government gave priority status to 42 of 1,500 projects of major public works in a 4-year plan that will exceed 74 billion reals and create 1.5 million jobs.
(WSJ, 8/12/96, p.A8)
1996 Aug, Yvonne de Mello received the Int’l. Citizenship Award for her work with abandoned and runaway kids in Rio de Janeiro.
(Hem., 12/96, p.21)
1996 Sep 21, In Brazil the first magazine dedicated to blacks, Raca Brasil, sold out 200,000 copies in 5 days.
(SFC, 9/21/96, p.A8)
1996 Sep, The world premiere of George Coates multimedia work "20/20 Blake" was held at the Sao Paulo Int’l. Theater Festival.
(SFC, 1/21/96, p.B1)
1996 Sep, The EMB-145, a 50-seat twin-engine jet, was brought out about this time by Brazil’s Embraer SA.
(WSJ, 3/21/97, p.A16)
1996 Argentina, Brazil and the US acted to forestall a coup in Paraguay.
(Econ, 6/12/04, p.35)
1996 Brazil introduced electronic voting. The 2000 national elections became fully automated nationwide.
(WSJ, 11/13/00, p.A27)
1996 A liberal youth law was enacted that shielded children under 18 from prosecution for virtually any crime, including murder.
(SFC, 12/30/99, p.A18)
1996 A moratorium on new concessions for logging mahogany and virola wood was enacted.
(SFC, 1/27/98, p.A10)
1996 Official figures showed that 40% of all Brazilian married women of reproductive age were sterilized.
(WSJ, 6/13/03, p.A1)
1996-2000 Deforestation of the Amazon region reached 5 million acres per year.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A10)
1997 Jan 4, Some 54 people were killed during 4 days of torrential rain in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, p.A13)
1997 Jan 7, It was announced that the government’s plan to privatize its 51% of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) was opposed by former Presidents Jose Sarney and Itamar Franco, as well as Workers’ Party leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, all candidates in the 1998 elections. Vale’s Carajas mine in Para produced 25% of the world’s iron ore and held reserves for some 400 years.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A10)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.35)
1997 Jan 8, Jose Hugo Alves was kidnapped near Parnagua, Piaui, following an intensive search by Hildebrando Pascoal. His body was later found mutilated and dipped in acid.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A10)
1997 Feb 17, Darcy Ribeiro, writer and anthropologist (74), died.
(SFC, 2/20/96, p.A20)
1997 Mar 3, A hidden camera revealed severe police brutality over three nights at the intersection of Naval and Jose Francisco Braz streets in Sao Paulo. The videotape showed 15 people abused by the police and one man shot dead in a car as it pulled away by officer Octavio Lorenco Gambra, aka Rambo.
(SFC, 4/29/97, p.A10)
1997 Mar 4, Brazil Senate allowed women to wear slacks.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1997 Mar, Pres. Cardoso announced a $150 million credit line from the World Bank for infrastructure and the purchase of land for settlements in northeastern Brazil.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A12)
1997 Apr 17, In Brazil some 1500 peasants marched 750 miles to Brasilia for land reform and were joined by some 25,000 trade-union members.
(SFC, 4/18/97, p.A14)
1997 Apr 29, A court injunction stopped the privatization of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the huge state-owned mining company. Some 1,000 demonstrators protested the attempted privatization in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 4/30/97, p.A11)
1997 Apr, In Brazil 2 MST farmers (Landless Rural Worker’s Movement) were killed while tending fields on the property of the 442,000 acre Giacometti lumber company. The next day the government announced that the lumber company would turn over 38,000 acres to 6,000 families. The richest 20% of the people own 88% of the land. The poorest 40% hold only 1% of the land.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A12)
1997 May 7, Brazil’s state mining Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), incorporated in 1942, was privatized. In 2006 it acquired Inco, a Canadian nickel producer, and became the world’s 2nd largest mining company.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.9)(http://tinyurl.com/2ay9h5)
1997 Jun 4, Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional revision to allow office-holders to run for re-election. This allowed Pres. Cardoso to seek a 2nd term.
(WSJ, 6/5/97, p.A1)
1997 Jun, Police strikes began in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais over low pay. Though the strikes were illegal they spread by July to 15 of Brazil’s 27 states.
(SFC, 7/23/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 16, In Recife the 18,000 man police force went on strike. The crime and murder rate immediately surged and some 3,000 soldiers were called to try to maintain order.
(SFC, 7/23/97, p.A10)
1997 Aug 9, In Brazil Herbert Jose de Souza, sociologist, died at age 60 of AIDS that he acquired as a hemophiliac from contaminated blood. He spent his life fighting inequality, hunger and police brutality.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A15)
1997 Sep 25, It was reported that local transsexuals could get a free sex-change operation under new rules that classified the surgery as experimental.
(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A14)
1997 Sep 27, A $350,000 Conselheiro memorial was inaugurated in Quixeramobim in honor of the founder of the 1893 settlement at Canudos, that was destroyed by government forces in 1897. It included a garden with 20 sculptures of Conselheiro and a 5-ton stone- a reminder of the stones he asked his followers to carry on their heads as an act of penitence.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1997 Oct 2, In Brazil thousands turned out to greet Pope John Paul II for the start of his 4-day visit.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B2)
1997 Oct 3, It was reported that tuberculosis has killed at least 27 members of the Guarani-Kaiowa tribe in the past 15 months.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B5)
1997 Oct 4, It was reported that fires in the Amazon had increased 28% over the past year and that clouds of smoke were thicker and covered more area than those due to the burning forests of Indonesia.
(SFC, 10/4/97, p.A17)
1997 Oct, The film "The War of Canudos" was about the 1893-1897 Canudos settlement founded by Antonio Conselheiro.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A14)
1997 Oct 14, Pres. Clinton met with Brazil’s Pres. Cardoso. They signed an agreement for a partnership to improve education cooperation and a $10 million US contribution to improve conservation in the Amazon.
(SFC,10/15/97, p.C4)
1997 Oct 15, In Brazil Pres. Clinton spoke on free trade at the Mangueira school, a multi-use training facility for some 2,000 children sponsored by Xerox Corp.
(SFC,10/16/97, p.A13)
1997 Oct 29, It was reported that at least 10% of the 2 million square-mile Amazon basin was destroyed by fire.
(SFC,10/29/97, p.A10)
1997 Nov 7, It was reported that there are 12 blacks among the 594 federal lawmakers of Brazil. The country is 44% black by government count, and 70% black by a UNESCO count.
(SFC,11/6/97, p.D2)
1997 Nov 12, It was reported that the government has launched an austerity package that will raise prices and taxes and lead to the dismissal of some 33,000 government workers.
(WSJ, 11/12/97, p.A1)
1997 Nov 13, A judge ordered 153 police officers and 9 senior officials to stand trial for the killing of 19 landless peasants in 1966.
(SFC,11/14/97, p.D3)
1997 Nov 21, It was reported that new legislation would limit public employees to a total compensation of $12,000 per month. Also proposed was the elimination of job protection that could cost 280,000 civil servants their jobs.
(SFC,11/21/97, p.A16)
1997 Nov, A new sports magazine, Lance, began publishing. The $43 million project was founded by 2 leading investment banks, Bozano Simonsen and Icatu, and Globo, Brazil’s largest media organization. Stakes were also held by millionaire Andre Lara Resende, former banker and economic advisor to Pres. Cardoso, and Mr. de Mattos, a professional manager.
(FT, 3/4/98, p.17)
1997 Nov, The government began to force gold miners to leave the Yanomani Indian reservation where the population was much reduced by disease.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.A1)
1997 Dec 8, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported that deaths in Rio, attributed to police links with the military, averaged 20 a month last year.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.A9)
1997 Dec 28, Inmates of the prison in Sorocaba took over and held over 600 hostages. They later dropped escape demands and agreed to be transported to less crowded prisons.
(SFC,12/31/97, p.A8)
1997 Dec 31, Security forces ended the 3 day prison rebellion at Sorocaba Prison.
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A14)
1997 The state of Amazonas formed the Amazona Filarmonica with a core of musicians from the former Soviet Union.
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.A1)
1997 In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lourenco "Rambo" Gambra, a policeman, was filmed by an amateur cameraman stopping cars and extorting money and killing a passenger in the Naval slum.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A14)
1997 Brazil’s government eliminated export taxes on commodities. Costs fell 10-20% creating a huge stimulus for agriculture. The Asian crises had reduced commodity demand and the central bank fought to defend the real, increasing overnight interest rates to an annual 40% and killing growth.
(Econ, 11/5/05, p.74)(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.5)
1997 Jose Rainha, a land reform advocate in the Landless Workers Movement (MST), was sentenced to 26.5 years in prison for the 1989 killing of Jose Machado Neto. Rainha argued that he was in another state with witnesses and that the squatters acted in self defense, but was still convicted in a 4-3 vote. A retrial was scheduled in 2000.
(SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A10)
1997 Honda Motors planned to start producing cars in Brazil by this time.
(WSJ, 11/17/95, p.A-11)
1997-1998 Fiat SpA of Italy said it would invest $1 bil over this period in Brazil for new engines, updated models, and new projects.
(WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A11)
1997-1998 In Brazil some 39,000 square km. of Amazonian forest were burned by wildfires.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.70)
1998 Jan 1, In Brazil the new law making all Brazilian adults potential organ donors went into effect. New traffic laws also went into effect. It was reported that 50,000 people die annually from car accidents because drivers routinely ignore traffic laws.
(SFC, 1/7/98, p.A8) (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T12)
1998 Feb 22, The film “Central Station" by Walter Salles won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.E5)
1998 Feb 22, In Rio de Janeiro the Palace II, built by Sergio Naya, collapsed during Carnival and 8 people were crushed. The building was built by a construction company owned by federal deputy Sergio Naya of the Brazilian Progress Party. Faulty construction was uncovered.
(FT, 3/4/98, p.6)(SFC, 7/8/99, p.A17)(www.novomilenio.inf.br/humor/0105f002.htm)
1998 Mar 17, It was reported that a 3-month-old fire was raging out of control in the state of Roraima, home of the Yanomani Indians.
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B2)
1998 Mar 20, At least 400 firefighters were sent to fight the fires in the northern Amazon. Firefighters from Argentina and Venezuela were also brought in. A UN offer of assistance was accepted to combat thousands of fires raging out of control.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/23/98, p.A1)(SFC, 3/25/98, p.C14)
1998 Mar 27, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay signed a pact to heighten security on their triple frontier.
(SFC, 3/28/98, p.A9)
1998 Apr 1, Rains extinguished more than 95% of the extensive fires in the northern Amazon.
(WSJ, 4/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 15, The prime rate was lowered from 28% to 23.3%.
(WSJ, 4/17/98, p.A10)
1998 May 8, "Operation Drought" was launched to airlift food to the drought stricken northeast where 10 million people were threatened with hunger.
(SFC, 5/9/98, p.A12)
1998 May 17, It was reported that the worst drought since one in 1983 plagued northeast Brazil.
(SFC, 5/18/98, p.A10)
1998 May, Jorge Luiz Fernandez, aka George the Smotherer, was sentenced to 47 years in prison for 2 murders in 1995. He headed a hit squad of off-duty policemen known as the "Golden Boys," who singled out criminal suspects and killed at least 30 people.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A12)
1998 May, Chief Xicao Xukuru (b.1950), top advocate for the Xukuru Indians, was shot dead in Pesqueira.
(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1,9)
1998 Jun 23, Luiz Jose Costa, half of the popular country duo Leandro and Leonardo, died of ling cancer at 36. The duo sold 20 million albums since 1991.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.D4)
1998 Jul 6, The native population was estimated to be about 300,000 people in some 200 tribes.
(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 25, It was reported that 5-7% of the drugs in Brazil were faked medicines mostly from India, China and Pakistan.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.A20)
1998 Jul 29, Brazil sold its Telebras telephone system to int’l. bidders for $19 billion. The 12 subsidiaries were sold one by one while demonstrators protested saying that Telebras was the property of the Brazilian people.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.D2)
1998 Sep 3, Moody’s downgraded Brazil’s foreign-currency bonds to single B-2. This led to an 8.6% drop in Brazil’s stock market.
(WSJ, 9/4/98, p.A9)
1998 Sep 4, The Central Bank raised interest rates from 20 to 30%. The final rate for consumers reached 150-250% a year.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D2)(WSJ, 1/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 4, In Osasco near Sao Paulo a Universal Church roof collapsed and killed at least 23 people and injured 500.
(SFEC, 9/6/98, p.A19)
1998 Sep 8, In Brazil 110 miles northwest of Sao Paulo at least 53 people were killed when a truck carrying flammable liquid exploded on a highway and engulfed 2 chartered buses. 38 people were hospitalized.
(WSJ, 9/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 10, The Sao Paulo stock exchange fell 15.8% in the afternoon. Earlier in the week the government announced spending cuts and a plan to halve the budget deficit, which stood at 7% of GDP.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D2)
1998 Sep 11, The Bovespa index fell to an intraday low of 4575. By Nov 6 it moved back up to 8214.
(WSJ, 11/9/98, p.C1)
1998 Sep, Federal agents in Alagoas state arrested police Lt. Colonel Manoel Cavalcante for heading a 50-man police squad known as the "Uniformed Gang." They were charged with political assassinations, bank robberies, car theft and arms trafficking. They charged $440 to kill a rural union leader and $44,000 to kill a prominent politician.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 1, The IMF and the World Bank were negotiating an emergency loan package for Brazil of some $30 billion. Since the collapse of the ruble, edgy investors have taken $30 billion out of Brazil. The government in the mean time pushed up the interest rate to 40%.
(SFC, 10/2/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 10/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 4, In national elections Fernando Henrique Cardoso won a 2nd term with 50.3% of the vote in early returns vs. 35.6% for Luiz Inacio da Silva of the Workers Party.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, p.A21)(SFC, 10/5/98, p.A8)
1998 Oct 16, Imports exceeded exports by over 4% of the economy and the inflation rate exceeded that of the US. This indicated that the real was overpriced and that devaluation was needed.
(WSJ, 10/16/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 22, At Cape Canaveral Orbital Sciences launched a Brazilian satellite from a Pegasus rocket aboard a modified jumbo jet. The satellite will monitor environmental devices throughout Brazil.
(SFC, 10/23/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct 28, Brazil unveiled an $84 million austerity package that included a tax on government pensions.
(SFC, 10/29/98, p.A14)
1998 Nov 4, Brazil set a minimum retirement age of 53 for men and 48 for women.
(SFC, 11/5/98, p.C5)
1998 Nov 13, Pres. Clinton and the IMF announced a $41.5 billion loan package for Brazil.
(SFC, 11/14/98, p.A10)
1998 Nov 27, Brazilian police reported that a small cult of the United Pentecostal Church in Acre state had killed 6 people over the last 2 weeks, including 3 children, to "wipe out the enemies of God." Pastor Francisco Bezerra de Moraes was one of 6 people arrested for the killings.
(SFC, 11/28/98, p.A15)
1998 Dec 14, Legislators proposed to give themselves a 59% pay raise as the economy slipped into recession.
(WSJ, 12/16/98, p.A19)
1998 Dec 17, In Alagoas state congresswoman Ceci Cunha was killed with her husband and 2 in-laws in an apparent political assassination. Talvane Albuquerque, who lost re-election in October, assumed her seat in the Chamber of Deputies. He was charged with ordering the murder of Cunha, but was immune from criminal prosecution while in office.
(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)
1998 Anthony Garotinho (38), a football player turned tele-evangelist, was elected Rio de Janeiro state governor. He quit in 2003 to run for president and Rosinha Matheus, his wife, was elected governor. After he lost his wife chose him as Secretary of Public Security. From 199-2006 they governed the state with startling incompetence.
(AP, 5/23/03)(Econ, 7/19/08, p.46)
1998 Eloi Bras Sessim, mayor of Cidreira in Rio Grande do Sul state, received an 8-year sentence for bribery and disappeared.
(SFC, 8/31/00, p.A10)
1998 Eloan Pinheiro, director of the state-owned Far-Manguinos drug factory, was given the mandate to analyze brand name AIDS drugs and develop generic forms.
(WSJ, 4/27/01, p.A17)
1998 Brazil had 41,000 homicides this year.
(SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A21)
1999 Jan 1, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (67) became Brazil's first re-elected president as he was sworn in for a 2nd 4-year term.
(SFC, 1/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Jan 7, Minas Gerais state declared a 90-day moratorium on debt owed to the central government. Former Pres. Itamar Franco, the new governor of Minas Gerais, had vowed to stop payment on over $15 billion to force a renegotiation of payment terms. 24 of 27 states had fixed debt agreements with the federal government.
(WSJ, 1/6/99, p.A17)(WSJ, 1/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 13, Brazil was forced to allow its currency to slide and global markets fell in response. Gustavo Franco, head of the central bank, quit and was replaced by Francisco Lopes ('Chico'). Lopes announced a new trading range for the real between 1.2 and 1.32 to the dollar.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A10)(WSJ, 1/14/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 14, In Brazil the markets slumped for a 2nd day and closed down 10%.
(SFC, 1/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 15, In Brazil the real was allowed to float and the Bovespa index moved up 33%. The real closed at 1.43 to the dollar.
(SFC, 1/16/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 18, In Brazil the real was allowed to float and interest rates were raised from 29 to 41%.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A6)
1999 Jan, In Rio De Janeiro a pillar supporting a sewage pipe collapsed led to major repairs that forced the city to dump tons of raw sewage into the ocean along its beaches. Repairs were not completed until May.
(SFC, 5/3/99, p.B10)
1999 Feb 2, In Brazil Pres. Cardoso fired Central Bank chief Francisco Lopes. He appointed Arminio Fraga (42), an investment strategist and former associate of George Soros, to the post.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Feb 23, The $5 billion Sergio Motta Dam on the Parana River, 370 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, was inaugurated. Full power to 18 turbines was expected in 2003.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.C3)
1999 Feb 27, Brazilian poet Haraldo de Campos (b.1929) won the Mexican Octavio Paz Prize for poetry and essay writing. His major works include "Chess Game of the Stars" and "The Education of the Five Senses."
(SFC, 3/1/99, p.E5)
1999 Feb, Hildebrando Pascoal was sworn in as a federal congressman from Acre state.
(WSJ, 3/16/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 4, In Brazil Arminio Fraga, the new Central Bank president, raised the interest rates to 45%.
(SFC, 3/5/99, p.D2)
1999 Mar 6, It was reported that heavy flooding had hit Sao Paulo. 27 people were killed and 10,000 left homeless.
(SFC, 3/6/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 8, Brazil sealed a deal with the IMF for a currency injection in exchange for more belt tightening.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)
1999 Mar 12, Bidu Sayao, Brazilian opera soprano, died at age 94 in Maine.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A19)
1999 Mar 24, Federal judges were reported to have staged a wildcat walkout for a 25% pay increase.
(WSJ, 3/24/99, p.A23)
1999 Mar 29, Paraguay's ousted president, Raul Cubas, was given asylum by Brazil.
(WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr, A nationwide probe into drug trafficking began. Over the next 14 months some 30 people, who helped or planned to help the investigation, were killed.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.F2)(SFC, 12/1/00, p.A21)
1999 May 18, Alfredo de Freitas Dias Gomes (77), Salvadoran-born soap opera writer, died in a traffic accident. He wrote the "Roque Santeiro" satire that began airing in 1985, though it was initially written in 1975. His play "O Pagador de Promesas" was made into a film that won top prize at Cannes in 1962.
(SFC, 5/19/99, p.A21)
1999 May, Congress outlawed pregnancy tests for job candidates as part of a labor code reform.
(SFC, 8/24/99, p.A10)
1999 May, The state government of Rio de Janeiro passed one of world's toughest weapons' laws. Sales of guns and ammunition were banned to anyone except police, military and private security. Death rates in Brazil from gunshots had reached 25.78 per 100,000. In Sept. a court ruled the ban unconstitutional.
(SFC, 8/30/99, p.A12)(SFC, 9/11/99, p.A9)
1999 Jun 10, Brazil’s Pres. Cardoso sanctioned a new law creating the first civilian-run defense ministry.
(SFC, 6/12/99, p.C1)
1999 Jun 23, Amnesty Int'l. issued a report condemning Brazil's prison system.
(SFC, 6/24/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 28, A European and Latin American summit opened for a 2 day conference in Rio De Janeiro. The EU and Mercosur bloc agreed to form a new free-trade zone.
(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A10)
1999 Jul 26, Brazil said it would temporarily suspend all trade talks with Argentina after Argentina moved to curb certain Brazilian exports.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A20)
1999 Jul 28, In Brazil the army was ordered by Pres. Cardoso to clear the nation's highways from blockades set up by striking truckers protesting poor roads, high tolls and high gasoline prices.
(WSJ, 7/29/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 27, Archbishop Dom Helder Camara (90) died in Recife. He had an int'l. reputation for campaigns against social inequality and human rights abuses.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.D5)
1999 Sep 9, It was reported that Brazil had recently approved minimum retirement ages of 53 for men and 48 for women, but only for employees entering the civil service. The pension system was broke and expected to run $30 bil in the red this year.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 22, The Chamber of Deputies voted 394 to 41 to expel Hildebrando Pascoal, a 1st term congressman from Acre state, for "lack of parliamentary decorum." Hildebrando was accused of torture, mass murder and int'l. drug trafficking but had been immune due to his congressional status. Pascoal surrendered to federal police the next day.
(SFC, 9/23/99, p.C16)(SFC, 9/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Oct 7, The Spix macaw of Brazil (Cyanopsitta spixii), native to the area of Curaca along the Sao Francisco River, was the world's rarest wild bird, due to animal trafficking. It's market value was put at $60,000. 218 species in Brazil were endangered, including 109 birds, 68 mammals, 31 invertebrates, 9 reptiles and 1 amphibian. The last wild Spix macaw disappeared in 2000.
(SFC, 10/7/99, p.A15,18)
1999 Nov 18, In Brazil assailants broke into a house in Sao Vicente and shot 8 people to death, 2 men, 3 boys and 3 women.
(SFC, 11/19/99, p.A21)
1999 Nov, Sen Luiz Estevao and a judge were indicted for pocketing funds from a court complex in Sao Paolo with $300 million in cost overruns.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A16)
1999 Dec 2, In Brazil riot police killed one person and wounded 9 others during a worker protest at the Bandeirantes television station in Brasilia
(SFC, 12/3/99, p.D5)
1999 In Brazil police in the northeastern city of Recife seized more than 70 pounds (30 kg) of cocaine aboard a Hercules C-130 plane bound for Spain. Five people, including a US citizen, who police said led the gang, and two Air Force officers were arrested. In 2011 Jose Roberto Monteiro Zau, the last suspect of the drug-trafficking ring, was arrested.
(AP, 5/11/11)
2000 Jan 3, In Brazil flooding killed at least 11 people in Rio de Janeiro.
(WSJ, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 12, An Argentine a tour bus crashed into a 2nd local bus in Brazil and 42 people were killed.
(WSJ, 1/13/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 13, In Brazil Mexican singer Gloria Trevi was arrested with her manager Sergio Andrade and Maria Raquenal Portillo on Mexican charges of corrupting Karina Yapor (17). Trevi became pregnant in May and rape was suspected. Brasilia federal police chief Paulo Magalhaes was removed from his post in October.
(SFC, 1/15/00, p.A10)(SFC, 10/18/01, p.C2)
2000 Jan, A broken crude oil pipeline in Rio de Janeiro spilled at least 130,000 gallons near the coast and into Guanabara Bay. The ruptured pipeline at a Petrobras refinery dumped at least 340,000 gallons of crude into the Guanabara bay, killing birds and fish and devastating environmentally sensitive mangrove swamps.
(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A6)(AP, 9/6/05)
2000 Feb 9, It was reported that death squads operating in 12 of the 26 states had killed some 2,500 people in the past 2 years. The squads targeted petty thieves, the poor and minorities.
(WSJ, 2/9/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 1, Hildebrando Pascoal, a former congressman from Acre state, was sentenced to over 6 years in prison for tax fraud and other financial crimes.
(SFC, 3/3/00, p.D4)
2000 Apr 5, In Brazil Jose Rainha Jr., leader of the Landless Rural Workers Movement, was acquitted of the 1989 killing of farm owner Jose Machado Neto.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr, UNESCO declared the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil a World Heritage site. Only 3% of the original 4,500 square mile rain forest remained.
(SFC, 9/4/00, p.B10)
2000 Jun 9, In Brazil legal rights for same-sex couples were extended to include inheritance, pension and social security benefits.
(SFC, 6/10/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 11, Gen. Lino Oviedo of Paraguay was arrested in Foz do Iguacu.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun 12, In Rio de Janeiro bus No. 174 was hijacked for 4 ½ hours before police killed the assailant and one hostage.
(SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A21)
2000 Jun 20, Brazil decreed an immediate ban on the sale of firearms as part of a broad $1.7 billion national security plan.
(SFC, 6/21/00, p.A14)
2000 Jun, Brazil’s Senate expelled Luiz Estevao (50) for lying about his involvement in a construction company that helped build a federal courthouse. He allegedly diverted $100 million in government funds for the project. It was the 1st expulsion in the Senate’s 170 year history.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A9)
2000 Jul 16, An oil leak in Brazil’s Parana state began near the Getulio Vargas Refinery in Araucaria and dumped over 1 million gallons of crude into a tributary of the Iguacu River. Petrobras was later fined $94 million for the country’s worst spill in 25 years.
(SFC, 7/18/00, p.A12)(SFC, 8/3/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 16, Armed hijacked an airliner and forced it to land in southern Parana state. They escaped with an estimated $3.3 million in stolen money.
(SFC, 8/17/00, p.A15)
2000 Aug 31, A meeting of South American presidents opened in Brasilia. They expressed concern over the civil war in Colombia and planned to discuss the creation of a South American trade block.
(SFC, 9/1/00, p.A16)
2000 Sep 17, Gangs of armed gunmen broke into jails and freed over 200 inmates. 2 of the breaks occurred in Sumare and Santa Isabel. A 3rd took place the next day in Sao Paolo.
(SFC, 9/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Oct 1, Some 110 million voted in municipal elections with advances by the Workers Party. A tilt to the left was seen as a response to corruption.
(WSJ, 10/3/00, p.A23)
2000 Oct 29, Marta Suplicy (55) of the Workers Party was elected mayor of Sao Paulo in a runoff election with 58.5% of the vote.
(SFC, 10/29/00, p.A12)
2000 Nov 17, Gunmen in Sao Paulo shot to death 10 people, 13 to 20, sleeping in an abandoned house. Drug gang retaliation was suspected.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.C16)
2000 Nov 30, In Brazil a 5,000 page report, begun in Apr 1999, was released and covered the $25 billion drug trafficking trade and implicated almost 200 public authorities including 10 national and state legislators.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.F2)(SFC, 12/1/00, p.A21)
2000 Nov, In Manaus an oil leak at an abandoned asphalt factory spilled as much as 6,600 gallons into feeder streams of the Amazon.
(SFC, 11/25/00, p.D8)
2000 Dec 15, Pres. Mbeki of South Africa spoke at a MERCOSUR meeting in Brazil and planned to begin negotiations to join the trading block.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.B2)
2000 In Brazil Antonio Marcos Pimenta Neves, managing editor of the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, shot Sandra Gomide (32) to death. She was a former editor of the paper's business section who had ended their relationship shortly before she was slain. Neves was convicted in 2006 but stayed free during numerous appeals. In 2011 the Supreme Court said Neves must serve his 15-year sentence after running out of appeals.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2000 Brazil’s Central Bank Pres. Arminio Fraga set up the printing of 10-real bills on long lasting plastic. The move was symbolic of currency stability.
(WSJ, 6/2/00, p.A1)
2000 Brazil was about 74% Roman Catholic. By 2010 the number fell to about 65% of the population.
(AP, 11/3/12)
2000 A UN study put the murder rate in Rio de Janeiro at 26.3 per 100,000, one of the highest in the world.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A13)
2001 Jan 20, It was reported that 12.5% of the original forest in the Amazon region had been destroyed.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A10)
2001 Jan 24, Portugal Telecom and Spain’s Telefonica announced today the formation of a US$ 10 billion Strategic Joint Venture ("JV") for mobile services in Brazil. The resulting entity, named Vivo, was formed from seven assorted mobile units they already controlled.
(Econ, 5/22/10, p.71)(http://tinyurl.com/2cxlgd4)
2001 Jan 25, The first World Social Forum (WSF), originated by Oded Grajew, opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, organized by many groups including the French Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens (ATTAC).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum)
2001 Jan, In Brazil Gol Airlines was launched by the Constantino family, which ran a fleet of buses. Employee owned Varig had 40% of the market, but was crumbling under competition from TAM. Varig went into bankruptcy in 2005.
(Econ, 4/28/07, p.76)
2001 Feb 3, Mexico followed Canada and the US in a ban on beef from Brazil due to fears of mad cow disease.
(WSJ, 2/5/01, p.A17)
2001 Feb 18, In Brazil some 15,000 convicts held uprisings in 29 prisons that left 16 people dead. It was coordinated by Idemir Carlos Ambrosio, leader of the PCC prison-based gang. Ambrosio was killed in prison in July.
(SFC, 2/19/01, p.A9)(SFC, 5/16/06, p.A7)
2001 Mar 6, Sao Paulo Gov. Mario Covas died at age 70.
(SFC, 3/8/01, p.C4)
2001 Mar 15, A Petrobras oil-platform explosion killed 1 worker and left 9 missing at the 40-story offshore facility. The platform was in danger of sinking.
(WSJ, 3/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 20, The damaged Brazilian P-36 Petrobras oil platform sank 75 miles offshore. 400,000 gallons of fuel and crude oil began leaking into the sea. An immediate revenue loss of $50 million per month was expected.
(SFC, 3/21/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 27, The Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency, Aneel, ordered federal agencies and state companies to reduce consumption by 10% due to power shortages caused by poor rains.
(WSJ, 3/28/01, p.A16)
2001 Apr 15, A prison takeover in Cuiaba ended when inmates killed 6 leaders of the rebellion after they took visitors hostage.
(WSJ, 4/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 17, A group of 20, who claimed to be armed with syringes of the AIDS virus, kidnapped 4 armored car workers and their families. The Proforte armored car company handed over $2.5 million the next day.
(SFC, 4/19/01, p.A11)
2001 Apr 21, Luiz Fernando da Costa (33), a Brazilian drug lord, was arrested in Colombia after his plane was forced down by the Colombian air force. He was accused of selling arms to FARC in exchange for cocaine.
(SFC, 4/23/01, p.A12)
2001 May 2, It was reported that a large embezzlement case in Brazil threatened to unravel the ruling coalition. Some $2 billion had disappeared from the Amazon Development Bureau (Sudam). Fakery of land deals (grilagem) was estimated to involve some 100 million acres of the Amazon Basin.
(SFC, 5/2/01, p.A8)(SFC, 5/3/01, p.B5)
2001 May 18, Brazil ordered consumers and businesses to cut energy use by 20% due to shortages created by drought. Rationing was to start June 1.
(SFC, 5/19/01, p.A8)
2001 May, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 masked gang members with assault rifles freed drug trafficker Marcio Greick (21) from the Bonsucesso Hospital. One police officer was killed, 7 people were injured and 2 guards beaten as they shot their way out.
(SFC, 11/18/05, p.A19)
2001 Jun 1, Senator Antonio Carlos Magalhaes, former president of the Senate, resigned his seat following accusations of tampering with the vote tallying system.
(SFC, 6/2/01, p.A9)
2001 Jun 20, Brazil’s Central Bank raised the key interest rate 1.5% to 18.25%.
(WSJ, 6/22/01, pA11)
2001 Jun, Brazil signed a trade agreement with Guyana.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.36)
2001 Jul 5, Pres. Cardoso announced a plan to boost the electrical supply with imports and new generators. The real fell to 2.47 to the dollar.
(WSJ, 7/6/01, p.A7)
2001 Jul 8, Some 100 inmates escaped through a tunnel from Latin America’s largest prison in Sao Paulo. 35 were soon captured.
(WSJ, 7/10/01, p.A1)
2002 Jul, The $1.4 billion Amazon surveillance system (SIVAM) was scheduled to be completed by Raytheon Systems.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.Spe.Adv.)
2001 Aug 5, In Brazil a 2-week police strike in Salvador, Bahia state, was reported to be over. Threats of strikes remained in other cities due to low wages.
(SSFC, 8/5/01, p.T14)
2001 Aug 6, Jorge Amado (b.1912), author of 32 novels, died at age 88. He was considered Brazil’s greatest contemporary writer.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.D2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Amado)
2001 Aug 17, Congress approved a legal civil code that made women equal to men.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A10)
2001 Aug 20, Patricia Abravanel (23), the daughter of Silvio Santos, was kidnapped by a band of thugs that included Fernando Dutra Pinto (22).
(SFC, 8/31/01, p.D2)
2001 Aug 22, Brazil moved to produce a generic version of the anti-AIDS drug nelfinavir under int’l. patent protection by Roche.
(SFC, 8/23/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 23, Francisco de Assis Santana (56), a Xukuru Indian leader aka Chico Quele, was killed in an ambush near Pe de Serra in Penambuco state.
(SFC, 8/25/01, p.A9)
2001 Aug 28, Fernando Pinto and his accomplices received $200,000 in ransom money for the daughter of TV tycoon Silvio Santos. The next day Pinto killed 2 policemen and escaped.
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A5)
2001 Aug 30, In Sao Paulo Fernando Dutra Pinto (22) held Silvio Santos hostage for 8 hours and then surrendered to police.
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A5)(SFC, 8/31/01, p.D2)
2001 Aug 31, Brazil withdrew its threat to make a generic version of the Nelfinavir AIDS drug after Roche Pharmaceuticals agreed to produce the drug locally and cut the price by 40% next year.
(SFC, 9/1/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep, Antonio Costa Santos, Worker’s Party (PT) mayor of Campinas, was assassinated.
(SFC, 1/26/02, p.A8)
2001 Oct 9, Roberto Campos (b.1917), Brazilian politician and diplomat, died. His autobiography was titled “A lanterna na popa" (2001). It revised his personal biography as well as the recent economic history of Brazil.
(Econ, 1/30/10, p.46)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_de_Oliveira_Campos)
2001 Nov 23, An oil pipeline leak near Rio was stopped after some 26,000 gallons spilled into Guanabara Bay.
(SSFC, 11/25/01, p.A18)
2001 Nov 24, A fire at a dance club in Belo Horizonte killed at least 6 people.
(SSFC, 11/25/01, p.A18)
2001 Dec 5, Sir Peter Blake (53) of New Zealand, 2-time America’s Cup winner, was killed on the research vessel Seamaster by gunmen at Macapa, Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon. 7 men were arrested 2 days later and an 8th was still sought. The final 2 suspects were arrested Dec 9.
(SFC, 12/7/01, p.A1)(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A2)(SFC, 12/10/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 26, Rescue workers searched for victims of earth slides and flooding that killed at least 49 people in Rio de Janeiro state.
(SFC, 12/27/01, p.A5)
2001 Brazil ended the year with 7.7% inflation.
(WSJ, 2/21/02, p.A15)
2001 In Brazil an 840-pound emerald was discovered in Bahia. It was sold to Americans for $60,000 and then transferred among a number of people, who moved it to San Jose, Ca., then to Louisiana, where it was trapped in a flooded warehouse, and then back to California. In 2009 it came under police control as courts attempted to unravel ownership of the mineral, now said to be worth nearly $400 million.
(WSJ, 2/28/09, p.A1)
2002 Jan 18, Celso Daniel, the PT mayor of Santo Andre, a Sao Paulo suburb, was kidnapped by a gang seeking to free comrades from prison. His bullet-riddled body was found Jan 20. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Brazil claimed responsibility (Brazilian Revolutionary Action Front) for the killing and the Sep murder of another Workers’ Party mayor.
(WSJ, 1/21/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/26/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 19, Pres. Cardoso announced that electricity rationing would end March 1.
(WSJ, 2/20/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 7, Brazil’s 4-party coalition collapsed with the pullout of the Liberal Front Party. Roseana Sarney (40), Gov. of Maranhao state and PFL presidential candidate, was involved in a scandal over a consulting firm she owned with her husband. Sarney called the government investigation a witch-hunt. Her presidential bid was killed when images of half a million dollars in banknotes, found at her husband’s office, were broadcast on television.
(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A13)(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A7)(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2002 Mar 25, It was reported that poachers were destroying the palms in Itatiaia National Park in order to harvest the palm hearts. A 100-year-old tree has enough heart to fill 2 14-oz cans sold retail at $3.99.
(WSJ, 3/25/02, p.A1)
2002 May 24, A shootout between drug gangs in a Rio slum left 6 people dead.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A13)
2002 Jun 2, Tim Lopes (50), an undercover TV journalist reporting on crime and drugs in Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns, was captured as he tried to infiltrate a dance party in the Vila Cruzeiro shantytown of northern Rio.
(AP, 6/10/02)
2002 Jun 10, In Brazil police reported that Tim Lopes (50), an undercover TV journalist, had been tortured and put to death with a sword by Elias Pereira da Silva, a drug lord known as Mad Elias, who runs his territory like a medieval fiefdom.
(AP, 6/10/02)
2002 Jun 12, A jury in northern Brazil acquitted 124 police officers accused of taking part in the 1996 massacre of 19 farm workers.
(AP, 6/13/02)
2002 Jun 12, Brazil’s currency fell to a 9-month low and marked a looming debt crises and the possible election of a left-wing president in October.
(WSJ, 6/13/02, p.A15)
2002 Jun 13, Brazil said it will draw down $10 billion in approved IMF credit, tighten fiscal policy and buy back $3 billion in foreign debt. The currency soared and settled at 2.71 to the dollar.
(WSJ, 6/14/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 30, Ronaldo, the world's greatest goal-scorer, capitalized on an error by the best goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, then scored again to lift Brazil to an unprecedented fifth World Cup title Sunday night, 2-0 over Germany.
(AP, 6/30/02)
2002 Jul 3, Brazil and Mexico signed a trade agreement that reduced import duties on some 800 products.
(WSJ, 7/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 5, Twenty vehicles piled up in early morning fog in southeastern Brazil, killing at least 13 people, including a pregnant woman and six police officers.
(AP, 7/5/02)
2002 Jul 22, In Brazil assailants tortured and killed Bartolemeu Morais da Silva (44), a prominent activist who had been organizing land occupations by the poor in a southern Amazon state.
(AP, 7/23/02)
2002 Jul 26, In Brazil the new $1.4 billion Amazon Radar Surveillance (SIVAM), developed by Raytheon, was unveiled. It was to be used to curb crime and gather economic data.
(SFC, 7/26/02, p.A16)
2002 Jul 30, In Brazil the real fell 3.3% to 3.3 to the dollar, its 7th consecutive record low.
(WSJ, 7/31/02, p.A12)
2002 Aug 7, The IMF agreed to lend Brazil $30 billion to stem a financial panic. This was its biggest loan to date.
(SFC, 8/8/02, p.A10)
2002 Aug 22, In Brazil President Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed a decree creating the Tumucumaque (the rock on top of the mountain) Mountains National Park bigger than Maryland covering a region of virgin rainforest in Amapa state, along Brazil's northern borders with Surinam and Guyana.
(AP, 8/22/02)(SFC, 8/23/02, p.A2)
2002 Aug 30, A twin-engine plane with 31 people crashed while trying to land in heavy rains near Rio Branco, a northwestern Brazilian city, killing 24 people.
(AP, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 13, It was reported that political theater in Brazil had taken on a new grass-roots form called the Theater of the Oppressed, wherein spectators stepped into scenes in "interventions" to take the part of the underdog.
(WSJ, 9/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 6, Brazilian voters voted 46% in favor of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former factory worker and union boss, as president. Jose Alencar was da Silva’s running mate. A runoff with Jose Sera (23%) was scheduled.
(WSJ, 10/2/02, p.A1)(AP, 10/6/02)(SFC, 10/8/02, p.A10)
2002 Oct 25, In Brazil unknown gunmen shot and killed eight people in the state of Sao Paulo in two killings. In the first six months of 2002, the state's Public Security Bureau registered 6,159 homicides.
(AP, 10/26/02)
2002 Oct 27, In Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (57) won elections with 61% of the runoff vote. He reiterated that his administration would honor Brazil's $230 billion foreign debt, but said lending institutions and the international community "must know that we cannot have people suffering from hunger every day."
(AP, 10/28/02)
2002 Oct 29, In Brazil Pres.-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to honor the foreign debt but also pledged that ending hunger would be his chief priority.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Oct 30, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Suzanne von Richtofen (22) let her lover Daniel Cravinhos (21) and his brother, Christian (26) into her house, and checked to make sure her parents were sleeping. Then the brothers sneaked into the parents' bedroom and bludgeoned them to death with iron bars. In 2006 all 3 were tried for murder. Each was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Daniel Cravinhos said he beat Manfred and Marisa von Richtofen to death with an iron bar as they slept at home in a wealthy district of Sao Paulo because the couple's daughter, Suzanne von Richtofen, persuaded him to do it.
(AP, 6/5/06)(AP, 7/17/06)(AP, 7/22/06)
2002 Nov 22, Amilcar de Castro (82), Brazilian sculptor, died. His work was composed from massive sheets of iron.
(SFC, 12/3/02, p.A24)
2002 Dec 5, In Brazil 6 South American presidents convened a summit of the continent's largest trading bloc, aiming to work out a timetable for a free trade agreement covering most of the continent.
(AP, 12/6/02)
2002 Dec 6, In Brazil South American leaders set a timetable for creating a free trade agreement to cover South America and possibly the Caribbean.
(AP, 12/7/02)
2002 Dec 9, In Angra dos Reis, Brazil, mudslides triggered by torrential rains slashed through this southeastern city, burying houses and killing at least 34 people.
(AP, 12/10/02)
2002 Dec 12, In Brazil Pres.-elect Lula da Silva nominated Henrique Meirelles, a former executive for FleetBoston, as Central Bank governor.
(WSJ, 12/14/02, p.A12)
2002 Dec 18, In Brazil a ferry accident on the Para River killed at least 22 people with 28 more believed missing. The death toll grew to 44.
(AP, 12/19/02)(AP, 12/23/02)
2002 Dec 26, In Curtiba, Brazil, a C-95 Bandeirante air force plane crashed during an emergency landing, killing two people and injuring the other 14 people aboard.
(AP, 12/26/02)
2002 The Brazilian film “Cidade de Deus" (City of God) was set in a suburb of Rio and made the lawless squalor there internationally known.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.42)
2002 Mexico ended its visa requirement for Brazilians as both countries liberalized their trade regimes. Illegal immigration of Brazilians to the US via Mexico quickly increased.
(WSJ, 1/24/05, p.A16)
2002 The city of Diadema, Brazil, passed a law to ban bars and restaurants from selling alcohol between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. This led to a 47% drop in homicides, a 30% drop in traffic accidents and a 55% drop in assaults against women.
(SFC, 5/10/06, p.A1)
2003 Jan 1, In Brazil Gilberto Gill (60), musician, became minister of culture under Pres. Silva.
(SFC, 1/2/03, p.A3)
2003 Jan 3, In Brazil Pres. Silva delayed a plan to spend $700 million on jet fighters. The military's $7.4 billion budget is scheduled to be cut by $282 million.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2003 Jan 11, In Brazil mudslides caused by torrential rains near Rio de Janeiro left 17 dead.
(AP, 1/12/03)
2003 Jan 16, In Brazil mudslides killed at least 36 people in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo states.
(SFC, 1/17/03, p.A10)(AP, 1/18/03)
2003 Jan 23, In Porto Alegre, Brazil, the 3rd World Social Forum began as anti-globalization activists demonstrated at the start of the third annual summit on ways to limit the excesses of global capitalism.
(AP, 1/23/03)
2003 Jan 30, Brazil's President Lula da Silva launched his anti-hunger program with a move to provide $14 a month to 1.5 million families, most from the country's poverty-stricken northeast.
(AP, 1/30/03)
2003 Feb 4, Beauty pageant organizers stripped Miss Brazil of her title after they discovered she was married. Joseane Oliveira (21) was replaced by first runner-up Taiza Thomsen (21).
(AP, 2/5/03)
2003 Feb 12, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Bishop Paulo Pereira (38) of the Vetero Catholic Church, in the low-income district of Guainazes, was gunned down inside his church's headquarters. Elsewhere in San Paulo 3 gunmen killed Wallace Ornelas Passos, a 17-year-old student with a police record for theft and other criminal activities.
(AP, 2/13/03)
2003 Feb 14, In Brazil police found the bullet-riddled bodies of six men in the back seat and trunk of a car parked near a Rio de Janeiro slum.
(AP, 2/14/03)
2003 Feb 28, Carnival began in Brazil as a large crime wave swept Rio. Imprisoned Red Command leader, Luiz Fernando da Costa, was believed responsible and was moved to a maximum security prison in San Paolo state.
(SFC, 2/28/03, A16)
2003 Mar 1, In Brazil a truce between landless farmworkers and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva peace ended, when some 1,000 landless farmers occupied a ranch 80 miles west of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 3/6/03)
2003 Mar 7, Jose Marcio Ayres (49), Brazilian biologist and senior Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) biologist, died in NYC. In 1996 he set up the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve to protect a 4,300 square-mile area of the Amazon rain forest.
(Econ, 6/19/04, p.77)
2003 Mar 24, In Brazil gunmen killed Alexandre Martins de Castro Filho, a judge who focused on organized crime, 10 days after another prominent judge was gunned down in a similar slaying.
(AP, 3/25/03)c
2003 Apr 4, In southern Brazil 2 buses crashed head-on during heavy rains, killing 18 people and injuring seven others.
(AP, 4/4/03)
2003 Apr 16, In Jahangir, Brazil, 4 young men were killed by police in the Borel shantytown on Rio's poor north side. The community was unanimous that they were not gang members and had no involvement in crime. More than 800 civilians died from police bullets in Rio during the first eight months of this year. In 2006 Capt. Marcos Duarte Ramalho was the third police officer to stand trial and the first to be convicted in connection with the killings. Two more officers awaited trial for the killings.
(AP, 11/10/03)(AP, 10/20/06)
2003 Apr 19, In Brazil a tourist schooner with 64 people on board sank in a canal east of Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 11 people.
(Reuters, 4/20/03)
2003 May 10, A Brazilian police SWAT team killed eight men in a shootout as they raided a shantytown looking for drug traffickers.
(AP, 5/10/03)
2003 May 12, In Brazil some 1,000 other landless farmers knocked down the barbed-wire fences surrounding the Tres Marias ranch in southern Brazil, evicted its owner and claimed the land for themselves. 90 percent of the Brazil's land was owned by just 20 percent of the people, while the poorest 40 percent of the population held just 1 percent.
(AP, 6/29/03)
2003 Jun 20, Pres. Bush and Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva said that relations between the two nations remain on track despite sharp disagreements over Iraq and some trade issues.
(AP, 6/21/03)
2003 Jun 22, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, some 800,000 danced their way through one of the world's biggest gay pride parades.
(AP, 6/23/03)
2003 Jun 26, Researchers said the Amazon rain forest is disappearing at an increasing rate, mainly because of a growing appetite for farm land.
(AP, 6/26/03)
2003 Jul 17, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, police killed 3 alleged gang members and pulled the bullet-riddled bodies of 7 others from a sludge-filled river in 2 notorious shantytowns due to an escalating gang war over drug control between The Red Command and Third Command.
(AP, 7/18/03)
2003 Aug 4, Brazilian novelist Rubem Fonseca (b.1925) won Mexico's prestigious Juan Rulfo Prize for literature.
(AP, 8/4/03)
2003 Aug 6, Roberto Marinho (98), who turned his father's O Globo newspaper into a media empire and became one of Brazil's richest men, died.
(AP, 8/7/03)(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A14)
2003 Aug 9, In northeastern Brazil 84 inmates from a maximum security prison escaped through a tunnel.
(AP, 8/9/03)
2003 Aug 16, Haroldo de Campos (73), Brazilian poet, died in Sao Paulo. He was the best know of the Brazilian Concrete poets.
(SFC, 8/26/03, p.A19)
2003 Aug 19, In northeastern Brazil federal police and government inspectors freed about 800 slave workers from two farms in Bahia state. Another 200 were freed a week later. The Brazilian government estimated that some 25,000 people work in slavery conditions in Brazil, most of them in remote Amazon areas.
(AP, 8/30/03)
2003 Aug 19, In Baghdad a car bomb exploded in front of the hotel housing the UN headquarters, collapsing the front of the building. UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello (55) of Brazil and 22 other people were killed. UNICEF said that its program co-coordinator for Iraq, Canadian Christopher Klein-Beekman, was among the dead. In 2008 Samantha Power authored “Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World."
(SFC, 8/20/03, p.A12)(AP, 8/21/03)(SSFC, 2/10/08, p.M1)
2003 Aug 20, The G-20 (G20) was formed with Brazil as one of its leading member nations. The group emerged at the 5th Ministerial WTO conference, held in Cancun, Mexico from 10 September to 14 September 2003. The other members are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, the Philippines, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
(AP, 9/10/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20_developing_nations)
2003 Aug 22, In Brazil a $6 million rocket exploded on its launch pad while undergoing final pre-launch tests, killing 21 people. The VLS-1 rocket which was undergoing tests at the Alcantara Launch Center.
(AP, 8/25/03)
2003 Aug 25, Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva and Peru's Pres. Toledo signed a free-trade agreement between Peru and Mercosur. Peru planned to join as an associate member.
(Econ, 8/30/03, p.25)
2003 Sep 15, A new human rights report on Brazil said summary executions and killings by death squads, often formed by police officers, are commonplace and frequently tolerated by authorities.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2003 Sep 26, In Cuba Brazil's Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed business accords with Castro that included an agreement to renegotiate Havana's $40 million debt with Brazil.
(AP, 9/27/03)
2003 Sep 27, Brazil and Cuba signed $200 million in new business deals in Cuba by private Brazilian enterprises.
(AP, 9/27/03)
2003 Oct 4, In southwest Brazil a small airplane carrying congressman Rep. Jose Carlos Martinez and three others went missing. All 4 were found dead the next day.
(AP, 10/4/03)(AP, 10/5/03)
2003 Oct 9, In Santo Antonio de Jesus in Bahia state, Brazil, gunmen shot and killed Gerson de Jesus Bispo, a man who spoke to a UN investigator about police death squads.
(AP, 10/10/03)
2003 Oct 27, In Brazil the 22nd Socialist International Congress opened. Some 600 delegates from more than 100 political parties met under the 52-year-old Socialist International's motto: "For a more human society. For a world more fair and just."
(AP, 10/28/03)
2003 Nov 9, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, 87 inmates attempted a prison escape through a 390-foot tunnel. 48 were captured and 8 died when the tunnel collapsed.
(AP, 11/10/03)
2003 Nov 21, In Brazil Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to provide homesteads for 400,000 poor farm families by 2006. His Bolsa Familia plan merged 4 income transfer programs into one with payments to the poorest families of up to 95 reais ($33) a month. By 2008 some 11 million families received benefits under the plan.
(Econ, 10/25/03, p.35)(AP, 11/22/03)(Econ, 2/9/08, p.39)
2003 Nov 30, In Brazil Todd and Michelle Staheli were beaten to death in bed at home in an exclusive Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. Todd Staheli (39), an American executive with Shell oil company, and his wife were found slain the next day. In 2004 Jociel Conceicao dos Santos (20), a handyman, recanted a confession and denied he killed the American couple. He blamed two other Brazilians for the crime. In 2006 Jossiel Conceicao dos Santos (22) was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing the American couple.
(AP, 12/1/03)(AP, 3/5/06)
2003 Dec 14, Brazil's ruling Workers Party expelled four leftist lawmakers after they voted against the party on crucial legislation being sought by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 12/15/03)
2003 Dec 15, The IMF extended for 15 months a $34 billion loan agreement with Brazil.
(WSJ, 12/16/03, p.A15)
2003 Dec 22, Brazil's Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a sweeping gun-control law in an effort to rein in what he called "an epidemic of murder by firearms."
(AP, 12/23/03)
2003 The Brazil Labor Ministry freed 4,995 people who were working in debt bondage, mostly on remote ranches in the southern Amazon. The rights group Land Pastoral, linked with the Roman Catholic Church, estimated that between 15,000 and 25,000 workers live in slave-like conditions in Brazil,
(AP, 3/18/04)
2003 In Brazil the Anaconda police operation caught judges selling favorable sentences to criminals.
(Econ, 3/27/04, p.37)
2003 The introduction of flex-fuel cars, vehicles that could run on ethanol as well as regular petrol, took off in Brazil due to a policy that dated to the 1970s of promoting fuel derived from home-grown sugar cane.
(Econ, 9/24/05, p.79)
2003 Brazilian ranchers, soybean farmers and loggers destroyed a chunk of the Amazon rainforest about the size of Massachusetts.
(AP, 4/8/04)
2004 Jan 1, Brazil began fingerprinting and photographing American visitors in retaliation to similar new US procedures.
(WSJ, 12/31/03, p.A1)
2004 Jan 9, In southeastern Brazil floodwaters swept a bus carrying 30 orange pickers off a road, and at least eight people drowned.
(AP, 1/10/04)
2004 Jan 17, In Brazil the death toll rose to 11 as heavy rains and mudslides pounded the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro for the second day in a row.
(AP, 1/17/04)
2004 Feb 4, Hilda Hilst (73), who provoked Brazilian readers with fiction and poetry depicting insanity, the supernatural and erotica, died.
(AP, 2/4/04)
2004 Feb 8, In Brazil 49 inmates slipped through a bathroom wall of a Rio de Janeiro jail cell in an escape caught on a surveillance camera. Authorities suspended six prison guards.
(AP, 2/9/04)
2004 Feb 15, In Brazil gunmen ambushed a busload of police in Rio and killed 3 officers.
(WSJ, 2/17/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb, Zumbi dos Palmares, Brazil’s 1st college catering mainly to blacks, opened.
(Econ, 2/14/04, p.34)
2004 Mar 10, Brazil's government said the army burned all documents about the suppression of a 1970s insurgency against the military dictatorship. The papers were destroyed in the 1970s and 1980s in accordance with laws in force at the time.
(AP, 3/10/04)
2004 Mar 16, It was announced that Carlos Slim, owner of Mexico’s Telmex, planned to buy a controlling interest in Brazil’s biggest long distance operator, Embratel.
(Econ, 3/20/04, p.64)
2004 Mar 20, In Sao Goncalo, Brazil, Carlos Leite and his companion, Maria da Penha, inaugurated a free library in their home with some 100 volumes. By late 2005 the collection had grew to 10,000 volumes and took up most of the space in the home of the illiterate couple.
(AP, 10/2/05)
2004 Mar 28, A powerful storm, dubbed Catarina, lashed Brazil's southern coast, damaging thousands of homes, killing two people.
(AP, 3/29/04)
2004 Apr 2, In Brazil Jociel Conceicao dos Santos (20), a handyman, recanted a confession and denied he killed an American couple (Nov 30, 2003). He blamed two other Brazilians for the crime.
(AP, 4/2/04)
2004 Apr 7, In Brazil Amazon Indians attacked prospectors who were illegally digging for diamonds. Cinta Larga Indians massacred 29 illegal wildcat diamond miners on their remote northern reservation. 28 Indians were charged in the killings, but the case has stalled over jurisdictional questions.
(AP, 4/14/04)(AP, 12/10/07)
2004 Apr 12, In Brazil more than 1,000 police stormed into two Rio shantytowns, attempting to halt a violent dispute among drug traffickers that has left at least 10 people dead.
(AP, 4/12/04)
2004 Apr 13, Brazil's 10,000 federal customs agents began a 4-day strike, threatening to tie up the nation's ports and international airports unless the government grants them a pay raise.
(AP, 4/13/04)
2004 Apr 16, In Recife, Brazil, thousands of militant farmers converged to press the government for speedier land reform.
(AP, 4/16/04)
2004 Apr 19, In Brazil riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to eject hundreds of squatters who had seized a vacant building in Sao Paulo to demand the government speed up redistribution of land to the poor.
(AP, 4/19/04)
2004 Apr 22, In Brazil inmates at Urso Branco State Prison ended a 5-day rebellion that left nine people dead at the overcrowded prison, after authorities agreed to improve conditions.
(AP, 4/22/04)
2004 Apr, Brazil’s Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began operations. It replaced the Police Complaints Authority.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.47)
2004 May 11, Brazil decided to expel American journalist Larry Rohter, who had just published a story on Pres. Lula’s drinking.
(Econ, 5/15/04, p.36)
2004 May 14, A Brazilian domestic airliner crashed near the Amazon city of Manaus, killing all 30 passengers and three crew members.
(AP, 5/15/04)
2004 May 26, Amnesty International charged that Brazilian police killed hundreds of suspects over the past year, despite a commitment by the government to set higher standards for public security.
(AP, 5/26/04)
2004 May 29, In Brazil Inmates rioted at the Benfica detention center in a northern Rio district, seizing guns and taking guards hostage after 14 inmates broke out in a mass escape.
(AP, 5/29/04)
2004 Jun 1, In Brazil police entered the Benfica prison after a three-day rebellion and found the bodies of 38 inmates, some of them mutilated. At least 14 of 900 had escaped.
(AP, 6/2/04)
2004 Jun 1, In northeast Brazilian state of Alagoas 2 days of heavy rains killed 20 people and left some 2,100 homeless.
(AP, 6/2/04)
2004 Jun 1, In Haiti US commanders began turning over authority to a UN force under Gen. Augusto Pereira of Brazil.
(SFC, 6/2/04, A1)
2004 Jun 4, In Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva designated four new national forests to protect more than a million acres of rainforest.
(AP, 6/4/04)
2004 Jun 13, The UN Conference on Trade and Development opened in San Paulo, Brazil. This marked its 11th forum over a 40 year history. The so-called Group of 77 developing nations actually has 132 member nations.
(AP, 6/13/04)
2004 Jun 17, Brazil’s Senate backed a rise in the minimum wage to 275 reais ($88) per month and approved a new bankruptcy law.
(Econ, 6/26/04, p.42)
2004 Jun 17, In Brazil the Camara Dam on the Mamanguate River burst and flooded the city of Alagoa Grande in Paraiba state, some 1,300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. At least 3 people were killed.
(AP, 6/18/04)
2004 Jun 21, Leonel Brizola (b.1922), former governor of Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro states, died of a heart attack. Brizola, one of Brazil's most notable leftist politicians, created and armed the so-called "Groups of 11," cells designed to resist the military dictatorship.
(AP, 6/22/04)(SFC, 6/24/04, p.B6)
2004 Jul 18, Idjarruri Karaja (40), an activist who worked to include Indian rights in Brazil's constitution, died of complications from kidney surgery.
(AP, 7/20/04)
2004 Jul 27, Brazil’s police said they have arrested 6 suspects in the Jan 28 shooting deaths of 4 Labor Ministry employees. They still don't know who ordered the killings.
(AP, 7/27/04)
2004 Jul 28, Luiz Candiota, Brazil’s central bank director of monetary policy, resigned following press allegations of tax evasion. He was succeeded by Rodrigo Azevedo, chief economist of CSFB, an investment bank.
(Econ, 7/31/04, p.34)
2004 Aug 20, In Brazil 4 homeless men were bludgeoned to death and six were in critical condition following early morning attacks by unknown assailants in downtown streets of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 8/20/04)
2004 Aug 29, Closing ceremonies were held in Athens, Greece, for the 28th Olympiad. During one of the final events, lead marathon runner Vanderlie Lima of Brazil was pushed into the crowd by an intruder, but managed to finish 3rd behind Stefano Baldini of Italy.
(SFC, 8/30/04, p.D1)
2004 Aug 29, In Brazil an overcrowded balcony collapsed inside a popular Sao Paulo nightclub that featured male strippers, killing six people and injuring at least 117.
(AP, 8/29/04)
2004 Aug, An $11 billion merger between Belgium’s Interbrew and Brazil’s largest brewer AmBev formed InBev.
(Econ, 10/29/05, p.66)
2004 Aug, Brazil and Peru inaugurated the construction of a $7 million bridge between Assis, Brazil, and Inapari, Peru. It was part of a 2,500 mile Transoceanic Highway program.
(SFC, 11/5/04, p.W1)(Econ, 3/26/05, p.40)
2004 Sep 22, In southern Brazil a school bus swerved off a narrow road and plunged into a reservoir, killing at least 16 children.
(AP, 9/22/04)
2004 Sep 23, In southern Brazil seven teenagers were beaten to death and five others were injured in a rebellion at a juvenile detention center.
(AP, 9/24/04)
2004 Sep 27, In Brazil a strike by bank workers entered its 2nd full week.
(WSJ, 9/28/04, p.A20)
2004 Oct 3, The party of Brazil's left-leaning president emerged stronger from nationwide municipal elections but did not come in first in the Sao Paulo.
(AP, 10/4/04)
2004 Oct 9, In Brazil a member of a government task force working to stop illegal diamond mining on Indian reservations in the Amazon was shot dead at an ATM.
(AP, 10/10/04)
2004 Oct 14, In Brazil Pres. da Silva signed an executive order permitting farmers to plant genetically modified soybeans.
(SFC, 10/16/04, p.A3)
2004 Oct 17, Effective as of today Brazil's air force will be allowed to shoot down small planes suspected of carrying drugs under a law meant to stem the flow of cocaine.
(AP, 10/15/04)
2004 Oct 24, Brazil launched its 1st rocket into space.
(WSJ, 10/25/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 31, In Brazil Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suffered major defeats in an electoral test of his ruling party's influence. Silva’s PT Party won in 11 of the 23 cities where it fielded candidates. Jose Serra won the mayoral election in Sao Paulo over Marta Suplicy.
(AP, 11/1/04)(Econ, 1/29/05, p.35)
2004 Nov 5, Latin American leaders wrapped up a two-day summit in Brazil with a pledge to help rid Haiti of political violence and grinding poverty.
(AP, 11/5/04)
2004 Nov 20, In Brazil gunmen raided the camp Terra Prometida and torched huts and crops in Minas Gerais state. 5 victims were executed with shots at close range and 12 other people, including a child, were injured. In 2013 rancher Adriano Chafik was sentenced to 115 years in prison for ordering and taking part in the Massacre of Felisburgo.
(SSFC, 10/13/12, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/lw7xkqq)
2004 Nov 23, In Brazil government data indicated that 47% of its rainforest was now occupied by man or logged.
(WSJ, 11/24/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 24, Paraguayan police captured Ivan Mezquita, a leading Brazilian drug trafficking suspect, after a gunbattle with occupants of a cocaine-laden plane near the border with Brazil.
(AP, 11/25/04)
2004 Nov 25, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, said a deal was reached with Brazil on inspecting its uranium enrichment plant.
(AP, 11/25/04)
2004 Dec 12, The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) decided to leave the ruling coalition of Pres. Lula da Silva. The principals included 6 state governors.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.48)
2004 Dec 16, An apartment building was inaugurated in Brazil, each of whose 11 storeys turned independently, giving residents 360-degree views of the eco-friendly city of Curitiba.
(AP, 12/16/04)
2004 Dec 20, A truck and a bus collided head-on in northeastern Brazil, killing 19 people and injuring 34 others.
(AP, 12/20/04)
2004 Dec 26, In Brazil an angry mob destroyed police stations and a courthouse in two Amazon towns while trying to lynch murder suspects. One man was killed during the rioting and 44 people were arrested.
(AP, 12/27/04)
2004 Ruy Castro authored “Rio de Janeiro: Carnival Under Fire."
(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.M6)
2004 Peter Robb authored “A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions." He explores Brazil’s ambiguous racial history with a focus on the rise and fall of Pres. Fernando Collor de Mello.
(Econ, 5/8/04, p.79)(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.M6)
2004 Angus Wright and Wendy Wolford authored “To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement and the Struggle for a New Brazil."
(Econ, 1/10/04, p.73)
2004 Brazil’s Congress accused Horacio Cartes of Paraguay of cigarette smuggling.
(Econ, 4/27/13, p.35)
2004 Brazil’s public debt fell to 52% of GDP from 57% in 2003.
(Econ, 2/5/05, p.36)
2005 Jan 1, Brazil was forecast for 3.6% annual GDP growth with a population at 181.4 million and GDP per head at $3,200.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.92)
2005 Jan 19, Brazil raised its reference lending rate for a 5th consecutive month by a half point to 18.25% in an effort to curb inflation.
(WSJ, 1/20/05, p.A12)
2005 Jan 20, Brazil’s central bank said Brazil posted a current-account surplus of $11.7 billion for 2004, its 2nd straight annual surplus.
(WSJ, 1/21/05, p.A7)
2005 Jan 26, The 5th annual World Social Forum opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Activists from some 4,000 non-governmental organizations and 112 countries gathered under the theme “Another World Is Possible."
(SFC, 1/29/05, p.A6)
2005 Jan 31, In Brazil leftist activists opposed to the spread of American influence ended the fifth World Social Forum with a protest against unfettered capitalism and the war in Iraq.
(AP, 1/31/05)
2005 Feb 4, Brazil’s annual pre-Lenten Carnival got under way. It's long been an open secret that Rio's annual samba parade is largely funded by the kingpins of an illegal numbers game known here as the "jogo do bicho," Portuguese for animal game.
(AP, 2/5/05)
2005 Feb 12, In northern Brazil Dorothy Stang (73), an American nun, was shot to death. She had spent decades fighting efforts by loggers and large landowners to expropriate lands and clear large areas of the Amazon rainforest. In 2006 Amair Feijoli da Cunha (38) pleaded guilty and said he offered money to two gunmen to shoot nun, at the behest of ranchers Vitalmiro Moura and Regivaldo Galvao. In 2008 A jury voted 5-2 to acquit Vitalmiro Moura, one of two ranchers who allegedly ordered the killing Stang. The acquittal was overturned on a technicality in April, 2009. Moura and Galvao were convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
(AP, 2/12/05)(WSJ, 2/14/05, p.A1)(AP, 4/27/06)(AP, 5/6/08)(AP, 5/1/10)
2005 Feb 15, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies chose Severino Cavalcanti, a leader of Congress’s “low clergy," as president. The position determines the agenda of Congress and his selection was seen as a setback to Pres. da Silva
(Econ, 2/19/05, p.36)
2005 Feb 17, In Brazil Pres. Da Silva signed decrees creating 2 new Amazon environmental protection areas in a region of Para state coveted by soy farmers and ranchers less than a week after an American nun was gunned down trying to protect the jungle from deforestation.
(AP, 2/18/05)(SFC, 2/18/05, p.A14)
2005 Feb 25, Brazil’s government awarded a disputed patch of Amazon rainforest to a sustainable development project championed by the slain American nun Dorothy Stang.
(AP, 2/26/05)
2005 Feb 26, In Brazil Cleone Santos and Magnaldo Santos, known as Negao, were taken into custody, for aiding 2 gunmen who shot 73-year-old Dorothy Stang on Feb. 12.
(AP, 2/28/05)
2005 Mar 2, Brazil's lower house of Congress overwhelmingly approved a law creating a framework to legalize biotech seed sales for genetically modified crops.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Mar 8, Brazilian prosecutors formally charged four men in the death of a 73-year-old American nun who worked to defend poor rainforest communities. Rayfran Neves Salles was charged with firing the six shots that killed Dorothy Stang. Clodoaldo Batista was charged as an accomplice. Two other men, Amair Feijoli and Vitalmiro Moura, were charged with homicide.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 13, In southern Brazil a tourist-filled bus crashed into a logging truck, killing seven people and injuring at least 20.
(AP, 3/13/05)
2005 Mar 27, In Brazil Vitalmiro Moura, the rancher accused of ordering the killing of American nun Dorothy Stang in the Amazon rainforest six weeks ago, surrendered to police and declared his innocence.
(AP, 3/27/05)
2005 Mar 31, Severino Cavalcanti, president of Brazil’s lower house, forced the government to withdraw a tax increase that would have fallen on professionals and farmers.
(Econ, 4/9/05, p.29)
2005 Mar 31, In Brazil a massacre in Nova Iguacu, outside of Rio, left 29 people dead. The next day state officials said they might have been carried out by police incensed by investigations of brutality and corruption by "bad" cops. In 2006 a court convicted Carlos Jorge Carvalho (32) a state police officer, of taking part in the Baixada massacre. In 2009 ex-officer Julio Cesar de Paula was sentenced to 480 years in prison and ex-officer Marcos Siqueira Costa to 543 years for homicide and belonging to a criminal organization. The length of the sentences was largely symbolic because under Brazilian law no one can serve more than 30 years in prison.
(AP, 4/1/05)(SFC, 6/24/05, p.A16)(AP, 8/23/06)(AP, 9/16/09)
2005 Apr 2, Brazilian state police detained 2 police officers in the Mar 31 shooting spree that left 30 dead in Rio’s north side.
(SSFC, 4/3/05, p.A9)
2005 Apr 4, In Brazil authorities arrested 11 police suspected of participating in death squad killings that left 30 people dead in two towns on Rio's poor outskirts.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, In Brazil authorities charged eight policemen with murder for the mar 31 death-squad killings that left 30 people dead on the outskirts of Rio.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 16, The Brazilian government created "Raposa Serra do Sol" reserve in Roraima state, which borders Venezuela and Guyana. The 1.7-million-hectare (4.2-million-acre) reserve was set aside for the 15,000 people of the Macuxi, Taurepang, Wapixana and Ingariko indigenous populations that had demanded the territory for 30 years.
(AFP, 4/17/05)
2005 Apr 20, Ecuador’s Congress voted 60 to 0 to remove President Lucio Gutierrez from office amid street protests calling for his ouster for abuse of power and misrule. Brazil granted asylum to Gutierrez. Alfredo Palacio, a heart surgeon and Ecuador's vice president, assumed the presidency.
(AP, 4/21/05)(SFC, 4/21/05, p.A3)
2005 May 2, Brazil posted a record trade surplus for the month of April. During the month its currency rose 5% against the dollar.
(WSJ, 5/3/05, p.A14)
2005 May 8, In Brazil top government officials from the 11 South American nations and 22 Middle Eastern and North African countries attending the Summit of South American-Arab Countries met ahead of the two-day summit's opening on May 10.
(AP, 5/8/05)
2005 May 9, In Espertantina, Brazil, Mayor Felipe Santolia (32) declared May 9 as an official Orgasm Day.
(AP, 5/9/05)
2005 May 12, Leaders from 12 South American and 22 Arab nations ended their first summit by endorsing a "Declaration of Brasilia," urging Israel to abandon Palestinian territory and insisting free trade must be harnessed to benefit the world's poor.
(AP, 5/12/05)
2005 May 14, In Brazil more than 12,000 landless farmers who have marched nearly 125 miles to protest the slow pace of land reform reached the outskirts of Brasilia.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 16, In Brazil thousands of landless farmers, organized as the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), swarmed into Brasilia.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.39)
2005 May 16, In Brazil the Indian rights group Survival International said logging companies were cutting down the forest in the Rio Pardo area, about 1,400 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, despite repeated reports that there were isolated Indians in the region.
(AP, 5/16/05)
2005 May 24, The environmental group Greenpeace nominated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and five others for its first "Golden Chainsaw" prize, to be awarded to the Brazilian deemed to have contributed most to the Amazon's destruction.
(AP, 5/25/05)
2005 May 26, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, at least 1.5 million evangelical Protestants rallied in the heart of the financial district, demonstrating their growing clout in the world's largest Roman Catholic country. "The purpose of this march, and of all the other ones we have organized over the years, is to conquer Brazil for Jesus Christ."
(AP, 5/26/05)
2005 May 28, It was reported that American rancher John Cain Carter served as the driving force behind Alianca da Terra, a Brazilian NGO promoting certification and standards of good practice for ranchers and farmers.
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.68)
2005 May 29, In Brazil almost 2 million gay men, lesbians, transvestites and their supporters, many in lavish Carnival costumes and waving rainbow-colored flags, paraded in Sao Paulo to celebrate gay pride and call for the legalization of civil unions between homosexuals.
(AP, 5/30/05)
2005 May 31, In Brazil authorities ordered the slaughter of 17,000 chickens after 6,000 chickens died from a mysterious respiratory illness in Mato Grosso do Sul state. Brazil is the world's largest chicken exporter.
(AP, 5/31/05)
2005 May, A “Brazilian Front" for tax reform took to the streets and forced the government to scrap planned new taxes. The Brazilian tax code contained over 55,000 articles and 63 separate levies.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.35)
2005 May, Energy ministers from Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela agreed to develop a field in Venezuela’s heavy-oil belt in the Orinoco, a refinery in Brazil’s north-east and an oil and gas venture in Argentina under the name Petrosur.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.33)
2005 Jun 2, Federal police targeted Brazil's environmental protection agency in a crackdown on illegal logging, arresting 48 officials and several independent businessmen.
(AP, 6/3/05)
2005 Jun 2, In northeastern Brazil a government bus carrying Indians from a health clinic went out of control on a wet road and careened into a creek, killing at least 19 people.
(AP, 6/2/05)
2005 Jun 3, In Brazil new logging permits were suspended in Mato Grosso state where the rain forest is being cleared at an ever increasing rate.
(AP, 6/3/05)
2005 Jun 7, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to carry out a battle against corruption that would reduce it to a "sad memory."
(AP, 6/7/05)
2005 Jun 8, In Brazil the top financial officer for Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Workers’ Party denied paying off congressmen to keep the fragile governing coalition alive, making a bid to contain political damage from an alleged bribes-for-votes scandal. This came to be called the mensalao (“big monthly stipend") scandal.
(AP, 6/8/05)(Economist, 9/29/12, p.42)
2005 Jun 15, Blairo Maggi, Brazilian soyabean magnate, governor of Mato Grosso, and winner of this year’s Greenpeace “golden chainsaw" award for deforestation, refused to accept the award and slunk out through the back door of the school he was visiting, to the taunting shouts of hundreds of children.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.70)(www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/brazilian_soy_k.php)
2005 Jun 16, In Brazil Chief of Staff Jose Dirceu resigned over accusations he knew of a vote-buying scheme in Congress, becoming the highest-ranking official hit by a scandal that has shaken President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration.
(AP, 6/16/05)(Econ, 6/25/05, p.37)
2005 Jun 27, France, Germany, Brazil and Chile called for a tax on airline tickets to help finance the global fight against poverty.
(AP, 6/28/05)
2005 Jul 5, In Brazil a top official of the ruling Workers' Party stepped down, the second ally of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to resign this week amid new allegations regarding a bribes-for-votes scandal.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 6, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva named 3 cabinet ministers from a centrist party to shore up support for his governing coalition, mired in charges of buying votes in Congress.
(AP, 7/7/05)
2005 Jul 9, The leader of Brazil's governing Workers Party stepped down, the third ally of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to resign this week amid charges of buying votes in Congress.
(AP, 7/10/05)
2005 Jul 11, Joao Batista Ramos da Silva, a Brazilian congressman and an ordained minister of the evangelical Christian Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, was detained with 6 other people as they tried to board a private jet with seven suitcases stuffed with cash. Ramos said the $2.6 million in Brazilian reals was from tithes collected during religious services
(AP, 7/11/05)
2005 Jul 11, It was reported kidnappers in Brazil were targeting the mothers of top soccer players with 5 mothers kidnapped in the last 7 months.
(SFC, 7/11/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 12, In Brazil Luiz Gushiken, Pres. Lula’s communications wizard, was stripped of ministerial status following reports that his business partners had been blessed with fat federal contracts.
(Econ, 7/16/05, p.33)
2005 Jul 21, In Brazil an Indian rights group warned that wildcat miners who have entered the Yanomami Indians' Amazon reservation have brought guns and diseases that threaten the stone-age tribe. An estimated 500 prospectors have invaded the reservation, which is rich in gold, magnesium and niobium.
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 22, In London a man, who appeared to be South Asian, was slain by officers at the Stockwell subway station. Police said the man was challenged and refused to obey instructions. The next day police identified the man as Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician, and said he was not related the bombings and expressed regret for his death. Menezes was shot in the head 7 times.
(AP, 7/22/05)(AP, 7/23/05)(Econ, 7/22/06, p.18)
2005 Jul 23, The man shot at the Stockwell subway station on July 22 was identified as Jean Charles de Menezes (27) of Brazil. London police acknowledged that Menezes had nothing to do with recent bombings on the city’s transit system. Brazil's government demanded an explanation for the fatal police shooting of a Brazilian citizen on a London subway car.
(AP, 7/24/05)
2005 Jul 25, In Gonzaga, Brazil, hundreds of relatives and friends of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot to death in London after being mistaken for a terrorist, marched along the cobblestone streets of his hometown, demanding the arrest of the British police who fired the fatal shots.
(AP, 7/25/05)
2005 Aug 1, In Brazil Rep. Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the government-allied Liberal Party resigned from Congress, the first lawmaker to step down in a widening corruption scandal that has plagued the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 8/1/05)
2005 Aug 6-2005 Aug 7, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, thieves tunneled 260 feet to a Central Bank vault and stole some $70 million, in what has been described as the biggest such robbery ever in Brazil. On Feb 25, 2008, police arrested Antonio Jussivan Alves dos Santos, the leader of the thieving gang. In March he was sentenced to nearly 50 years in jail.
(AP, 8/8/05)(AP, 3/6/08)
2005 Aug 10, In Brazil impeachment proceedings began against Rep. Jose Dirceu, a federal legislator and a former top Cabinet official, in connection with a bribery scandal that has rocked President Luiz Inacio da Silva's Workers' Party.
(AP, 8/10/05)
2005 Aug 10, In Brazil authorities said they had identified some of the Sao Paulo bank heist thieves and were looking into the possibility the heist was pulled off by the First Capital Command, one of Brazil's most notorious organized crime groups.
(AP, 8/12/05)
2005 Aug 11, Brazilian police said they recovered a small percentage of the currency stolen from the Central Bank in one of the world's biggest heists. Brazil's Central Bank released an official statement saying that the amount stolen was $70 million, instead of the $67.8 million it reported earlier.
(AP, 8/12/05)
2005 Aug 12, Police detained four men in connection with one of the world's biggest heists and recovered more than $2 million of the $70 million stolen from Brazil's Central Bank. The recovered cash was found hidden in 3 pickup trucks that were on a vehicle transporter truck located several hundred miles from the Central Bank vault in Fortaleza. In 2008 police arrested Jossivam Alves dos Santos, the suspected leader of the gang which carried out the heist. Less than $10 million of the money has been recovered.
(AP, 8/13/05)(AP, 2/27/08)
2005 Aug 12, In Brazil Celio Marcelo da Silva (32), a prison escapee believed to have masterminded last year's abduction of the mother of a Brazilian soccer star, was arrested. In 2003 da Silva tunneled his way out of a Sao Paulo prison where he was serving a 38-year sentence for murder and robbery.
(AP, 8/13/05)
2005 Aug 13, James Petersen (51), a Univ. of Vermont anthropology professor on a research trip to Brazil, was killed while he was being robbed in Iranduba near the Amazon River. Three suspects were taken into custody.
(AP, 8/14/05)
2005 Aug 19, Antonio Palocci, Brazil’s finance minister, was accused of taking monthly payments from a rubbish collection firm when he was mayor of Riberao Preta in Sao Paulo state. The news caused speculators to dump Brazilian bonds, shares and the real.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.33)
2005 Aug 24, Brazilian police arrested Francisco Antonio Cadena Collazzos, a Colombian man accused of being an unofficial ambassador for Colombia's largest rebel group.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Aug 24, Brazilian officials said an 80-year-old woman filmed drug traffickers near her Copacabana beach apartment for two years and delivered 22 films to police, triggering a massive raid against a slum drug gang. Police arrested 15 suspected traffickers, including two Rio de Janeiro state police officers.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Sep 2, A powerful storm packing winds of up to 70 mph slammed into southern Brazil, killing and least one person and injuring five others.
(AP, 9/2/05)
2005 Sep 6, In Brazil thousands of anti-corruption demonstrators rallied in Sao Paulo, demanding harsh punishment for politicians caught up in a bribery scandal shaking the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 9/6/05)
2005 Sep 9, The presidents of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru inaugurated an $810 million highway project to connect Brazil's Atlantic coast to Peru's Pacific ports before the end of the decade.
(AP, 9/9/05)
2005 Sep 14, Brazil’s police arrested 43 people during raids on clandestine rings sneaking an increasing number of Brazilians into the United States, Europe and Mexico.
(AP, 9/15/05)
2005 Sep 16, In Brazil federal prosecutors charged six men accused of stealing $70 million from Brazil's Central Bank last August in one of the world's biggest bank robberies. 3 men were arrested shortly after the robbery, and another 3 were still at large.
(AP, 9/17/05)
2005 Sep 19, Brazil issued its 1st int’l. bond in its own currency. Brazil’s export boom had driven the real upwards against the dollar.
(Econ, 9/24/05, p.90)
2005 Sep 21, The speaker of Brazil's lower house resigned amid charges he extorted bribes from a local businessman, the latest casualty of corruption scandals that have rocked Brazil's government.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 28, Brazilian police recovered about $4.3 million of the $70 million stolen last month in a heist from Brazil's Central Bank, making five arrests in one of the world's biggest bank robberies.
(AP, 9/28/05)
2005 Sep 29, In Brazil an Amazon River passenger ship crashed into two barges and sank, leaving at least eight people dead and a dozen missing.
(AP, 9/30/05)
2005 Sep 30, South American presidents committed themselves to establishing a continental free trade zone. The South American summit was attended by the presidents of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
(AP, 10/1/05)
2005 Sep 30, Olga de Alaketu (80), the high priestess of one the oldest temples of the Afro-Brazilian religion Condomble, was buried. She had died of complications from diabetes. Alaketu presided over the Ile Maroia Laji "terreiro," as Candomble temples are known, which was established in 1636, making it one of the oldest in the coastal city of Salvador da Bahia, where the religion is based.
(AP, 10/1/05)
2005 Oct 3, Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio (59), a Catholic bishop on a hunger strike to protest plans to alter the course of a river to irrigate parts of Brazil's arid northeast, said he was "ready to die" if the project goes forward. Pres. Lula da Silva, who was born in one of the drought stricken regions that would benefit from the altered course of the Sao Francisco River, wrote the bishop a letter saying the $2 billion project will help 18 million people in northeastern Brazil.
(AP, 10/3/05)
2005 Oct 3, Singer Emilinha Borba (82), the queen of Brazil's golden age of radio, died of a heart attack. In 1939, Borba recorded her first record, "Pirulito," or "Lollipop," launching her career as a radio singer. Between 1939 and 1964, Borba recorded over 200 songs.
(AP, 10/4/05)
2005 Oct 7, In Brazil former security guard Deusimar Neves Queiroz, a suspect in one of the world's biggest bank robberies, was arrested after his sister-in-law tipped off police to his alleged involvement.
(AP, 10/8/05)
2005 Oct 9, The bullet-riddled body of Luis Fernando Ribeiro (26), the suspected mastermind of a $70 million heist from a branch of Brazil's Central Bank, was found on an isolated road west of Rio de Janeiro. A document signed by four state prosecutors was published Oct 21 in the Rio newspaper O Globo saying there were signs police may have been involved in Ribeiro's kidnapping and killing. Almost $63 million remained unaccounted for.
(AP, 10/21/05)
2005 Oct 11, Authorities in Brazil declared part of the Amazon River a disaster area after a drought left the levels of parts of the river too low for navigation.
(AP, 10/11/05)
2005 Oct 13, Argentina and Chile suspended imports of Brazilian meat, joining 28 other countries with similar bans after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
(AP, 10/13/05)
2005 Oct 18, Brazil's government pledged $14 million for relief efforts in the Amazon River basin, an area ravaged by the worst drought in decades.
(AP, 10/18/05)
2005 Oct 23, Brazilians struck down a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum, rejecting a bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates. Gun violence took the lives of about 39,000 people in Brazil each year, more than any country in the world.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Oct 27, A Brazilian congressional panel voted overwhelmingly to submit former presidential aide Jose Dirceu to impeachment proceedings over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
(AP, 10/28/05)
2005 Oct 31, In Brazil a man accused of torturing and killing five people was killed in a Sao Paulo shantytown gunfight with police who were trying to arrest him. Celso Alencar dos Santos (33) and an accomplice allegedly killed five members of the Yonekura family in September, when the family returned to Brazil with thousands of dollars they had saved while living for six years in Japan.
(AP, 11/1/05)
2005 Nov 14, Archbishop Geraldo do Espirito Santo Avila (76), the head of the Brazilian Archdiocese for the Military Services, died of cancer.
(AP, 11/15/05)
2005 Nov 17, In Brazil a congressional investigation said it found no evidence of an alleged bribes-for-votes scheme.
(AP, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 19, Brazil's president ordered the intelligence service to make dictatorship-era documents public by the end of the year.
(AP, 11/20/05)
2005 Nov 20, In Brazil TV da Gente (Our TV), the 1st channel to be directed at Brazil’s black population, was launched.
(SSFC, 11/27/05, p.A21)
2005 Nov 30, Brazils’ government said federal police are evicting settlers and loggers from an Amazon area that experts believe is home to one of the world's most isolated Indian tribes.
(AP, 11/30/05)
2005 Dec 1, Brazil's Congress voted to expel Rep. Jose Dirceu (59), the president's former chief-of-staff, and bar him from holding public office for 8 years amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the government.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2005 Dec 1, Brazilian authorities said they have arrested three more men suspected of taking part in the August $70 million cash heist, and that a fourth allegedly has been kidnapped.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2005 Dec 3, In Brazil the Greek billionaire Athina Roussel Onassis (20) married Alvaro Afonso de Miranda (32) a Brazilian Olympic equestrian in a palm-tree lined estate in Sao Paulo.
(AP, 12/04/05)
2005 Dec 10, In Brazil Rayfran das Neves Sales and Clodoaldo Carlos Batista were convicted of killing Dorothy Stang, an American nun. Stang had spent decades trying to save the Amazon rain forest. Prosecutor Esdon Cardoso said the case would only be resolved when three other men accused in the killing are convicted, including two ranchers accused of ordering the killing. A third man has been charged with acting as a go-between for the gunmen and the ranchers. The three are expected to face trial some time next year.
(AP, 12/10/05)
2005 Dec 13, Brazil’s finance ministry said it would make a full repayment of its $15.5 billion IMF debt over the next 2 years.
(Econ, 12/24/05, p.49)
2005 Dec 22, Brazil said it will pay off its remaining $2.6 billion debt to the Paris Club in January, 2006.
(WSJ, 12/23/05, p.A13)
2005 Dec 25, In Brazil Djalma Costa Ferreira (68) hit his wife, Benvinda Matos Costa, several times with the sledgehammer following a Christmas party at the house of one of their sons, because he believed she had cheated on him and wanted to spend all his money. In 2010 he was convicted of murder and sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison.
(AP, 9/11/10)
2005 Dec 27, Inmates at a prison in Brazil's remote Amazon jungle held more than 200 people hostage, demanding the return of their leader from another prison. Authorities agreed to bring him back, but both sides remained at an impasse, waiting for the other to make the first move.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Dec 28, Rebellious inmates at a prison in Brazil's remote Amazon jungle ended a four-day uprising and released more than 200 hostages after authorities met their principal demand by returning one of their leaders from another prison.
(AP, 12/28/05)
2005 Brazil opened a peacekeeping school near Rio de Janeiro: the Centro de Instrucao de Operacoes de Paz (CIOpPAZ).
(Econ, 9/25/10, p.52)
2005 Johan Eliasch (43), Swedish-born English business executive, bought 400,000 acres around Manicore, Brazil, in order to cut timber cutting operations and to plant trees.
(WSJ, 4/7/07, p.A1)
2006 Jan 7, A study reported by Brazilian media said more than 1,000 children have been living underneath highway overpasses, inside tunnels and on city squares in Sao Paulo.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 7, In Haiti Brazilian Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, commander of UN peacekeepers, was found dead in an apparent suicide in a room at the Montana hotel in Port-au-Prince.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 23, Brazilian Gen. Jose Elito Carvalho de Siqueira (59) took command of the UN peacekeepers in Haiti, vowing to make the impoverished nation secure for elections on Feb. 7.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 24, In Brazil rebellious inmates ended a one-day prison uprising in the remote jungle state of Rondonia that left four dead.
(AP, 1/24/06)
2006 Jan 27, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a sudden flood caused by heavy rains killed at least four people in the underground parking garage of a shopping mall.
(AP, 1/28/06)
2006 Jan 29, Heavy rains in Brazil led to the deaths of 12 people in Rio de Janeiro, including six people killed when an underground shopping mall garage filled with water.
(AP, 1/29/06)
2006 Jan, The presidents of Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil met in Brazil and promised to come up with the first set of preliminary studies in March for a $20 billion, 5,000-mile gas pipeline, stretching from Venezuela to Argentina.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2006 Feb 4, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, thousands of fans surged through security barriers at an autograph session for a wildly popular Mexican band, leaving three people crushed to death and 38 injured.
(AP, 2/5/06)
2006 Feb 7, Indians from Brazil and four other South American countries called for the "resurrection" of an Indian nation, the 250th anniversary of the killing of a tribal chief by European soldiers.
(AP, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 13, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva created two new national parks in the Amazon rain forest and expanded another to protect an environmentally sensitive region where the government plans a major highway project.
(AP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 14, In Porto Alegre, Brazil, leaders and envoys from across Christianity opened their most ambitious gathering in nearly a decade with a host of troubles on their agenda, from the faith's many internal rifts to easing discord with Islam, even as it deepens over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
(AP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 18, In Brazil a coalition of American churches sharply denounced the US-led war in Iraq, accusing Washington of "raining down terror" and apologizing to other nations for "the violence, degradation and poverty our nation has sown." Christian leaders explored the question: Should churches use their investment portfolios to protest Israeli policies toward Palestinians?
(AP, 2/18/06)
2006 Feb 24, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began its yearly carnival. Officials expected some 600,000 tourists for this year's celebrations. Gunmen overpowered museum security guards and stole four paintings by European masters, using the cover of Rio's Carnival to make their getaway,
(AP, 2/24/06)
2006 Feb, The government of Brazil exempted foreign buyers of reais denominated bonds from income tax.
(Econ, 2/25/06, p.78)
2006 Feb, Four works of art and other objects, including paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Monet and Dali, were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Ceu in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by 4 armed men during Carnival. Local media estimated the paintings' worth at around $50 million.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2006 Mar 3, In Brazil Jossiel Conceicao dos Santos (22), a handyman, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing an American couple. Todd and Michelle Staheli were beaten to death in bed at home in an exclusive Rio de Janeiro neighborhood on Nov. 30, 2003.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar 3, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 assault rifles and a pistol were stolen from a barracks by seven gunmen wearing army-issued camouflage gear and ninja masks. The gunmen overpowered three guards, stole the weapons from a small depot and sped away in at least two cars waiting outside the building.
(AP, 3/7/06)
2006 Mar 8, Brazil’s central bank dropped its benchmark interest rate by .75% to 16.5%.
(WSJ, 3/10/06, p.A15)
2006 Mar 8, In Brazil about 2,000 highly organized farm workers, mostly women, invaded a plantation owned by a big paper and pulp company about 700 miles south of Sao Paulo. They uprooted saplings and destroyed a laboratory in an environmental rampage. Via Campesina said it organized the invasion "to denounce the social and environmental impact of the growing green desert created by eucalyptus monoculture."
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 13, Rana Abdel Rahim Koleilat (39), a fugitive bank executive wanted for questioning in the U.N. probe of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, was arrested in Brazil on an unrelated charge. She offered officers up to $200,000 to release her and was arrested on a charge of attempted bribery. In 2003 Koleilat made headlines in Lebanon and Europe in connection with questions about her role in the disappearance of $300 million from the private Medina Bank where she worked. The funds' disappearance was the worst financial scandal at a Lebanese bank since the country's 1975-90 civil war.
(AP, 3/13/06)
2006 Mar 14, In Brazil military officials said weapons stolen from an army barracks have been found. The theft triggered a massive search of Rio de Janeiro's crime infested shantytowns.
(AP, 3/14/06)
2006 Mar 22, In Brazil the US Embassy said agents from the US Department of Homeland Security will soon be helping Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
(AP, 3/23/06)
2006 Mar 27, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, the architect of Brazil's economic recovery and market-friendly fiscal policy, resigned after becoming caught up in a political scandal. His office was party to the illegal disclosure of payments to a bank account belonging to a witness against him in a corruption case.
(AP, 3/27/06)(Econ, 4/1/06, p.32)
2006 Mar 30, A Russian-American crew and Marcos Pontes, Brazil’s 1st astronaut, lifted off in a Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft to dock with the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 3/31/06, p.A3)
2006 Mar 31, A plane carrying 19 people crashed in a mountainous region outside Rio de Janeiro, killing all aboard. A small LET 410 twin-engine plane belonging to the local Team airline went missing about 20 minutes after leaving the city of Macae.
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 1, Cracking down on visitors who come to Brazil for sex, police raided clubs in Natal known for using call girls and strippers, detaining 118 foreigners to discourage what authorities called "sexual tourism."
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 1, A Soyuz capsule docked with the international space station (ISS), bringing Brazil's first astronaut, a new Russian-American crew and a fresh load of supplies, equipment and experiments.
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 5, A Brazilian congressional investigative committee gave its final approval to a report recommending prosecution of over 100 people linked to a campaign finance and corruption scheme run by former members of the governing Workers Party.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 9, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazilian architect, was named winner of the 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize. His work included the Brazilian Sculpture Museum in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 4/10/06, p.A2)
2006 Apr 9, A capsule carrying a Russian, American and Brazilian landed in Kazakhstan following a weeklong trip to the Int’l. Space Station.
(SSFC, 4/9/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 12, In Brazil federal prosecutors charged a former top presidential aide and dozens of others with trying to bribe legislators into supporting Brazil's ruling party.
(AP, 4/12/06)
2006 Apr 14, Miguel Reale (95), widely considered one of the chief architects of Brazil's civil code, died of a heart attack.
(AP, 4/14/06)
2006 Apr 24, In Rio de Janeiro a law went into effect requiring “women-only" cars on subway and above ground trains.
(SSFC, 4/30/06, p.G2)
2006 Apr 24, The annual Goldman Environmental Prizes were awarded in San Francisco. The winners included Craig Williams (58) for helping to persuade Congress to order the Defense Dept. to consider alternatives to incinerating chemical weapons; Tarcisio Feitosa (35) of Brazil for his campaign against rampant logging; Olya Melen (26) of Ukraine for her suits forcing the government to scale back a large canal project impacting wetlands; Yu Xiaogang (35) of China for his reports on damages caused by new dams; Silas Siakor (36) of Liberia for his documentation showing how logging was used to fund civil war; and Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea for her work to get reimbursements from logging companies to peasants.
(WSJ, 4/24/06, p.B7)
2006 Apr 28, In Brazil police charged Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister, with four crimes, including money laundering. He was viewed as the architect of Brazil's economic recovery.
(AP, 4/28/06)
2006 May 4, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Argentina’s Pres. Nestor Kirchner, Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez and Bolivia’s Pres. Morales in response to Bolivia’s decision to nationalize its oil and gas industry. Morales offered to refrain from cutting off supplies and to negotiate prices.
(Econ, 5/13/06, p.43)
2006 May 12, Relations between Brazil and Bolivia sank to their lowest point in a century, as the two sparred over Bolivia's nationalization of its energy sector and threats to seize Bolivian land held by Brazilian farmers.
(AP, 5/12/06)
2006 May 13, The presidents of Brazil and Bolivia said they patched things up after days of accusations and threats.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, One of Brazil's most notorious gangs staged dozens of attacks on police before dawn, setting off gunbattles in three cities that killed at least 30 people, officials said. 74 of 140 prison uprisings were reported across Sao Paulo state. Authorities blamed the violence on the prison-based gang, First Command of the Capital (PCC), which formed in the aftermath of the 1992 massacre at Carandiru Penitentiary. It was later reported that a recording of Congressional talks to transfer gang leaders to a remote prison had been leaked to the PCC.
(AP, 5/13/06)(SFC, 5/16/06, p.A7)(SFC, 5/23/06, p.A6)(Econ, 5/20/06, p.39)
2006 May 15, In Brazil prison riots and attacks on police by a criminal gang extended into a 4th day, raising the reported death toll to 70.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 16, In Brazil an unprecedented crime wave, that killed at least 97 people and terrified the 18 million residents of Sao Paulo, seemed to be waning as stores reopened and bus service was fully restored. Police struck back at gangs that rampaged through Sao Paulo, killing 33 suspected gang members in less than 24 hours and frisking motorists at roadblocks while reporting only one death of their own.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 May 16, Colombian-born Pablo Rayo Montano, one of the world's most hunted drug traffickers was arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as part of an international crackdown. He was accused of shipping more than 70 tons of cocaine to the United States.
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 17, In Brazil the body count grew in Sao Paulo as police, who lost 41 comrades in gang attacks, killed 22 more suspected criminals. Authorities said little about the latest deaths, generating criticism from rights groups.
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 20, In Brazil Sao Paulo's government refused to release the names of 109 people killed by police during a week of gangland violence, despite increased pressure from activists who said public confidence in law enforcement had been shaken.
(AP, 5/21/06)
2006 May 24, It was reported that Google will shut down 6 sites on its Orkut service in Brazil in response pressure from Brazilian law enforcement.
(SFC, 5/24/06, p.C3)
2006 May 30, A missionary group said more than one-quarter of Brazil's isolated Indian tribes face extinction unless the government defines their boundaries and gives them control of their land.
(AP, 5/30/06)
2006 Jun 6, In Brasilia a melee that erupted when hundreds of landless farmers demanding agrarian reforms demonstrated at Brazil's Congress injured 20 people.
(AP, 6/6/06)
2006 Jun 7, In Brazil a shootout between police and drug gangs in a Rio shantytown left 17 children injured, several hit by stray bullets even though their teacher ordered them to lie down on the floor when the shooting began.
(AP, 6/7/06)
2006 Jun 9, In Brazil police arrested 28 people suspected of operating an illegal logging ring in the Amazon rain forest and were looking for 46 more. Some 300 officers in five states were involved in the operation to shut down a gang accused of using phony permits to harvest rare tropical hardwoods.
(AP, 6/9/06)
2006 Jun 15, In Brazil some 3 million evangelical Protestants staged a huge rally in of Sao Paulo, demonstrating their growing influence in the world's largest Roman Catholic country. Brazil was nearly 100% Roman Catholic a century ago, but the percentage dropped to 84% in 1995 and is 74% today.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Jun 23, A bankruptcy judge canceled the planned sale of Brazil's flagship Varig airline to a workers' group, throwing the future of the carrier into limbo and virtually ensuring more travel chaos ahead for ticket holders in Brazil and abroad.
(AP, 6/24/06)
2006 Jun 24, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced his bid for a second term, pledging to push harder to eradicate poverty in Latin America's largest country if re-elected.
(AP, 6/24/06)
2006 Jun 26, In Brazil 12 men and one woman were killed in a gunfight with police outside a prison in Sao Bernardo do Campo, an industrial suburb on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. Acting on orders from imprisoned PCC leaders, they had planned to shoot as many as 60 guards from four lockups over a 10-day period as they headed to work or finished their shifts.
(AP, 6/27/06)
2006 Jun 27, In northeastern Brazil a two-story abandoned building collapsed onto three houses and a construction supply store in Recife, killing 7 people and injuring 7 others.
(AP, 6/28/06)
2006 Jun 29, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the release of Regivaldo Pereira Galvao, a rancher who had been jailed pending trial in connection with the killing last year of American Nun Dorothy Stang.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jun, Brazil’s Pres. Lula da Silva went to Itaborai to announce the building of Comperj, a Rio de Janeiro petrochemical complex. By 2015 the complex was reduced to one small refinery with a completion date pushed back to 2016.
(Econ, 6/27/15, p.27)
2006 Jul 6, Brazilian police broke up an international drug ring and arrested Luciano Geraldo Daniel, a man suspected of being the country's top cocaine trafficker.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 13, In Brazil gangs torched buses and attacked banks and police stations across Sao Paulo, deepening crime fears as a wave of rampant violence entered its third day.
(AP, 7/13/06)
2006 Jul 27, A fire raged through a rain forest along Brazil's eastern coastline, burning up to 25,000 acres of trees.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Jul 29, In Brazil about $200,000 was found in a house in Natal, about 1,400 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. Police were convinced the money was part of the $70 million stolen from the Central Bank in Fortaleza in Aug 2005. By this time only $8 million was recovered.
(AP, 8/4/06)
2006 Aug 3, In Brazil officials said authorities are evicting thousands of peasants who have been ordered off ranches in northern Brazil by a court ruling obtained by the land owners.
(AP, 8/3/06)
2006 Aug 7, In Brazil suspected PCC gang members in the pre-dawn hours attacked 78 symbols of government and businesses across Sao Paulo state, many in the city itself. Police killed two suspects after they allegedly opened fire on a gas station, torched a bus and tried to flee in a car as officers chased them. This marked the third time in four months that the gang has unleashed its fury on the streets to oppose the prison transfer of its leaders.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 9, In Brazil suspected gang members threw homemade bombs, sent banks on fire, and torched buses in the region and two other cities overnight in Sao Paulo state. In Rio de Janeiro gunbattles between gangs vying for control of the city's lucrative drug trade have resulted in the deaths of 19 people since Aug 6.
(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Aug 9, Brazil’s environment ministry said police had arrested 46 people, including 16 agents of the federal environmental protection agency, for allegedly operating illegal logging operations in the Amazon rainforest and in southern Brazil.
(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Aug 10, A Brazilian congressional committee approved a report recommending the expulsion of 72 federal lawmakers from Congress on charges of participating in a nation-wide plan to divert funds from the country’s health-care system.
(WSJ, 8/11/06, p.A5)
2006 Aug 11, In Brazil officials said police had arrested 30 businessmen, government officials and soldiers accused of taking part in a scheme to net millions of dollars by over-billing for meals in the military and at schools.
(AP, 8/11/06)
2006 Aug 14, In Brazil Guilherme Portanova (30), a kidnapped television reporter, was freed after Globo met the gang's demand to broadcast a video calling for improvements in Brazil's troubled prison system. In Rio de Janeiro Andres Costa Ramos Bordalo was stabbed to death by an assailant who stole his knapsack on Copacabana beach. Police stepped up patrols but at least 22 tourists were robbed during the week.
(AP, 8/14/06)(AP, 8/19/06)
2006 Aug 16, Alfredo Stroessner (93), the anti-communist general who ruled Paraguay with a blend of force, guile and patronage for 35 years before his ouster in 1989, died in exile in Brazil.
(AP, 8/16/06)
2006 Aug 25, Officials said drug users who don't engage in dealing will no longer be sent to prison under a new drug law now in effect across Brazil.
(AP, 8/25/06)
2006 Aug 27, In Brazil archbishop Luciano Mendes de Almeida (75), an avid human rights defender, died.
(AP, 8/27/06)
2006 Aug 30, Brazil’s central bank cut its key interest rate 0.5% to 14.25%, a quarter point more than had been expected. Brazil also released weaker-than-expected data on GDP.
(WSJ, 9/1/06, p.A8)
2006 Sep 1, Brazil pressured Google to turn over data from Web sites that the government said were used by criminals. Authorities gave Google 15 days to comply or face a daily fine of $23,000.
(SFC, 9/2/06, p.C1)
2006 Sep 9, In Brazil Ubiratan Guimaraes, the police colonel accused of ordering a 1992 jail massacre of more than 100 inmates, was shot dead in his apartment in Sao Paulo.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 10, In Brazil international trade officials sought to strike a positive tone at the end of a two-day meeting aimed at restarting negotiations for the stalled World Trade Organization's Doha Round. The talks were billed as a High Level Meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) developing nations, but they represented the first time nearly all the parties involved have come together since the Doha talks were suspended.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 13, The presidents of Brazil and South Africa, at a trilateral trade meeting in Brasilia, said they supported changes in international rules to allow India to buy nuclear fuel and reactors from the United States and other countries. The trio created the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) in 2003 to promote the interests of their emerging markets.
(Reuters, 9/13/06)(AFP, 9/14/06)
2006 Sep 24, Inco, one of Canada’s two largest mining companies, agreed to be acquired by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce of Brazil for $17.8 billion.
(www.secinfo.com/dRY7g.v113.d.htm)(WSJ, 4/25/08, p.A1)
2006 Sep 26, In Brazil officials said Rio will spend $1 million to map two sprawling shantytowns as the first step toward granting land titles to residents who otherwise have no property rights in the sprawling slums.
(AP, 9/26/06)
2006 Sep 29, A Brazilian jetliner, Gol airlines Flight 1907, with 155 people aboard crashed in the Amazon jungle after reportedly colliding with a smaller ExcelAire executive jet carrying 16 passengers. The Legacy jet stabilized after the apparent collision and then landed at a Brazilian air force base in the Amazon state of Para. It was later reported that the US executive jet was at the wrong altitude and Brazil confiscated the passports of the pilots. In November it was reported that the flight recorder transcript from the executive jet involved in the air disaster showed that the jet's American pilots were told by Brazilian air traffic control to fly at the same altitude as a Boeing 737 before the planes collided over the Amazon rainforest. Pilots Joseph Lepore (42), of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino (34), of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., were allowed to return to the US on Dec 8 after signing a document promising to return to Brazil for their trial or when required by local authorities. In 2010 Air force Sgt. Jomarcelo Fernandes dos Santos was sentenced to 14 months in jail for failing to take action when he saw that the Legacy's anti-collision system had been turned off. In 2011 the American pilots were sentenced to four years of unspecified community service in the USA. On May 19 air traffic controller Lucivando de Alencar was convicted of endangering air safety and sentenced to three years and four months of community service.
(AP, 9/30/06)(AP, 10/1/06)(WSJ, 10/5/06, p.A1)(AP, 11/2/06)(AP, 10/27/10)(AP, 5/17/11)(AP, 5/19/11)
2006 Oct 1, Brazil held elections. Brazil voted for president, the lower house of Congress, a third of the Senate and all state governors and legislatures. Voter outrage over alleged corruption and dirty tricks left Pres. Silva facing a tough runoff for a 2nd term after Geraldo Alckmin, his main rival, staged a surprise comeback. Silva got 48.6% compared to 41.6% for Alckmin, the former governor of Sao Paulo state. Silva had seemed assured of a first-round victory until two weeks ago when Worker Party operatives were caught allegedly trying to pay $770,000 in cash for information to incriminate Alckmin's Social Democracy Party. The target of the alleged smear campaign was Jose Serra, an Alckmin ally who won the race to become Sao Paulo state's next governor, handily beating the Workers' Party candidate. Electoral officials said former President Fernando Collor de Mello, forced from office in a corruption scandal in 1992 and barred from politics for eight years, has won a seat in Brazil's Senate.
(AP, 10/2/06)(AP, 10/3/06)(Econ, 9/30/06, p.31)(AP, 10/1/07)
2006 Oct 4, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, court officials said 14 workers at a juvenile detention center were convicted and sentenced to up to 87 years in prison for beating inmates with iron bars and wood to find out who organized an escape attempt in 2000.
(AP, 10/4/06)
2006 Oct 5, In Brazil environmentalist Eduardo Veado (46) and his wife, Simone Furtini Abras (41) died after being run over as they walked along a country road in Minas Gerais state. Veado had received death threats for denouncing illegal logging around the town of Ipanema.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 13, In Brazil a small private plane with six people aboard went missing after losing contact with air traffic controllers in Vitoria.
(AP, 10/14/06)
2006 Oct 17, In Brazil some 200 Indians from the Xikrin tribe, wielding war clubs and bows and arrows, stormed an Amazon mining complex at the company town of Carajas, shutting it down in an apparent demand for more compensation from CVRD, the world's largest iron ore miner. The Indians left after 2 days.
(AP, 10/18/06)(AP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 19, In Brazil Judge Luiz Noronha Dantas handed down a 52-year sentence on four homicide counts and stripped Capt. Marcos Duarte Ramalho of his status as a police officer. Ramalho was the third police officer to stand trial and the first to be convicted in connection with the April 16, 2003, killings in the Borel shantytown on Rio's poor north side. Two more officers are set to stand trial for the killings.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 29, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (61) won a landslide victory giving him a powerful mandate to press his anti-poverty campaign, but corruption scandals dogged his leftist party and thinner support in Congress could mar his second term. Lula’s Worker’s Party (PT) won 5 of the 27 state governorships.
(AP, 10/29/06)(AP, 10/30/06)(Econ, 11/4/06, p.46)
2006 Nov 5, Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil won the NYC Marathon in 2:09:58. Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia won the women’s race for the 2nd year in a row in 2:25:05.
(WSJ, 11/6/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 14, In Brazil Ana Carolina Reston (21), an anorexic model who weighed only 88 pounds, died of generalized infection. Reston had worked in China, Turkey, Mexico and Japan for several modeling agencies.
(AP, 11/17/06)
2006 Nov 25, A group of 18 English tourists was robbed by heavily armed gunmen shortly after arriving in Rio de Janeiro for vacation. Last month, gunmen attacked a bus carrying Chinese tourists and robbed them of $17,000.
(AP, 11/26/06)
2006 Dec 5, In Brazil a court said it had released the passports of two US pilots of a private jet involved in a collision with a Boeing 737 over the Amazon that killed 154 people.
(AP, 12/6/06)
2006 Dec 12, In southeastern Brazil a couple and their 5-year-old son were tied up, locked in their car and burned to death during a robbery.
(AP, 12/12/06)
2006 Dec 15, In Brazil 5 Rio de Janeiro state police officers, most from one of the city's most violent neighborhoods, were arrested as they arrived at work as part of a probe into drug trafficking.
(AP, 12/15/06)
2006 Dec 22, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called in the Brazilian air force to help transport airline passengers on an emergency basis as long delays and overbooked planes snarled commercial flights over the busy holiday weekend.
(AP, 12/22/06)
2006 Dec 23, In Brazil El Al Yoram (35), an Israeli man known as the "King of Ecstasy" and alleged to be one of the world's foremost traffickers of the drug, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro. Yoram left the US in 2004 and had been hiding in Uruguay, where he was arrested in 2005 but fled from jail.
(AP, 12/23/06)
2006 Dec 27, Brazilian travelers incensed about an overbooked flight stormed a runway to prevent a commercial jet from taking off. A tourism industry leader said two months of chronic flight delays have been a "disaster" for tourism.
(AP, 12/27/06)
2006 Dec 28, In Brazil at least 18 people were killed in gang attacks on buses and police posts in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 Dec 30, In Brazil Rio police killed six suspected criminals as authorities vowed to restore order ahead of a huge New Year's Eve bash on Copacabana Beach, deploying officers across the city two days after gang-initiated violence left 19 dead.
(AP, 12/31/06)
2006 Dec, Brazil’s government agreed to spend $3 million on a bridge to Guyana over the Takutu River. An attempt 5 years earlier had failed over financial irregularities.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.36)
2006 Dec, In Brazil a gold rush began in the Amazon jungle after Ivani Valentin da Silva, a math teacher in Apui, posted pictures and stories of Eldorado do Juma on the Internet.
(AP, 2/3/07)
2006 Brazil’s former Pres. Fernando Henrique Cardoso authored “The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir"
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.D8)(Econ, 4/8/06, p.81)
2006 In Brazil the Centro de Arte Contemporanea Inhotim opened to the public. It began in the 1980s as Bernardo Paz converted a 3,000-acre ranch into a sprawling botanical garden designed by the late landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx.
(Econ, 12/21/13, SR p.5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inhotim)
2006 A Brazilian nuclear enrichment plant run by Industrias Nucleares do Brasil S.A. was expected to open bringing Brazil into the world’s nuclear elite group.
(SFC, 4/21/06, p.A11)
2006 Foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China began annual meetings as a group. In 2001 Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the acronym BRIC to describe these 4 developing countries.
(Econ, 4/17/10, p.64)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC)
2007 Jan 1, In Brazil Sergio Cabral took office as governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The state’s economy was valued at around $130 billion, about the same as that of Venezuela.
(Econ, 1/20/07, p.50)
2007 Jan 2, In Brazil an explosion in Sao Paulo ripped through a state police warehouse used to store guns and ammunition, killing one officer and injuring five.
(AP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 6, In southeastern Brazil officials said mudslides and flash floods triggered by torrential downpours killed at least 31 people and drove thousands from their homes during the past five days.
(AP, 1/6/07)
2007 Jan 11, Brazilian prosecutors sought the extradition of two church leaders arrested in the United States on money smuggling charges.
(AP, 1/11/07)
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007 Jan 18, South America's most prominent leaders met in Rio for a two-day summit of the fractured Mercosur economic bloc. Leaders sought to refocus Mercosur on the needs of the region's poor as Venezuela's outspoken president called for remaking Mercosur to fit his vision of "21st century socialism."
(AP, 1/18/07)
2007 Jan 20, Anselmo Oliveira Magalhaes (32), a man accused of helping steal more than $70 million in cash from a branch of Brazil's central bank in 2005, was found dead with a broken neck and his hands and feet tied inside a 75-foot well at a ranch in Santa Izabel. The bodies of two other men were found in the well, but it wasn't immediately clear whether they had any connection to the bank heist.
(AP, 1/22/07)
2007 Jan 22, Brazil’s government announced a growth acceleration package.
(Econ, 1/27/07, p.34)
2007 Jan 23, Brazil said it had requested the US extradite two leaders of an evangelical church (Reborn in Christ) who allegedly used their followers' donations to buy mansions, a horse farm and apartments in Brazil and the US. Estevam Hernandes Filho (52) and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes (48) were arrested by US customs agents in Miami earlier this month on charges of carrying a large sum of undeclared cash. The couple was sentenced to five months in prison, five months of house arrest and a probation period for failing to declare they were carrying more than $10,000 into the United States. They were also fined $60,000. Both returned to Brazil on Aug 1, 2009.
(AP, 1/24/07)(AP, 8/2/09)
2007 Jan, In Brazil the Mato Grosso do Sul state government stopped distributing food baskets to some 11,000 Guarani-Kaiowa Indians on the Dourados reservation, about 800 miles west of Rio de Janeiro when a new government was elected. The suspension worsened malnutrition among thousands of Indians, and at least two young children died.
(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 6, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, suspected gang members torched 3 buses and shot at police, raising concerns the violence could mushroom into a repeat of last year's crime wave.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 7, A twin-engine plane crashed in Brazil’s Amazon jungle, killing all six people aboard.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 13, In Brazil 2 students, who endured more than 60 hours without food and water, were rescued after being robbed and thrown into an abandoned well. Police entered a Rio slum and clashed with drug gangs in shootouts that killed six people, including at least four suspected gang members.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 14, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Bolivian President Evo Morales reached a deal late on how much Brazil will pay for Bolivian natural gas, apparently resolving an issue that has deeply divided the neighboring nations for a year.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 14, In Brazil violence cast a shadow over Rio's famed Carnival when gunmen killed Guaracy Paes Falcao (42), a leader of one of the premiere samba band groups. Falcao was with an unidentified woman who was also shot dead.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 17, In Rio de Janeiro the Black Ball band, which has played carnival since 1918, opened the first full day of Carnival.
(AP, 2/17/07)
2007 Feb 25, In Brazil gunmen killed five people in a Sao Paulo slum in what police suspect was a drug-related crime, bringing to 21 the death toll from attacks this month in South America's biggest city.
(AP, 2/25/07)
2007 Feb 26, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the concrete awning of a hotel in the Copacabana beach district collapsed, killing two people and injuring six.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb 26, Coordinated international efforts led to the capture in Brazil of Manuel Juan Cordero (67) a retired Uruguayan colonel wanted in "dirty war" probes in both Argentina and Uruguay. He was detained in Santana do Livramento, a town near the Uruguayan border where he was living.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Feb 27, In Brazil 3 French nationals who ran a nonprofit group that helps poor children were stabbed to death at their headquarters near Rio's Copacabana beach and authorities arrested three suspects. The slayings that left one of the victims decapitated were part of a botched scheme to protect a Brazilian accountant, Tarsio Wilson Ramires (25), accused of stealing money from the group.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb, In Brazil 21 political parties were represented in the 513-seat Congress.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.36)
2007 Mar 1, In Brazil Slovenian Martin Strel approached the halfway point of his attempt to swim the entire length of the Amazon river, trying to avoid severe burns, alligators and the dreaded bloodsucking toothpick fish.
(AP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 2, Brazilian police arrested 18 people accused of allowing illegal logging in the Amazon rain forest and were searching for 19 others, including environmental protection agents.
(AP, 3/2/07)
2007 Mar 3, In Brazil gunmen killed five people in Rio de Janeiro's poor outskirts in an attack blamed on rival drug gangs.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 5, In Brazil Bishop Ivo Lorscheiter (79), a prominent critic of the former military regime, died in Santa Maria. Lorscheiter, a leading advocate of liberation theology, had also squared off with the Vatican over his progressive beliefs.
(AP, 3/6/07)
2007 Mar 8, President Bush opened a weeklong tour of Latin America in Brazil. Police clashed with students, environmentalists and left-leaning Brazilians protesting Bush’s visit and his push for an ethanol energy alliance. Local news media said at least 18 people were hurt and news photographs showed injured people being carried away.
(AP, 3/8/07)(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 9, President Bush heralded a new ethanol agreement with Brazil as a way to boost alternative fuels production across the Americas. One roadblock in the Bush-Silva ethanol talks is a 54-cent tariff the United States has imposed on every gallon of ethanol imported from Brazil. Bush said it's not up for discussion.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 13, Brazil announced that it will build a wall on a small portion of its border with Paraguay in an effort to combat contraband and smuggling.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 14, In Brazil a twin-engine plane was carrying $2.6 million worth of Brazilian reals crashed near the city of Salvador. Locals made off with bags of cash before rescuers arrived on the scene.
(AP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 18, Officials said Cesare Battisti, a former Italian communist revolutionary who went into hiding in France two and a half years ago, was arrested in Brazil. In 1993 the former revolutionary was given a life sentence by an Italian court for his role in four murders committed in 1978 and 1979.
(AFP, 3/18/07)
2007 Mar 19, Brazil's airlines were trying to make up for lengthy flight delays after its troubled air traffic control system failed over the weekend.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Mar 23, Brazil's environmental agency approved a $2 billion project to shift the course of a major river in Brazil, a plan bitterly opposed by environmentalists. The Sao Francisco River project is meant to benefit some 12 million poor people by allowing large sections of the country's arid northeast to be irrigated.
(AP, 3/22/07)
2007 Mar 23, A Brazilian housewife was convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison for killing her husband, chopping his body into small pieces and frying it. Rosanita Nery dos Santos (52) drugged her husband in his sleep, then stabbed him to death two years ago in Salvador, about 900 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 29, Brazil's government said it will provide free Internet access to native Indian tribes in the Amazon in an effort to help protect the world's biggest rain forest. The environment and communications ministers signed an agreement with the Forest People's Network to provide an Internet signal by satellite to 150 communities.
(AP, 3/30/07)
2007 Mar 30, A protest by air traffic controllers forced the suspension of flights from Brazilian airports, stranding thousands of travelers across the country.
(AP, 3/31/07)
2007 Mar 31, In Brazil air traffic controllers protesting working conditions ended their one-day strike after the government agreed to their demands.
(AP, 4/1/07)
2007 Apr 7, In Brazil Martin Strel, a 52-year-old Slovenian, completed a 3,272 swim down the Amazon River that could set a world record for distance. In 2000, he completed an 1,866-mile swim along the Danube. He broke that record two years later after swimming 2,360 miles down the Mississippi. In 2004 he broke it again by swimming 2,487 miles along the Yangtze river in China.
(AP, 4/8/07)
2007 Apr 10, Diabetes scientists reported that 15 Type 1 Brazilians did not need insulin shots after therapy with stem cells from their own blood. It was also reported that such stem cells helped repair heart damage due to Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, carried by kissing bugs (barbeiros).
(WSJ, 4/11/07, p.A1)
2007 Apr 11, In Brazil Gov. Sergio Cabral Filho formally requested that the army intervene to contain the violence that has been spiraling out of control in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 4/11/07)
2007 Apr 12, Brazilian police broke up a gang accused of killing hundreds of people over several years, arresting 18 suspects and searching for 10 others. The gang, made up of police officers, hired guns and businessmen, had carried out up to 200 killings a year over the past five years, most of them linked to loan sharking.
(AP, 4/12/07)
2007 Apr 13, Federal police in Brazil arrested the chief organizer of Rio's carnival parade, a federal judge and a prosecutor in a crack-down on illegal gaming and money laundering.
(AP, 4/13/07)
2007 Apr 14, Thousands of landless workers invaded government property in Brazil's arid northeast to try to stop a controversial river-diversion project. About 7,500 people invaded plots of government-owned land near Petrolina, 1,360 miles north of Sao Paulo in Pernambuco state.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2007 Apr 14, The population of Brazil numbered about 188 million people.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.3)
2007 Apr 16, Indians from across Brazil pitched black plastic tents in front of government buildings to demand that officials discuss with them infrastructure projects they claim could have a negative impact on their ancestral lands.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2007 Apr 17, In Brazil shootouts involving drug gangs and police in Rio left at least 20 alleged gang members dead.
(AP, 4/17/07)
2007 Apr 29, Octavio Frias de Oliveira (94), who published Brazil's biggest newspaper and Web site and helped modernize the country's media, died of kidney failure.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 May 4, Brazil’s Pres. Lula da Silva issued a license allowing Brazil to buy or produce a cheap generic version of AIDS drug efavirenz, bypassing Merck’s patent. The compulsory licensing for efavirenz will allow Brazil to import unbranded copies at a quarter of current prices while paying Merck a nominal royalty.
(WSJ, 5/5/07, p.A1)(Econ, 5/12/07, p.42)
2007 May 6, In Brazil Eneas Carneiro (68), a three-time presidential candidate who was later elected to Congress with the largest number of votes ever received by a Brazilian lawmaker, died of leukemia.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 9, Police in Brazil and Norway detained at least 25 people in simultaneous raids on suspected criminal gangs, seeking evidence of money laundering.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 9, Pope Benedict XVI departed for a 5-day visit to Brazil, as evangelical Christians packed converted storefronts and cavernous churches every Sunday. Benedict gave his first full-fledged news conference since becoming pontiff in 2005. When a reporter pressed Benedict on whether he agreed that Catholic politicians who recently legalized abortion in Mexico City should rightfully be considered excommunicated, the response was "Yes."
(AP, 5/9/07)(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 10, In Brazil Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion in his first speech but avoided further suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be considered excommunicated.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 11, In Sao Paulo Pope Benedict XVI canonized Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao (d.1822), an 18th-century Franciscan monk, as Brazil's first native-born saint. Friar Galvao began a tradition among Brazilian Catholics of handing out tiny rice-paper pills, inscribed with a Latin prayer, to people seeking cures for all manner of ailments.
(AP, 5/11/07)
2007 May 13, Pope Benedict XVI held an inaugural mass for the 5th conference of bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean. This brought together 166 bishops to discuss the church's situation in the region, home to nearly half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.47)(AFP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 14, Pope Benedict XVI returned to Rome after telling Brazilians a growing rich-poor gap is to be lamented, but that the solution isn’t Marxism.
(WSJ, 5/15/07, p.A1)
2007 May 15, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil will push to improve working conditions for sugarcane cutters who harvest most of the cane that is turned into ethanol for the nation's booming biofuel industry. A jury voted 5-2 to convict rancher Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura of masterminding the shooting of 73-year-old Dorothy Stang, an American nun and rain forest defender on Feb. 12, 2005, in a case seen as an important test of justice in the largely lawless Amazon region. This ruling was overturned in 2008 after the man who confessed to shooting Stang recanted earlier testimony, insisting that he'd acted alone. Gunman Rayfran das Neves Sales was sentenced to 28 years in prison. In 2009 Para state's top court reversed the 2008 not-guilty verdict for Vitalmiro Moura on a technicality.
(AP, 5/15/07)(AP, 4/7/09)
2007 May 21, Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, and vowed to boost legitimate trade and to strengthen cross-border cooperation in fighting smuggling in the Triple Border.
(AP, 5/22/07)
2007 May 22, Silas Rondeau, Brazil's mines and energy minister, resigned amid accusations he was bribed by a construction company that obtained contracts to provide electricity to poor rural areas in a program championed by the nation's first working class president.
(AP, 5/23/07)
2007 May 28, In Brazil Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unveiled a program to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.
(AP, 5/28/07)
2007 May 29, Brazilian Senate President Renan Calheiros said that he won't resign over accusations he accepted payoffs from one of the country's top construction companies.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 Jun 1, In a key legal step toward assigning blame for Brazil's deadliest plane crash, two US pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers were indicted on charges equivalent to involuntary manslaughter for the Sep 29, 2006, mid-air collision that killed 154 people.
(AP, 6/2/07)
2007 Jun 1, In Brazil federal authorities said an Indian tribe that has had very limited contact with the outside world, has been located in a remote Amazon region. The Metyktire, a subgroup of the Kayapo tribe, consisted of some 87 members.
(AP, 6/1/07)
2007 Jun 1, Marly de Oliveira (69), the Brazilian poet who wrote the award-winning volume "O Mar de Permeio" (The Sea Between Us), died in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 4, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that rich nations should pay poorer countries to preserve their forests because the rich are responsible for most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Police formally accused a brother of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of influence peddling after a nationwide crackdown on illegal gambling. About 600 Federal Police agents took part in the raids carrying 87 arrest warrants and another 50 search and seizure warrants in six states as part of Operation Razor, an investigation into fraudulent public works (www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8320/54/).
(AP, 6/4/07)(AP, 6/5/07)(www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8320/54/)
2007 Jun 4, Emerging economic powers India and Brazil pledged to increase bilateral trade four-fold to 10 billion dollars in the next three years.
(AFP, 6/4/07)
2007 Jun 5, The governor of Brazil's Amazon state signed into law legislation aimed at curbing global warming in an area bigger than France and Spain combined.
(AP, 6/5/07)
2007 Jun 10, In Brazil millions of people packed the streets of Sao Paulo for what organizers said was the world's largest gay pride parade, dancing and waving rainbow flags in a carnival-like atmosphere to condemn homophobia, racism and sexism.
(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Jun 15, In Brazil Marc Van Roosmalen was convicted of trying to illegally auction off the names of monkey species, keeping rare monkeys at his house without authorization and selling a scaffolding donated to the National Institute for Amazon Research where he worked. He was sentenced to 15 years and nine months in a prison. Roosmalen has claimed in media reports that he was framed by powerful logging and ranching interests that operate in the Amazon. In August Roosmalen was ordered released pending an appeal.
(AP, 8/7/07)
2007 Jun 22, Brazil’s government sacked 14 air controllers in response to go-slow actions that contributed to chaos at Brazil’s airports.
(Econ, 6/30/07, p.43)
2007 Jun 27, In Brazil police backed by helicopters raided Rio’s notorious Alemao shantytown and killed 19 suspected drug traffickers in pitched gunbattles.
(AP, 6/28/07)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.34)
2007 Jun 28, Federal authorities in Brazil arrested 10 Brazilians accused of luring South American women to Spain and forcing them into prostitution.
(AP, 6/29/07)
2007 Jun 29, Brazilian authorities began a 3-day raid an Amazon plantation where more than 1,000 laborers were found working 13-hour days, in horrendous conditions, cutting sugar cane for ethanol production.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jun 29, Mercosur, South America’s biggest trade block (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay), held a presidential summit in Asuncion, Paraguay.
(Econ, 7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Jul 4, On the historic occasion of their first summit, the EU and Brazil decided to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, based on their close historical, cultural and economic ties. Brazil and EU leaders met in Lisbon, Portugal.
(www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20070704BRSUM.htm)(Econ, 7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Jul 7, A global poll picked the Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, Peru’s Macchu Picchu, Jordan’s Petra, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid as the new seven wonders of the world. The campaign to name the new wonders was launched in 1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber.
(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 10, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Brazil will budget about $540 million over eight years to complete its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment and possibly building a nuclear-powered submarine.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2007 Jul 12, HM Capital Partners LLC, a leading, Dallas-based private equity firm, and Booth Creek Management Corporation sold Swift & Company to Brazil’s JBS Friboi S.A., the largest beef processor in South America and one of the largest worldwide beef exporters. Swift was the 3rd largest processor of beef and pork in America and the biggest processor of beef in Australia.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.74)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_USA)
2007 Jul 13, A court in Brazil issued an arrest warrant for self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky on charges of money-laundering, but he denied any involvement. The case dates back to 2004, when MSI spent millions of dollars acquiring new players, which raised the interest of Sao Paulo state prosecutors. They wanted to know more about the investment group, its Iranian-born president, Kia Joorabchian, and the origin of the money he and his unidentified partners injected into the club. Brazilian prosecutors said they have also issued an arrest warrant for Joorabchian, a British citizen.
(AP, 7/13/07)
2007 Jul 13, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began hosting the Pan American Games. An estimated 5,500 athletes from 42 countries participated in 38 sports. The games ended July 29.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Pan_American_Games)
2007 Jul 17, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a TAM airlines Airbus-320 slammed into a gas station and a TAM building and burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway at Congonhas airport. All 187 people aboard were killed along with 12 on the ground.
(AP, 7/18/07)(AP, 7/17/08)
2007 Jul 20, Sen. Antonio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhaes (79), one of Brazil's most influential politicians, died. He had held on to power as the country came under a military dictatorship and returned to democracy.
(AP, 7/21/07)(SFC, 7/23/07, p.D6)
2007 Jul 23, It was reported that Rio police had killed 449 people since January, many in clashes with drug traffickers, while more than 60 police officers lost their lives.
(SFC, 7/23/07, p.A13)
2007 Jul 25, Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva fired Defense Minister Waldir Pires in response to a fatal jetliner crash that turned months of anger over breakdowns in the military-run national air system into a full-blown political crisis.
(AP, 7/25/07)
2007 Aug 2, In Brazil a strike by subway workers disrupted the commute of millions of people in Sao Paulo, causing huge traffic jams and long lines at bus stops.
(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 4, Thousands of Brazilians marched in Sao Paulo to denounce President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government as corrupt and indifferent.
(AP, 8/5/07)
2007 Aug 7, Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia (44), an alleged Colombian drug kingpin wanted by the United States, was arrested in a luxury condominium on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He had extensive plastic surgery but was identified by Brazilian and American anti-drug agents using advanced voice recognition technology.
(AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/10/07)
2007 Aug 14, In Brazil police arrested Oscar Maroni Jr., for racketeering and trafficking in women. Maroni, known as the Larry Flynt of Brazil, was also under pressure to stop construction of his 11-story Oscar’s Hotel at the edge of the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, which was cited for impacting air safety.
(WSJ, 9/5/07, p.A1)
2007 Aug 23, In Ponte Nova, Brazil, at least 25 prisoners died after inmates broke out of a cellblock and set a fire in an apparent attempt to settle scores with a rival gang.
(AP, 8/23/07)
2007 Aug 28, Brazil's Supreme Court charged one of the president's closest confidants with conspiracy in a corruption scandal that has toppled much of his inner circle. Analysts said Jose Dirceu, one of 40 people indicted, would rather spend years in prison than go down swinging against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. This was the first time ever that Brazil’s highest court has brought criminal charges against politicians.
(AP, 8/28/07)(Econ, 9/1/07, p.32)
2007 Aug 30, A speeding train carrying hundreds of commuters slammed into an empty train near Rio de Janeiro, killing eight people and injuring more than 80.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Oct 10, Brazil's Supreme Court denied a Lebanese request to extradite a fugitive banker accused of a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and wanted for questioning in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Rana Koleilat was given eight days to leave the country once her passport is returned. She was jailed on fraud charges in Lebanon in 2004, but fled the country. She was arrested in Sao Paulo on March 12, 2006.
(AP, 10/12/07)
2007 Oct 10, In Brazil a truck coming down a hill plowed into rescue workers and gawkers at the site of an earlier collision, a double accident that killed least 28 people and injured 90.
(AP, 10/11/07)
2007 Oct 15, Brazil’s President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva arrived in the Congolese capital Brazzaville for a one-day visit, the first by a Brazilian leader to the African country.
(AFP, 10/16/07)
2007 Oct 17, Hundreds of police agents swooped in on drug gangs in two Rio de Janeiro shantytowns, setting off gunbattles that killed 12 people, including an officer and a boy (4).
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 17, In South Africa the leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa vowed to push the interests of poor nations in stalled international trade talks and said any agreement would have to benefit the developing world.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 21, In Brazil activists trying to invade a 304-acre biotech seed farm, owned by the Swiss firm Syngenta AG, clashed with guards and at least two people were shot dead.
(AP, 10/22/07)
2007 Oct 21, In Brazil a girl (15) was arrested on accusations of breaking and entering a house and jailed with male inmates in Abaetetuba, Para state. She was locked up for weeks with 21 men who she said would only let her eat in return for sex. By her account, officials did nothing, until the story erupted in the national media and outraged Brazilians demanded her transfer.
(AP, 11/24/07)
2007 Oct 26, Shares in Bovespa, the stock exchange of Sao Paulo, Brazil, began trading. The IPO opened at $12.77 and closed at $17.77.
(Econ, 10/27/07, p.88)(http://tinyurl.com/34oyeb)
2007 Nov 8, Brazil’s Petrobras reported the discovery of a large oil reserve with as much as 8 billion barrels of crude in a field called Tupi. This represented about 3 months worth of current world supply, with estimated use at 86 million barrels a day. The oil was sitting between 5.3 and 7km below sea level.
(WSJ, 11/9/07, p.A12)(Econ, 8/30/08, p.36)
2007 Nov 25, In northeastern Brazil a section of stands at a soccer stadium gave way as fans cheered at the end of a game, killing eight people.
(AP, 11/26/07)
2007 Nov 27, In Brazil a Catholic bishop began his second hunger strike in two years to protest a government project to divert river water to irrigate parts of the country's arid northeast.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 28, Brazil and China said they will give Africa free satellite imaging of its landmass to help the continent respond to threats like deforestation, desertification and drought.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 30, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited a teeming hillside shantytown to launch a multimillion-dollar program to build an outdoor elevator, sewage systems, improve roads and upgrade housing for slum residents.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Dec 4, Sen. Renan Calheiros, president of Brazil's Senate, resigned while fighting allegations of corruption. Calheiros, a key ally of President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, retained his position as a senator. A legislative commission voted 17-3 last week to recommend his expulsion after finding evidence that he used third parties to illegally acquire two radio stations and a newspaper.
(AP, 12/4/07)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.43)
2007 Dec 13, Brazil's Senate refused to renew a financial transaction tax that fills the government's coffers, handing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a political defeat that could threaten his social programs for the poor.
(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 16, Argentina and Brazil successfully launched a rocket into space in the first joint space mission by the two South American nations. The VS30 rocket, which carried experiments from both countries, blasted off from Brazil's Barreira do Inferno launch center in northern Rio Grande do Norte state.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 17, The World Trade Organization (WTO) launched an investigation into Washington's multi-billion-dollar farm subsidies that Brazil and Canada say break international trading rules.
(Reuters, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 20, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, thieves homed in on two paintings, the Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" by Pablo Picasso and “O Lavrador de Cafe" by Candido Portinari (1903-1962), in the first successful heist in the 60-year history of Brazil's premier modern art museum. In Jan, 2007, police recovered the paintings and had 2 suspects under arrest.
(AP, 12/21/07)(SFC, 12/21/07, p.A2)(AP, 1/9/08)
2007 Dec 21, Brazil announced it will create a landholder registry and send 700 more federal police to the Amazon River basin in a new effort to monitor and prevent deforestation in the environmentally sensitive region.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 23, Aloisio Lorscheider (b.1924), one of Latin America's most influential cardinals, died in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after a lengthy hospitalization.
(AP, 12/23/07)
2007 Eike Batista, Brazilian businessman, founded OGX, an oil and gas firm. Its IPO in 2008 raised $4.3 billion, a record for Brazil. By 2012 he was Brazil’s richest man and ranked 7th richest in the world.
(Econ, 5/26/12, p.63)
2007 Spain’s Santander Bank acquired ABN’s Brazilian unit.
(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.15)
2007 Researchers from Karlsruhe's Natural History Museum found a 3-millimetre-long (0.118 inch) ant in the Amazon rainforest and dated its origin back to about 120Mil BC, making it the oldest still inhabiting the earth.
(Reuters, 9/16/08)
2007-2016 Ecuadorean officials received about 33.5 million in bribes during this period from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction firm according to the US Dept. of Justice.
(Econ, 2/18/17, p.29)
2008 Jan 1, In Rio Piracicaba, Brazil, a jail fire killed eight inmates who could not be rescued because the guard had left with the keys.
(AP, 1/2/08)
2008 Jan 15, Brazil signed accords with Cuba offering economic aid and sealed a deal to drill for oil off the island’s coast. Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Trade with businessmen in tow signed trade and investment deals totaling some $1 billion.
(WSJ, 1/16/08, p.A1)(Econ, 6/28/08, p.45)
2008 Jan 21, Brazil’s Petrobras announced the discovery of a huge natural gas reserve off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
(WSJ, 1/23/08, p.A10)
2008 Jan 24, In Brazil government officials held a top-level emergency meeting to deal with the problem of Amazon deforestation. Satellite images showed that as much as 2,700 square miles of land was cleared during the last five months of 2007. All logging was banned in 36 municipalities and fines stiffened for illegal cutting.
(AP, 1/24/08)(SFC, 3/22/08, p.A3)
2008 Jan 30, In Brazil heavily armed police cracking down on crime ahead of Rio's famed carnival celebrations engaged in shootouts with criminals in two slums, killing at least seven suspects.
(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 Feb 1, In Brazil men dressed as nuns swilled beer and danced down the cobblestoned streets of a Rio hillside to kick off five days of uninhibited carnival madness.
(AP, 2/2/08)
2008 Feb 6, Samba group Beija Flor was declared Brazil's carnival champion for the fifth time in six years. While Beija Flor's dancers were topless, the judges drew the line at going bottomless, penalizing the rival Sao Clemente group for breaking a rule against display of genitalia during its 80-minute parade.
(AP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 12, President Nicolas Sarkozy said France is ready to transfer technology to Brazil so that an attack submarine, helicopters and the Rafale fighter plane can be built there.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 14, Brazil flew 50,000 doses of yellow fever vaccine to Paraguay following an outbreak there, the first in 34 years.
(SFC, 2/15/08, p.A4)
2008 Feb 21, In Brazil a ferryboat carrying more than 100 passengers collided with a barge carrying fuel tanks and sank to the bottom of the Amazon River. At least 14 people died. 92 people were rescued by several small boats and the state's floating police station.
(AP, 2/22/08)
2008 Feb 23, The presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia gathered in Buenos Aires to try to agree on how to divide scarce supplies of Bolivian natural gas.
(WSJ, 2/23/08, p.A6)
2008 Feb 26, In Brazil a helicopter had just left an oil rig with 17 oil workers and three crew members on board when it went down some 75 miles off the coast. 15 people aboard were rescued mostly unharmed. Rescuers located two bodies inside the sunken wreck, bringing the death toll to three. Two others remain missing.
(AP, 2/27/08)
2008 Feb 29, In Brazil police killed six alleged drug gang members in Rio de Janeiro, while a bodyguard for the state security chief was shot dead what appeared to be an attempted robbery.
(AP, 2/29/08)
2008 Mar 4, In Brazil police used rubber bullets and tear gas to remove 900 activists from a tree farm they had invaded to highlight allegations its Swedish-Finnish operators violated a law forbidding foreign companies from owning certain lands.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 20, Brazilian officials said an outbreak of dengue in Rio de Janeiro state has killed at least 47 people this year.
(SFC, 3/21/08, p.A4)
2008 Mar 29, In Brazil Isabella Nardoni (5) died after falling from her father's sixth-floor Sao Paulo apartment. On April 18 Alexandre Nardoni (29) and his wife, Anna Carolina Jatoba (24), the father and stepmother of the 5-year-old girl, were arrested for allegedly throwing the girl from their apartment window.
(AP, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 1, In Brazil Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, a reputed Colombian drug lord whose cartel is accused of having shipped hundreds of tons of cocaine, was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison in Brazil for crimes committed in that country.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 4, In Brazil officials said floods triggered by two weeks of torrential downpours have killed at least 10 people and forced more than 30,000 people to flee their homes in the normally arid northeast.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 13, In Brazil armed men firing from pickup trucks and flying in a helicopter attacked a maximum-security prison holding some of Brazil's highest-profile inmates but were repelled by guards in Campo Grande, the state capital of Mato Grosso do Sul.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 14, In Brazil a top energy official said a deep-water exploration area could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil, an amount that would nearly triple Brazil's reserves and make the offshore bloc the world's third-largest known oil reserve.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 15, Brazil and Russia signed an agreement to jointly develop top-line jet fighters and satellite launch vehicles.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 15, In Brazil a police raid on drugs and dealers in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown set off a fierce gunbattle that killed at least nine people and wounded seven.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 20, In Brazil Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli, a 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest, went missing after he lifted off under hundreds of balloons from the port city of Paranagua wearing a helmet, an aluminum thermal flight suit, waterproof coveralls and a parachute. Tugboat workers discovered a body off Rio de Janeiro in early July that authorities believed belonged to the cleric. DNA confirmed that it was the body of the priest.
(AP, 4/23/08)(AP, 7/29/08)
2008 Apr 25, Police swarmed a Rio de Janeiro slum in search of a drug lord, touching off a shootout that killed 11 people including a 70-year-old woman. Two bystanders were wounded. Emival Barbosa Machado (50), an Amazon farmer who received death threats after reporting illegal logging to authorities, was shot to death as he left his house in Tucurui.
(AP, 4/26/08)
2008 May 4, In Brazil a boat ferrying people home from a religious festival sank in the Amazon region on the Solimoes River leaving at least 41 dead and dozens missing.
(AP, 5/5/08)(AP, 5/7/08)
2008 May 12, Brazil announced that it is forming a sovereign-wealth fund worth between $10 and $20 billion.
(WSJ, 5/13/08, p.A1)
2008 May 13, In Brazil renowned rain forest defender Marina Silva resigned as the environment minister, saying she lacked the necessary political support to protect the Amazon. A government study said Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 14, In Brazil a reporter and photographer for O Dia were abducted with their driver and held for nearly eight hours in the western Rio de Janeiro shantytown where they had been working undercover investigating paramilitaries. O Dia said it contacted state security officials immediately after the incident, but did not report it publicly until Jun 1 to protect its journalists.
(AP, 6/2/08)
2008 May 20, Painted and feathered Indians waving machetes and clubs slashed Eletrobras engineer Paulo Fernando Rezende, an official of Brazil's national electric company during a protest over a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River. Environmentalists warned it could destroy the traditional fishing grounds of Indians living nearby and displace as many as 15,000 people. The government said the proposed US$6.7 billion (euro4.3 billion) dam would supply Brazil with an estimated 11,000 megawatts of power and is essential to meet growing energy demand.
(AP, 5/20/08)
2008 May 23, In Brazil 12 South American leaders gathered in Brasilia to set up the Union of South American Nations. UNASUR was expected to replace the South American Community, declared in 2004, and unite the Mercosur and Andean Community free trade areas. Members included Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNASUR_Constitutive_Treaty)(Econ, 5/31/08, p.41)
2008 May 27, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva swore in Carlos Minc, former environment secretary for Rio de Janeiro state, as Brazil's new environment minister. Silva used the swearing-in speech to lash developed nations for alleged hypocrisy on environmental policy.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2008 Jun 2, Carlos Minc, Brazil’s new environment minister, said the government will impound cattle caught grazing on illegally cleared pastures with an operation, dubbed "Rogue Bull," to attack deforestation in the rain forest. Government researchers said that preliminary data indicate the Amazon lost at least 2,258 square miles (5,850 square kilometers) of forest cover from August to April 2008.
(AP, 6/3/08)
2008 Jun 2, The United States lost an appeal in its long-running dispute with Brazil over U.S. subsidies for cotton farmers at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
(Reuters, 6/2/08)
2008 Jun 11, Police in southern Brazil fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who tried to invade a supermarket to protest high food prices, part of widespread demonstrations across more than a dozen states.
(AP, 6/11/08)
2008 Jun 11, InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewing giant, offered $46 billion, or 65 dollars a share, in cash for Anheuser-Busch in a bid to create an unrivaled global brewing giant.
(AFP, 6/12/08)(Econ, 6/21/08, p.77)
2008 Jun 11, In Brazil bankers set an IPO price of $689 per share in OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA, a firm created by Eike Batista (50) to drill for oil in Brazilian offshore tracts.
(WSJ, 6/12/08, p.B1)
2008 Jun 12, In Brazil 3 armed robbers stole two Pablo Picasso prints from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art and 2 other paintings in a rapid strike in which they bypassed more valuable works. By August 18 police recovered all of the paintings and arrested 3 suspects.
(AP, 6/13/08)(AP, 8/7/08)(AP, 8/18/08)
2008 Jun 15, Eleven Brazilian soldiers allegedly turned over three shantytown residents to a drug gang that executed them and left their bodies in a garbage dump. Police arrested the soldiers the next day and Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral denounced the soldiers as criminals.
(AP, 6/16/08)
2008 Jun 17, Brazil's environment minister said grain crushers have extended a two-year-old moratorium on the purchase of soybeans planted in areas of the Amazon rain forest cut down after 2006.
(AP, 6/17/08)
2008 Jun 20, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed a new 3.8 million acre (1.5 million hectare) Indian reservation in the heart of the Amazon rain forest's logging frontier.
(AP, 6/21/08)
2008 Jul 8, Brazilian police arrested a former Sao Paulo mayor and two prominent financiers in a case that grew out of an influence-peddling scandal involving senior government officials.
(AP, 7/9/08)
2008 Jul 11, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to support East Timor during talks in Dili with Timorese leaders including President Jose Ramos-Horta.
(AFP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 12, In Jakarta, Indonesia, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged cooperation on biofuels during talks in a bid to take advantage of surging oil prices.
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Brazil police said at least eight alleged drug traffickers were killed during a raid in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown.
(AP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 19, In Bogota the presidents of Brazil and Colombia vowed to boost trade and investment between their nations ahead of crucial world trade talks next week.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 19, Brazilian actress and comedian Dercy Goncalves (101), known for her vulgar wit and scandalous behavior, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 25, In Goiania, Brazil, Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho Santos stabbed to death and dismembered Cara Marie Burke (17), a British citizen, while high on crack cocaine. In 2009 Santos was sentenced to 19 years for the killing and two more for hiding the body.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2008 Jul 26, Brazil's Embraer (EMBR3.SA), the world's third-biggest commercial jet maker, said it would invest 148 million euros in two new plants in Portugal -- its first industrial units in Europe that will make wings and tailpieces for exports.
(AP, 7/26/08)
2008 Jul 29, In central Brazil the torso of Cara Marie Burke, 17, from London, was found in a suitcase in Goiania. She had been stabbed to death by Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho dos Santos (20) over the weekend in his apartment. Santos was arrested on July 31 and confessed. Reports said he was a cocaine user.
(AFP, 8/1/08)
2008 Jul 31, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched the Amazon Fund to provide grants to projects intended to stop the Amazon rainforest from shrinking.
(Econ, 8/9/08, p.37)
2008 Aug 11, Brazil's environment minister said he granted a license for the Santo Antonio hydroelectric dam but attached stringent conditions to protect Amazon Indian reservations and nature preserves. The dam is expected to cost 9.5 billion reals (US$5.9 billion) and go online in 2012. The dam is one of two planned for the Madeira river in the Amazon state of Rondonia.
(AP, 8/11/08)
2008 Aug 16, Dorival Caymmi (b.1914), Brazilian composer, died. He had composed over 100 songs and catapulted to fame when Carmen Miranda performed one of his songs in 1938.
(AP, 8/17/08)
2008 Aug 22, Brazil extradited Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia to the United States to face racketeering charges.
(AP, 8/22/08)
2008 Aug 26, Brazil asked the WTO for the right to impose $4 billion in annual sanctions against US goods and services to penalize the US for handing out illegal cotton subsidies.
(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A9)
2008 Aug 26, In Brazil Olavo Egydio Setubal (b.1923), industrialist and former mayor of Sao Paulo, died. His industrial and financial empire, which grew up from a metal shop, included Banco Itau Holding Financiera SA, Brazil’s 2nd largest bank.
(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=29439734)(WSJ, 8/30/08, p.A5)
2008 Aug 28, Brazilian authorities said more than 200 oil-slicked penguins had washed up dead over the last 4 days on the beaches of Florianopolis, a popular Brazilian island resort, and that they are searching for a cause.
(AP, 8/28/08)
2008 Aug 30, Brazilian officials said Amazon deforestation jumped 69 percent in the past 12 months, the first such increase in three years, as rising demand for soy and cattle pushes farmers and ranchers to raze trees.
(AP, 8/31/08)
2008 Sep 1, Brazil's Pres. Lula da Silva suspended the entire leadership of Abin, the nation’s intelligence agency, after it was accused of tapping the phones of the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress.
(AP, 9/2/08)(WSJ, 9/2/08, p.A14)(Econ, 9/6/08, p.45)
2008 Sep 11, In Brazil Daniel Dantas, businessman, found $300 million of his money frozen by the courts under accusations of laundering public money and offering bribes. His fortune was estimated at over $1 billion. On Dec 2 Dantas was convicted of trying to bribe police officers. He was fined $5 million and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but appealed the conviction.
(Econ, 9/20/08, p.82)(Econ, 12/6/08, p.51)
2008 Sep 15, According to a new UN report Brazilian police carried out a "significant proportion" of the 48,000 murders that swept Brazil last year, casting doubt on the government's ability to curtail drug violence and reign in vigilante militias.
(AP, 9/15/08)
2008 Sep 16, Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg said Norway will give Brazil US$1 billion by 2015 to preserve the Amazon rain forest, as long as Latin America's largest nation keeps trying to stop deforestation.
(AP, 9/16/08)
2008 Sep 18, Peru’s Pres. Alan Garcia led a deputation of half his cabinet and over 200 business leaders to see Brazil’s Pres. da Silva.
(Econ, 9/13/08, p.44)
2008 Sep 22, In southern Brazil 5 hooded gunmen killed 15 people on an alleged drug trafficker's ranch. The suspected trafficker and two of his sons were among the 15 dead.
(AP, 9/22/08)
2008 Sep 23, Ecuador expelled a leading Brazilian construction firm sending in troops to seize projects worth $800 million. Pres. Correa was battling with the Odebrecht firm over a dam which the government said was badly built.
(WSJ, 9/24/08, p.A24)
2008 Sep 29, Brazilian officials said the Amazon is being deforested more than three times as fast as last year, acknowledging a sharp reversal after three years of declines in the deforestation rate.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 5, Isolated shootings in Brazil soured municipal elections that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's allies hope will give them a leg up on 2010's presidential vote.
(AP, 10/5/08)
2008 Oct 16, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Mozambique to launch a project to make anti-AIDS drugs in the southern African country.
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 22, The DJIA tumbled 514.45 to close at 8519.21, its 7th biggest point drop in history, as investors believed that the global economy is heading into a deep recession. Hungary’s central bank raised interest rates by 3 points, from 8.5% to 11.5%, to prevent a run on its currency. Argentine and Brazilian stock markets each fell about 10%. Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan said he was wrong to think that financial markets could police themselves.
(WSJ, 10/22/08, p.A1)(SFC, 10/24/08, p.C1)(Econ, 10/25/08, p.33)
2008 Oct 26, Brazil held nationwide municipal elections. The ruling party was expected to dominate. Brazil's ruling party lost its chance to retake control of Sao Paulo, South America's biggest city. Fernando Gabeira, an ex-guerrilla who once kidnapped a US ambassador (1969), failed in his bid to become mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 10/26/08)
2008 Oct 31, Brazil's state-run oil company signed an agreement to explore for oil in deep Caribbean waters north of Cuba that officials in Havana say could contain 20 billion barrels of crude.
(AP, 10/31/08)
2008 Nov 3, Two of Brazil’s largest banks agreed to merge in a move to buttress the country’s financial system. Itau Holding Financeira SA will purchase its smaller rival Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA.
(WSJ, 11/4/08, p.C1)
2008 Nov 9, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, finance ministers from 20 leading nations (G20) agreed to boost emerging economies’ role in negotiations to overhaul the international financial system.
(SFC, 11/10/08, p.D1)
2008 Nov 10, In Brazil bandits blew up a police station with dynamite after stealing drugs and weapons in Botucatu city in Sao Paulo state.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2008 Nov 23, In southern Brazil weekend rains caused rivers to overflow their banks. The resulting floods and mudslides left at least 114 people dead. In northeastern Paragominas a mob of about 3,000 people, enraged by a crackdown on illegal logging, trashed a government office, and tried to attack environmental workers.
(AP, 11/25/08)(AP, 11/24/08)(AP, 12/1/08)
2008 Dec 8, In Brazil Police chief Paulo Fernando Fortunato reported that 13 gay men were killed in a park in suburban Sao Paulo between February 2007 and August 2008.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 11, Australian police said detectives have charged 22 men including a policeman, a senior lawyer and a child care worker in connection with a child pornography-sharing network spanning 70 countries. Brazilian information, which was shared via the international policing network Interpol, identified more than 200 suspects in 70 countries.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 16, In Brazil South American leaders agreed to create a regional defense council aimed at preventing local conflicts and reducing dependence on US weaponry. 33 countries from across the Americas had gathered for a 2-day meeting to discuss issues ranging from defense to economics.
(WSJ, 12/17/08, p.A16)(Econ, 12/20/08, p.57)
2008 Dec 23, Brazil and France signed an arms deal that could lead to Latin America's first nuclear submarine.
(AP, 12/23/08)
2008 Dec 26, Brazilian police detained Regivaldo Galvao, a rancher suspected in the 2005 slaying of rain forest activist Dorothy Stang (73), for allegedly illegally acquiring titles to land the US nun died trying to defend.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2008 Dec 31, In Brazil Christian Wolffer (70), owner of the Wolffer Estate winery, bled to death after suffering two deep cuts on his back while swimming on New Year's Eve near the colonial town of Paraty, about 150 kilometers (100 miles) west of Rio de Janeiro. A man suspected of piloting a motorboat that struck and killed Wolffer was detained on Jan 4.
(AP, 1/4/09)
2008 In Brazil police began setting up Pacifying Police Units (UPPS) in some of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to help restore law and order.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.42)
2008 Banco do Brazil bought Nossa Caixa, a mid sized state-owned banking firm.
(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.11)
2009 Jan 14, In Brazil Cesare Battisti (54), a leftist fugitive who wrote police thrillers while evading a life sentence for two political murders, was granted refugee status in Brazil and an official said he could go free this week. Italy's government protested the decision. Battisti escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism. He fled to France and reinvented himself as a mystery writer. Battisti has repeatedly insisted on his innocence. On March 5, 2010, he was sentenced to two years in prison for passport fraud.
(AP, 1/14/09)(AFP, 3/6/10)
2009 Jan 18, The roof of a Brazilian church in Sao Paulo caved in shortly after a religious service, killing 9 people and injuring 106 more.
(AP, 1/19/09)
2009 Jan 21, Brazil’s central bank cut its benchmark overnight rate, the Selic rate, to 12.75%, the highest rate in the America’s, even considering its nearly 7% inflation.
(WSJ, 1/22/09, p.A8)
2009 Jan 24, Mariana Bridi (20), Brazilian model, died from complications related to a generalized infection caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The bacteria is known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics. The infection reduced the flow of oxygen to her limbs, causing her feet to be amputated last week and her hands this week.
(AP, 1/24/09)
2009 Jan 27, In Brazil some 100,000 activists of all stripes converged on the Amazon city of Belem, opening the 9th World Social Forum.
(AP, 1/27/09)
2009 Jan 27, Brazil established a new set of bureaucratic hoops for importers, raising worries about creeping protectionism.
(WSJ, 1/28/09, p.A10)
2009 Jan 30, In Brazil officials in Rio Grande do Sul state said 10 victims had drowned in the city of Pelotas, and that floods had driven thousands from their homes.
(AP, 1/31/09)
2009 Feb 1, In Brazil the world's biggest counterculture political gathering ended with a flurry of photo-snapping, tent folding and farewell embraces, as well as uncertainty about what concrete results were accomplished in the stifling heat of Belem.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009 Feb 3, In Brazil hundreds of riot police occupied one of Sao Paulo's biggest slums following a night of clashes in which three police officers were shot. Residents said the clashes were a response to the police killing of a man on Feb 1 in Paraisopolis.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 3, In Brazil Ocelio Alves de Carvalho was killed on the Kulina Indian reservation. An Indian who witnessed the killing, and tried to stop it, arrived at the police station to report the alleged murder the next day. The witness said body parts were roasted and eaten.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 4, Brazilian police killed at least 10 suspects, including two teenage boys, during operations against drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 7, In Brazil 4 people at the rear of a plane that crashed in a muddy Amazon river managed to open an emergency door and swim to safety as the aircraft sank, dragging 24 others to their death.
(AP, 2/8/09)
2009 Feb 22, In Brazil bubbles, feathers and glitter swirled on the first night of parades in Rio's Carnival, as the city's samba schools battled it out for top honors in what many bill as the world's largest party.
(AP, 2/23/09)
2009 Mar 11, Brazil’s Central Bank cut its benchmark Selic rate by 1.5% to 11.25%. further cuts were expected.
(Econ, 3/28/09, p.44)
2009 Mar 11, In Brazil a prosecutor charged rancher Regivaldo Galvao, accused of murdering US nun Dorothy Strang, with trying to fraudulently obtain a plot of the rain forest that Strang had worked to protect.
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.A2)
2009 Mar 14, President Barack Obama met with visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for talks on the economy, energy and the environment.
(AP, 3/14/09)
2009 Mar 19, Brazil's Supreme Court sided with Amazonian Indians in a land dispute that some have called critical for determining the future of the rainforest that sprawls the size of Western Europe. The court ruling upheld the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation for 18,000 Indians who lay claim to their ancestral land, despite a handful of large-scale farmers who also occupy the territory in the northernmost reaches of Amazon jungle bordering Venezuela.
(AP, 3/19/09)
2009 Mar 24, The WHO’s annual report on TB, presented in Rio, indicated that there were 1.37 million cases of people with both TB and HIV in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available. About 700,000 people were infected with both in 2006.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 26, In Brazil engine pieces from a US plane fell from the sky, hitting 22 houses and a car but sparing passengers and residents on the ground. Arrow Cargo's station manager in Manaus, Rai Marinho, said the company will pay local residents for damages to their property.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 30, Argentina’s health minister acknowledged that the country was in the middle of a dengue fever epidemic with nearly 8,000 people infected. Neighboring Bolivia had about 51,000 cases reported, while Brazil counted some 40,000 cases.
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46371)(SSFC, 4/19/09, p.G3)
2009 Mar 31, In Brazil the state government of Rio de Janeiro said it will build 7 miles of concrete walls around some of its biggest slums in an effort to halt deforestation of the jungle surrounding the metropolis.
(SFC, 4/1/09, p.A2)
2009 Apr 28, Peru’s Pres. Alan Garcia and Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed an agreement for six hydroelectricity schemes in Peru. The Inambari dam would be the first to be built, and most of its power would be exported to Brazil.
(www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11256.aspx)(Econ, 11/21/09, p.42)
2009 Apr 30, Brazil's Supreme Court struck down a 1967 press censorship law enacted during the military dictatorship. In a 7-4 vote the court ruled the law unconstitutionally violated freedom of expression.
(AP, 5/1/09)
2009 May 2, Brazilian officials said floods and mudslides from heavy rains in the northeast have killed at least 14 people in the last month and driven tens of thousands from their homes.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 2, In Brazil Augusto Boal (78), theater director and playwright known for the interactive genre called the "Theater of the Oppressed," died. Seen as a threat to the dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985, Boal was arrested, jailed and tortured before being exiled to Argentina. He returned to Brazil after the fall of the military regime.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 6, Brazilian officials said at least 29 people have been killed by floods and mudslides in northern Brazil as authorities struggled to rush aid to dozens of small cities cut off from civilization by overflowing rivers in the Amazon region.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 7, Argentina and Brazil confirmed five swine flu cases within their borders as the virus affects more nations in South America.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 8, Brazilians huddled in cow pens converted into emergency shelters, as swollen rivers continue to rise and northern Brazil's worst floods in decades boosted the number of homeless to nearly 300,000. The death toll rose to 39, and coffins started popping out of the soaked earth.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 10, Floodwaters receded some in inundated towns across northern Brazil, but the number of homeless rose above 300,000 and two people were missing after an overloaded canoe overturned in swift waters.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 13, In Brazil slum dwellers rioted after the arrest of drug dealers in a Sao Paulo shantytown, burning vehicles and tires, pelting police with rocks and briefly shutting down a major urban highway.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 19, China and Brazil signed a raft of agreements in Beijing including a $10 billion loan for the South American country's state energy company and a deal to send oil to China amid stronger ties between the two developing world giants.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 22, Brazil's Supreme Court approved the extradition to the US of Pablo Rayo Montano, a Colombian-born drug lord accused of running one of the world's largest drug smuggling operations.
(AP, 5/22/09)
2009 May 22, In Brazil a twin-engine plane crashed near a private airport in a northeastern coastal resort area, killing all 11 people aboard.
(AP, 5/23/09)
2009 May 28, In Brazil raging torrents from a ruptured dam and swamped Cocal, a northeastern farming city of about 25,000 in Piaui state, forcing residents to scramble onto rooftops and climb high trees to escape the deadly floodwaters. 4 people were killed.
(AP, 5/28/09)
2009 Jun 1, A missing Air France Airbus A330 jet, Flight 447, carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil soon began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
(AP, 6/1/09)
2009 Jun 2, An airplane seat, a life jacket, metallic debris and signs of fuel were found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean by Brazilian military pilots searching for a missing Air France airliner Flight 447.
(AP, 6/2/09)
2009 Jun 6, Brazilian search crews retrieved the first 2 bodies in the Atlantic from the May 31 crash of Air France Flight 447. Investigators said faulty speed readings had been found on the same type of jets.
(Reuters, 6/6/09)
2009 Jun 7, Brazilian and French ships recovered 14 more bodies from ocean near Air France crash, bringing the total to 16.
(AP, 6/7/09)(SFC, 6/8/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 8, Brazilian and French ships recovered 8 more bodies from Air France Flight 447, bringing the total recovered to 24. The tail section of the plane was also recovered. The plane disappeared during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on May 31 amid strong thunderstorms.
(AP, 6/9/09)(SFC, 6/9/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 12, A Brazilian ship recovered three more bodies from the Atlantic bringing the total to 44. Searchers said weather and currents complicated their job and warned it is unlikely that all the dead from Air France Flight 447 will be found.
(AP, 6/12/09)
2009 Jun 13, Brazil reported that a French ship had found six more bodies from Air France Flight 447, which would bring the total to 50. It went down May 31 with 228 on board.
(AP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 15, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva brought a message of worker solidarity and economic responsibility to the United Nations. He left with some rare, sharp criticism from human rights groups that once championed his government.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 19, The Brazilian government apologized for the torture and abuse of 44 poor farmers under the military regime that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985 and announced reparations for the victims.
(AP, 6/20/09)
2009 Jun 20, It was reported that that the H1N1 swine flu virus has spread to at least 76 countries and caused over 160 deaths, and that Brazilian researchers have identified a new strain of the virus.
(SFC, 6/20/09, p.D12)
2009 Jun 25, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva approved a law that could legalize landholdings by some 1 million squatters occupying a Texas-sized chunk of the Amazon rain forest, despite environmentalist fears it will accelerate deforestation.
(AP, 6/26/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Brazil Sao Paulo state officials launched what they say is Latin America's first passenger bus with an electric engine powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The bus will start test runs on the streets of Sao Paulo in August and will be joined by three similarly powered vehicles next year.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Brazil prison guards foiled a new attempt to smuggle a cell phone into Danilo Pinheiro prison near the city of Sorocaba by a carrier pigeon wearing a tiny backpack. Police said that the practice is becoming almost commonplace.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 11, It was reported that Brazilian police were investigating some 660 “secret acts" passed by the Senate since 1995 which have awarded jobs and pay raises members of staff.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.39)
2009 Jul 11, In Brazil the body of Arturo Gatti (37), former Canadian boxing champion, was found in a hotel room at the northeastern Porto de Galinhas resort. He was apparently strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at the scene with blood stains. His wife, Amanda Rodrigues (23), was soon taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation. A police inquiry later concluded that he committed suicide using the strap of a rucksack on a staircase in the early hours of the morning.
(AP, 7/12/09)(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 25, Brazil agreed to triple its compensation to Paraguay to operate the huge Itaipu hydroelectric dam on their shared border, ending a decades-long dispute between the neighbors. President Fernando Lugo persuaded Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to sign a deal tripling Brazil's payments from $120 million to $360 million a year. On Apr 6, 2011, Brazil's lower house of Congress finally approved the deal.
(AFP, 7/25/09)(AP, 4/21/11)
2009 Aug 1, Brazilian police said they have busted a ring that allegedly sent some 200 women in the last year to the United States, Europe and elsewhere to work as prostitutes. Most of the women were recruited through the Internet or Brazilian brothels and then sent to Las Vegas, the Dominican Republic and France.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 10, Leaders of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUL), a 12-member group inspired by Brazil, met in Quito, Ecuador, in an attempt to further integration. Colombia’s Pres. Uribe did not attend, in part because Ecuador broke of ties with Colombia last year.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.31)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil authorities charged Bishop Edir Macedo and nine other people linked to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God with siphoning off billions of dollars in donations from his mostly poor followers to buy jewelry, TV stations and other businesses for himself. Macedo, who founded the church in 1977, owns a large television network, three newspapers and several radio stations. He also owns a tourism agency and an air taxi company.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil police were reported to be investigating the "Canal Livre" crime TV show saying the show's host, state legislator Wallace Souza (51), was suspected of commissioning at least five murders to boost his ratings and prove his claim that Brazil's Amazon region is awash in violent crime. Police also have accused Souza of drug trafficking.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 26, A Brazilian prosecutor in Amazonas state accused Wallace Souza, a former police officer and TV crime show host, of attempting to have a federal judge assassinated in 2007. Souza was already accused of setting up at least 5 killings to boost his TV ratings. Souza was soon kicked out of the state legislature and on Oct 5 police issued a warrant for his arrest.
(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A2)(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Sep 8, Across northern Argentina and southern Brazil a violent storm that spawned a tornado and mudslides killed at least 15 people. Dozens were injured in the winds and hail as their homes were destroyed.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 14, The leaders of Brazil and Guyana met to inaugurate the $5 million Takutu River Bridge, that is expected to boost trade between Brazil and the Caribbean. Traffic began crossing the bridge nearly two months ago but today’s ceremony was billed as its formal commissioning.
(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Sep 16, Brazil’s JBS Friboi company announced that Texas-based chicken processor Pilgrim’s Pride has agreed to be taken over for $800 million. This and a pending acquisition with Bertin, another Brazilian firm, would make JBS the world’s largest processor of meat.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.74)(http://tinyurl.com/yb7czq9)
2009 Oct 2, In Denmark the IOC opened a meeting hearing the cases led by government leaders and kings to win the right to stage the 2016 Olympic Games. US Pres. Obama spoke for Chicago, Japan's new PM Yukio Hatoyama spoke for Tokyo, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva spoke for Rio de Janeiro, and Spain's King Juan Carlos and PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero spoke for Spain. Brazil won the bid.
(AFP, 10/2/09)(AP, 10/3/09)
2009 Oct 9, In Brazil Wallace Souza, a former police officer and TV crime show host accused of commissioning killings to boost ratings, turned himself in to authorities in Manaus and was jailed on homicide and drug trafficking charges.
(AP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 11, In Brazil an intense fire broke out in a slum in Sao Paulo, South America's largest city, sending residents running across rooftops to escape the flames.
(AP, 10/12/09)
2009 Oct 17, In Brazil drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter during a gunbattle between rival gangs. The weekend gang fight in Rio de Janeiro left 3 police officers killed, and continued into the week leaving at least 32 people dead.
(SSFC, 10/18/09, p.A8)(AP, 10/21/09)(AP, 10/22/09)(Econ, 10/24/09, p.42)
2009 Oct 18, Amazon Chief Almir Surui (35), unveiled a project in partnership with Google, to make public the encroachment of illegal mining and logging on his people’s 600,000 acre reserve in Brazil. Almir was evacuated for his safety to the US in 2006. Eleven chief of the Surui and neighboring tribes have been shot and killed this decade.
(SSFC, 10/18/09, p.A1)
2009 Oct 20, Representatives of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay announced a joint plan in Buenos Aires to establish protected zones to halt deforestation in their countries by 2020.
(SFC, 10/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Oct 22, In Curitiba, Brazil, Jorge Guilherme Marinho Martins (26), the son of fire chief Jorge Luiz Thais Martins, was killed by robbers who wanted to steal his car while he returned from a party. His girlfriend also was shot, but survived. At least eight drug users in the neighborhood were soon killed. In 2011 an arrest warrant was issued for Martins for his alleged involvement in killing the drug users.
(AP, 1/28/11)(http://tinyurl.com/4zmt6t4)
2009 Oct 29, In Brazil a single-prop Cessna Caravan plane went down on the Itui River in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest. Members of the Matis Indian tribe found the plane with 9 survivors of 11 on board.
(AP, 10/31/09)
2009 Oct 29, Honduras filed a case at the UN's highest court accusing Brazil of meddling in internal Honduran affairs by allowing ousted President Manuel Zelaya to stay at its embassy in Tegucigalpa since Sep 21. Representatives of Zelaya finally reached an agreement with the interim government that could help end the months long dispute over the June 28 coup, and possibly pave the way for Zelaya's reinstatement. The agreement would create a power-sharing government and bind both sides to recognize the Nov. 29 presidential elections.
(AP, 10/29/09)(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Oct, Brazil imposed a 2% entry tax on portfolio investments in an effort to stop its currency, the real, from appreciating. This was soon raised to 4% and then to 6%. In 2012 Brazil started to dismantle its capital controls.
(Econ, 10/1/16, SR p.11)
2009 Nov 2, In Brazil some 1.5 million evangelical Christians joined the annual "March for Jesus," an event sponsored by a church whose leaders recently returned after being imprisoned in the US for money smuggling.
(AP, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 8, Brazil’s private Bandeirante University in Sao Bernardo do Campo, outside Sao Paulo, expelled Geisy Arruda (20) for wearing a short, pink dress to class, publicly accusing her of immorality. Arruda made headlines after an Oct. 22 incident, in which she had to be escorted away by police after wearing the mini-dress to class. The dean of the private college in suburban Sao Paulo released the next day announcing a decision to reinstate her. On Oct 6, 2010, Judge Rodrigo Gorga Campos ordered Bandeirante University to pay Geisy Arruda 40,000 reals ($23,800) in damages.
(AP, 11/9/09)(AP, 11/10/09)(AP, 10/7/10)
2009 Nov 11, Brazil emerged from a widespread power outage that plunged its major cities and at least nine states into darkness for over 2 hours, prompting security fears and concern from residents about another black eye for a country hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. Transmission problems had knocked one of the world's biggest hydroelectric dams offline.
(AP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 24, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave a welcoming bear hug Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and urged Western nations to drop threats of punishment over the Iranian nuclear program and instead negotiate a fair solution.
(AP, 11/24/09)
2009 Nov 24, Rio de Janeiro's posh beach neighborhoods lost power for hours in sweltering summer weather, prompting restaurants to toss out spoiled food and business owners to send employees home.
(AP, 11/24/09)
2009 Nov 25, Officials said flooding from heavy rains has killed 12 people in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and forced more than 20,000 to flee their homes. Most of the dead were in southern Brazil, including eight in Rio Grande do Sul.
(AP, 11/25/09)
2009 Nov, In Brazil the secretary of Jose Robert Arruda, governor of the Federal District, was filmed handing over bundles of cash to his boss’s various allies.
(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2009 Dec 4, In southern Brazil at least 20 people were reported dead in mudslides triggered by heavy rains as rivers rose to rooftops and thousands were left homeless.
(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 6, Brazilian thieves tunneled their way to a money transport firm in Sao Paulo and made off with nearly $6 million. A day later 6 men were arrested for the robbery.
(AP, 12/7/09)(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 7, Brazilian authorities arrested 11 people in an alleged US work-visa scam that raked in more than $50 million from thousands of Brazilians since 2002. Some of those scammed went to the US and wound up as illegal aliens because promised jobs didn't exist.
(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 8, Human Rights Watch issued a report saying police in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have killed more than 11,000 people in the past six years, many execution-style.
(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 8, Brazil's largest city of Sao Paulo was been hit by severe floods for the second time in less than a week. Local media reported that six people have died in mudslides caused by heavy rain.
(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 11, In Brazil a new presidential decree suspended up to an estimated $5.7 billion in fines and gave landowners two more years to comply with environmental regulations meant to stop the razing of the Brazilian rain forest.
(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 17, In Brazil a 2-year-old boy with 42 sewing needles stuck in him was airlifted to another hospital in northeastern Bahia state because two of the needles were close to his heart. A police official said Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, the boy's stepfather, had been arrested, that he had confessed to sticking the needles into the boy with the help of a woman and that authorities were investigating whether black magic was involved. On Dec 18 doctors removed 4 of the most life-threatening needles.
(AP, 12/17/09)(SFC, 12/18/09, p.A5)(AP, 12/19/09)
2009 Dec 24, David Goldman, a New Jersey man, and his 9-year-old son, Sean Goldman, were reunited in Brazil after a five-year international custody battle, and immediately headed home to spend the holidays in the US.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2009 Brazil’s federal program Minha Casa Vida Minha (MCMV; My House My Life) was started to fund housing for the poor and middle classes.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.389)
2009 Banco do Brazil bought a 50% stake in Votorantim, a car finance specialist.
(Econ, 5/15/10, SR p.11)
2009 Brazil’s population stood at about 192 million people.
(Econ, 11/14/09, SR p.3)
2010 Jan 1, In Brazil a rain-loosened slab of hillside collapsed on 3 houses and an upscale lodge after New Year celebrations at a resort on the island of Ilha Grande near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 26 people. On the mainland, a torrent of reddish mud cascaded into the Carioca slum in the nearby coastal city of Angra dos Reis, killing at least 18 people and reducing rickety shacks to rubble. 10 people died in Sao Paulo state. 3 people died in Minas Gerais as heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides. Nearly 80 other mudslides have been reported throughout the region in recent days. Together with flooding, they have killed at least 76 people.
(AP, 1/1/10)(AP, 1/2/10)(Reuters, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 23, Brazil extradited Manuel Juan Cordero Piacentini, a retired Uruguayan military officer, to Argentina to face charges of human rights abuses allegedly committed more than 30 years ago. Under "Operation Condor," the military dictatorships that ruled much of South America in the 1970s and 1980s secretly cooperated in the torture and disappearances of each others' citizens.
(AP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 24, In India environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China said that talks in New Delhi had further cemented their alliance following the Copenhagen climate change summit. The group, known by the acronym BASIC, pledged to strengthen its unified stance but would seek consensus with developed countries.
(AP, 1/24/10)
2010 Jan 26, Leftists in Brazil for a week of protests against capitalism denounced corporate greed on the second day of the World Social Forum, saying that big companies humbled by the global meltdown must be prevented from controlling natural resources and harming the environment.
(AP, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 27, Brazil's first working-class president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (64), got a hero's welcome at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, wowing 10,000 leftists with a vow to reproach the planet's business titans for causing the global meltdown when he meets with them this week at the Davos Swiss ski resort. Lula fell ill at the air force base in Recife where he was supposed to board a flight to Switzerland and his trip to Davos was canceled.
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 29, In Brazil leftists who converged to protest what they view as uncontrolled capitalism ended the World Social Forum with vows to take advantage of the financial crisis to promote a global socialist agenda.
(AP, 1/30/10)
2010 Feb 1, Brazil’s government approved the 11 billion dollar Belo Monte project on the Xingu river that will flood 500 square km (193 square miles) and supply 11% of Brazil's electricity. Detractors said the dam in northern Para state will trigger droughts along a 100 km (60 mile) stretch of the Xingu, displace thousands of indigenous people, attract an army of job-seekers, and accelerate the deforestation and destruction of the rain forest.
(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Feb 1, Brazil’s Cosan, a producer of ethanol, unveiled a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell to pool their retail operations.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.73)
2010 Feb 10, In Brazil a TV news helicopter pilot steered his crippled, out-of-control aircraft away from a busy highway in Sao Paulo before crashing in a grassy field during rush hour, losing his own life but avoiding greater casualties. A cameraman onboard was seriously injured.
(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 10, A Brazilian health official said 32 elderly people had died in the southeastern city of Santos this week because of a heat wave that has pushed temperatures to unseasonably high levels.
(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 11, In Brazil gunfire erupted in a Rio de Janeiro slum, killing at least seven suspected drug traffickers and a policeman a day before the Carnival celebrations kick off. Jose Roberto Arruda (57), the governor of Brasilia, was detained after a witness in a corruption investigation accused the governor of trying to bribe him.
(AP, 2/11/10)(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2010 Feb 11, Volkswagen announced it was recalling nearly 200,000 vehicles in Brazil because of a problem with the rear wheels that could cause them to seize or fall off.
(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 12, In Brazil the World's Greatest Party opened, but the everything-goes atmosphere of Carnival that has turned Rio de Janeiro into a giant oceanside den of debauchery was under assault. Amid the law-and-order makeover, a 7-year-old girl prepared to samba before a crowd of thousands as a Carnival drum corps queen.
(AP, 2/12/10)
2010 Feb 15, In Brazil Julia Lira, Rio's 7-year-old Carnival drum corps queen, danced at the front of the samba parade. She didn't like the cameras that homed in on her, and reacted as any child might, by having a good cry.
(AP, 2/15/10)
2010 Feb 17, In Brazil the Unidos da Tijuca samba group was crowned champion of the Rio Carnival parades for the first time in more than seven decades. Viradouro, which chose a 7-year-old as a drums corps queen, placed last out of 12 schools in the drum corps category, and scored even lower in the float category.
(AP, 2/17/10)
2010 Feb 28, In Brazil workers cleared some 80 tons of dead fish from Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Increased levels of harmful algae were suspected as the cause of the fie-off.
(SFC, 3/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 4, Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa, ordered all 1,987 passengers and 765 crew to remain aboard the "Vision of the Seas" anchored at Buzios, while teams of doctors treat the 195 passengers suffering vomiting and diarrhea and determine the cause of their illness.
(AFP, 3/4/10)
2010 Mar 11, Brazilian television network SBT broadcast a tape of Luiz Marques Barbosa (83) in bed with a 19-year-old that was widely distributed on the Internet. The station said the video was secretly filmed in January 2009 and sent anonymously to the network. Barbosa was detained in April out of fear he would flee the country.
(AP, 4/20/10)(http://tinyurl.com/y7vwfnz)
2010 Mar 16, Brazilian police and church officials said authorities were investigating three priests accused of sexually abusing altar boys after a video allegedly showing one case of abuse was broadcast on SBT television a week earlier.
(AP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 17, In Ramallah Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva placed a wreath on the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and sharply criticized Israeli policies, leading Israeli officials to suggest he was not being evenhanded. The visit came a day after Israel's hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said he boycotted meetings with Silva because the Brazilian did not pay a similar visit to the grave of Zionist founder Theodor Herzl.
(AP, 3/18/10)
2010 Apr 1, In Brazil Pedro Alcantara de Souza, who headed a union of landless farmers in Para, was shot in the head five times by two men on motorcycles on the outskirts of Redencao.
(AP, 4/2/10)
2010 Apr 6, In Brazil 14 straight hours of rain swamped Rio de Janeiro and killed at least eight people in the city. 3 more died in Rio de Janeiro state. 5 were also are missing in a mudslide. The death toll eventually reached 246.
(AP, 4/6/10)(AP, 4/9/10)(AP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 7, In Brazil rains kept pummeling Rio de Janeiro as officials scrambled to restore transit after at least 96 people were killed by landslides and floods.
(Reuters, 4/7/10)
2010 Apr 8, In Brazil authorities said at least 200 people were buried and feared dead under the latest landslide in the Morro Bumba slum in Niteroi, neighboring Rio de Janeiro. 205 people were already known to have died this week in slides triggered by the record rains.
(AP, 4/8/10)(AP, 4/9/10)
2010 Apr 12, The United States and Brazil signed an agreement meant to bolster military ties, but Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim did not offer any hint about a key defense contract sought by U.S.-based Boeing Co.
(Reuters, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 12, In Brazil rancher Vitalmiro Moura, accused of ordering the 2005 murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang, was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Moura was previously convicted of Stang's murder and then acquitted in an automatic retrial. That decision was overturned last year on a technicality.
(AP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 12, In Brazil the threat of new mudslides forced officials to begin evicting 2,600 families from at-risk areas as they embarked on a slum demolition program on Rio de Janeiro's hills.
(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 14, In Brazil a federal judge in Para state delayed the April 20 auction for construction of what would be the world's third-largest hydroelectric project. The $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam was cleared for construction Feb. 1 by Brazil's Environment Ministry and bidding was set for next week.
(AP, 4/15/10)
2010 Apr 14, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian PM Manmohan Singh arrived in Brazil to participate in bilateral meetings with the leaders of other emerging economies and a BRIC summit on April 16.
(AFP, 4/15/10)
2010 Apr 16, Brazil arrested Nestor Caro Chapparro, said to be one of Colombia's top four drug traffickers. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has accused Chapparro of smuggling more than 5,000 kg of cocaine from Brazil to the US in the late 1990s.
(AP, 4/16/10)
2010 Apr 16, A judge in the capital of Brasilia reversed a decision to suspend contract bidding scheduled for next week and also overturned the suspension of the environmental license for the 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte dam.
(AP, 4/16/10)
2010 Apr 20, Brazil speedily awarded the tender for the controversial Belo Monte hydro-electric dam projected to be the world's third-largest, despite fierce opposition from environmentalists. The tender was awarded to Norte Energia, a consortium led by Chesf, a subsidiary of the state electricity company Electrobras, after a series of court injunctions that had blocked and unblocked the auction process. The reservoir of the dammed Xingu river will cover 516 square km. and leave scores of villages awash.
(AFP, 4/20/10)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.34)
2010 Apr 27, Brazil, a UN Security Council member, demanded that Iran guarantee its nuclear program has no military aims, saying the crisis has become the single most important security issue in the world.
(AFP, 4/27/10)
2010 Apr 28, In Brazil Sao Paulo state prosecutors said Father Jose Afonso (74), a Roman Catholic priest, is facing charges he abused eight boys in cases dating back to 1995, adding to a growing list of allegations against clergy in Latin America.
(AP, 4/29/10)
2010 May 1, In Brazil a jury convicted a rancher of orchestrating the murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang. Regivaldo Galvao, the last of five defendants to stand trial in the case, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The verdict came two weeks after another rancher, Vitalmiro Moura, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of collaborating with Galvao. Galvao was soon released on bail pending an appeal.
(AP, 5/1/10)(AP, 5/19/10)
2010 May 2, Norsk Hydro announced that it was acquiring the aluminium assets of Vale, a Brazilian mining giant, in a deal valued at $4.9 billion.
(Econ, 5/8/10, p.65)
2010 May 3, Paraguay’s Pres. Fernando Lugo and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva met under a heavy police presence in a rough outpost called Pedro Juan Caballero on the Paraguayan side and Ponta Pora in Brazil in a joint effort to fight to drug-trafficking. Lugo's ministers were frustrated by the Paraguayan Senate's vote last week to delay until 2013 a personal income tax that would generate nearly $37 million a year that Lugo desperately needs to fund troops and provisions of martial law he has declared across five states in pursuit of the guerrillas.
(AP, 5/4/10)
2010 May 5, Brazilian local media reported that Brazil is to build a 483-million-dollar nuclear reactor to produce radioactive material for medical use as well as industrial-grade enriched uranium.
(AFP, 5/6/10)
2010 May 8, Iran voiced optimism about Turkish and Brazilian mediation efforts in its nuclear dispute with the West, welcoming in principle ideas aimed at reviving a stalled fuel deal with major powers.
(Reuters, 5/8/10)
2010 May 15, In Brazil a fire destroyed what may be the world's largest scientific collection of dead snakes, spiders and scorpions. The Instituto Butantan’s collection of nearly 80,000 specimens was the main source for research on thousands of species.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 16, Aviation officials closed airports in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland due to a drifting, dense cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 16, In Brazil Marina Silva, former rubber tapper turned environmentalist, joined the presidential race as candidate for the small Green Party on Sunday, pledging clean government and sustainable development.
(Reuters, 5/16/10)
2010 May 16, In Iran Brazil's Pres. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva met with Iranian leaders to try to broker a compromise in the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, even as the US says new sanctions are the only way to force Iran's cooperation.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 17, Iran agreed to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a surprise nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country's disputed atomic program and deflate a US-led push for tougher sanctions. The deal was reached in talks between Brazils’ Pres. Silva, Turkey’s PM Erdogan and Iran’s Pres. Ahmadinejad.
(AP, 5/17/10)(SFC, 5/17/10, p.A2)
2010 May 20, In Brazil a court ordered the arrest of a Polish priest suspected of sexually abusing a teenager in a Rio de Janeiro suburb and turning his parish home into what the judge described as an "erotic dungeon" for sex with adolescents. State prosecutors have accused Marcin Michael Strachanowski (44) of handcuffing a former altar boy (16) to a bed 3 years ago in the parish house where the priest lived and threatening to kill the youth if he spoke of the abuse.
(AP, 5/21/10)
2010 May 24, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched TV Brasil, a new Portuguese-language network based in Mozambique's capital Maputo and tasked with "saying good things" about Brazil. From Maputo, the new channel will be broadcast to more than 40 countries, mostly in Africa and Latin America.
(AFP, 5/24/10)
2010 Jun 6, In Brazil millions of gays and lesbians jammed several of Sao Paulo's main avenues for the 14th annual gay pride parade in South America's largest city.
(AP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 7, The Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) awarded Walmart Brazil and its CEO Hector Nunez the inaugural C.K. Prahalad Award for Global Sustainability Leadership for their historic work to preserve the Amazon.
(PRNewswire, 6/8/10)
2010 Jun 8, In northeastern Brazil Jose Agostinho Pereira (54) was jailed for keeping his daughter imprisoned for 12 years in a remote fishing village. Police said he had raped her repeatedly and had seven children with her. The man was also accused of abusing a young girl he had with his daughter. In Feb, 2011, Pereira was decapitated by fellow inmates who broke into his cell in the city of Pinheiro.
(AP, 6/9/10)(AP, 2/9/11)
2010 Jun 17, Brazil suspended retaliatory measures against US goods over a cotton subsidy dispute, freezing until 2012 a long-running row that has demonstrated the South American nation's trade clout.
(Reuters, 6/17/10)
2010 Jun 21, In Brazil a government study said 51% of men and 42.3% of women were overweight. A recent US study showed 68% of the US population was overweight.
(SFC, 6/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Jun 22, In Brazil floods after days of driving rain killed at least 51 people in the northeast, and left another 120,000 people homeless. After some days the number of missing dropped to 76.
(AP, 6/22/10)(AFP, 6/23/10)(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Jul 1, In Brazil a statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro was reinaugurated after a renovation costing nearly $4 million. The renovation of the Christ the Redeemer statue, which has towered over the city for nearly 80 years, was financed by Brazilian mining giant Vale and the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio.
(AFP, 7/1/10)
2010 Jul 5, Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrapped up a state visit to Equatorial Guinea (Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial), which included the signing of multiple cooperation agreements, economic meetings, and festivities.
(PR Newswire, 7/6/10)
2010 Jul 7, In Brazil Bruno Souza, a star goalkeeper and captain of defending club champion Flamengo, surrendered to police to face questioning in connection with the disappearance and suspected death of his ex-lover, Eliza Samudio, last seen alive on June 7. Police believed Bruno was in a home near Belo Horizonte home with Samudio at the time of her murder, and that her body was later cut into pieces, some of which were fed to dogs in a bid to cover the murder.
(AFP, 7/9/10)
2010 Jul 10, It was reported that Amazon river dolphins were being killed by fishermen for bait and that the population was dropping 7 percent a year. The gentle and curious dolphins were easy targets for nets and harpoons as they swim fearlessly up to fishing boats.
(AP, 7/10/10)
2010 Jul 12, In Brazil Paulo Moura (77), clarinet jazz great and Latin Grammy winner, died after a fight against cancer.
(AP, 7/13/10)
2010 Jul 14, Jornal do Brazil said it will end its print editions in September after 119 years, but will continue with a paid online edition.
(SFC, 7/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Jul 16, In Brazil an 11-year-old boy in a school classroom was killed by a stray bullet from a shootout between police and suspected drug gang members in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 7/16/10)
2010 Jul 25, In Brazil about 300 Amazon Indians prevented workers from entering or leaving the construction site of a hydroelectric plant that protesters say is on an ancient burial ground. Native Indians took some 100 workers hostage at the construction site. Indians from eight tribes taking part in the protest demanded compensation for losses caused by construction of the Dardanelos plant in the southern Amazon city of Aripuana. The hostages were released the next day.
(AP, 7/25/10)(Reuters, 7/25/10)(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 25, In Turkey foreign ministers of Turkey and Brazil urged Iran to be flexible and open in dealings with the West over its atomic program as Iran renewed its readiness to resume frozen nuclear talks. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Iran has expressed willingness to have talks with the European Union on its nuclear program after the month of Ramadan ends in early September.
(AFP, 7/25/10)(Reuters, 7/25/10)
2010 Jul 26, In Brazil gunmen used a pickup truck to block an air taxi from taking off at a small airport in the northeastern city of Caruaru and stole money and documents it was carrying for the country's federation of banks.
(AP, 7/27/10)
2010 Jul 27, In Brazil Wallace Souza (51), a former TV crime show host and state legislator accused of commissioning killings to boost ratings, died. He suffered from Budd Chiari syndrome, a rare disorder that causes clots to form in blood vessels in the liver.
(AFP, 7/28/10)
2010 Aug 2, Brazilian authorities said police have dismantled a kidnapping ring that scoured social networking sites for victims.
(SFC, 8/3/10, p.A2)
2010 Aug 2, UNESCO added 6 sites located in Brazil, China, Mexico, France's Reunion Island and the South Pacific nation of Kiribati to World Heritage status.
(AP, 8/2/10)
2010 Aug 9, Brazil formally offered asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death in Iran on an adultery conviction. On July 31 Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested he would be willing to provide the woman refuge.
(AP, 8/10/10)
2010 Aug 9, In Brazil Ed Stafford (34), former British army captain, ended his 2 1/2-year journey as he planned, leaping into the sea as the first man known to walk the length of the Amazon River.
(AP, 8/9/10)
2010 Aug 10, Brazil signed on to UN sanctions against Iran despite misgivings over the measures following its efforts to negotiate a nuclear-swap deal with the Islamic state.
(AP, 8/11/10)
2010 Aug 12, An Iranian man was arrested in Brazil on suspicion of 11 murders allegedly aimed at protecting his illegal electronics smuggling operation. Police in the northeastern state of Ceara say Farhad Marvizi (46) hired two rogue officers and other people to carry out the killings in the last two years.
(AP, 8/13/10)
2010 Aug 17, In Brazil police officers repeated shot a 14-year-old boy just outside his house in Manaus. The boy survived, but was seriously injured. On March 24, 2011, five police officers were detained after Brazilian television released amateur video that showed the shooting. A prosecutor said the officers allegedly involved in the shooting told him they were asking the minor about a gun used in a crime in the neighborhood.
(AP, 3/24/11)
2010 Aug 20, Police in southeastern Brazil said Raimundo Gregorio da Silva, a school janitor, has confessed to killing two female students and dumping their bodies in an abandoned cesspool. Silva was arrested last week after the remains were found, and has confessed to killing Dimitria Vieira (16) in 2008 and another student, Iara Pacheco (19), reported missing since February.
(AP, 8/21/10)
2010 Aug 21, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gunmen engaged in a shootout with police took 30 people hostage at a luxury hotel popular with foreign tourists but within hours freed the captives and surrendered to police. One bystander was killed as she was getting out of a taxi.
(AP, 8/21/10)
2010 Aug 25, Cosan, Brazil’s biggest sugar and ethanol producer, signed a $12 billion joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s largest energy company.
(Econ, 9/4/10, p.41)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell)
2010 Aug 31, Spanish police said that for the first time they have broken up a human-trafficking gang that brought men to the country to work as prostitutes, providing them with Viagra, cocaine and other stimulant drugs to be available for sex with other men 24 hours a day. Authorities arrested 14 people, mainly Brazilians, on suspicion of running the organization and another 17 alleged prostitutes for being in Spain illegally.
(AP, 8/31/10)
2010 Sep 3, Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras unveiled a huge share offering which could raise 64 billion dollars to help finance new exploration projects in the country.
(AFP, 9/3/10)
2010 Sep 14, The British embassy said Britain has offered to build 11 warships for Brazil, as Brazil hones a maritime defense contract to protect recently found vast offshore oil deposits.
(AFP, 9/15/10)
2010 Sep 15, Brazil's government unveiled plans to slow the deforestation and help halt the wildfires that destroy its tropical savanna. The government plans to spend $200 million in the next two years to combat illegal deforestation and prevent fires.
(AP, 9/15/10)
2010 Sep 23, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva officially launched the sale of new shares in the state-run oil company Petrobras seen as the world's biggest capitalization, worth 67 billion dollars. This raised the government’s stake from 40% to 48%.
(AP, 9/24/10)(Econ, 10/2/10, p.31)
2010 Sep 27, Police in Brazil’s state of Rio Grande do Sul arrested Rev. Avelino Backes (70) after finding him in a hospital in the town of Santa Rosa. Backes disappeared in 2008 after being sentenced to seven years in jail for molesting girls aged 9 and 10 in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina in the 1990s.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Sep 28, Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega warned in remarks reported from Sao Paulo that the world is in the grip of a currency "war," with leading nations using devaluation to solve economic problems.
(AFP, 9/28/10)
2010 Sep 30, In Sweden activists from Nepal, Nigeria, Brazil and Israel were named the winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel," for work that included fighting to save the Amazon rain forest and bringing health care to Palestinians cut off from services. The recipients included Nigeria's Nnimmo Bassey (42), Catholic Bishop Erwin Kraeutler (71) of Brazil, Shrikrishna Upadhyay (65) of Nepal, and the organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
(AP, 9/30/10)
2010 Oct 1, Spanish energy giant Repsol announced the sale of 40 percent of its Brazilian affiliate to China's Sinopec for 7.1 billion dollars, securing funding for the development of oil fields in Brazil.
(AP, 10/1/10)
2010 Oct 3, Brazil held presidential elections. Ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff looked poised to sweep to victory. Rousseff, who is trying to become Brazil's first female leader, fell short of getting a majority of votes in presidential elections and faced a runoff in four weeks against an experienced, centrist rival. Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva (45), better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil's presidential and congressional elections. "What does a congressman do? The truth is I don't know, but vote for me and I'll tell you," he said in his campaign advertisements. On Nov 11 Silva convinced the Sao Paulo Electoral court that he could read and write.
(AP, 10/3/10)(AFP, 10/3/10)(AP, 10/4/10)(Reuters, 10/5/10)(SSFC, 11/14/10, p.A4)
2010 Oct 5, In Brazil a ruling posted on the Sao Paulo electoral court's website said there is sufficient doubt about whether comic performer Tiririca, which means "grumpy" in Portuguese, meets a constitutional mandate that federal lawmakers be literate. Francisco Silva, who got more votes than any other candidate for Congress, will have to convince authorities he can read and write if he wants to take office.
(AP, 10/5/10)
2010 Oct 7, In Brazil Globo TV's website said that a 13-year-old boy was killed in the crossfire of a gunbattle during a police operation to recover a stolen vehicle in a shantytown. A 67-year-old woman died and two people were injured in an unrelated shootout between police and gang members. Dozens of armed drug gang members have been setting up roadblocks and robbing drivers en masse in recent days in the Rio de Janeiro area, prompting the firing of 19 police battalion leaders a day earlier.
(AP, 10/7/10)
2010 Oct 13, In Brazil Milton Marcondes of the Humpback Whale Institute said at least 75 humpback whales have died in 2010. The previous high was 41 in 2007.
(AP, 10/14/10)
2010 Oct 15, China's basketball association fined a series of coaches and players in the national team after a bench-clearing brawl put an end to a friendly match with Brazil. The fight had erupted the night of Oct 12 at a game in central Henan province.
(AFP, 10/16/10)
2010 Oct 17, In Brazil three men broke into the home of Wanderley dos Reis, the owner of a small newspaper in Sao Paulo state, and shot and killed him.
(AP, 10/20/10)
2010 Oct 17, In southeastern Brazil a bus carrying people back from a sports festival for special needs athletes fell from a bridge into a river, killing 11 and injuring nearly 30.
(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 18, In northeastern Brazil Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, a veteran reporter who had often received death threats for his reports on crime, died instantly when he was shot five times in the city of Caico.
(AP, 10/20/10)
2010 Oct 26, In Brazil a man accused of raping 40 women turned himself in, only to be let go because Brazilian law prohibits voters from being arrested five days before elections unless they are caught red-handed. The no-arrest provision was included in the Brazilian electoral code enacted in 1932 after a period in which election fraud and arrests to intimidate voters were common.
(AP, 10/27/10)
2010 Oct 26, A Brazilian court ordered McDonald's to pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds while working there a dozen years. The 32-year-old man says he was forced to sample food products each day to ensure that quality standards remained high because McDonald's hired "mystery clients" to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.
(AP, 10/28/10)
2010 Oct 31, Brazil held elections. Dilma Rousseff (62), the hand-picked candidate of Pres. Lula da Silva was the heavy favorite to replace him in the runoff election. Dilma Rousseff was elected over centrist rival Jose Serra 56 percent to 44 percent and will be the first woman to direct Latin America's biggest nation.
(AP, 10/31/10)(AP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 9, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva began a 2-day visit to Mozambique, focusing on education and health care in his last trip to Africa before leaving office.
(AFP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 9, In Brazil authorities negotiated an end to a rebellion in an overcrowded prison in the northeastern state of Maranhao after fighting between rival gangs left 18 inmates dead, including six who were decapitated.
(AP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 11, International and Brazilian human rights organizations submitted a formal petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), denouncing grave and imminent violations upon the rights of indigenous and riverine communities affected by the construction of Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20101111/pl_usnw/DC99718)
2010 Nov 14, In Brazil a gay youth, Douglas Igor Marques Luiz (19), was shot by men in military uniforms in Rio de Janeiro following mammoth gay pride parade. 2 sergeants were arrested on Nov 18. An army statement says one of the suspects acknowledged shooting Luiz.
(AP, 11/17/10)(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 18, Brazil’s federal police said they have dismantled an international human-trafficking ring that provided fake passports to Brazilians wanting to migrate illegally to the US.
(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 22, In Brazil local Rio de Janeiro news media reported that armed men used roadblocks to trap and rob drivers over the weekend, killing a man and alarming public officials who are preparing to receive hoards of summer tourists.
(AP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, In Brazil police in Rio launched a broad crackdown on gangs and drug-trafficking groups rolling out helicopter-backed armored tanks in 20 slums, killing at least two suspects.
(AFP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, In Brazil Roberto Puppo, a native of Bergamo, Italy, was shot and killed. His bullet-ridden body was found in Alagoas on the next day. Authorities believe the killing was ordered by da Silva's boyfriend, an Italian man "suspected of belonging to an international organized crime group." A teenager, who was not identified because he is a minor; and a private security guard identified as Cosme Alves were arrested after a few weeks and charged with the killing.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Nov 24, In Brazil heavily armed men halted buses and cars, robbed their passengers and set the vehicles ablaze in Rio de Janeiro, continuing a wave of violence that has rattled rich and poor alike. Police raided gang-ruled shantytowns, setting off clashes that killed 14 people as authorities tried to halt a wave of violent crime.
(AP, 11/24/10)
2010 Nov 26, In Brazil residents of Rio's northern slums braced for more violence as hundreds of reinforcements joined a widening crackdown on drug gangs that has killed at least 30 people in six days. Some 800 troops backed a police operation at the Alemao complex of shantytowns as drug gang members stood their ground.
(AFP, 11/26/10)(SFC, 11/27/10, p.A4)
2010 Nov 28, In Brazil Rio police, backed by helicopters and armored vehicles, invaded the Alemao slum complex, long held by traffickers, quickly taking over the key drug gang stronghold in a historic victory for the city hosting the 2016 Olympics.
(AP, 11/28/10)
2010 Nov 30, Brazil’s government said troops would remain in the Complexo de Alemao slum, a sanctuary for many drug traffickers, for at least 6 months to maintain order. The recent operation to pacify the slum left at least 37 people dead.
(SFC, 12/1/10, p.A2)(Econ, 12/4/10, p.49)
2010 Dec 3, Outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in a public letter addressed to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. This was made public by Brazil's foreign ministry.
(AP, 12/4/10)
2010 Dec 3, Negotiators for the US and Brazil initialed a text in Rio de Janeiro for a new air transport agreement. Once formally approved, the pact will establish an Open Skies air transportation relationship between the two countries that will expand services and could bring down prices.
(AFP, 12/6/10)
2010 Dec 8, Brazilian mining giant Vale made its Hong Kong trading debut, the first South American firm to list in the city, as the company ramps up its exposure to resource-hungry China.
(AFP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 10, The Brazilian government said gay couples in stable relationships are entitled the same social security pension benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
(SFC, 12/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Dec 15, Brazil’s members of Congress voted themselves a 62% pay rise. Many state governments and municipalities soon followed suit.
(Econ, 1/1/11, p.32)
2010 Dec 15, Australia signed an agreement with Brazil to share knowledge on putting on the Olympics to help preparations with Rio's hosting of the 2016 Games.
(AFP, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 15, The Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States (OAS), condemned Brazil for the forced "disappearance" of 62 suspected leftist militants during its military dictatorship and said it should allow prosecutions for abuses committed during the era.
(Reuters, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 18, In Brazil bridegroom Rogerio Damascena (29) fatally shot his new wife, Renata Alexandre Costa Coelho (25), his best man, Marcelo Guimaraes, and then himself after announcing to horrified guests that he had a "surprise" for them.
(AP, 12/20/10)
2010 Dec 29, Brazilian media reported that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decided not to extradite former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti, a move that could hurt ties with Italy.
(Reuters, 12/29/10)
2010 Dec 30, Brazil's state-run Petrobras confirmed that oil fields recently discovered offshore contained 8.3 billion barrels of recoverable crude and gas, and said the biggest field was being renamed "Lula."
(AFP, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 31, Brazil's president granted political asylum to Italian fugitive Cesare Battisti, but the case must still be heard by the nation's Supreme Court.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Dec 31, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas laid the first stone of what will become a Palestinian embassy in Brazil, the most important Latin American country to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state.
(AFP, 12/31/10)
2010 Larry Rohter authored “Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed."
(Econ, 8/21/10, p.69)
2010 Brazil’s government began allowing taxpayers to deduct costs for cosmetic surgery.
(SFC, 5/1/10, p.A3)
2010 Brazilian census figures for this year showed that nearly 43,000 children under 14 years of age were living with a partner in defiance of laws forbidding these unions. The census put the number of Roman Catholics at about 65% of the population of 192 million, down from 74% in 2000. It also marked the first time in which black and mixed-race people officially outnumbered whites, weighing in at just over 50 percent, compared with 47 percent for whites.
(AP, 9/13/11) (AP, 11/3/12)(AP, 3/17/13)
2011 Jan 1, Brazil's first female president, Dilma Rousseff, took control of Latin America's biggest economy from outgoing popular leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a triumphant handover ceremony. Rousseff called for an overhaul of the tax code in her inaugural speech before Congress.
(AFP, 1/1/10)(Reuters, 1/1/10)
2011 Jan 3, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff kicked off her government with a series of market-friendly signals, including new details on budget cuts and a report that she will turn to the private sector to help solve one of Brazil's biggest infrastructure bottlenecks, a badly needed new terminal at Sao Paulo's main international airport.
(Reuters, 1/3/11)
2011 Jan 4, Italian protesters rallied against the Brazilian president's refusal to extradite ex-militant Cesare Battisti, amid government assurances that relations with Brazil will not be affected.
(AFP, 1/4/11)
2011 Jan 5, In Brazil five sisters in Sao Paulo state went to police and accused their father of sexually abusing them for over 20 years.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 6, Authorities in Brazil said four people from the same family have died in a mudslide in the interior of Sao Paulo state. Civil defense officials said heavy flooding has killed at least 35 people and forced more than 30,000 out of their homes across the country.
(AP, 1/6/11)
2011 Jan 8, Investigators told Brazil’s G1 news website that 2 brothers have been charged with killing their father, a local Afro-Brazilian religious leader, by knocking him out with sleeping pills and then burying him alive in Maranhao state. The brothers told police their father was a violent man who drank too much and didn't accept their homosexuality.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 11, Brazilian authorities said heavy rains have triggered mudslides and floods in southeastern Brazil, killing at least 13 people. Sao Paulo nearly came to halt as flooding blocked traffic in some of the city's main thoroughfares.
(AP, 1/11/11)
2011 Jan 12, Brazilian authorities in Rio de Janeiro said at least 350 people died in three towns north of Rio following early morning mudslides.
(AP, 1/12/11)(AP, 1/13/11)
2011 Jan 14, In Brazil grieving mudslide survivors carried the bodies of loved ones for hours down washed-out mountainsides as the death toll hit 514.
(AP, 1/14/11)
2011 Jan 16, In Brazil survivors of mudslides that have killed 611 carried food, water and blankets to friends, neighbors and relatives still stranded in remote, stricken villages.
(AP, 1/16/11)
2011 Jan 17, Brazil's army on sent 700 soldiers to help throw a lifeline to desperate neighborhoods that have been cut off from food, water or help in recovering bodies since mudslides killed at least 700 people.
(AP, 1/17/11)(Reuters, 1/17/11)(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 19, The World Bank said it will lend Brazil $485 million for rebuilding and disaster prevention efforts following devastating mudslides. At least 207 people were still missing as the death toll from the disaster in a scenic mountain region reached 741.
(AFP, 1/19/11)(Reuters, 1/20/11)
2011 Jan 21, Brazilian officials said about 400 people were registered as missing after mudslides last week that killed at least 806 people.
(AP, 1/21/11)(Reuters, 1/23/11)
2011 Jan 24, Brazilian authorities said heavy overnight storms have caused new flooding in Sao Paulo, killing at least one man, toppling cars into buildings, downing power lines and halting traffic.
(AP, 1/24/11)
2011 Jan 26, In Brazil Joao Batista Groppo (64) was arrested after his wife of 40 years was found locked in a "filthy and dark" cellar. He had allegedly kept his wife locked in a cellar for 16 years. Groppo's girlfriend Maria Furquim was also arrested as an accomplice.
(AP, 1/27/11)
2011 Jan 27, The Brazilian government issued a "partial" installation license allowing the Belo Monte Dam to break ground on the Amazon's Xingu River despite egregious disregard for human rights and environmental legislation, the unwavering protests of civil society and condemnations by its Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF).
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20110127/pl_usnw/DC37400)
2011 Feb 1, In Brazil the Civil Defense department in Santa Catarina state said severe floods triggered by torrential downpours have killed at least six people and driven thousands from their homes.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 4, Police in Brazil said they had freed a 45-year-old woman who had been locked in a house for 20 years with no communication with the outside world. Parana state police said the woman was locked in the home by her partner, a man (60), in the city of Mariluz.
(AFP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 6, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, police faced no resistance in an operation to take control of nine slums commanded by drug traffickers.
(AP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 7, In Brazil a massive fire consumed the warehouses where Rio de Janeiro's samba groups store the props and costumes for Brazil's largest Carnival parade.
(AP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 8, In Brazil over half a million people, most of them Brazilians, called via petition on newly elected President Dilma to halt plans to construct the Belo Monte Dam. Outside the Presidential Palace, several hundred people gathered in protest including indigenous chiefs in full tribal regalia and community leaders from the Xingu River Basin, and delivered the petition signatures to the Dilma Government.
(PRNewswire, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 8, In northeastern Brazil a prison riot, begun a day earlier, ended. 5 prisoners were killed including Jose Agostinho Pereira, who was decapitated by fellow inmates in his cell in the city of Pinheiro. Pereira had been jailed in 2010 for raping and keeping his daughter imprisoned for 12 years in a remote fishing village. He had seven children with her.
(AP, 6/9/10)(AP, 2/9/11)
2011 Feb 9, Brazil, faced with climbing inflation and slowing growth, unveiled $30 billion in cuts to its 2011 budget. Finance Minister Guido Mantega said this would affect "all ministries."
(AFP, 2/9/11)
2011 Feb 11, In Brazil at least 35 people, mostly Rio de Janeiro police officers, were arrested on suspicion of colluding with drug gangs as the Brazilian city attempts to clean itself up before hosting the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games two years later.
(Reuters, 2/12/11)
2011 Feb 15, In Brazil Allan Turnowski, the head of Rio de Janeiro state's investigative police, resigned after an anti-corruption sting resulted in the arrest of 30 officers, including the department's former second-in-command.
(AP, 2/16/11)(SFC, 2/16/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 16, Brazilian authorities said they have arrested 19 Goias state troopers suspected of taking part in a death squad that allegedly murdered and tortured innocent women and children. Officials said Martha Rocha (51), a 27-year police veteran who led a division responsible for protection of women, will replace Allan Turnowski as head of the troubled 12,000-member Rio Civil Police.
(AP, 2/16/11)(AFP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 18, Brazil set out its foreign policy aims under new President Dilma Rousseff, talking up China ties, blaming rich countries for hampering global trade talks, stressing dialogue with Iran, and saying it sees itself as an agent for "world peace."
(AFP, 2/18/11)
2011 Feb 22, In northeastern Brazil police in the city of Pirapemas arrested a man accused of sexually abusing his daughter for 12 years and fathering her two children. The man confessed to abusing his daughter starting when she was 14 years old and fathering two daughters, aged 5 years and 2 months.
(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 Feb 24, Brazil’s Justice Ministry said the murder rate among Brazil's youths has soared to epidemic levels. The number of murdered Brazilians age 15 to 24 rose from 30 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1998 to 52.9 per 100,000 a decade later.
(AP, 2/24/11)(SFC, 2/25/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 25, A Brazilian court suspended work on the $11 billion Belo Monte dam project citing environmental concerns.
(SSFC, 2/27/11, p.A4)
2011 Feb 25, In Brazil Ricardo Jose Neis sped his car through a pack of more than 100 pro-cycling activists in the city of Porto Alegre. At least 40 people were injured. Prosecutors soon asked for his preventive detention on charges of attempted homicide.
(AP, 3/1/11)
2011 Feb 27, In Brazil at least 16 people were electrocuted when a power line fell atop a packed pre-Carnival street parade in the town of Bandeira do Sul in Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 2/28/11)
2011 Mar 3, A Brazilian judged overturned a lower court ruling that suspended work on the $11 billion Belo Monte dam project.
(SFC, 3/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 4, In Brazil Rio's mayor handed the key to the city to the mythical figure who reigns over the chaos of Carnival, officially opening this seaside city's five-day annual exaltation of music, booze and flesh.
(AP, 3/4/11)
2011 Mar 5, In Brazil a passenger bus collided head-on with a lumber truck in the southern state of Santa Catarina, killing at least 25 people. More than 20 were seriously injured.
(AP, 3/5/11)
2011 Mar 14, In Brazil civil defense officials said some 31,000 people have been forced from their homes by flooding in Santa Catarina and Parana states.
(SFC, 3/15/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 19, President Barack Obama landed in Brasilia, the highland capital of Brazil, for the start of a three-country, five-day tour of Latin America to promote greater economic ties and improved regional security.
(AP, 3/19/11)
2011 Mar 20, US President Barack Obama held up emerging powerhouse Brazil as a model of economic and democratic transformation that leaders in the troubled Middle East should try to copy.
(AFP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 25, The World Trade Organization ruled that some anti-dumping duties imposed by the United States on imports of Brazilian orange juice violated international trade rules.
(AFP, 3/25/11)
2011 Mar 27, In Brazil renowned Belgium-born theologian Jose Comblin (88) died of natural causes. Comblin was a leading exponent of liberation theology, which advocates activism on behalf of the poor. The movement swept Latin America in the 1960s following the Second Vatican Council.
(AP, 3/29/11)
2011 Mar 29, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has signed a law that guarantees grandparents the right to visit their grandchildren when the parents are divorced. The presidential approval was published today in the official gazette.
(AP, 3/29/11)
2011 Mar 29, Jose Alencar (b.1931), former Brazilian Vice President (2002-2010) died after a long battle with abdominal cancer.
(AP, 3/30/11)
2011 Apr 2, Brazil’s Veja magazine, in its online edition, reported that at least 20 people affiliated with al Qaeda as well as the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas and two other organizations have been hiding out in the South American country.
(Reuters, 4/2/11)
2011 Apr 7, In Brazil a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro. 12 children were killed including 10 girls and 2 boys between the ages of 12 and 15. Wellington Oliveira (23) shot and killed himself after being confronted by police.
(AP, 4/7/11)(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 19, Brazilian police swept through Rio de Janeiro's largest slum in a crackdown on drug-related crime, arresting 11 people and seizing an estimated three tons of marijuana.
(AFP, 4/19/11)
2011 Apr 21, In Brazil a small plane crashed in the Amazon soon after taking off from Manaus, killing seven people. 8 others on the air taxi survived.
(AP, 4/21/11)
2011 Apr 22, In Brazil gunmen killed Jorge Grando, an environmental activist, his brother and three friends.
(AP, 4/24/11)
2011 Apr 23, In southern Brazil emergency workers said at least 10 people have been killed by landslides and other accidents caused by heavy rains.
(Reuters, 4/23/11)
2011 Apr 29, Brazil's population climbed to more than 190.7 million people in 2010, according to initial results of the decennial census released by the country's official institute of geography and statistics.
(AFP, 4/29/11)
2011 May 5, Brazil's high court ruled that same-sex civil unions must be recognized, a decision welcomed as a watershed by gay activists who also hope it will cool rising violence against homosexuals in Latin America's most populous nation.
(AP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 6, Brazilian federal police confirmed that 16 suspected members of a Serbian gang were arrested between May1-5 across the country. The crackdown concluded a two-year operation that resulted in 35 arrests, the seizure of 1,370 pounds (620 kilograms) of cocaine and the equivalent of $1.2 million.
(AP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 6, Brazil’s Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo launched a disarmament campaign hoping to take more than 1 million guns off the streets by the end of the year.
(AP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 8, In Mozambique Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, opened a new $1.7 billion coal mine, tapping the southern African country's thermal and coking coal reserves of around 23 billion tons.
(AFP, 5/8/11)
2011 May 18, Brazil said it has set up a crisis center to combat increased deforestation in the Amazon rain forest. Satellite data showed a significant increase in deforestation over the past two months.
(SFC, 5/19/11, p.A2)
2011 May 22, In Brazil about 1,000 people gathered in Sao Paulo to protest against proposed laws in favor of Brazilian farmers who are seeking more space to raise cattle. They said that the environmental law changes would increase deforestation in the Amazon.
(AP, 5/22/11)
2011 May 22, In Brazil a boat carrying more than 100 passengers sank in a lake in Rio de Janeiro. Rescue workers said a baby was dead and seven people were missing.
(AP, 5/23/11)
2011 May 24, In northern Brazil rubber tapper Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, an activist fighting to protect the Amazon rain forest from loggers, was shot and killed with his wife by gunmen in the jungle state of Para.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2011 May 25, Brazil's Pres. Dilma Rousseff suspended an anti-homophobia campaign that had been planned to begin at schools this year because she thought the videos and pamphlets weren't appropriate for children.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2011 May 31, Brazilian police arrested nearly 30 people in connection with a series of ATM heists that have left some poorer parts of Sao Paulo with scant access to cash. Five current or former police officers were arrested in the sting and investigators suspect another two dozen police could be involved.
(AP, 5/31/11)
2011 Jun 2, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff launched a program to eradicate the extreme poverty afflicting 16.2 million people in Brazil by 2014, aiming to fulfill a campaign promise.
(AFP, 6/3/11)
2011 Jun 2, In Brazil another rural activist, identified only by his first name, Marcos, was found shot to death in the Amazon, just three days after Brazil's leaders discussed how to stop the region's deadly disputes over logging and protect those whose lives are threatened.
(AP, 6/2/11)
2010 Jun 4, Brazil’s Congress passed its “ficha limpa" (clean record) law. It barred candidates for eight years following a conviction for vote buying or misuse of public funds.
(Econ, 9/28/13, SR p.15)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficha_Limpa)
2011 Jun 7, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff Antonio Palocci stepped down amid questions over how his personal wealth rose sharply while he served as a congressman in 2010.
(AP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jun 14, In Brazil a landless peasant activist was reported killed by a gunshot to his head outside his home in Brazil, the fifth murder in a month likely tied to the conflict over land and logging in the Amazon. The body of Obede Loyla Souza was found over the weekend in the dense forest surrounding his home in the landless settlement of Esperanca.
(AP, 6/16/11)
2011 Jun 16, In Brazil police said Jose Rainha (50), a longtime leader of the MST, a landless rural workers movement, was arrested in rural Sao Paulo state after a 10-month investigation.
(AP, 6/16/11)
2011 Jun 18, Brazilian demonstrators held marches on the weekend calling for marijuana to be legalized after the country's top court ruled the gatherings could go ahead in the name of freedom of speech.
(AFP, 6/20/11)
2011 Jun 19, Brazilian police raided Rio’s Mangueira shantytown, dominated by drug trafficking gangs, in an ongoing program to bring peace to areas near Maracana stadium ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
(AP, 6/19/11)
2011 Jun 20, In Brazil Juan Moraes (11), was shot and killed by police in Rio de Janeiro. The boy’s body was found three days later, dumped in a river near police headquarters, 11 miles (18 km) from where he was shot. 4 police officers, involved in the shooting death were arrested on July 21.
(AP, 7/22/11)(http://tinyurl.com/3wj8rze0)
2011 Jun 20, British-based Rolls-Royce said it had won an order worth $2.2 billion to supply its Trent XWB jet engines to power the Airbus A350 long-haul planes bought by Brazil's TAM airlines.
(AFP, 6/20/11)
2011 Jun 21, In Brazil Kenneth Andrew Craig (42), an American on the US Marshals' list of most-wanted sex offenders, was captured in Rio de Janeiro. Craig had been arrested in 1998 in Deerfield Beach, Florida, after police allegedly found him in a hotel room with two underage boys. He allegedly filmed the two youngsters having sex, but was released on bail and then fled to Brazil.
(AP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 22, The online pranksters at Lulz Security (LulzSec) say they've taken down two government Web sites in Brazil as they continue with their global "Anti-Security" campaign. The cyber attack blocked traffic to the website of the Brazilian presidency and two other government sites.
(AP, 6/22/11)(http://tinyurl.com/3ddjml6)
2011 Jun 23, In Brazil 8 people were killed in an early hours police raid on a Rio slum aimed at cracking down on suspected drug traffickers.
(AFP, 6/23/11)
2011 Jun 26, Jose Graziano da Silva of Brazil was elected as director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN agency tasked with reducing world hunger at a time of high food prices.
(AP, 6/26/11)
2011 Jun 26, In Brazil hundreds of thousands of people danced and wore costumes in the streets of Sao Paulo to celebrate gay pride and call for an end to homophobia.
(AP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 27, A Brazilian state judge approved what the court said is the nation's first gay marriage. Sao Paulo state Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto ruled two men could convert their civil union into a full marriage.
(AP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 29, Peruvian President Alan Garcia inaugurated a giant statue of Jesus similar to Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer. "Christ of the Pacific" is 72 feet (22 m) high and stands atop a 49-foot (15-m) concrete base. It overlooks the Pacific Ocean from Lima. The statue was donated by the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which later admitted paying $29 million in bribes to secure contracts in Peru. In January 2017, vandals covered the statue in messages like "Out of the country Odebrecht." In January 2018, the statue was damaged by fire.
(AP, 6/29/11)(Econ, 2/4/17, p.31)(AP, 1/13/18)
2011 Jun 30, In Brazil a law was published in the official gazette saying prisoners will get one day knocked off their sentences for every 12 hours in the classroom.
(AP, 6/30/11)
2011 Jul 6, Brazil's Transportation Minister, Alfredo Nascimento, resigned amid a scandal over an alleged kickback scheme in his office.
(AP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jul 8, Brazil's Supreme Court said a prosecutor has filed charges against Jose Dirceu, a former top presidential aide, and 36 other people in a 2005 cash-for-votes scandal that rocked the government of then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(AP, 7/8/11)
2011 Jul 10, Rio de Janeiro's public defenders' department said the Brazilian state has accumulated more than 60,000 unsolved murders in the last 10 years.
(AP, 7/10/11)
2011 Jul 11, In northeastern Brazil a regional Noar Airlines plane crashed in Recife city, killing all 16 people on board.
(AP, 7/13/11)
2011 Jul 16, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff attended a ceremony marking the startup of operations at a shipyard where the four Scorpene attack submarines will be built. The four diesel-powered submarines will be built as part of a 2008 agreement with France that includes the future construction of Latin America's first nuclear submarine.
(AP, 7/17/11)
2011 Aug 2, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff announced her long-awaited industrial policy. It included the abolishment of a 20% payroll tax for the labor intensive industries of clothing, footwear, furniture and software effective October 1.
(Econ, 8/6/11, p.32)
2011 Aug 2, A Brazilian Air Force plane crashed near the city of Bom Jardim da Serra in the state of Santa Catarina, killing all eight people aboard.
(AP, 8/2/11)
2011 Aug 9, Brazilian police arrested 33 people at the Tourism Ministry on allegations of corruption. Kickbacks to officials involved $1.85 million instead of paying Sao Paulo’s Ibrazi institute to train people in tourism.
(SFC, 8/10/11, p.A2)
2011 Aug 11, Brazilian police arrested seven people and seized more than 2,600 animals in a 2-day crackdown on the illegal trafficking of wild animals. The watchdog group Renctas says about 15% of the $10 billion to $20 billion global illegal animal trade takes place in Brazil.
(AP, 8/11/11)
2011 Aug 11, Brazilian Judge Patricia Acioli was shot to death in front of her house. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. All of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked. A police commander and seven officers were soon arrested in connection with her murder.
(AP, 9/16/11)(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Aug 25, In Brazil a leader of landless workers was shot to death while riding his bike in Barbosa, Para state. Valdemar Oliveira Barbosa was the fourth person murdered in Para since May who was involved in environmental or land rights movements. Catholic Land Pastoral said more than 1,150 rural activists have been killed in Brazil over the past 20 years.
(AP, 8/25/11)
2011 Aug 25, Brazilian scientists reported that a huge underground river appears to flow thousands of feet beneath the Amazon River, and that it was about the same length as the 3,700 mile long Amazon.
(SFC, 8/26/11, p.A2)
2011 Sep 1, Brazilian officials said wildfires have burned about 930 square miles (2,400 square km) of land inside 17 national reserves since the start of the dry season.
(AP, 9/1/11)
2011 Sep 14, Brazil's tourism minister, Pedro Novais, resigned amid allegations of misusing public funds. He became the fifth minister to resign since June. The newspaper Folha de S. Paulo ran articles accusing the minister of allowing his wife to use a government driver for errands. He was also accused of using congressional funds to pay for a maid.
(AP, 9/14/11)
2011 Sep 15, Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced a 30% tax increase on cars with less than 65% local content.
(www.economist.com/node/21530144)
2011 Sep 16, Brazilian federal police say an Irish man (20) has been arrested with nearly two pounds of cocaine in his gut. Police identified the suspect only by his initials, P.B.K. Investigators said that he tried to board a flight in Sao Paulo, headed to Brussels.
(AP, 9/16/11)
2011 Sep 17, In Brazil a 14-year-old girl escaped and told police she was held and raped for four days by inmates after being taken inside the men's Heleno Fragoso prison in northern Para state. The teenager testified she was drugged, beaten and taken by a woman along with two other teenagers into the prison.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Sep 22, In Brazil a 10-year-old student shot and wounded his teacher with a pistol, then killed himself with two bullets into his head at a public school in Sao Caetano do Sul, an industrial suburb on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 9/22/11)
2011 Sep 27, Protesters demanding that Brazil's legislators sweep out corruption planted 594 brooms in front of Congress so the 513 members of the House and the 81 senators could see them the next morning.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Sep 27, Police in northeastern Brazil began arresting members of three families who are believed to have killed 95 people as part of a feud that stretches back years. The Oliveira, Veras and Suassuna families are suspected of murdering 64 members of rival clans. They're also suspected of executing 31 people within their own families.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Sep 27, In Brazil a Guarani Indian, Teodoro Ricardi, was beaten and stabbed to death near the town of Paranhos, Mato Grosso do Sul state. The area has been the scene of much violence against indigenous people. Activists said his killers were apparently hired by a local rancher occupying land claimed by the Guarani tribe.
(AP, 9/31/11)
2011 Sep 29, a Brazilian judge suspended work on the Belo Monte dam saying it would harm fishing on the Xingu River in Para state. The government planned to appeal.
(SFC, 9/30/11, p.A2)
2011 Sep 30, In Brazil a law professor shot and killed one of his female students in Brasilia and hours later drove her body to a police station where he turned himself in. Rendrik Vieira Rodrigues fired three bullets into the head of Suenia Souza Farias (24), apparently because she wanted to end their 3-month-old relationship.
(AP, 10/2/11)
2011 Oct 19, Brazil’s most wanted druglord, Alexander Mendes da Silva, was arrested in the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero.
(AP, 10/19/11)
2011 Oct 20, A Brazilian jury convicted three doctors of killing four patients by removing their organs, which prosecutors said were used for transplants at an expensive private clinic. The case took 25 years for a verdict to be handed down. Doctors Rui Sacramento, Pedro Torrecillas and Mariano Fiore Junior were sentenced to 17 years and six months each in prison.
(AP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct 23, In Brazil five employees of the government's Indian affairs agency and two workers for an electric company were released in good condition. They had been held for five days in the Amazon community of Kururuzinho. The Kaiabi opposed the construction of a dam and demand speedier official recognition of their land in Mato Grosso state.
(AP, 10/25/11)
2011 Oct 27, In Brazil Indian rights activists said hundreds of people have peacefully occupied the construction site of the $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Para state.
(AP, 10/27/11)
2011 Nov 6, In Brazil cameraman Gelson Domingos (46) was hit in the chest by a rifle shot while covering the police confrontation with gang members at the Antares slum in Rio's west side. Domingos died despite wearing a bulletproof vest.
(AP, 11/6/11)
2011 Nov 7, Chevron experienced an oil spill offshore from Rio de Janeiro at its N560 drilling operations. Chevron reportedly stopped the leakage in about 4 days.
(http://tinyurl.com/6reqagd)(Econ, 12/31/11, p.23)(SSFC, 5/20/12, p.F7)
2011 Nov 8, In Brazil students voted for the strike after police raided an administration building and arrested 70 students who were protesting police patrols on the campus of the University of Sao Paulo. Students complained they are subjected to random searches and intimidation by police on campus.
(AP, 11/9/11)
2011 Nov 9, A Brazilian court said the construction of the Belo Monte dam can proceed without additional consultation with indigenous communities.
(SFC, 11/10/11, p.A2)
2011 Nov 10, In Brazil police arrested Antonio Bonfim Lopes, aka "Nem, the most-wanted drug gang leader in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 11/10/11)
2011 Nov 13, In Brazil More than 3,000 police and soldiers backed by armored personnel carriers raced into Rio’s biggest slum before dawn, quickly gaining control of the Rocinha shantytown ruled for decades by a heavily armed drug gang. The city of Rio de Janeiro has more than 1,000 shantytowns where about one-third of its 6 million people live.
(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 14, Brazil’s Federal Register noted that the government for the first time has granted a foreign citizen the right to live permanently in the country based on a same-sex relationship with a Brazilian citizen.
(AP, 11/14/11)
2011 Nov 17, Brazilian authorities began investigating an offshore oil spill. Chevron says that between 400 and 650 barrels of oil have leaked from a well it was drilling off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The leak totaled no more than 3,000 barrels.
(AP, 11/17/11)(Econ, 12/31/11, p.23)
2011 Nov 18, Brazil's Pres. Dilma Rousseff signed a law establishing a truth commission to investigate human rights abuses by the military regime that ruled Latin America's biggest country from 1964 to 1985.
(AP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 18, Brazil's environmental protection agency said nearly 110,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into the Atlantic Ocean because of a leak at an offshore Chevron drilling site. Chevron had said that only 16,800 to 27,300 gallons in total leaked into the ocean.
(AP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 18, In western Brazil gunmen executed a chief of the Kaiowa-Guarani Indian tribe and disappeared with his body. More than 40 "hooded and heavily armed" gunmen raided the Tekoha Guaiviry village in Mato Grosso do Sul state and fatally shot chief Nisio Gomes. It appeared that the gunmen were hired by local ranchers seeking to intimidate and expel the tribe from land that both sides claim as their own.
(AP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 21, Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment, IBAMA, said it will fine Chevron Corp. nearly $28 million for the Nov 7 oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. In December an additional $5.6 million was added for poor contingency planning.
(SSFC, 11/27/11, p.A10)(Econ, 12/31/11, p.23)
2011 Dec 3, In Brazil a tractor-trailer slammed into a bus carrying sugarcane cutters, killing at least 33 people and injuring 13 others in the northeastern state of Bahia.
(AP, 12/3/11)
2011 Dec 4, In Brazil Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (57), footballer and political agitator, died. In 2007 he authored “Football Philosophy."
(Econ, 12/10/11, p.106)
2011 Dec 5, Brazilian police arrested a man suspected in the shooting deaths of eight men over the past two months. Ronis de Oliveira Bastos (22) was arrested on the outskirts of Sao Paulo while riding a bicycle and armed with a .38 caliber revolver.
(AP, 12/7/11)
2011 Dec 7, The Brazilian government said it will invest more than $2 billion to curb the spread of crack cocaine.
(AP, 12/7/11)
2011 Dec 11, Police in Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state said they are investigating the theft of 50 metric tons (55 US tons) of corn from a moving train.
(AP, 12/11/11)
2011 Dec 19, In Brazil a juvenile court judge in the northeastern state of Alagoas sentenced three priests for sexually abusing minors for years. Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while Monsignor Raimundo Gomes and priest Edilson Duarte were given 16 years and four months in prison.
(AP, 12/20/11)
2011 Dec 19, In northern Brazil say a woman gave birth to conjoined twin boys with one body and two heads at the Santa Casa de Misericodia Hospital in Belem.
(AP, 12/21/11)
2011 Dec 20, The South American trading bloc Mercosur -- which includes Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay -- agreed to close its ports to ships flying the flag of the British-controlled Falkland Islands.
(AFP, 12/23/11)
2011 Dec 31, The US ended import tariffs and tax credits that have long sheltered ethanol distilled from corn in the US from the same stuff made from sugarcane in Brazil.
(Econ, 1/7/12, p.57)
2011 Brazil overtook Britain to become the world’s 6th biggest economy.
(www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/26/brazil-overtakes-uk-economy)
2011 In Brazil a Rio de Janeiro city survey found 847 Umbanda houses of worship. Umbanda was founded a little more than a century ago, drawing from older traditions such as Catholicism, the beliefs of enslaved Yoruba people brought from West Africa, the spirituality of Brazil's indigenous groups and the teachings of 19th century French spiritualist Allan Kardec. An estimated 400,000 Brazilians follow the religion.
(AP, 12/10/11)
2012 Jan 3, Brazil’s labor ministry said some 294 employers submit workers to slave-like conditions.
(SFC, 1/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Jan 6, In Brazil a group associated with the Roman Catholic Church said a child from an isolated indigenous community in northern Brazil was killed and the body burned in a region where loggers operate.
(AP, 1/6/12)
2012 Jan 10, Brazil’s Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo said Brazil will grant work visas to 2,400 Haitians who are stuck in two Amazon border towns. He said another 1,600 Haitians in Brazil have been given visas already.
(AP, 1/10/12)
2012 Jan 10, In southeastern Brazil 2 days of downpours left at least 28 people dead in floodwaters and mudslides.
(AP, 1/10/12)
2012 Jan 19, In Brazil a federal court in the northeastern in the state of Alagoas sentenced politician Talvane de Albuquerque to 103 years in prison for the 1998 killing of his running mate, Ceci Cunha, so that he could take her place in Congress. Albuquerque was also found guilty of ordering the murder of Cunha's husband, sister-in-law and her sister's mother-in-law.
(AP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 20, Bolivia joined Brazil and the United States in signing an accord to cooperate in the control of coca plant cultivation. The agreement creates a coca cultivation tracking system, with the US providing GPS equipment and Brazil capturing satellite images.
(AP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 25, In Brazil a building of some 20 stories collapsed in Rio de Janeiro causing 2 other smaller buildings to also come down. At least 17 people were killed and after 3 days 7 people remained missing.
(AP, 1/26/12)(AP, 1/28/12)
2012 Feb 1, In Haiti visitng Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Brazil will offer 6,000 visas to Haitians over a five-year period as one of several efforts that look to help the troubled Caribbean nation get on its feet.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 1, A group of Internet hackers said they took down the website of Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest state-run bank.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A2)
2012 Feb 4, In Brazil the Bahia state's Public Safety Department said on its website that 51 people have been murdered in and near the capital city of Salvador since a police strike began on Feb 1. State officials have said that about 10,000 of the state's 30,000 police are on strike demanding better pay and bonuses.
(AP, 2/4/12)
2012 Feb 5, Brazilian media report 78 people have been murdered in and around the northeastern city of Salvador since the start of a state police strike there five days ago.
(AP, 2/5/12)
2012 Feb 6, In Brazil soldiers clashed with supporters of striking police in Salvador, Brazil's third-largest city, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the feet of people trying to join officers occupying the Bahia state legislature building.
(AP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 6, Brazil requested an injunction to stop Twitter users from alerting drivers to police roadblocks, radar traps and drunk-driving checkpoints could make it the first country to take Twitter up on its plan to censor content at governments' requests.
(AP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 6, In Brazil the wining $9.4 billion bid was announced for the privatization of Guarulhos, Sao Paulo’s main int’l. airport. The winning bid was by a consortium led by Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, and Banco do Brasil, the state-development bank. This was nearly $2 above the 2nd highest bid.
(Econ, 2/11/12, p.40)
2012 Feb 6, In Brazil a 13-story building partially collapsed in an industrial suburb outside Sao Paulo, killing a 3-year-old girl in Sao Bernardo do Campo. One person was missing.
(AP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 9, In Brazil striking police officers in the northeastern city of Salvador evacuated the Bahia state legislative building they occupied in protest for more than a week. The state government has offered a raise of 6.5 percent as well as bonuses but refused to offer amnesty for the striking officers.
(AP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 10, In Brazil police and firefighters in Rio went on strike, a week before glittering Carnival celebrations that typically draw 800,000 tourists were due to start. Union officials expected anywhere from 50% to 70% of 58,000 officers to join the strike. Union members were not content with legislative approval of a 39% raise to be staggered over this year and the next, along with a promise of more in 2014.
(AP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 11, In Brazil police in the northeastern state of Bahia voted to end their 12-day walkout, during which time the homicide rate doubled to more than 130 in the metropolitan area of Salvador. Officials on Feb 13 said current and former police officers may have committed up to 30 murders during the police strike in Bahia state.
(AP, 2/12/12)(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 12, In Brazil Paulo Rodrigues (51), the editor-in-chief of a newspaper that crusaded against corruption in the rough border region with Paraguay, was shot dead in Ponta Pora, Mato Grosso do Sul state, where his Jornal da Praca newspaper and Mercosulnews.com website are based.
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 13, A police strike in Rio de Janeiro ended just days before the world's biggest Carnival bash. The strike never affected security in the city, the number of officers who adhered to it appeared relatively small and authorities never had to call on army soldiers to patrol streets, as was feared.
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 17, In Brazil the globe's biggest Carnival bash opened in Rio. It promised to be an even bigger blowout this year, with 20 percent more tourists expected than in 2011.
(AP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 25, It was reported that Brazilian Sen. Joao Ribeiro will be tried by the Supreme Court for allegedly keeping over 30 workers in “sub-human" condition on his Amazon ranch in Para state.
(SFC, 2/25/12, p.A2)
2012 Feb 25, A fire at Brazil's research station in Antarctica killed two navy personnel and forced the evacuation by helicopter of 44 people. The people at the station at the time of the fire were transferred to Chile's Eduardo Frei station.
(AP, 2/25/12)
2012 Feb 26, In Brazil the Anglican bishop for the northeastern state of Pernambuco was killed along with his wife. Edward Robinson Cavalcanti (68) and his wife Miriam (64) were stabbed to death in their home in the city of Olinda. Their adopted son was the chief suspect. The son was hospitalized after he tried to commit suicide by drinking poison.
(AP, 2/28/12)
2012 Mar 5, In Brazil 30 beached dolphins were rescued by beachgoers. The rescue was captured on video and became an internet sensation.
(http://news.yahoo.com/mass-dolphin-rescue-witnessed-off-rio-coast-035714671.html)
2012 Mar 6, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, truck drivers hauling fuel continued to strike for a 2nd day. They were protesting new regulations restricting hours they can use on some city roadways.
(SFC, 3/7/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 13, In Brazil federal prosecutors said that they are filing criminal charges for the first time related to crimes committed by government representatives during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship. Prosecutors argued that kidnappings and the hiding of bodies so the victims were never found are "permanent crimes." Since such crimes continue to the present, they fall outside the 1961-79 period covered by the amnesty law.
(SFC, 3/14/12, p.A2)(AP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 16, In Brazil Judge Joao Matos ruled that kidnapping charges filed earlier this week against retired army Col. Sebastiao de Moura would go against Brazil's 1979 amnesty law.
(AP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 21, Brazil charged 17 Chevron and Transocean executives with environmental crimes for an oil leak at the Frade field off Rio de Janeiro’s coast last November.
(SFC, 3/22/12, p.D1)
2012 Mar 27, Brazil’s Tourism Ministry said it is asking more than 2,000 websites to remove sexual content that promotes Latin America's biggest country as a sex tourism destination.
(AP, 3/27/12)
2012 Mar 29, In Brazil riot police in Rio de Janeiro used pepper spray and tear gas to chase some 200 protesters away from a celebration by retired soldiers marking the 1964 coup that established Brazil's long military dictatorship. A recent study by the Brazilian government said 475 people were killed or "disappeared" by agents of the military regime.
(AP, 3/29/12)
2012 Mar 30, Amnesty International blasted a Brazilian verdict by an appeals court as "outrageous" and called it an "affront to the most basic human rights. The Superior Court of Justice ruled this week that a man accused of having sex with three 12-year-olds couldn't be convicted of rape because of extenuating circumstances, including the fact the girls had previously worked as prostitutes.
(AP, 3/30/12)
2012 Apr 4, In Brazil officer Rodrigo Cavalcante was killed while on foot patrol in the Rocinha shantytown of Rio de Janeiro. The officer's slaying was the ninth shooting death in the community since February.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 9, Pres. Obama met with Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rouseff. She called on the US to invest more in the world’s 6th biggest economy. Obama confirmed that the US would recognize cachaca, a sugarcane spirit, as a distinct product, no longer calling it Brazilian rum.
(SFC, 4/10/12, p.A5)(Econ, 4/14/12, p.48)
2012 Apr 11, Police in northeastern Brazil arrested 3 people for allegedly killing at least 2 women and eating parts of their flesh. The next day enraged neighbors burned their house to the ground.
(SSFC, 4/15/12, p.A5)(http://tinyurl.com/7t7853v)
2012 Apr 12, Brazil's supreme court voted 8-2 to authorize abortions in cases of fetuses with no brains.
(AP, 4/12/12)
2012 Apr 16, In northeastern Brazil inmates armed with guns and knives seized control of the Advogado Antonio Jacinto Filho prison in Aracaju. They took 80 visitors and 2 guards hostage. The uprising ended after 26 hours and 131 hostages were released after officials agreed to investigate complaints.
(SFC, 4/17/12, p.A2)(SFC, 4/18/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 23, In Brazil political journalist Decio Sa (42) was shot dead in a restaurant in Sao Luis, Maranhao state. He had spent most of his career reporting on corruption.
(SFC, 4/25/12, p.A7)
2012 Apr 24, BTG Pactual, a Brazilian investment bank, raised $3.7 billion reais ($1.9 billion) in an initial public offering (IPO).
(Econ, 4/28/12, p.81)
2012 Apr 25, Brazil’s Congress launched an investigation into the political influence of businessman Carlos Augusto Ramos (aka Carlinhos Cachoeira or Charlie Waterfall). He was thought to have ties with the numbers racket.
(Econ, 5/5/12, p.37)
2012 May 3, Brazil pledged major investment and technology transfer to Africa to repay a "solidarity debt" from a country with a huge black population to the poorest but resource-rich continent.
(AFP, 5/3/12)
2012 May 3, Brazil's top court backed sweeping affirmative action programs used in more than 1,000 universities across this nation. The Supreme Court voted 7-1 to uphold a federal program that has provided scholarships to hundreds of thousands of black and mixed-race students for university studies since 2005.
(AP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 16, In Brazil the Rio Negro crested at 97.7 feet after flooding the center of the Amazon jungle city of Manaus.
(SFC, 5/17/12, p.A2)
2012 May 23, In Brazil subway workers went on strike in Sao Paulo, but ended it five hours later after halting a system used daily by more than 4 million people.
(AP, 5/2/12)
2012 May 30, Brazilian prosecutors said that they asked a court to force oil company Shell and the world's largest chemical company, BASF, to immediately pay $500 million into a compensation fund for hundreds of workers who may have been contaminated at an agricultural chemicals plant. The chemical plant at Paulinia operated from 1977 until it was closed in 2002. Shell originally owned it, but sold the operation to American Cyanamid in 1995. Germany-based BASF bought American Cyanamid in 2000 and took over the chemicals plant. At least 61 former workers at the plant have died in recent years.
(AP, 5/30/12)
2012 Jun 13, In Brazil dialogue began on Green Agriculture: Towards Sustainable Agricultural Economies as part of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development. The final 3-days, set to run from June 20 to June 22, will include 130 top leaders from around the globe.
(SFC, 6/14/12, p.A2)
2012 Jun 19, In Brazil “Rio+20," the biggest UN summit on sustainable development in a decade, approved a draft agreement filled with weasel words and compromises. A decision on managing global oceans was postponed for 3 years.
(Econ, 6/23/12, p.64)
2012 Jun 22, In Brazil “Rio+20," the biggest UN summit on sustainable development in a decade, approved a strategy to haul more than a billion people out poverty and cure the sickness of the biosphere. The gathering of 191 UN members crowned a 10-day forum marking 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit, where leaders vowed the world would live within its environmental means. "Sustainable Development Goals" will replace the UN's Millennium Development Goals from 2015.
(AFP, 6/23/12)
2012 Jun 26, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer and U.S. company Boeing said they've agreed to share technical knowledge and market assessments on the development of a Brazilian military cargo plane.
(AP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 27, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff announced a new, $4 billion economic stimulus package to combat stagnant growth.
(AP, 6/27/12)
2012 Jun 27, Lawyers representing Amazon rain forest residents in Ecuador filed a 2nd lawsuit in Brazil to seize assets of Chevron Corp. as part of their effort to collect an $18.2 billion judgement they won in Ecuador in 2011.
(SFC, 6/28/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 10, In Brazil Eugenio de Araujo Sales (91), the former archbishop of Rio de Janeiro (1971-2001), died. He claimed to have provided shelter to some 5,000 opponents of Brazil’s 1964-1985 political refugees fleeing dictatorships in Argentina and Chile.
(SFC, 7/11/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 12, In Brazil scientists released millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the northern city of Juazeiro in an effort to end dengue fever.
(SSFC, 7/15/12, p.A4)
2012 Jul 21, Mozambique launched a Brazilian funded pharmaceutical plant that will make anti-retroviral drugs to battle the HIV/AIDS scourge in the southern African country. The plant will initially package drugs from Brazil but start producing the pills by the end of the year.
(AFP, 7/21/12)
2012 Jul 31, Venezuela was officially welcomed into the Mercosur trade bloc as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hosted Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez and Uruguay's Jose Mujica along with Chavez for the one-day Mercosur meeting in Brasilia.
(AP, 7/21/12)
2012 Aug 2, In Brazil a federal judge ordered Brazilian mining company Vale to suspend its planned expansion of a rail line in northern Brazil because it would endanger the livelihood of the Awa Guaja Indian tribe living in the region.
(AP, 8/2/12)
2012 Aug 13, The Olympic flag touched down on Brazilian soil, marking the start of four years of preparations ahead of the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 8/13/12)
2012 Aug 15, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a nearly $66 billion investment package to beef up the nation's ailing road and rail systems, part of efforts to solve serious transportation bottlenecks and spur a sputtering economy.
(AP, 8/15/12)
2012 Sep 27, Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency said Chevron has paid a $17.3 million fine for 24 of 25 irregularities detected in the spill of some 155,000 gallons of crude oil in Nov, 2011.
(SFC, 9/29/12, p.D2)
2012 Aug 28, In Brazil construction of the $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam resumed hours after the country’s Supreme Court ordered work to resume.
(SFC, 8/29/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 24, In Brazil a judge ordered the arrest of the president of Google’s local operations for failure to remove YouTube videos that attacked a mayoral candidate.
(SFC, 9/26/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 27, Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency said Chevron has paid a $17.3 million fine for 24 of 25 irregularities detected in the spill of some 155,000 gallons of crude oil in Nov, 2011.
(SFC, 9/29/12, p.D2)
2012 Oct 10, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to convict Jose Dirceu (66), the chief of staff of former Pres. Lula, of corruption. Two other former Workers’ Party men were also convicted.
(Economist, 10/13/12, p.46)
2012 Oct 31, Brazil’s military said it has confiscated 4 tons of drugs, 5 dozen vehicles and 200 boats used by drug traffickers in a 3-week operation along borders with Bolivia and Peru.
(SFC, 11/1/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 2, In Brazil Father Marcelo Rossi, a Latin Grammy-nominated singer, inaugurated the Mother of God sanctuary in Sao Paulo. The not-yet-finished structure will seat 6,000 people and have standing room for 14,000 more.
(AP, 11/3/12)
2012 Nov 10, In Brazil the Public Safety Dept. of Sao Paulo said at least 140 people have been slain over the past two weeks in a rising wave of violence as imprisoned crime leaders called for reprisals against crackdowns on drug trade.
(SSFC, 11/11/12, p.A9)
2012 Nov 14, In Brazil the Justice Ministry authorized sending a top figure of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a prison-based gang, to a maximum security prison in Roraima state, 900 miles (1,450 km) to the northwest in the Amazon. Sao Paulo has seen nearly 150 homicides over the past two weeks and 94 police executed this year in violence linked to the gang.
(AP, 11/15/12)(Econ, 11/17/12, p.33)
2012 Nov 22, In Brazil Joaquim Barbosa was sworn in as the country’s first black Supreme Court justice.
(SFC, 11/23/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 27, Brazil’s government said deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has dropped to its lowest level in 24 years.
(SFC, 11/28/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 28, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced the last 3 of 25 defendants convicted on charges involving a congressional cash-for-votes scheme.
(SFC, 11/29/12, p.A2)
2012 Dec 1, In Brazil some 800 people held a protest march against the privatization of Brazil's iconic Maracana Stadium. Built for the 1950 World Cup, Maracana is being renovated for the city's upcoming sporting events that include the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of 2014 World Cup.
(AP, 12/1/12)
2012 Dec 5, It was reported that Brazilian law enforcement agencies have begun “Operation Purification" against alleged corruption iwthin the police force in Rio de Janeiro state.
(SFC, 12/5/12, p.A2)
2012 Dec 5, Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (104) died in Rio de Janeiro. He had designed Brazil's futuristic capital and much of the United Nations complex.
(AP, 12/6/12)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.154)
2012 Dec 7, In Brazil Michael Misick, the former jet-setting premier of the Turks and Caicos islands, was arrested after having disappeared a couple years ago.
(AP, 12/7/12)
2012 Dec 17, Brazilian prosecutors said Chevron Corp. has offered to pay $150 million to settle two civil lawsuits stemming from a Nov 2011 offshore oil spill. The lawsuits sought $20 billion in damages.
(AP, 12/17/12)
2012 Dec 17, In Brazil the Supreme Court trial of the mensalao (big monthly stipend), a scheme for buying votes, ended. 25 of 38 defendants were found guilty of charges including corruption, money-laundering and misuse of public funds.
(Econ, 12/22/12, p.51)
2012 In Brazil the TV series "Avenida Brasil" began. It depicted life in a favela, sparking conversations about race and class, and grew to become one of the country's most successful soaps.
(Econ, 4/18/20, p.63)
2012 Brazil passed legislation backed by farming interests that weakened protection to for some preservation areas of the Amazon rain forest. This included an amnesty for illegal deforestation that occurred before July 2008, including releasing perpetrators from obligation to replant areas in compensation.
(SFC, 3/2/18, p.A2)
2012 In Brazil a quarter of all prisoners in jail were there because of drug offences. This compares with a tenth in 2005.
(Economist, 9/22/12, p.45)
2012 Brazil’s infrastructure this year was rated 104th of 142 countries. Only 14% of its roads were paved.
(Econ, 8/11/12, p.66)
2012 In Brazil the voracious helicoverpa armiger caterpillar, that likely arrived from Asia, was spotted for the first time in the Americas on cotton farms in drought-prone western Bahia. The caterpillar was soon in soybean fields thousands of kilometers away thanks to the long-distance flying power of its moths, consuming everything from tomatoes to sorghum.
(AP, 2/27/14)
2013 Jan 10, In Brazil Chilean artist Jorge Selaron (b.1947), a symbol of his adopted city of Rio de Janeiro, was found dead in front of his house. In 1990 he began a staircase project in the Lapa neighborhood tiling steps and collecting old porcelain bathtubs to use as planters along the sides.
(AP, 1/10/13)
2013 Jan 25, Brazil’s government announced that it is undertaking a 4-year, $33 million study of its Amazon rain forest to compile a detailed inventory of the plants, animals and people that live there.
(SFC, 1/26/13, p.A2)
2013 Jan 27, In southern Brazil a fire swept through the crowded Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria early today. The fire broke out after band members lit flares. There was no alarm, no extinguishers, no sprinklers and almost no escape from the nightclub. 3 people were detained the next day in connection with the blaze that left 237 dead. In April the nightclub's two owners and two band members were charged with murder. 4 others were also charged in connection to the fire.
(SFC, 1/28/13, p.A2)(AP, 1/29/13)(SFC, 2/4/13, p.A2)(Econ, 2/2/13, p.28)(AP, 4/2/13)
2013 Feb 9, In Brazil a wave of arson attacks, about 80 since the end of January, was reported in Santa Catarina state. Local officials described the attacks as a reaction to reports of inmate abuse in the state’s prisons.
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Feb 12, In Brazil a fire on a Carnival float killed four people and injured five in the port city of Santos. The float reportedly caught fire after striking a power line.
(AP, 2/12/13)
2013 Feb 14, H.J. Heinz said it has agreed to be acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, a Brazilian private-equity firm, in a $23.3 billion deal. 3G later bought Kraft and merged it with Heinz in 2015.
(SFC, 2/15/13, p.C4)(Econ, 2/23/13, p.63)(Econ, 7/9/16, p.54)
2013 Feb 18, In Brazil protesters backing the Cuban government blocked the screening of a documentary featuring Cuba's best-known dissident, the blogger Yoani Sanchez, who was in attendance after being allowed to leave the communist island for the first time in nearly a decade. This was the first stop on her 80-day tour of about a dozen nations.
(AP, 2/18/13)
2013 Feb 19, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rouseff announced increased welfare payments to 2.5m poor people.
(Econ, 2/23/13, p.35)
2013 Feb 27, Brazilian police said Father Emilson Soares Correa, a Roman Catholic priest, is being investigated for allegations of sexual abuse of three young girls in his parish in Niteroi, a city across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/27/13)
2013 Mar 15, In Brazil a new oil law that gives a greater share of royalty revenues from the country’s oil fields to non-producing states went into effect and producing states filed appeals against it with the Supreme Court.
(AP, 3/16/13)
2013 Mar 22, Brazilian police surrounded an old Indian museum complex next to Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracana football stadium in a bid to expel a group of indigenous people and their supporters to make way for works related to the World Cup.
(AP, 3/22/13)
2013 Mar 26, China and Brazil signed a deal to do up to $30 billion of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers worked to lessen dependence on the US dollar and euro.
(AP, 3/26/13)
2013 Mar 31, In Brazil a French man and US woman studying Portuguese were held for hours while the woman was sexually assaulted aboard a public transport van they boarded in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach neighborhood. Three men, ages 20 to 22, were soon taken into custody and a third was being sought in connection with the attack. Police later detained a 14-year-old suspected of participating in the attack. On Aug 14 three men were convicted of grand theft, rape and extortion.
(AP, 4/2/13)(SFC, 4/3/13, p.A3)(SFC, 4/9/13, p.A2)(Reuters, 8/15/13)
2013 Apr 5, Brazil’s Public Ministry announced an investigation into a report connecting former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a vast vote-buying scheme that involved the channeling of funds to the governing Workers’ Party.
(SSFC, 4/7/13, p.A6)
2013 Apr 10, Researchers reported a new species of tree-dwelling porcupine in Brazil’s Northeastern Atlantic Forest. With just 2% of the original forest habitat still standing, the newly discovered creature was already considered endangered.
(SFC, 4/11/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 17, It was reported that some 700 Brazilian Indians were occupying part of the lower house of Congress to protest a proposed amendment that would give Congress a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory.
(SFC, 4/17/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 17, Brazil’s police said they have arrested 3 men suspected of involvement in killings of homeless people in Goiania, Goias state.
(SFC, 4/18/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 17, Brazil raised its base interest rate by .025 points to 7.5%.
(Econ, 4/20/13, p.40)
2013 Apr 29, The Catholic Church in Brazil said it has excommunicated Father Roberto Francisco Daniel for defending homosexuality, open marriage and other practices counter to Church teaching in online videos.
(Reuters, 4/30/13)
2013 May 7, In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Marcos Pereira da Silva, a pastor of the Assembly of God of the Last Days, was arrested for raping 6 women. He also faced drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
(SSFC, 5/12/13, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/d65sryf)
2013 May 9, Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin unveiled a program that will provide about $650 per month in subsidies for the rehabilitation of addicts who voluntarily enroll in the rehab program.
(SFC, 5/10/13, p.A3)
2013 May 11, It was reported that unsafe cars made in Brazil, coupled with the nation's often dangerous driving conditions, have resulted in a death rate from passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States.
(AP, 5/11/13)
2013 May 14, Brazil’s National Council of Justice said that the country’s notary publics must register same-sex civil unions as marriages if the couple requests it.
(AP, 5/14/13)
2013 May 16, The Brazilian Congress approved legislation to modernize and expand its overcrowded ports, attract private investments to the sector and make it easier for companies to hire skilled foreign workers, in a bid to spur economic growth.
(AP, 5/17/13)
2013 Jun 4, Brazil’s government scrapped a tax on foreign purchases of bonds, in order to encourage currency inflows and slow the weakening of its currency.
(Econ, 6/8/13, p.39)
2013 Jun 4, Brazilian police said they have dismantled an international drug trafficking ring that for almost two years sent cocaine from Colombia and Bolivia to Portugal hidden in crates containing frozen fish.
(AP, 6/4/13)
2013 Jun 5, Brazil said it has sent 110 soldiers to Mato Grosso do Sul state where hundreds of Terena Indians were occupying a ranch they said was on ancestral lands. The Indians were also protesting a proposed amendment that would give Congress a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory.
(SFC, 6/6/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 5, In Brazil the son of billionaire Eike Batista was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a cyclist, the Rio de Janeiro state. He was sentenced to two years of community service, a two-year suspension of his driver's license and a one million real ($500,000) fine. Thor Batista (21) hit the cyclist last year while driving his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren at night through a low-income suburb in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 6/6/13)
2013 Jun 6, In Brazil protests began in Sao Paulo over a 20-centavo (nine-cent) rise in bus fares.
(Econ, 6/22/13, p.40)
2013 Jun 10, Brazil’s government said it plans to build its first auto crash test facility in an effort to improve the poor safety record of vehicles built and sold in the world's fourth-largest automobile market.
(AP, 6/10/13)
2013 Jun 11, Brazil’s government said over 100 Mundurucu Indians have occupied the offices of the federal indigenous affairs agency in Brasilia to protest the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam.
(SFC, 6/12/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 13, In Brazil over 100 protesters and 12 police were injured and 230 people detained as thousands of demonstrators clashed with police in Sao Paulo over hikes in bus and subway fares. Similar protests took place in Rio, Brasilia and Porte Alegre.
(SFC, 6/15/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 15, In Brazil at least 500 protesters complaining against the high cost of staging the World Cup rallied in front of the National Stadium in Brasilia just hours before Brazil played Japan in the opening match of the Confederations Cup.
(AP, 6/15/13)
2013 Jun 17, In Brazil more than 100,000 people were in the streets for largely peaceful protests in at least eight big cities. Demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte were marred by vandalism and violent clashes with police. The wave of protests, which began over a hike in bus prices, was also in large part motivated by widespread images of Sao Paulo police last week beating demonstrators and firing rubber bullets during a march that drew 5,000.
(AP, 6/18/13)
2013 Jun 18, In Brazil some 50,000 protesters energetically returned this evening to the streets Sao Paulo, a demonstration of anger toward what they call a corrupt and inefficient government that has long ignored the demands of a growing middle class.
(AP, 6/18/13)
2013 Jun 19, In Brazil street demonstrations popped up again around the country as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and high prices. Leaders in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo reversed an increase in bus and subway fares which ignited anti-government protests over the past week.
(AP, 6/19/13)
2013 Jun 20, More than a million Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 80 cities in this week's largest anti-government demonstrations yet. Violent clashes broke out in several cities as people demanding improved public services and an end to corruption faced tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. At least one protester was killed in Sao Paulo state after a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators.
(AP, 6/20/13)0
2013 Jun 21, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to battle corruption while improving government services as she acknowledged the anger that has led to vast, sometimes violent protests across the country.
(AP, 6/22/13)
2013 Jun 22, In Brazil tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators again took to streets in several cities. An estimated about 60,000 demonstrators gathered in a central square in Belo Horizonte, largely to denounce legislation that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crime.
(AP, 6/22/13)
2013 Jun 24, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff proposed a wide range of actions to reform the political system, fight corruption and improve public services — all demands angrily asked for by the millions of protesters who've taken to the streets the past week. Rousseff shifted some of the burden for progress onto the back of Brazil's widely loathed congress — in particular, in calling for a plebiscite on political reform that only lawmakers have the authority to call. 9 people were killed during a police operation in a Rio favela after a protest march.
(AP, 6/25/13)(Econ, 6/29/13, p.34)
2013 Jun 25, Brazil's congress late today shelved legislation that had been a target of nationwide protests, hours before another expected round of large-scale demonstrations.
(AP, 6/26/13)
2013 Jun 26, Brazil's senate voted to increase penalties for those found guilty of corruption, responding to a key demand made by protesters across the country. Protesters and police clashed near a stadium hosting a Confederations Cup soccer match, as thousands of demonstrators trying to march on the site were met by tear gas and rubber bullets.
(AP, 6/26/13)
2013 Jun 27, In Brazil some 5,000 protesters battled police in Fortaleza. In Rio some 2,000 people marched without clashes. Demonstrators were angry over corruption and poor public services despite high taxes.
(SFC, 6/28/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 30, In Brazil more than 5,000 anti-government protesters marched near the Maracana stadium before a major international soccer match, venting their anger about the billions of dollars the government is spending on major sporting events rather than public services.
(AP, 6/30/13)
2013 Jul 2, In Brazil Rayfran das Neves Sales, the confessed killer of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang Para, was released after serving less than nine of the 27 years he was sentenced to back in 2005. Para state Judge Claudio Henrique Rendeiro ruled that Neves Sales was entitled to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
(AP, 7/4/13)
2013 Jul 3, Brazilian truckers demanding cheaper fuel, better highways and lower tolls torched toll booths and crippled traffic in several regions, continuing their protests into a third day.
(AP, 7/3/13)
2013 Jul 11, In Brazil tens of thousands of union demonstrators blocked roads and snarled traffic in dozens of cities in a one-day strike aimed at seizing the momentum of huge protests that swept the country last month.
(Reuters, 7/11/13)
2013 Jul 22, Pope Francis arrived in Rio de Janeiro to begin a weeklong visit to participate in the World Youth Day festival.
(AP, 7/22/13)
2013 Jul 25, In Brazil Pope Francis urged young Catholics to shake up the church and make a "mess" in their dioceses by going out into the streets to spread the faith as he visited one of Rio's most violent slums and opened the church's World Youth Day on a rain-soaked Copacabana Beach.
(AP, 7/26/13)
2013 Jul 27, In Brazil Pope Francis challenged bishops from around the world to get out of their churches and preach, and to have the courage to go to the farthest margins of society to find the faithful.
(AP, 7/27/13)
2013 Jul 28, In Brazil Pope Francis wrapped up a historic trip to his home continent with a Mass on Copacabana beach that drew a reported 3 million people.
(AP, 7/28/13)
2013 Jul, In Brazil Amarildo Dias de Souza (42), a bricklayer, disappeared from a Rio de Janeiro slum. In October 25 officers were charged in his torture and death.
(Reuters, 10/22/13)
2013 Aug 4, In Brazil 25 police officers were found guilty of killing 52 inmates during the 1992 riot at Sap Paulo’s Carandiru prison. Each officer was sentenced to a prison term of 624 years.
(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A2)
2013 Aug 4, It was reported that nearly 35,000 disappearances have taken place in the city and state of Rio de Janeiro.
(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A6)
2013 Aug 22, Brazil said it will import thousands of Cuban doctors to work in areas where medical services and doctors are scarce. Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota defended the plan as a way to give "the best possible medical services for the Brazilian population."
(AP, 8/22/13)
2013 Aug 27, In Brazil a commercial building, under construction in Sao Paulo, collapsed and killed at least 6 people.
(SFC, 8/28/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 9, Chilean press reported that the US has spied on communications from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay from the island of Ascension according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
(SSFC, 9/15/13, p.A6)
2013 Sep 20, In Brazil rancher Vitalmiro Moura, accused of ordering the 2005 murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang, was again sentenced to 30 years in prison. Moura was previously convicted of Stang's murder and then acquitted in an automatic retrial.
(SFC, 9/21/13, p.A3)
2013 Oct 2, Brazilian police used pepper spray to stop hundreds of protesting Indians from storming Congress, clamping down on the second day of indigenous rights marches.
(Reuters, 10/2/13)
2013 Oct 7, In Brazil thousands marched in Rio de Janeiro to support teachers seeking pay hikes before masked anarchists turned to violence, setting fires, breaking into buildings and smashing a City Hall gate.
(AFP, 10/8/13)
2013 Oct 11, In Brazil an official report disclosed that the powerful PCC prison gang runs a nationwide criminal business worth $60 million a year with operations extending into neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay.
(AFP, 10/11/13)
2013 Oct 13, Brazilian officials said at least 12 people were killed and six left missing when a boat carrying Catholic pilgrims capsized on the Amazon River.
(SFC, 10/14/12, p.A2)
2013 Oct 18, In Brazil a fire destroyed up to 300,000 tons of sugar and much of the Santos Port warehouses owned by Copersucar, the world's largest trader of the sweetener.
(Reuters, 10/18/13)
2013 Oct 19, In southeastern Brazil animal rights activist clashed with police in front of a laboratory in Sao Roque that used dogs for drug tests.
(AP, 10/19/13)
2013 Oct 22, In Brazil prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro charged an additional 15 state police officers in the torture and death of Amarildo Dias de Souza (42), a bricklayer who disappeared from a city slum in July. Ten officers were charged earlier this month.
(Reuters, 10/22/13)
2013 Oct 25, Brazilian police said a group of hit men shot to death 7 people at a house in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 10/26/13, p.A2)
2013 Oct 25, In Brazil protesters went on a rampage in Sao Paulo, smashing windows and teller machines and battling riot police in violence blamed on the "Black Bloc" anarchist group. The protests began as a peaceful march to demand free public transportation for students before turning violent. Police fired tear gas and arrested 92 people.
(AFP, 10/26/13)
2013 Oct 28, In Brazil one person was injured and 90 detained while trucks and buses were torched in Sao Paulo late today in renewed violence after police fatally shot a 17-year-old boy.
(AFP, 10/28/13)
2013 Oct 30, In Brazil oil giant OGX, once the jewel in the EBX crown, was forced to file for bankruptcy protection after debt-restructuring talks with its creditors failed. Eike Batista's debt-ridden EBX empire appeared to be on its last legs as the Brazilian magnate desperately tried to sell assets and lure investment to keep his sinking ship afloat.
(AFP, 11/2/13)
2013 Nov 2, Brazil’s O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said President Dilma Rousseff will allow state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA to increase domestic fuel prices "two or three times" a year through the use of a formula without triggering significant consumer price gains.
(Reuters, 11/2/13)
2013 Nov 13, In Brazil the remains of Joao Goulart, ousted as president ahead of the 1964-85 military dictatorship, were exhumed to determine if he was poisoned.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Nov 14, Brazilian government figures showed that deforestation in the Amazon increased by nearly a third over the past year.
(Reuters, 11/14/13)
2013 Nov 15, Brazil’s Supreme Court Pres. Joaquim Barbosa issued warrants for the arrest of Jose Dirceau, the former chief of staff to Pres. Lula da Silva in 2003-05, and eleven others for charges including bribery and conspiracy in the “mensalao" (big monthly stipend) case. They were among 25 found guilty in the case last year.
(Econ, 11/23/13, p.39)
2013 Nov 16, In Brazil Jose Genoino, the former chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, surrendered to police after a court ruled that those convicted in a corruption scandal should serve their terms immediately.
(AFP, 11/16/13)
2013 Nov 16, In Brazil the 12th edition of the Games of the Indigenous People ended in Cuiba, Mato Grosso state.
(SSFC, 11/17/13, p.A7)
2013 Nov 27, In Brazil a giant crane collapsed at the construction site of Sao Paulo's Itaquerao stadium killing two workers. An engineer reportedly warned his supervisor that it appeared the ground was not stable enough to support the 500-ton piece of roofing.
(AP, 11/29/13)(SSFC, 12/1/13, p.A6)
2013 Dec 1, In Brazil Ambrosio Vilhalva, a Guarani tribal elder, was stabbed to death at the entrance of his community known as Guyra Roka, Mato Grosso do Sul state. The indigenous leader had decades fought for his people's right to live on their ancestral lands.
(AFP, 12/3/13)
2013 Dec 6, Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to open a £240-million manufacturing plant in Brazil.
(AFP, 12/6/13)
2013 Dec 14, Brazil was rocked by a fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident as a young construction worker fell to his death.
(AFP, 12/14/13)
2013 Dec 17, US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden offered to help Brazil defeat US spying, but in an open letter said he needs permanent political asylum to do so.
(AFP, 12/17/13)
2013 Dec 18, Brazil’s defense minister said Sweden's Saab has edged out French and US rivals to win a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply Brazil's air force with 36 new fighter jets.
(AFP, 12/18/13)
2013 Dec 22, In Brazil 14 people died when a bus drove off a road and plunged into a ravine in Sao Paulo state.
(AFP, 12/22/13)
2013 Dec 24, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff flew over the flood-hit southeastern state of Espirito Santo, where at least 14 people have died in days of torrential rain. 47 cities in Espirito Santo, which borders Rio de Janeiro state, were affected by the flooding.
(AFP, 12/24/13)
2013 Dec 25, In Brazil angry farmers, convinced that Tenharim tribesmen in Amazonas state had kidnapped three local men nine days earlier, torched several Tenharim huts and the offices of the federal indigenous affairs agency, as well as several of its vehicles and river boats.
(AP, 2/5/14)
2013 Dec 26, Brazilian officials said at least 44 people have died and more than 60,000 have been left homeless following torrential rain in the southeast over the past few weeks.
(AFP, 12/27/13)
2013 Napoleon Chagnon authored “Noble Savages: My Life Among the Two Dangerous Tribes – the Yanomamo and the Anthropologists."
(Econ, 2/23/13, p.80)
2014 Jan 13, In Brazil 10 public buses were destroyed after 12 people were shot and killed overnight in Campinas, Sao Paulo state. Police said the surge of violence began with the murder of an off-duty policeman.
(AFP, 1/13/14)
2014 Jan 17, Brazilian authorities said the death toll in last weekend's flash flooding in the southern town of Itaoca has risen to 17, with nine people still missing.
(AFP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 18, In Brazil an estimated 150 black and leftist militants staged a boisterous rally outside the JK Iguatemi shopping mall in Sao Paulo to protest attempts to bar underprivileged youths from shopping malls in middle-class areas.
(AFP, 1/18/14)
2014 Jan 18, Brazilian police said that they had broken up a bank robbery scheme that had diverted 73 million reais ($31 million) from a lottery run by state-owned lender Caixa Economica Federal.
(Reuters, 1/18/14)
2014 Jan 25, In Brazil at least 1,000 demonstrators protested in Sao Paulo against the World Cup, due to open on June 12, in a demonstration that devolved into violence late in the night.
(AP, 1/26/14)
2014 Jan 28, In Brazil a dump truck smashed into a pedestrian bridge on a busy highway in northern Rio de Janeiro, causing the walkway to collapse onto three cars and a motorcycle below. At least 4 people were killed.
(AP, 1/28/14)
2014 Jan 29, In Brazil an anti-corruption law went into effect. It made companies liable for bribes paid by their employees and for acts of corruption against domestic and foreign public officials.
(AP, 1/29/14)
2014 Feb 4, In Brazil at least 6 people were killed during shootouts between officers and suspected drug gang members in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/4/14)
2014 Feb 4, A Cuban doctor working in Brazil has sought political asylum in the office of a conservative party complaining that Cuba's government takes too big a slice of her pay. Under an agreement signed last year with Cuba through the Pan-American Health Organization, or PAHO, the Cubans get only one fifth of the 10,000 reais ($4,100) a month that Brazil pays each physician in the program. The rest goes to the Cuban state.
(Reuters, 2/5/14)
2014 Feb 5, Brazil police said the bodies of 3 men whose disappearance led to a clash between an Amazon tribe and settlers have been found in Amazonas state. Last week police arrested five Tenharim men on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the outsiders in December.
(AP, 2/5/14)
2014 Feb 10, Brazil’s Band TV said that 49-year-old journalist Santiago Andrade remains in a coma on life support, but that doctors have declared him brain dead. He was hit in the head on Feb 6 by a powerful flare fired during a protest against a 10-cent hike in bus fares in Rio.
(AP, 2/10/14)
2014 Feb 11, Brazil’s Environment Ministry said it will begin a program to save the endangered three-banded armadillo, the mascot for this year’s World Cup.
(SFC, 2/12/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 12, In Brazil some 15,000 landless peasants demanding land reform engaged police in Brasilia. At least 32 people were injured.
(SSFC, 2/16/14, p.A6)
2014 Feb 13, US federal authorities said they have detained 57 migrants from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Brazil in separate incidents near Puerto Rico's west coast. Authorities planned to prosecute 19 of those migrants, five of them on human smuggling charges.
(AP, 2/13/14)
2014 Feb 15, Brazil’s Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported that water is being rationed to nearly six million people living in eleven states.
(SSFC, 2/16/14, p.A4)
2014 Feb 15, Apple opened a retail store in Rio de Janeiro, its first retail store in South America. Its 16GB iPhone 5s was priced at $1,076.
(Econ, 3/8/14, p.39)
2014 Feb 22, In Brazil 9 members of a gang that specialized in blowing up teller machines were killed in a shootout with police after some 80 officers confronted 15 armed men after they used dynamite to blow up a cash machine in Itamonte, Minas Gerais state.
(SSFC, 2/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Feb 23, In Brazil a 34-year-old football fan was beaten to death by supporters from a rival team following a high-profile match in the Sao Paulo state championship.
(AP, 2/24/14)
2014 Mar 9, Brazilian officials inaugurated the Arena da Amazonia in the jungle city of Manaus, the ninth World Cup stadium to become available for football's showcase event. Three still have to be finished, including the one hosting the opener in Sao Paulo in about three months.
(AP, 3/9/14)
2014 Mar 21, In Brazil top officials from Rio de Janeiro said they want elite federal police sent to the city to help quell a wave of violence in so-called "pacified" slums. The announcement came hours after suspected drug gang members attacked three police shantytown outposts, injuring three officers and burning one of the metal shipping containers they use as offices in slums.
(AP, 3/21/14)
2014 Mar 28, Brazilian prosecutors sought the arrest of 13 executives from 3 int’l. companies allegedly involved in a cartel to raise prices for the construction and upkeep of subway and train systems in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 3/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Mar 30, In Brazil more than 1,400 police officers and Marines rolled into a massive complex of slums near Rio de Janeiro's international airport before dawn as part of the "pacification" program that began in 2008 and is meant to secure Rio ahead of not the World Cup and also the 2016 Summer Olympics.
(AP, 3/30/14)
2014 Mar, In Brazil former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa was arrested in a money laundering probe of the oil company. Costa ran the refining division of Petrobras from 2004-2012. He soon accused more than 40 politicians of involvement in a vast kickback scheme.
(Econ, 9/13/14, p.44)
2014 Apr 5, In Brazil more than 2,000 soldiers stormed into the Mare slum complex of Rio de Janeiro with armored personnel carriers and helicopters in a bid to improve security two months before the start of the World Cup.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 8, China and Brazil signed a corn-import deal.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.27)
2014 Apr 11, In Brazil squatters in Rio de Janeiro clashed with police after a Brazilian court ordered that 5,000 people be evicted from abandoned buildings of a telecommunications company.
(AP, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 19, In Brazil angry residents of a city near Rio de Janeiro torched four buses to protest the death of a man killed a day earlier by a bullet on his way to a Good Friday church service. They said Anderson Santos Silva (21) died while trying to protect his mother and 9-year-old sister from bullets from a gunfight involving police.
(AP, 4/19/14)
2014 Apr 22, Brazil's Congress passed a bill guaranteeing Internet privacy and enshrining access to the Web on the eve of a major conference in Sao Paulo on the future of Internet governance that's expected to draw representatives from some 80 countries.
(AP, 4/23/14)
2014 Apr 22, In Brazil violence flared in Rio de Janeiro’s tourist Copacabana Beach area after dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira (25) was found shot dead, heightening fears about security in a city that will host seven World Cup games including the July 13 final.
(AFP, 4/27/14)
2014 Apr 24, In Brazil Paulo Malhaes, a former army colonel who acknowledged he tortured and killed political prisoners during Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime, was suffocated to death by three men who broke into his house and stole two computers and some of the antique guns he collected.
(AP, 4/26/14)
2014 Apr 25, Brazil’s Supreme Court, citing lack of evidence, absolved former Pres. Fernando Collor de Mello in a corruption case that dated back to 1992.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 26, In Brazil about 2,000 people gathered in downtown Sao Paulo in a demonstration demanding the legalization of the production and sale of marijuana in Latin America's largest country.
(AP, 4/26/14)
2014 May 13, It was reported that the cost of Brazil’s World cup stadium has nearly tripled to $900 million in public funds, largely because of allegedly fraudulent billing.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A20)
2014 May 13, In Brazil bus drivers demanding higher pay began a 48-hour strike in Rio de Janeiro, forcing hundreds of thousands of passengers to seek alternative ways to get to work.
(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 15, In Brazil protesters blocked two of Sao Paulo's main highways, burning tires, waving banners and causing chaos during the morning commute in the sprawling metropolitan area as officials braced for a wave of anti-government demonstrations in several Brazilian cities, many of them protesting the high spending on next month's World Cup.
(AP, 5/15/14)
2014 May 17, In Brazil inmates at a penitentiary in the northeastern city of Aracaju took four prison officers hostage and refused to allow nearly 130 prisoners' relatives to leave the grounds. The inmates demanded to be transferred from the maximum-security prison to others. The hostages were released the next day and relatives were allowed to leave after authorities met demands that some prisoners be transferred.
(AP, 5/18/14)(SFC, 5/19/14, p.A2)
2014 May 20, In Brazil several leading politicians were arrested as part of a large corruption and money laundering probe in Cuiaba, a World Cup host city that has had some of the worst delays and other problems as the soccer tournament approaches.
(Reuters, 5/21/14)
2014 May 21, In Brazil civil police in 14 states went on a 24-hour strike demanding higher pay. A strike by Sao Paulo bus drivers demanding higher pay began losing steam as it entered a second day.
(AP, 5/21/14)
2014 May 21, Brazil and a host of governmental and private partners agreed to create a $215 million fund to expand protected areas of the Amazon rain forest by more than 34,000 square miles and to help pay for its management over the next 25 years.
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 5, In Brazil some overland commuter train operators went on strike calling for better wages in Sao Paulo, a week before the city hosts the World Cup opener.
(AP, 6/5/14)
2014 Jun 6, Brazil's biggest city confronted a second straight day of commuting chaos, as striking subway workers and a protest over housing conditions tangled the streets of Sao Paulo less than a week before it hosts the opening match of the World Cup.
(Reuters, 6/6/14)
2014 Jun 7, In Brazil the 3rd day of a strike by subway workers snarling Sao Paulo threatened to disrupt the World Cup with the kickoff in the city just five days away.
(AFP, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 8, In Brazil Anderson Gomes Aleixo forced his wife to invite her friend to their house. He then killed Francisco de Assis Coelho Neves with a knife and dismembered the body in their bathroom. Aleixo had grown jealous when he found out that his wife and a childhood friend were chatting on Facebook.
(AP, 6/25/14)
2014 Jun 9, Brazilian police and striking subway workers clashed early today in a central Sao Paulo commuter station, with union officials threatening to maintain the work stoppage through the World Cup opening match here this week. Union members voted to temporarily suspend the strike they began last week, but also decided they would take a new vote on Jun 11 to determine whether to resume the work stoppage June 12.
(AP, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/10/14)
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up an anti-World Cup protest on the morning the Brazilian mega-city hosts the tournament's opening match.
(AFP, 6/12/14)
2014 Jun 12, Brazil launched the World Cup with an emotion-fuelled 3-1 victory over Croatia.
(AP, 6/13/14)
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil bus drivers in northeastern city of Natal went on strike for higher wages a day before the city’s first World Cup match between Mexico and Cameroon.
(AP, 6/13/14)
2014 Jun 16, In Brazil a suspected Mexican drug trafficker wanted in the United States was arrested in Rio de Janeiro as he tried to board a plane to watch Mexico play in the World Cup soccer competition.
(Reuters, 6/17/14)
2014 Jun 18, Cameroon lost to Croatia 4-0 at the World Cup in Brazil. Germany’s Der Spiegel later reported that the match was fixed according to Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match-fixer. Perumal later denied the details of the report.
(Econ, 7/12/14, p.56)
2014 Jun 26, FIFA banned Uruguay striker Luis Suarez from all football activities for four months for biting an opponent at the World Cup in Brazil.
(AP, 6/26/14)
2014 Jul 2, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of soccer fans raucously celebrating Argentina's 1-0 World Cup victory over Switzerland a day earlier.
(AP, 7/2/14)
2014 Jul 2, The RSA Security division of EMC Corp. said in a research report that a "malware-based fraud ring" had infiltrated the online payment method in Brazil known as the boleto, diverting payments to accounts held by members of the ring.
(AP, 7/3/14)
2014 Jul 3, In Brazil an unfinished overpass collapsed in the World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte. Two people were reported killed.
(AP, 7/4/14)
2014 Jul 8, In Brazil World Cup semifinals the German soccer team beat Brazil’s national team in a record-breaking 7-1 game.
(http://tinyurl.com/l5496fm)
2014 Jul 9, In Brazil some 200 Ghanaian Muslim tourists, who entered the country to watch World Cup games, asked for asylum. Ghana’s government rejected their claims.
(SFC, 7/11/14, p.A2)(SSFC, 7/20/14, p.A4)
2014 Jul 13, In Brazil 15 journalists were injured at an anti-World Cup protest including a Canadian, Peruvian and Italian and two Brazilians working for foreign news agencies. None of the 15 were seriously injured. Rio de Janeiro police department later suspended four officers caught on video beating the journalists.
(AP, 7/16/14)
2014 Jul 13, Germany won its 4th World Cup title. Argentines celebrating their team's gutsy performance in a 1-0 loss to Germany in the World Cup finals in Brazil. In Buenos Aires Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a group of rock-throwing vandals who disturbed a rally.
(AP, 7/14/14)
2014 Jul 15, In Brazil leaders of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) met for their 6th annual summit. They created two financial institutions: The New Development Bank (NDB) to finance infrastructure with $50 billion to start and the $100 billion Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) to tide over members in financial difficulties.
(AP, 7/15/14)(Econ, 7/19/14,p.62)
2014 Jul 17, In Brazil China's President Xi Jinpin pressed a charm offensive with Latin America, signing deals with Brazil, meeting regional leaders and proposing a $20 billion infrastructure fund that highlights Beijing's growing interests in the region.
(AP, 7/18/14)
2014 Aug 7, In Brazil police in Rio said they have arrested over 20 people as alleged members of a paramilitary militia group that charged monthly fees for protection against drug gangs and for illegal services like cable TV connections. Members included former police, firefighters, private security and off-duty prison guards.
(SFC, 8/8/14, p.A2)
2014 Aug 13, In Brazil socialist politician and presidential candidate Eduardo Campos (49) and six other people were killed when their small plane crashed near Santos, ahead of the Oct. 4 presidential election. Running mate Marina Silva soon replaced Campos on the PSB ticket.
(AP, 8/14/14)(SFC, 8/19/14, p.A2)
2014 Aug 14, It was reported that a drought in the Sao Paulo, Brazil, the worst in 84 years, has forced local authorities to put water pumps below the gates of the main reservoir for the 2nd time this years.
(SFC, 8/14/14, p.A2)
2014 Aug 25, Brazilian authorities negotiated with prison inmates holding two guards hostage after an uprising in Cascavel in which they killed 5 fellow prisoners, beheading two of them following a riot a day earlier. The rioting at Cascavel penitentiary ended early Aug 26 with the transfer of some 800 inmates to other prison facilities.
(AFP, 8/25/14)(AP, 8/26/14)
2014 Aug 28, Brazilian prosecutors in Para state said they have dismantled the country’s largest deforestation gang and that eight suspected members have been taken into custody for environmental damages estimated at $222 million.
(SFC, 8/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Sep 15, In Brazil Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, escaped injury during a robbery by three gunmen.
(AP, 9/16/14)
2014 Sep 23, Brazil’s prosecutor's office said in a statement that tycoon Eike Batista and seven former directors of oil company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes have been charged with deceiving investors with false information regarding the company's production potential. Prosecutors said the stock manipulation caused the market to lose more than $6 billion.
(AP, 9/24/14)
2014 Sep 23, At a UN metting on climate control more than 30 countires set the first-ever deadline top end deforestation by 2030, but Brazil said it would not join because it was not included in the planning process.
(SFC, 9/24/14, p.A2)
2014 Sep 30, Officials said the US will pay Brazilian cotton producers $300 million to settle a decade-old dispute over cotton subsidies, the first concrete step to repair ties hurt by an espionage scandal.
(Reuters, 9/30/14)
2014 Oct 5, Brazil held presidential elections. Polls showed Pres. Dilma Rousseff as the front runner in a race that is likely to go to a runoff on Oct. 26. Her main rivals were Marina Silva, a hero of the global conservation movement now with the Brazilian Socialist Party, and Aecio Neves, a senator and former state governor. Rousseff won 41.6 percent of the vote and Aecio Neves took second place with 33.6 percent.
(Reuters, 10/5/14)(Reuters, 10/6/14)
2014 Oct 14, Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro said they have arrested 47 people in an operation to dismantle a ring of illegal abortion clinics following the recent deaths of two women who sought to end their pregnancies. Police said arrest warrants have been issued for another 28 people suspected of being part of the ring.
(AP, 10/14/14)
2014 Oct 16, Brazilian police captured Tiago Rocha (26), a man who soon confessed to 39 murders. Police linked a gun found in the home of the suspect to the killings of at least six women this year.
(AP, 10/16/14)
2014 Oct 23, Brazilian companies Cutrale and Safra said they are again raising their bid for banana producer Chiquita, to $681 million, a day before Chiquita shareholders are expected to vote on a combination with Irish fruit importer Fyffes. Shareholders rejected the proposal.
(AP, 10/23/14)(AP, 10/24/14)
2014 Oct 26, Brazilians voted in an election that put leftist Pres. Dilma Rousseff (66), with strong support among the poor, against centrist Sen. Aecio Neves (54), who is promising pro-business policies to jumpstart a stagnant economy. Rousseff won with 51.6% of the vote.
(Reuters, 10/26/14)(Reuters, 10/27/14)
2014 Oct 27, In southeastern Brazil a truck loaded with vegetable oil collided head-on with a bus full of high school students, killing 11 people, most of them teenagers near the city of Ibitinga.
(AP, 10/28/14)
2014 Nov 8, In Brazil At least 7 people were killed after a passenger bus was forced off a bridge when another vehicle tried to pass it in Bahia state.
(AP, 11/8/14)
2014 Nov 9, In Brazil a driver in Sao Paulo lost control of his car and ran over 15 people standing on a sidewalk after leaving a church service. At least two people were critically hurt as the driver fled the scene. Substances that appeared to be cocaine and marijuana were found in the abandoned car.
(AP, 11/10/14)
2014 Nov 13, Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro arrested Phillip John Smith (40), a convicted pedophile and murderer from New Zealand, after a week on the run from New Zealand. He remained in Brazilian custody pending his return to New Zealand.
(AP, 11/13/14)
2014 Nov 14, Police in Brazil arrested Renato Duque, the former director of services of the state-run oil company Petrobras, for his alleged role in a money-laundering scheme as authorities conduct a widening probe of corruption involving the company.
(AP, 11/14/14)
2014 Nov 14, In northeastern Brazil a jury in Olinda delivered sentences of 20-23 years in prison for three people, arrested in 2012, convicted of killing two women, eating parts of their bodies and using some of their flesh to make and sell stuffed pastries.
(AP, 11/15/14)
2014 Nov 17, The president of Brazil’s Petrobras announced the creation of a compliance department to deal with the unfurling corruption scandal that has shaken the state-owned oil giant.
(SFC, 11/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Nov 20, In northeastern Brazil 8 people were killed following a head-on car crash that also left three others seriously injured near Esplanada.
(AP, 11/21/14)
2014 Nov 25, In Brazil a court ordered Rio de Janeiro state to pay for psychological treatments and provide monthly stipends for the widow and children of Brazilian laborer Amarildo de Souza, who was killed in police custody last year. In Rio de Janeiro one police officer was killed and another injured in a drive-by shooting during a routine patrol.
(AP, 11/26/14)
2014 Nov 29, Brazilian officials said Sao Paulo, the drought-hit megacity of 20 million, has about two months of guaranteed water supply remaining as it taps into the second of three emergency reserves.
(Reuters, 11/29/14)
2014 Nov, Police in Brazil arrested two dozen executives from the country’s six largest construction firms as part of a widening corruption probe.
(Econ, 1/3/15, p.26)
2014 Dec 8, Amazon Indians on the Peru-Brazil border say they continue to receive death threats from loggers after the September murder of four local chiefs in a remote forest region overrun by illegal felling.
(Reuters, 12/8/14)
2014 Dec 11, Brazil’s National Truth Commission report named 377 people allegedly responsible for 434 deaths and disappearances, and thousands of acts of torture during the military regime of 1964-1985. The truth commission said more than 8,000 members of indigenous tribes could have been killed at the hands of authoritarian regimes between 1946 and 1988, the vast majority during the 1964-1985 dictatorship.
(SSFC, 12/14/14, p.A22)(AP, 3/8/19)
2014 Dec 19, In Brazil a federal investigation into a kickback scheme at state-owned Petrobras ensnared 30 executives. In Sao Paulo prosecutors accused 33 businessmen of running a “cartel" to profit from the city’s subway system.
(SFC, 12/20/14, p.A2)
2014 Dec 27, In southeastern Brazil at least 8 people were killed after a passenger bus plunged into a ravine while trying to avoid an oncoming truck in Espirito Santo state.
(AP, 12/27/14)
2014 Dec 27, In Brazil a helicopter crashed in marshland near the coastal city of Bertioga, Sao Paulo state, killing 5 people.
(AP, 12/27/14)
2014 David Goldblatt authored “Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer."
(Econ, 6/7/14, p.88)
2014 Brazil’s population numbered about 203 million people.
(Econ, 10/18/14, p.23)
2015 Jan 14, Brazil approved the medical use of a marijuana derivative to treat people suffering from severe seizures and other conditions.
(SFC, 1/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Jan 16, In Brazil protesters in Sao Paulo clashed with police who used tear gas and sound bombs to disperse crowds, as thousands rallied against the latest round of bus fare hikes.
(AFP, 1/16/15)
2015 Feb 4, Embattled Brazilian oil giant Petrobras said that Maria das Gracas Foster, the company's chief executive officer, and five other top figures stepped down amid a long-running and massive kickback scandal at the firm.
(AP, 2/4/15)(Econ, 2/7/15, p.60)
2015 Feb 5, Police in Brazil issued 62 arrest, search and other legal orders in the investigation into a massive kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras. This included a warrant compelling the treasurer of Brazil's ruling Workers' Party to testify.
(AP, 2/5/15)
2015 Feb 6, In Brazil police surprised a group of suspects trying to blow up an automatic teller machine in the eastern city of Salvador, sparking a shootout that killed at least 13 of the would-be robbers.
(AP, 2/6/15)
2015 Feb 11, In Brazil an explosion on an oil ship off the coast of Espirito Santo state killed at least 5 people. Four workers remained missing.
(AP, 2/12/15)
2015 Feb 17, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro's world-famous samba school parades held their grand finale as the five-day-long Carnival celebration came to an end. At least 3 people were electrocuted while standing atop a Carnival float that hit a power line in the city of Nova Iguacu.
(Yahoo News, 2/17/15) (AP, 2/17/15)
2015 Feb 18, In Brazil 9 people burned to death when the bus they were riding on hit a light post and burst into flames in the Rio de Janeiro district of Sao Goncalo.
(AP, 2/18/15)
2015 Feb 20, In Brazil some 5,200 workers at an assembly line at one of three General Motors plants ground to a halt as workers went on strike to protest the planned layoffs of nearly 800 employees.
(AP, 2/20/15)
2015 Feb 21, Brazil's environmental agency detained Ezequiel Antonio Castanha in Para state. The land land-grabber was thought to be the Amazon's single biggest deforester. Castanha's group was estimated to have clear-cut some 58 square miles (15,000 hectares).
(AP, 2/24/15)
2015 Feb 24, Brazilian union officials said truck drivers are blocking roads in six states to protest hikes in fuel prices and tolls.
(AP, 2/24/15)
2015 Feb 24, In Brazil inspectors conducting routine water testing in Rio’s sewage filled Guanabara Bay found thousands of carcasses of twaite shad fish. This was the site for sailing events in next year’s Olympics.
(SFC, 2/26/15, p.A6)
2015 Feb 27, Brazilian authorities arrested Victor Arden Barnard (53), a self-professed minister put on a US most-wanted list for allegedly molesting two girls in a "Maidens Group" at his religious fellowship in rural Minnesota.
(AP, 2/28/15)
2015 Mar 6, Brazil’s Supreme Court approved an investigation of dozens of top politicians including a former president and leaders of congress.
(SFC, 3/7/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 6, Paraguayan radio journalist Gerardo Servian was reported shot to death in the Brazilian city of Ponta Pora, bordering a crime-ridden area that is a hotbed for drugs and arms smuggling.
(AP, 3/6/15)
2015 Mar 7, In Brazil recent rains led to increased mosquitoes transmitting dengue fever. Since January 224,000 cases were reported to date.
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.42)
2015 Mar 14, In southern Brazil a bus accident killing 54 people near Joinville, Santa Catarina state.
(AP, 3/15/15)(SFC, 3/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 15, In Brazil an estimated 1.5-2.2 million people took to the streets across the country in protest over corruption, with many calling for Pres. Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.
(AFP, 3/16/15)(Econ., 3/21/15, p.29)
2015 Mar 16, Brazilian police launched a new round of arrests in the corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras, a day after massive nationwide demonstrations against leftist President Dilma Rousseff.
(AFP, 3/16/15)
2015 Mar 26, Brazil’s federal police said they had uncovered "criminal organizations" suspected of causing a shortfall of at least 6 billion reais ($1.9 billion) in unpaid taxes. More than 50 companies in the industrial, financial and agricultural sectors were being investigated for allegedly bribing officials at the Finance Ministry's tax appeals court to reduce annual fines on unpaid taxes.
(AP, 3/27/15)
2015 Mar 28, Brazil said it has accepted China's invitation to join a Beijing-backed international infrastructure bank.
(AP, 3/28/15)
2015 Apr 2, In Brazil 5 people were killed when their helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. The dead included Thomaz Rodrigues Alckmin (31), the son of Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Brazilian police fired tear gas to break up a protest in a Rio de Janeiro slum that erupted after a 10-year-old boy was killed in what officers called a shootout with drug traffickers.
(AFP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 4, In Brazil a fire at a fuel storage facility near Santos port, the country's largest, entered its third day with firefighters working around the clock to stop the flames from spreading.
(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 10, In Brazil the federal prosecutors' office in Brasilia confirmed media reports that a prosecutor was looking at a $900 million price difference and possible corruption in the $5.4 billion purchase of 36 Gripen fighter planes from Sweden's Saab AB in 2009.
(Reuters, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 10, Brazilian police arrested three former congressmen, broadening their corruption investigation beyond state-run oil firm Petrobras to state lender Caixa Economica Federal and the federal health ministry.
(Reuters, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 10, In Brazil firefighters extinguished the fires that for 10 days engulfed six fuel storage tanks at a liquid bulk storage facility in the port city of Santos.
(AP, 4/11/15)
2015 Apr 12, In Brazil some 660,000 anti-government demonstrators turned onto the streets in 152 cities throughout the country to demand the impeachment of Pres. Dilma Rousseff.
(AP, 4/12/15)(Econ., 4/18/15, p.32)
2015 Apr 14, In Brazil an operation to remove squatters from a Rio de Janeiro building erupted into chaos as police stormed in and squatters set the structure alight. The building was planned as a hotel for the 2016 Olympics.
(SFC, 4/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 16, In Brazil fish continued to die in Rio’s Rodrigo de Freitas lake. Waste management had already collected 37 tons in the die-off that began late last week. The lake was scheduled to hold Olympic rowing events.
(SFC, 4/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 18, In Brazil 8 people were shot dead at a site in San Paulo where Pavilhao 9, a soccer fan group of the Corinthians, held a barbeque.
(AP, 4/19/15)
2015 May 19, In Brazil China’s PM Li Keqiang pledged $103 billion in loans and investments to upgrade ports and other transport infrastructure.
(http://tinyurl.com/qyet3lj)(Econ, 7/4/15, p.27)
2015 May 22, China and Peru agreed to study the feasibility of a controversial 5,300 km (3,300 miles) transcontinental railroad that will connect Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Peru, on the third leg of a Latin America visit.
(Reuters, 5/23/15)
2015 May 25, In northeastern Brazil an overnight prison riot in the Feira de Santana regional prison left at least 7 dead after a fight between two gangs escalated and led to about 70 people, many visiting family members, being held hostage for several hours.
(AP, 5/25/15)
2015 May 27, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff ended a 3-day state visit to Mexico. She and Pres. Enrique Pena Nieto promised a new start in relations, pledged to boost trade and signed agreements to facilitate investment and expand air links.
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.30)
2015 Jun 3, Brazil’s Central Bank raised interest rate by half a point to 13.75% in an effort to bring inflation down from 8% to 4.5%.
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.27)
2015 Jun 19, Brazilian police arrested Marcelo Odebrecht and Otavio Marques de Azevedo, the presidents of two of the country's largest construction companies, for their alleged involvement in the massive corruption scheme at Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras.
(AP, 6/19/15)
2015 Jun 19, In Brazil well-known medium Gilberto Arruda (73), popular with the stars, was killed and the tomb of another was desecrated in the latest wave of violence targeting spiritualists in several days.
(AFP, 6/19/15)
2015 Jun 29, Pres. Obama opened two-days of talks with Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff. To coincide with the visit America promised to lift a 14-year-old ban on imports of Brazilian beef.
(SFC, 6/30/15, p.A3)(Econ, 7/4/15, p.27)
2015 Jun 30, In Brazil the Sao Paulo City Council voted 48-1 to prohibit the use of ride-sharing applications like Uber in the city. The capital city of Brasilia also approved such a ban.
(SFC, 7/2/15, p.C1)
2015 Jul 10, European plane-maker Airbus flew its E-fan plane from Lydd, England, to the French port of Calais. About 12 hours before Airbus' Channel flight, French pilot Hugues Duval took his two-engine, one-seat Cricri electric plane from Calais to Dover and back.
(AP, 7/10/15)
2015 Jul 23, Brazil's government said the jobless rate in Latin America's largest country rose for the sixth straight month in June.
(AP, 7/23/15)
2015 Jul 31, Brazil's state-owned oil company received the equivalent of more than $20 million that was recovered as a result of an investigation into a corruption-kickback scandal engulfing Petrobras. This represented about 80 percent of the nearly $29 million repatriated in April from a Swiss bank account opened by former Petrobras executive Pedro Barusco. He's charged with receiving bribes from some of the country's top construction firms.
(AP, 7/31/15)
2015 Jul, Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rousseff scrapped an 11-year agreement with Ukraine to launch satellites aboard Ukrainian Cyclone-4 rockets from its Alcantara spaceport in Maranhao province.
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.29)
2015 Aug 3, Brazil's federal police arrested former government minister Jose Dirceu, one of the most senior members of the ruling Workers' Party to be jailed so far in a probe of alleged corruption at state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 8/3/15)
2015 Aug 6, In northeastern Brazil Gleydson Carvalho, a radio journalist in the town of Camocim, Ceara state, was shot five times at point blank range. Police suspected political motives for the murder.
(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 8, In Brazil at least 30 boats of all sizes paraded across Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay to protest contamination in the waters where sailing events will be held next year during the Olympic Games.
(AP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 13, In Brazil at least 17 people were shot to death within the span of about three hours in the suburbs of Sao Paulo. Police soon began investigating whether the string of murders were a coordinated act of revenge by off-duty officers following the nearby deaths of two colleagues.
(AP, 8/14/15)(Reuters, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 15, Brazil's labor ministry said its inspectors have found 11 men hired by the construction firm building the athletes' village for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics living in slave-like conditions.
(AP, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 16, In Brazil demonstrators took to the streets of cities and towns across the country for a day of nationwide anti-government protests.
(AP, 8/16/15)
2015 Aug 20, Brazil’s attorney general filed corruption charges against Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the lower house of Congress. He was accused of accepting $5 million in bribes in connection with the construction of two Petrobras drilling ships.
(SSFC, 8/23/15, p.A4)
2015 Aug 24, Brazil's government announced it will slash the number of ministries and reduce its spending, in an effort to show commitment to austerity that could be politically costly for President Dilma Rousseff.
(Reuters, 8/24/15)
2015 Sep 7, President Dilma Rousseff said Brazil will welcome Syrian refugees with open arms. Brazil has already taken in more than 2,000 Syrian refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
(AFP, 9/8/15)
2015 Sep 15, Norway said it will make a final $100-million payment to Brazil this year to complete a $1-billion project that rewards a slowdown in forest loss in the Amazon basin.
(Reuters, 9/15/15)
2015 Sep 27, Brazil pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent by 2030 as its contribution to a UN climate agreement, but said it will include reductions from past efforts against deforestation to help it reach the target. Pres. Dilma Rousseff presented the country's pledges during a speech at the UN General Assembly in NYC.
(Reuters, 9/27/15)
2015 Sep, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Brazil’s credit rating from investment grade to junk. In a fortnight the real plunged from 3.8 to the dollar to 4.2. The country was said to be losing 100,000 formal jobs a month.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.38)
2015 Oct 2, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a major government reshuffle, axing eight ministries in a cost-cutting measure that analysts say also aims to protect the embattled leader from impeachment threats.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 21, Brazil's opposition filed a new impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff, accusing her of illegal accounting practices.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern Brazil a mudslide erupted from a reservoir of waste at the partly Australian-owned Samarco iron ore and minerals mine, ripping the roofs off houses in Bento Rodrigues, Minas Gerais state. 122 homes were buried in mud. At least 12 people were killed. Losses to municipalities were later estimated at 1.2 billion reais ($308 million), not considering the environmental problems.
(AFP, 11/6/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A2)(Reuters, 2/4/16)
2015 Nov 10, In Brazil 2 executives of the country’s second-biggest private bank were killed in a jet crash in Goias state. The unnamed pilot and co-pilot were also killed.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 12, The Brazilian government said its environmental protection agency has fined Volkswagen $13 million over the automaker's emissions cheating scheme.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Brazil ice vendor Fabiano Machado da Silva (33) was killed by a crowd of ten people in the Ipanema neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 24, Brazil's environmental assets exchange BVRio launched an app that promises to help foreign traders and buyers of Brazilian timber make sure the product hasn't been illegally logged.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 25, Brazilian police arrested Senator Delcidio do Amaral, a senior ruling party senator and a billionaire investment banker, in the intensifying probe of a huge corruption network centered on state oil giant Petrobras.
(AFP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 27, Brazil announced plans to sue Samarco's co-owners, BHP and Brazilian miner Vale, for damages for 20 billion reais ($5.2 billion) over the Nov 5 bursting of a dam in Bento Rodrigues.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Brazil Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, triggered an impeachment process against Pres. Dilma Rousseff on grounds that she illegally manipulated government accounts. Cunha was one of 34 sitting congressmen under investigation in the bribery scandal centered on Petrobras.
(AFP, 12/3/15)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.36)
2015 Dec 3, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's party appealed to the Supreme Court to block impeachment proceedings against her.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Brazil impeachment proceedings against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced their first major hurdle with the formation of a special congressional committee that will analyze the accusations against her.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 9, Brazil's Supreme Court suspended impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff until it can rule on the constitutional validity of the opposition bid to impeach her.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Brazil dozens of cities staged protests asking Congress to impeach President Dilma Rousseff.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 15, Brazil's federal police carried out sweeping raids in the homes and offices of top political figures ensnared in a massive corruption investigation.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 16, Fitch became the 2nd of three big credit-rating agencies to downgrade Brazil’s debt to junk states. Standard & Poor’s soon followed Fitch. On Dec 18 finance minister Joaquim Levy resigned in despair after a year on the job.
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.7,14)
2015 Dec 17, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the release of billionaire financier André Esteves, who has been in jail since Nov. 25 on suspicion he sought to obstruct a corruption investigation.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)fs
2015 Dec 17, The popular WhatsApp smartphone messaging application came back to life in Brazil as a court threw out a two-day suspension that had infuriated millions of users. A judge had suspended it because the Facebook-owned service failed to disclose information requested by prosecutors as part of a criminal investigation.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 18, A judge in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais froze the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Brazil gunmen opened fire in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown killing two boys ages 11 and 17.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Brazil police in Rio de Janeiro tortured five young people, aged between 13 and 23, on Christmas night, allegedly burning them and sexually molesting them after demanding extortion money.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 31, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the so-called LDO law overruling more than 50 amendments made by lawmakers in the nation's budget guidelines law for this year, including reductions to her flagship social program and a ban on state foreign financing for some projects.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Misha Glenny authored “Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio."
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.78)
2015 Dec, Brazil declared a national public health emergency due to the mosquito-born Zika virus.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.73)
2016 Jan 8, In Brazil police used tear gas, stun grenades and pepper spray to disperse sometimes violent demonstrations against bus fare increases in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 1/8/16)
2016 Jan 13, Brazil's federal police indicted mining companies Samarco, Vale and VogBR and seven of their executives for the Nov 5 dam burst that caused Latin America's biggest environmental tragedy on record.
(AP, 1/14/16)
2016 Jan 14, Brazil’s federal Judge Maria Carolina Valente do Carmo suspended the operating license for a massive hydroelectric dam in the Amazon jungle state of Para weeks before the first of its 24 turbines is scheduled to begin generating electricity. She said Norte Energia consortium has failed to comply with a previously established requirement that called for the reopening the regional offices of the federal indigenous affairs department in the area where the dam is being built.
(AP, 1/15/16)
2016 Jan 15, The Brazilian government announced it will direct funds to a biomedical research center to help develop a vaccine against the Zika virus linked to brain damage in babies.
(AP, 1/16/16)
2016 Jan 23, In Brazil 40 inmates escaped in the northeastern city of Recife. 36 were soon returned to custody, two killed, one hospitalized and one remained at large.
(AFP, 1/24/16)
2016 Jan 27, Brazil's Federal Police launched the latest stage of a sweeping investigation into corruption at state-controlled firms, with six arrest and 15 search warrants issued in the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina.
(Reuters, 1/27/16)
2016 Feb 4, Brazilian officials said they're sending a set of samples related to the Zika outbreak to the United States, a move which follows complaints that the country was hoarding disease data and biological material.
(AP, 2/5/16)
2016 Feb 19, The Brazilian government announced nearly $6 billion in spending cuts in its 2016 budget amid the country's worst recession in decades.
(AP, 2/19/16)
2016 Mar 2, Mining company Samarco and its owners, BHP Billiton and Vale SA, reached a deal with the Brazilian government to pay an estimated 20 billion reais ($5.1 billion) in damages over 15 years for a deadly dam spill in November.
(Reuters, 3/3/16)
2016 Mar 3, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to charge Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the federal Chamber of Deputies, with accepting bribes linked to the award of Petrobras of contracts for building two oil-drilling ships.
(Econ, 3/12/16, p.33)
2016 Mar 4, Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was briefly detained for questioning in a federal investigation of a vast corruption scheme, fanning a political crisis that threatens to topple his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Brazil Marcelo Odebrecht, former head of the country’s biggest construction company, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for corrupt dealings with Petrobras.
(Econ, 3/12/16, p.12)
2016 Mar 9, In Brazil prosecutors filed charges against former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva connected to claims of money laundering and misrepresentation of assets.
(SFC, 3/10/16, p.A2)
2016 Mar 11, Brazilian officials said mudslides and flooding caused by overnight heavy downpours have killed at least 15 people including a 4-year-old boy in low-income neighborhoods on Sao Paulo's outskirts.
(AP, 3/11/16)
2016 Mar 13, In Brazil tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets in hope of bringing down President Dilma Rousseff over corruption and a crumbling economy.
(AFP, 3/13/16)
2016 Mar 15, Brazil's Supreme Court said it had accepted a plea agreement offered by prosecutors to Senator Delcídio do Amaral, a legislative ally of President Dilma Rousseff until he was arrested last year in a far-reaching corruption scandal. Newsmagazine Veja said that Amaral in the plea agreement accused Rousseff aides of trying to pay him to keep quiet.
(Reuters, 3/15/16)
2016 Mar 16, It was reported that former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take over as chief of staff for his successor Dilma Rousseff. The move offers Lula short-term protection from prosecutors who have charged him with money laundering and fraud. Dilma's invitation to Lula raised expectations of a sharp policy swing. The appointment triggered large protests in several Brazilian cities.
(AP, 3/16/16)(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 17, In Brazil a federal judge in Brasilia issued an injunction suspending the appointment of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as minister. Supporters of da Silva clashed briefly with opponents of his Workers' Party outside the presidential palace, where he was due to be sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff.
(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 18, Brazilian riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to clear anti-government protesters from Sao Paulo's central Avenue Paulista, ahead of a planned demonstration in favor of embattled President Dilma Rousseff.
(Reuters, 3/18/16)
2016 Mar 19, In Brazil Roger Agnelli (56), the former head of mining giant Vale, died along with six other people when a small plane crashed into a residential building in Sao Paulo.
(AFP, 3/20/16)
2016 Mar 22, Brazilian police arrested dozens of suspects in a massive anti-corruption sweep across the country targeting what they called a "professional" bribe-paying network at construction giant Odebrecht.
(AFP, 3/22/16)
2016 Apr 4, Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo said politicians from seven parties were named as clients of a Panama-based firm at the center of a massive data leak over possible tax evasion.
(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 5, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge ruled that the lower house of Congress must open impeachment proceedings against Vice-President Michel Temer because he faces the same allegations of breaking fiscal rules as Pres. Rousseff.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 5, In Brazil a gas explosion ripped through an apartment complex north of Rio de Janeiro early today, killing 5 people and injuring 13.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 11, In Brazil a congressional committee voted 38-27 that the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff move forward, bringing the possible ouster of the embattled leader a step closer.
(AP, 4/12/16)
2016 Apr 13, In Brazil three parties decamped from the government of Pres. Dilma Rousseff diminishing her chances of surviving impeachment.
(SFC, 4/14/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 17, Brazil’s lower house voted 367-137 in favor of impeachment sending the issue to the Senate. If a majority there votes to put Rousseff on trial, she'd be suspended while Vice President Michel Temer temporarily takes over. The exact date of the Senate vote is not known, but it's widely expected by the middle of next month.
(AP, 4/18/16)
2016 Apr 29, A former head of Brazil's forestry service said Brazil was still losing tropical forests the size of two soccer fields every minute, despite attempts to tackle illegal logging and improve local land rights.
(Reuters, 4/29/16)
2016 May 1, Pacific Alliance members (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) eliminated tariffs on 92% of their trade with each other and planned to phase out the rest over 17 years.
(Econ, 5/7/15, p.26)
2016 May 4, Shares in miner BHP Billiton tumbled after Brazil's federal prosecutor launched a $43 billion civil suit for a dam break last November that killed 19 people and caused the worst environmental disaster in the country's history.
(AP, 5/4/16)
2016 May 5, A justice on Brazil's supreme court suspended Eduardo Cunha, the leader of the country's lower house of Congress, removing one of the nation's most powerful politicians who is reviled by many for numerous corruption allegations.
(AP, 5/5/16)
2016 May 9, In Brazil acting Speaker Waldir Maranhao annulled last month’s vote on impeaching Pres. Dilma Rousseff.
(SFC, 5/10/16, p.A5)
2016 May 10, In Brazil the mayor of Sao Paulo signed a decree authorizing the use of smartphone-based ride-sharing applications like Uber. Cab drivers protested that Uber is unfair competition because its drivers don’t have to pay city fees or undergo official inspections.
(SFC, 5/10/16, p.C2)
2016 May 11, Senators in Brazil began debate on whether to oust President Dilma Rousseff. If a simple majority of the 81 senators vote in favor, Rousseff will be suspended from office and Vice President Michel Temer will take over for up to six months pending a decision on whether to remove her from office permanently.
(AP, 5/11/16)
2016 May 12, In Brazil centrist VP Michel Temer, of the centrist Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), took the helm of the country, hours after the Senate voted to suspend President Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers’ Party (PT), to stand trial for breaking budgetary laws.
(Reuters, 5/12/16)(Econ, 5/7/16, p.25)
2016 May 23, Brazilian federal police arrested João Cláudio Genu, a former treasurer of one of the parties in the country's ruling coalition, as part of a wide-ranging graft probe centered on state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 5/23/16)
2016 May 24, In Brazil an official with the Landless Workers Movement (MST) promised a new wave of farm occupations following President Dilma Rousseff's suspension to stand trial in the Senate. One percent of Brazil's population owns 45 percent of all the country's land, according to a US government report.
(Reuters, 5/25/16)
2016 May 25, Brazil's Congress authorized a major increase in the budget deficit, handing interim president Michel Temer a first victory in his bid to tackle the Latin American giant's sickly economy.
(AFP, 5/25/16)
2016 May 25, In Brazil a video was posted featuring the girl (16) naked on a bed and apparent rapists bragging that she had been raped by more than 30 men. They were suspected of assaulting her on May 21 in Rio de Janeiro. Online social networks quickly erupted with outrage over the video as police launched an investigation.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2016 May 28, The World Health Organization said there is "no public health justification" for postponing or canceling the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of the Zika outbreak.
(AP, 5/28/16)
2016 May, In Brazil the police of Rio de Janeiro killed 40 people this month.
(Econ, 7/30/16, p.25)
2016 Jun 2, In Brazil Italo Ferreira (10), chased by police, stepped on the gas in a stolen car until police stopped him with a bullet to the head in Sao Paulo. Police said they fired in self-defense because Italo was armed and shot at them from the car. Investigators later alleged the crime scene was tampered with.
(AFP, 6/22/16)
2016 Jun 9, A bus in southern Brazil veered off the side a highway and crashed, leaving 16 dead and 30 injured on the outskirts of Mogi das Cruzes.
(AP, 6/9/16)
2016 Jun 12, In Brazil indigenous activists from the Guarani-Kaiowa group set up a camp in Mato Grosso do Sul state, in a push to have their ancestral land claims formally recognized by the government. Two days later armed farmers attacked the camp, killing one person and seriously wounding six.
(Reuters, 6/29/16)
2016 Jun 17, Brazil's Environment Ministry said it has fined mining company Samarco 142 million reais ($41.6 million) for damages to three protected areas resulting from a tailings dam burst in November.
(Reuters, 6/17/16)
2016 Jun 19, In Brazil five armed men stormed the Hospital Souza Aguiar in Rio de Janeiro to free a suspected drug trafficker. One patient was killed.
(SFC, 6/20/16, p.A2)
2016 Jun 20, In Brazil Oi telecom operator made the largest bankruptcy in the country’s history. The company was $19 billion in debt.
(Econ, 6/25/16, p.59)
2016 Jun 24, Brazil’s acting Pres. Michel Temer renewed a bilateral automotive arrangement with Argentina for four years.
(Econ, 7/2/16, p.29)
2016 Jun 30, Brazil's federal police raided the offices of at least 12 builders to seek evidence of a cartel handling railway projects.
(Reuters, 6/30/16)
2016 Jun, In Brazil a chilly snap in the first days of the southern hemisphere winter claimed the lives of at least six people this month in Sao Paulo, home to an estimated 16,000 homeless population.
(AFP, 6/29/16)
2016 Jul 6, In Brazil Several thousand people demonstrated in Rio de Janeiro, calling for a "boycott" of the Olympic Games less than a month ahead of an event plagued by a financial crisis and crime. Most of the protesters were teachers who have been on strike for three months demanding payment of back wages.
(AFP, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 6, The Vatican said Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto of Paraiba who was accused of turning a blind eye to suspected pedophile priests in his diocese.
(Reuters, 7/6/16)
2016 Jul 7, Brazilian police seized documents and questioned suspects to investigate Panama's FPB Bank in connection to a sweeping graft probe of political corruption at state-run companies.
(Reuters, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 13, In Brazil Hector Babenco (70), the Argentine-born Brazilian director of “Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985), died on Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 7/15/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 15, Brazil said it has deported the Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist Adlene Hicheur after rejecting a request for an extension to his work visa. He was convicted in 2012 for his involvement in a French terror plot. Local press reports said Hicheur had been deported to France.
(Reuters, 7/16/16)
2016 Aug 2, Brazil's federal police said they had arrested two people and raided properties over alleged corruption at building firm Queiroz Galvao, widening a sweeping investigation (Operation Carwash) focused on state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 2, In Brazil Olympics chief Thomas Bach called for a complete overhaul of the anti-doping system after revelations of state-backed cheating by Russia rocked preparations for the Rio Games.
(AFP, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 5, Brazilian police arrested Moroccan boxer Hassan Saada (22) for allegedly sexually assaulting two female cleaners on August 3 in Rio’s Olympic Village.
(AFP, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 5, Rio de Janeiro hosted a glittering Olympics opening ceremony party, hoping to draw a line under a turbulent seven-year build-up dogged by recession, drugs scandals, crime and infrastructure stumbles. Security was tight after protests by thousands of Brazilians angry at political upheaval, corruption and the cost of the Games.
(AFP, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 6, Ivo Pitanguy (90), a plastic surgeon whose skill drew celebrities to his operating table from around the world and made him a cultural icon in beauty-obsessed Brazil, died one day after passing the Olympic torch for the Rio Games.
(Reuters, 8/7/16)
2016 Aug 10, Brazil's Senate voted to put suspended President Dilma Rousseff on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal rules in managing the federal budget.
(AP, 8/10/16)
2016 Aug 14, In Brazil American swimmer Ryan Lochte said he, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen were held at gunpoint and robbed several hours after the last Olympic swimming races ended. That claim started unraveling when police said that investigators could not find evidence to substantiate it. Police later said the men, while intoxicated, vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.
(AP, 8/19/16)
2016 Aug 15, Brazil’s Thiago Braz won an unexpected gold medal and set an Olympic record in pole vaulting.
(Econ, 8/20/16, p.25)
2016 Aug 18, Brazilian cyclist Kleber Ramos and Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi were disqualified from the Olympic Games for having failed doping tests. Ramos tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO Cera while Chen took the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.
(AFP, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 18, Kimia Alizadeh won the first ever Olympic medal by an Iranian woman after claiming taekwondo bronze in Rio.
(AFP, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 19, In Brazil Cheick Sallah Cisse was the toast of the Ivory Coast as he won their first ever Olympic gold medal with a killer kick in the last second of the men's under-80kg taekwondo final.
(AFP, 8/20/16)
2016 Aug 19, In Brazil Usain Bolt of Jamaica won his 9th gold medal in the 4x100 relay. Three Olympics, three races at each, three gold medals every time.
(AP, 8/20/16)
2016 Aug 20, Brazil claimed its first Olympic gold in soccer with a win over Germany.
(AP, 8/21/16)
2016 Aug 21, In Brazil the curtain descended on two weeks of high drama at the Rio Games as Tokyo took up the baton and promised to go one better in 2020.
(AFP, 8/22/16)
2016 Aug 21, The Rio police force executed search warrants to seize passports and evidence from Ireland team leader Kevin Kilty, chief executive Stephen Martin and secretary general Dermot Henihan, who are accused of illegally selling Olympic tickets.
(AP, 8/21/16)
2016 Aug 29, Suspended Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff told senators in emotional testimony at her trial that voting for her impeachment would amount to a "coup d'etat."
(AFP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 31, Brazil’s Senate voted 61-20 to impeach Dilma Rousseff, the country’s first female president, making her join the ranks of nearly 12 million unemployed in Latin America's biggest country. The Senate also voted against banning her from politics for eight years, which had been widely considered automatic with an impeachment conviction.
(AFP, 9/1/16)(Econ, 9/3/16, p.29)
2016 Aug, The Brazilian government announced that it would suspend plans for the $9 billion Sao Luiz de Tapajos hydroelectric dam in the Amazon, citing likely impacts on indigenous people and the environment. Munduruku chief, Arnaldo Kaba Munduruku, made a five day journey from the Tapajos basin of northern Para State to London to win backing to fight on until the lands around the dam site are legally recognized as belonging to his people.
(Reuters, 8/19/16)(Econ, 11/5/16, p.29)
2016 Sep 1, In Brazil Michel Temer (75) was sworn in as presient to replace Dilma Rousseff following a bitter impeachment fight.
(AFP, 9/2/16)
2016 Sep 5, Brazil's federal police launched an operation to investigate fraud at pension funds of major state-run companies, carrying out seven arrest warrants, over a hundred search warrants and freezing assets worth 8 billion reais ($2.46 billion).
(Reuters, 9/5/16)
2016 Sep 6, A German court dismissed appeals by 84 Russian athletes seeking to compete at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. Another 10 Russians had a similar application rejected a day earlier as punishment for state-backed doping in the country.
(AP, 9/6/16)
2016 Sep 8, In Brazil the 2016 Paralympic Games opened in Rio de Janeiro. The theme of the opening was: “The heart knows no limits; everybody has a heart."
(CSM, 9/8/16)
2016 Sep 12, In Brazil the Chamber of Deputies stripped the congressional seat from Eduardo Cunha in a 450-10 vote. He had been accused of numerous corruption allegations and obstructing justice. Cunha was in his fourth term and just months ago was considered one of the most powerful men in Brazil.
(AP, 9/13/16)
2016 Sep 13, In Brazil a fire began at the Estrada de Alpina slum in Sao Paulo and quickly took hundreds of homes in its path. The favela is thought to contain about 500 homes.
(Reuters, 9/14/16)
2016 Sep 15, Brazil's federal police said they were conducting search and seizure warrants as part of an investigation into fraudulent public contracts that includes loans from the country's massive state development bank BNDES.
(Reuters, 9/15/16)
2016 Sep 25, In Brazil gunmen killed Ricardo Guimaraes, a retired police captain running for a post on the city council of Itaborai, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 9/26/16, p.A2)
2016 Sep 26, Brazilian authorities said they have arrested Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister who was part of the government of ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe involving state oil giant Petrobras.
(AP, 9/26/16)
2016 Oct 2, Brazilians furious at recession and corruption voted in nationwide municipal elections expected to deal a drubbing to the long-dominant left. The first-round balloting ended in humiliation for the nation's former governing Workers' Party.
(AFP, 10/2/16)(AFP, 10/30/16)
2016 Oct 16, In Brazil a prison riot in the far northern state of Roraima left 25 inmates killed and women visitors taken hostage. Seven of the dead were beheaded and six burned to death.
(AFP, 10/17/16)
2016 Oct 17, In Brazil 8 inmates were killed and burned in a fresh prison riot. Police believed the riot was related to clashes a day earlier between rival factions in another jail that left 25 detainees dead.
(AFP, 10/17/16)
2016 Oct 30, Brazil held nationwide municipal elections in a 2nd round of voting following the first-round on October 2. Marcelo Crivella, a Pentecostal bishop, was elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 10/30/16)(Econ, 11/5/16, p.30)
2016 Oct 31, In southern Brazil a bus and a tanker truck filled with milk burst into flames when they collided, killing 20 people and injuring at least 10 near Cafezal do Sul in Parana state.
(AP, 10/31/16)
2016 Nov 16, Brazilian federal police arrested , Anthony Garotinho, a former Rio de Janeiro state governor, for his alleged involvement in a vote-buying scheme. Military police in Rio de Janeiro shot pepper spray at demonstrators protesting austerity measures. Thousands of state employees have not been paid, or have been paid months late.
(AP, 11/16/16)
2016 Nov 17, In Brazil Sergio Cabral, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro state, was arrested as part of a corruption investigation linked to a World Cup project and other works worth billions of dollars, a blow to Brazil's ruling party that may fuel political instability. Several others were also arrested who served in Cabral’s 2007-2014 administration.
(Reuters, 11/17/16)(SFC, 11/17/16, p.A4)
2016 Nov 19, In Brazil a military helicopter providing support to a police operation in Rio de Janeiro crashed, killing the four officers on board.
(AP, 11/20/16)
2016 Nov 28, In Colombia a plane carrying Brazil’s Chapecoense team soccer team crashed killing 71 people. Six survivors suffered severe trauma injuries. 21 journalists were among the 77 people onboard the British Aerospace 146. The Bolivian plane ran out of fuel moments before slamming into the Andes mountains.
(AP, 11/29/16)(AP, 11/30/16)(SFC, 12/2/16, p.A2)
2016 Nov, In Brazil Edmar Bacha (b.1942) became the third economist to join the Brazilian Academy of Letters, whose members are known as the “immortals." He was one of the architects of the Real Plan, which tamed inflation in 1994.
(Econ, 4/15/17, p.31)
2016 Dec 4, In Brazil demonstrators marched in major cities across the country, protesting government corruption and a recent vote in Congress that was widely perceived as an effort to intimidate judges and prosecutors currently leading graft probes.
(Reuters, 12/4/16)
2016 Dec 5, Brazilian police raided the homes of two former members of a parliamentary inquiry into graft at state oil company Petrobras, seeking evidence they extorted money from contractors who wanted to avoid being summoned as witnesses.
(Reuters, 12/5/16)
2016 Dec 6, Brazil's currency and stocks seesawed as a Supreme Court decision to remove Senate president Renan Calheiros because he has been indicted on embezzlement charges raised doubts about upcoming votes on the government's austerity agenda.
(Reuters, 12/6/16)
2016 Dec 11, In Brazil Yuri Lourenco da Silva (19), the son of singer Tati Quebra Barraco, was killed along with and another man in a police operation early today in the City of God slum.
(AP, 12/11/16)
2016 Dec 14, In Brazil Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns (95) died after a long struggle with lung and kidney problems. Arns, archbishop of Sao Paulo between 1970 and 1998, was one of the Catholic Church's most prominent pro-democracy voices in Latin America.
(AP, 12/14/16)
2016 Dec 15, Brazilian federal prosecutors charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with more corruption charges tied to the massive probe into graft at state-run oil company Petrobras.
(Reuters, 12/15/16)
2016 Dec 19, In Brazil a judge ruled that former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face a fifth corruption trial, as charges pile up against the man seen as a front-runner to win the 2018 presidential election.
(Reuters, 12/19/16)
2016 Dec 21, Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA pleaded guilty in a US court to violating American foreign bribery laws as part of a deal resolving a sweeping corruption probe of Brazil's state oil company. Odebrecht admitted that it had paid bribes to win contracts across Latin America including Peru. It said that it had paid $29 million in Peru between 2005 and 2014 to secure concessions.
(Reuters, 12/21/16)(Econ, 3/25/17, p.29)
2016 Dec 26, In Brazil Kyriakos Amoiridis (59), the Greek ambassador to Brazil, was last seen. His wife Francoise reported him missing on Dec 28. On Dec 29 his burned-out rental car was found with a body inside. On Dec 30 police said Françoise and police officer Sergio Moreira had arranged and possibly carried out the killing of Amiridis in a home where the diplomat and his wife were staying in a poor section in the northern suburb of Rio as Officer Sergio Moreira (29) confessed that he killed the ambassador.
(AFP, 12/30/16)(Reuters, 12/30/16)(Reuters, 12/31/16)
2016 Dec 27, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said it's trying to find Brazilian migrants who disappeared during an attempt to reach the United States by way of the Bahamas. Families of the missing migrants lost contact with them on Nov 6, and reported the issue to authorities on Nov 15.
(AP, 12/27/16)
2016 Dec 31, In Brazil a gunman stormed a house party and killed 13 people and himself late today during New Year celebrations in the southeastern city of Campinas. The shooter was believed to have been angry over a separation from his former wife, who was among those killed. The couple's 8-year-old son also died.
(Reuters, 1/1/17)(SFC, 1/2/17, p.A2)
2016 Alex Cuadros authored “Brazillionaires The Godfathers of Modern Brazil."
(Econ, 6/11/16, p.85)
2016 Brazil’s gross domestic product shrank 3.6 percent in 2016 following a dip of 3.8 percent in 2015.
(AP, 3/7/17)
2016 In Brazil a woman was reportedly murdered every two hours this year.
(SFC, 3/14/18, p.A4)
2016 Italy ranked as the world’s 8th biggest economy, just ahead of Brazil.
(Econ, 1/30/16, p.68)
2016 The US allowed Brazilian beef into the country after two decades of talks.
(Econ, 3/25/17, p.59)
2017 Jan 1, In Brazil a rebellion began late today at the Anisio Jobim prison complex in Manaus. By the next day 57 people were killed in the riot sparked by a war between rival drug gangs. Many of those slain were beheaded or dismembered. An estimated 225 inmates escaped and only 48 were recaptured. Officials later said members of the FDN, Familia do Norte (Family of the North), organized the massacre seeking to wipe out the Sao Paulo-based rival Comando da Capital (PCC).
(Reuters, 1/2/17)(AP, 1/3/17)(AP, 2/22/17)(Econ, 1/7/17, p.26)
2017 Jan 3, Nigerian anti-drug officers said they found 9.15 kg (20 pounds) of cocaine worth $4.7 million "factory-packed" inside a new pair of shoes that arrived at Abuja airport on a flight from Brazil.
(Reuters, 1/3/17)
2017 Jan 5, Brazilian President Michel Temer said the country will build new prisons in every state to relieve overcrowding after a "horrific" riot that left 56 inmates dead.
(AFP, 1/5/17)
2017 Jan 6, Brazil was hit by its second explosion of grisly prison violence this week, as inmates beheaded and mutilated their rivals at the Monte Cristo Farm Penitentiary (PAMC) in Roraima state, leaving at least 33 dead.
(AFP, 1/6/17)
2017 Jan 8, Brazilian authorities confirmed that four more inmates have died in a penitentiary rebellion in the city of Manaus, as the overall death toll from a week of bloodshed in Brazilian prisons approached 100.
(AP, 1/8/17)
2017 Jan 15, Brazilian police entered the Alcaçuz prison in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte where authorities expect the death toll from a riot to rise from the current 10. Members of rival drug gangs apparently started the clash a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/15/17)
2017 Jan 16, Brazilian authorities said a new uprising has broken out at the Alcaçuz prison where 26 inmates were killed by a rival gang faction over the weekend.
(Reuters, 1/16/17)
2017 Jan 16, British company Rolls Royce, in a deal with American, British and Brazilian regulators, agreed to pay £671 million to settle allegations that it had in the past secured sales with bribery of officials in six countries in schemes that lasted more than a decade.
(Econ, 1/21/17, p.54)(Reuters, 5/8/20)
2017 Jan 17, Brazilian police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a renewed clash between drug gangs in the Alcaçuz prison where 26 inmates were butchered by rivals in recent days.
(Reuters, 1/17/17)
2017 Jan 18, In Brazil a heavily armed military police force entered the Alcacuz prison without violence. Authorities said they were transferring 220 inmates to other prisons to avoid more clashes.
(AP, 1/19/17)
2017 Jan 19, In Brazil images on Globo television showed prisoners at the Alcacuz Penitentiary in the yard, throwing rocks at each other and setting up barriers. Injured inmates could be seen being carried away.
(AP, 1/19/17)
2017 Jan 19, In Brazil a plane crash killed Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki just weeks before he was scheduled to issue a ruling that could have revealed accusations against politicians in several Latin American countries. Four others were also killed. The crash was likely to delay, though not derail, the "Car Wash" investigation, the largest corruption investigation in Brazil's history.
(AP, 1/20/17)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.30)
2017 Jan 20, Police in Peru arrested former transport official Edwn Luyo as part of a massive graft scandal implicating Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and several regional governments. Luyo headed the committee that awarded Odebrecht a contract in 2009 to build Lima's elevated metro.
(AP, 1/21/17)
2017 Jan 21, In northeastern Brazil military police took control of Alcacuz prison after fighting between rival gangs had left 26 inmates dead, the latest in a spate of violence in the country's penitentiaries.
(AP, 1/21/17)
2017 Jan 26, Brazilian police issued an arrest warrant for businessman Eike Batista, famous for amassing and then losing a multi-billion-dollar fortune.
(AP, 1/26/17)
2017 Jan 27, Brazilian construction company Odebrecht said it was willing to sell off its remaining projects and businesses in Peru as it faces a massive graft inquiry and calls from the government to leave the Andean country.
(Reuters, 1/27/17)
2017 Jan 30, The head of Brazil's Supreme Court validated 77 plea bargains with officials from a construction giant targeted by a major corruption probe, a step that is likely to significantly widen investigations into top politicians and businessmen.
(AP, 1/30/17)
2017 Jan 30, In Brazil fallen tycoon Eike Batista (60) was arrested at Rio de Janeiro's airport after returning to face corruption charges. He personified Brazil's economic boom and once boasted he'd become the world's richest man.
(AFP, 1/30/17)
2017 Jan 31, Brazil said unemployment hit a record 12 percent between October and December, even as the economy is forecast to slowly exit deep recession.
(AFP, 1/31/17)
2017 Jan, In Brazil Joao Doria, the new mayor of Sao Paulo, helped paint over 70 panels of street art along Avenida 23 de Maio dating back to 2015. The move sparked a protest and the mayor promised a museum of street art to showcase authorized, privately funded murals by artists chosen by an independent committee.
(SFC, 3/25/17, p.A4)
2017 Feb 2, Brazil's Supreme Court named Justice Edson Fachin to oversee cases against politicians caught in a giant corruption probe after the previous judicial pointman Teori Zavascki was killed in an air crash.
(AFP, 2/2/17)
2017 Feb 4, In Brazil police in Espirito Santo state went on strike. During the ten day strike 143 people were murdered as all hell broke out in Vitoria, the state capital.
(Econ, 2/25/17, p.30)
2017 Feb 7, Brazilian federal troops began to reestablish control over the state of Espirito Santo, where scores of people are reported to have been killed since the police went on strike. Police stopped patrolling on Feb 4 and criminals quickly ran amok.
(AFP, 2/7/17)
2017 Feb 8, A Brazilian zoologist said an outbreak of yellow fever has claimed the lives of more than 600 monkeys and dozens of humans in the Atlantic rainforest region, threatening the survival of rare South American primates.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 9, In Brazil more than 100 people have been reported killed, with schools and businesses closed and public transportation at a standstill, as a six-day strike by police in the state of Espirito Santo showed no signs of abating.
(Reuters, 2/9/17)
2017 Feb 9, Panamanian prosecutors took law firm partners Ramon Fonseca Mora and Jurgen Mossack into custody and searched their offices. The Mossack-Fonseca firm has been accused of setting up offshore accounts that allowed the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht to funnel bribes to multiple countries. On April 21 Mora and Mossack were released on bail.
(SSFC, 2/12/17, p.A4)(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.A4)
2017 Feb 10, In Brazil Public Safety Director Andre Garcia said 703 military police officers in Espirito Santo have been charged with the crime of revolt. Military police patrol Brazil’s cities and are barred by law from going on strike.
(SFC, 2/11/17, p.A2)
2017 Feb 11, In Brazil military police in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo rejected a return-to-work agreement aimed at ending a strike that has paralyzed several cities and led to an outburst of violence in which more than 130 people have reportedly died. More than 3,000 federal troops now patrolled the streets.
(AP, 2/11/17)
2017 Feb 12, Brazil’s state's Department of Public Safety said in a statement that nearly 900 military police officers are on duty in Espirito Santo. On a normal day, around 2,000 officers would be patrolling. Families and friends of the police officers continued their protest outside barracks, demanding higher pay for the officers.
(AP, 2/12/17)
2017 Feb 14, Brazilian President Michel Temer issued a decree to deploy 9,000 soldiers in Rio de Janeiro's metropolitan area until Feb. 22, one week before Carnaval ends. The soldiers are to help out amid police officers' strike threats and riots led by anarchists during state legislature votes on austerity measures as the annual Carnaval celebrations take off.
(AP, 2/14/17)
2017 Feb 16, In southeastern Brazil two passenger buses collided head-on, killing at least nine people and injuring 46 near the city of Teodoro Sampaio west of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 2/16/17)
2017 Feb 24, Revelers across Brazil began Carnival celebrations, taking to the streets to dance, drink beer and spirits, and blow off steam at a time of economic angst and fury with politicians over a sprawling corruption scandal.
(AP, 2/25/17)
2017 Feb, Brazil’s only aircraft carrier, never battle-ready, was mothballed.
(Econ 7/8/17, p.31)
2017 Mar 11, In Brazil Watila Santos (38) died from yellow fever in Casimiro de Abreu, 93 miles (150 km) from Rio de Janeiro. Around 30,000 of the city's 42,000 people were soon vaccinated.
(AP, 3/18/17)
2017 Mar 15, Brazilian civil servants, rural workers and labor confederations staged nationwide demonstrations against President Michel Temer's pension reform plan, with hundreds of protesters occupying the premises of the finance ministry in Brasilia.
(Reuters, 3/15/17)
2017 Mar 17, Brazilian federal police raided dozens of meatpacker offices, including industry giants JBS SA and BRF SA, following a two-year investigation into alleged bribery of regulators to subvert inspections of their plants. "Operation Weak Flesh" had already uncovered about 40 cases of meatpackers who had bribed inspectors and politicians to overlook unsanitary practices.
(Reuters, 3/17/17)
2017 Mar 21, Brazil's federal police raided the offices of people close to several prominent senators in the latest phase of a sweeping, three-year corruption probe.
(Reuters, 3/21/17)
2017 Mar 21, Brazil’s agriculture ministry said Hong Kong has banned all meat imports from Brazil, another blow from a police investigation into corruption among health inspectors and the alleged selling of rotten products by some meatpackers.
(Reuters, 3/21/17)
2017 Mar 31, Tens of thousands of Brazilians returned to the streets to protest reforms backed by President Michel Temer's conservative government.
(AFP, 3/31/17)
2017 Mar, Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA, ordered the suspension of two JBS meat packing plants and 13 others in southwest Pará state for buying cattle raised on pastures cleared by slashing and burning the forest. It fined the company 24 million reais ($7.7 million). JBS denied purchasing livestock from ranchers on land blacklisted by IBAMA and won an injunction from a federal judge allowing its plants to continue buying cattle. The agency appealed the ruling.
(Reuters, 4/2/17)
2017 Mar, In Brazil the howler-monkey population in Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais states was reported to be crashing. Doctors suspected this was due to yellow fever. Since December 371 human cases have been reported, a third of them fatal.
(Econ, 3/18/17, p.79)
2017 Apr 6, The former head of Brazilian aquatics confederation was arrested in a fraud probe that allegedly involved sports officials embezzling public funds. Federal police arrested five people for the alleged embezzlement of up to 40 million reais ($13 million) in public funds to benefit the country's water sports association.
(AP, 4/6/17)(Reuters, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 6, Brazilian prosecutors said a federal court has suspended the operating license of the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on environmental grounds. They said operators must complete basic sanitation works in the city of Altamira before filling the dam's reservoir.
(Reuters, 4/7/17)
2017 Apr 7, In Brazil six inmates died at the Unidade Prisional do Puraquequara in Manaus where riots killed dozens of prisoners earlier this year. The circumstances of the deaths were unclear.
(AP, 4/8/17)
2017 Apr 12, In Brazil Marcio Faria, a former Odebrecht executive, testified in a plea bargain that construction giant Odebrecht paid $40 million to President Michel Temer's party and another party in 2010 to ensure a contract with the state oil company.
(AP, 4/13/17)
2017 Apr 12, In Brazil Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin authorized prosecutors to investigate eight government ministers, 24 senators, 30 lower house deputies and three governors in a corruption probe centered on state-controlled oil company Petrobras.
(Econ, 4/22/17, p.29)
2017 Apr 28, In Brazil nationwide strikes led by unions to protest President Michel Temer's austerity measures crippled public transport in several major cities across the nation, while factories, businesses and schools closed.
(Reuters, 4/28/17)
2017 Apr 30, In Brazil Eike Batista, the mining and oil magnate who was once Brazil's richest man, left prison for house arrest ahead of a trial on corruption charges.
(Reuters, 4/30/17)
2017 May 2, In Brazil several public buses were torched in Rio de Janeiro. Police said ski-masked bandits were suspected, possibly in retaliation for a police operation.
(SFC, 5/3/17, p.A2)
2017 May 7, It was reported that Brazilian officials are urging residents to stop killing wild monkeys in an attempt to halt an expanding yellow fever outbreak.
(SSFC, 5/7/17, p.C14)
2017 May 15, Albanian authorities said they have blocked 26 metric tons of poultry imported from Brazil because it was found to contain high levels of salmonella. The poultry had arrived at the Durres port some days ago.
(AP, 5/15/17)
2017 May 17, Brazil’s O Globo newspaper reported that Pres. Michel Temer had been caught on tape endorsing the payment of hush money to politician Eduardo Cunha, already convicted of taking bribes. The tape was recorded by billionaire Joesley Batista Sobrinho. In the weeks that followed the Batistas sold more than 300m Reais’ worth of JBS shares and bought dollars.
(Econ 5/20/17, p.29)(Econ 5/27/17, p.32)
2017 May 18, Brazilian Pres. Michel Temer resisted calls to resign after allegations surfaced that he condoned the bribery of a potential witness in a graft investigation, raising doubts about the future of austerity measures in Congress and sending markets tumbling.
(Reuters, 5/18/17)
2017 May 21, In Brazil unions and leftist groups and parties staged protests throughout the country demanding that Pres. Michel Temer leave office following allegations of corruption.
(AP, 5/21/17)
2017 May 22, Shares in Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA tumbled after a May 19 deadline passed for the company to accept an 11.2 billion reais ($3.4 billion) fine prosecutors have proposed to settle charges its controlling shareholders paid extensive bribes to politicians.
(Reuters, 5/22/17)
2017 May 23, Brazilian police arrested presidential aide Tadeu Filippelli and two ex-governors as part of an investigation into the 2014 World Cup's most expensive stadium, another black eye for the country's political establishment that adds pressure on President Michel Temer.
(Reuters, 5/23/17)(SFC, 5/24/17, p.A2)
2017 May 25, Brazil's Pres. Michael Temer cancelled an order to deploy the military to the streets of the capital after criticism that the move, made a day earlier, was excessive and merely an effort to hold onto power amid increasing calls for his resignation.
(AP, 5/25/17)
2017 May 25, It was reported that researchers in Brazil are experimenting with a new treatment for severe burns using the skin of tilapia fish, an unorthodox procedure they say can ease the pain of victims and cut medical costs.
(Reuters, 5/25/17)
2017 Jun 1, Brazilian federal police carried out raids in a probe of suspected corruption in the 2012 mayoral race in Sao Paulo, South America's largest city. Federal police in Rio de Janeiro carried out raids and served one arrest warrant in a probe of suspected fraud in contracts to supply meals to schools and prisons.
(Reuters, 6/1/17)
2017 Jun 3, Former Brazilian lawmaker Rodrigo Rocha Loures, a close aide and friend of President Michel Temer, was arrested at his home in a corruption investigation that also targeted the president.
(Reuters, 6/3/17)
2017 Jun 9, Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal's 4-3 vote late today to reject allegations of illegal campaign finance gave Pres. Michel Temer a lifeline amid widespread calls that he resign in the face of a corruption scandal.
(AP, 6/10/17)
2017 Jun 13, In Brazil Sergio Cabral, a former governor of Rio de Janeiro, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
(Econ 6/17/17, p.34)
2017 Jun 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart Michel Temer signed a statement on "strengthening a strategic dialogue on foreign policy issues" following talks at the Kremlin.
(AP, 6/21/17)
2017 Jun 23, Norway’s PM Erna Solberg warned Brazil’s Pres. Michel Temer to curb deforestation in the Amazon or Norway will reduce its financial contribution to the Amazon fund.
(SFC, 6/24/17, p.A2)
2017 Jun 26, A Brazilian court sentenced former finance minister Antonio Palocci to 12 years in prison for corruption and money laundering in the country's massive corruption probe known as "Operation Car Wash." Brazil’s attorney general formally accused pres. Michel Temer of corruption, making him the first sitting president in Latin America to face criminal charges.
(Reuters, 6/26/17)(SFC, 6/27/17, p.A2)
2017 Jun 30, Brazilian labor unions staged peaceful nationwide demonstrations against scandal-hit President Michel Temer, seeking to stop his unpopular administration from pushing through Congress changes to labor and pension laws.
(Reuters, 6/30/17)
2017 Jul 1, Brazilian police in Mato Grosso captured Luiz Carlos da Rocha, a major drug lord known as "White Head," who used plastic surgeries to help him evade authorities for nearly three decades. Police also seized approximately $10 million worth of the drug lord's assets, including planes, properties and luxury cars.
(AP, 7/2/17)
2017 Jul 3, In Brazil the billionaire Batista family's 10.3 billion-real ($3.1 billion) leniency deal sparked anger over what many saw as lax penalties and a lack of transparency. Many Brazilians questioned Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot's plea deal by which he decided not to jail brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista - who admitted to bribing nearly 2,000 politicians.
(Reuters, 7/4/17)
2017 Jul 12, In Brazil former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was found guilty of corruption and money laundering and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.
(SFC, 7/13/17, p.A3)
2017 Jul 13, In Brazil a congressional committee rejected a recommendation to try Pres. Michel Temer for corruption.
(SFC, 7/14/17, p.A5)
2017 Jul 13, Brazil’s Pres. Michael Temer signed into law an overhaul of the country’s 1943 labor law, to become effective in four months time.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.52)
2017 Jul 17, A spasm of violence in Rio claimed another life as a policeman was shot dead, a day after a gun battle sparked panic on the road to the airport and prompted some drivers to seek shelter in the trunks of their cars. Officers were fired on during the morning shift change in a favela called Mangueira.
(AFP, 7/17/17)
2017 Jul 27, Brazilian federal police arrested former Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Aldemir Bendine on suspicion he received large bribes from construction conglomerate Odebrecht.
(Reuters, 7/27/17)
2017 Jul 28, In Brazil thousands of soldiers began patrolling Rio de Janeiro amid a spike in violence. The deployment aimed at fighting organized crime gangs, which control many of the city's hundreds of slums.
(AP, 7/28/17)
2017 Aug 2, Brazil’s legislators voted 263 to 227 against referring Pres. Michel Temer, indicted on June 26, to the Supreme Court.
(Econ, 8/19/17, p.27)
2017 Aug 3, In Brazil federal police and labor investigators raided a Word of Faith Fellowship church and school in Franco da Rocha. The South Carolina-based church was accused of physical and psychological abuse of students and funneling students from Brazil to the US to work for little or no pay at church associated businesses.
(SFC, 10/11/17, p.A3)
2017 Aug 5, In Brazil thousands of army troops raided Rio de Janeiro slums in a pre-dawn crackdown on crime gangs, leaving parts of the city looking like a war zone on the first anniversary of the opening of the Olympic Games.
(AFP, 8/5/17)
2017 Aug 5, The South American trade bloc Mercosur, meeting in San Paulo, decided to suspend Venezuela for failing to follow democratic norms.
(AP, 8/5/17)
2017 Aug 18, Brazilian authorities announced two new phases of their Car Wash operation, ensnaring US asphalt maker Sargeant Marine, six Greek shipping companies and a former Brazilian congressman in the wide-ranging graft probe.
(Reuters, 8/18/17)
2017 Aug 21, Brazil's army went into action again to support police in raids on some of Rio de Janeiro's most violent favelas. A soldier (19) was arrested on suspicion of having tipped off gangs several hours before the operation took place.
(AFP, 8/21/17)
2017 Aug 22, In northern Brazil a boat carrying 70 people sank late today on the Xingu River in Para state. 15 people made it to shore and 10 bodies were recovered.
(SFC, 8/24/17, p.A2)
2017 Aug 23, Venezuela's fugitive former top prosecutor Luisa Ortega (59) resurfaced in Brazil claiming to possess "a lot" of proof of President Nicolas Maduro's corruption and to warn that her life remains in danger.
(AFP, 8/23/17)
2017 Aug 24, In Brazil a commuter boat carrying more than 100 passengers flipped and sank on the Bay of All Saints off the coast of Salvador city. At least 18 people were killed and dozens left missing.
(SFC, 8/25/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 1, Brazilian President Michel Temer visited China as his country seeks investments to shore up its flagging economy. Temer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of next week's summit of BRICS nations in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.
(AP, 9/1/17)
2017 Sep 4, In Brazil more than 800 federal police fanned out in five states and the federal district to serve 190 search and seizure warrants and more than 120 arrest warrants in a crackdown on a drug-trafficking ring.
(AP, 9/4/17)
2017 Sep 8, In Brazil regional authorities confirmed the alleged massacre of several indigenous people from an uncontacted Amazonian tribe reportedly killed by illegal miners in August in the Sao Paulo municipality of Olivenca on the Vale do Javari indigenous land in Amazonas state. Prosecutors were also investigating another complaint about the alleged killing of indigenous people from the isolated Warikama Djapar tribe in Ma, which has not been confirmed.
(AFP, 9/8/17)
2017 Sep 10, Brazil Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin ordered the arrest of billionaire Joesley Batista, one of the owners of the world´s largest meatpackers, JBS SA, and one of his executives.
(Reuters, 9/10/17)
2017 Sep 13, Brazilian police arrested Wesley Batista, the CEO of the world's largest meatpacker, for allegedly using their own plea bargains to gain an advantage in financial markets.
(AP, 9/13/17)
2017 Sep 14, Brazil's attorney general, Rodrigo Janot, charged Pres. Michel Temer with obstruction of justice and leading a criminal organization.
(SFC, 9/15/17 p.A4)(Econ, 9/23/17, p.31)
2017 Sep 14, Brazil's federal police conducted a raid and search operation at the house of Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi in Brasilia, related to an ongoing bribery and graft scandal.
(Reuters, 9/14/17)
2017 Sep 27, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted 6-5 to authorize state schools to promote specific religions. Students however cannot be compelled to attend religious classes.
(SFC, 9/28/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 28, A new poll in Brazil says embattled President Michel Temer's already dismal approval rating has sunk even further to a new historic low. Just 3 percent of respondents in the Ibope Institute survey approved of Temer's administration, while 77 percent disapprove. The rest rated his performance as average.
(AP, 9/28/17)
2017 Oct 4, In Brazil Cesare Battisti (62), an Italian fugitive and former leftist guerrilla convicted of murder in his own country was detained him at the Bolivian border. On Oct 6. a judge ordered him released. Battisti was convicted of being a member of an armed gang in his homeland in 1979, then escaped from prison near Rome in 1981.
(AFP, 10/7/17)
2017 Oct 5, The president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Carlos Nuzman, was arrested amid an investigation into a vote-buying scheme to bring last year's Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. According to investigators Nuzman's net worth increased 457 percent in the last 10 years as Brazilian Olympic Committee president.
(AP, 10/5/17)
2017 Oct 6, Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Nuzman (75) was suspended by the IOC, a day after being arrested in Rio de Janeiro and accused of storing gold bars in Switzerland.
(AP, 10/6/17)
2017 Oct 10, In Brazil some 500 soldiers, some in armored vehicles, swept into Rio de Janeiro's Rocinha favela to support a police raid after gun fights broke out between rival drug gangs.
(AFP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 23, In Brazil police shot and killed Spanish tourist Maria Esperanza Ruiz Jimenez (67) in a Rio de Janeiro slum after the guided tour car she was riding in failed to stop at a police road block. Two military police officers were soon arrested in connection with the shooting death.
(Reuters, 10/23/17)(AP, 10/24/17)
2017 Oct 25, The Brazilian unit of Bayer AG said it has received regulatory approval to sell its FOX Xpro fungicide, potentially boosting its agro-chemical business in one of the world's largest grains-producing nations.
(Reuters, 10/25/17)
2017 Oct, In Brazil sao Paulo health authorites started a huge vaccination program after a dead monkey infected with yellow fever was found in the city. The virus has been blamed for at least 261 Brazilian deaths since December.
(SSFC, 10/29/17, p.C14)
2017 Nov 10, In Brazil hundreds of people marched through Sao Paulo to protest the implementation of new labor rules and express their opposition to proposed changes to the social security system. The labor law goes into effect Nov. 11.
(AP, 11/10/17)
2017 Nov 11, Brazilian authorities said a prison uprising in the southern state of Parana has ended. Two inmates were left dead and six others injured in the 43-hour-long riot at the Cascavel penitentiary. Inmates had reportedly demanded better food and the transfer of three guards to other facilities.
(AP, 11/11/17)
2017 Nov 14, Brazil's statistics agency said there were 2.79 million births in 2016, a 5 percent decrease from the year prior. The birth rate has fallen by its fastest rate in nearly three decades after the Zika and microcephaly crisis of 2016.
(AP, 11/14/17)
2017 Nov 14, Brazil’s government said Germany and Britain will provide a combined $153 million to expand programs to fight climate change and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
(Reuters, 11/14/17)
2017 Nov 16, Prosecutors in Brazil said a court has convicted mining tycoon Bernardo Paz of money laundering and sentenced him to more than nine years in prison. A judge issued the conviction earlier this year. Paz founded the Inhotim park in Minas Gerais state, which has become one of the most important art centers in Latin America.
(AP, 11/18/17)
2017 Nov, Brazil ended a widower's pension that tended to reward men who murdered their wives.
(SFC, 3/14/18, p.A4)
2017 Dec 1, Three senior Brazilian law enforcement officials, including the former prosecutor general, said new leaders of the federal police and prosecutors' offices are curbing an anti-corruption drive that challenged centuries of impunity in Latin America's biggest country.
(Reuters, 12/1/17)
2017 Dec 6, Brazilian police and soldiers captured Rogerio Avelino da Silva, aka Rogerio 157, one of Rio de Janeiro's most wanted alleged drug trafficking bosses.
(AFP, 12/6/17)
2017 Dec 12, Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture launched a program to ensure farmers comply with anti-corruption, environmental and child labor laws, after a highly publicized meatpacking scandal raised doubts about the country's food products.
(Reuters, 12/12/17)
2017 Dec 13, Brazilian police raided the offices and homes of two members of Congress in the country's latest corruption probe as the government makes a last-ditch effort to vote on an overhaul of the national pension system.
(Reuters, 12/13/17)
2017 Dec 13, Paraguay police arrested Marcelo Fernando Pinheiro Veiga, one of Brazil's most wanted drug and arms traffickers, in the city of Encarnacion.
(AP, 12/13/17)
2017 Dec 15, In Brazil a baby girl was born to a woman in the first-ever birth with a uterus transplant from a dead donor.
(AFP, 12/7/18)
2017 Dec 29, Brazil's official government gazette said the government has issued a decree backtracking on plans to weaken the definition of slave labor in response to criticism and a court suspension of the original edict. The original mid-October decree, backed by Brazil's powerful farm lobby, narrowed the definition of slave labor to limiting the ability of workers to move freely while disregarding other abuses.
(Reuters, 12/29/17)
2017 In Brazil a record 63,880 people were slain this year. Brazil has long been the world leader in overall homicides.
(SFC, 8/10/18, p.A2)
2018 Jan 3, Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras said it has agreed to pay $2.95 billion to settle a class action suit in New York brought on behalf investors harmed by a huge corruption scandal.
(AFP, 1/3/18)
2018 Jan 6, In Brazil the state government Rio Grande do Norte declared a "state of calamity" for public security due to a police strike that has lasted nearly 20 days. Civilian and military police officers walked off the job Dec. 19 demanding back pay and better working conditions.
(AP, 1/6/18)
2018 Jan 11, Brazilian scientists said the cetacean morbillivirus is the main cause for the death of close to 200 gray dolphins since late November on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state.
(AP, 1/11/18)
2018 Jan 12, Authorities in southern Brazil said two people have died amid heavy rains that have forced more than 1,700 to flee their homes. Two more people were missing after two days of downpour unleashed flooding and landslides.
(AP, 1/12/18)
2018 Jan 16, The World Health Organization announced that it now considers all of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state at risk for yellow fever, recommending that all international visitors to the state be vaccinated.
(AP, 1/16/18)
2018 Jan 18, In Brazil a baby was killed and 17 people were injured when a motorist drove into a crowded boardwalk along Copacabana beach. The driver said he had not been drinking but lost control of his car. He also said that he has epilepsy.
(AP, 1/19/18)
2018 Jan 20, In Brazil the government of Minas Gerais state declared a state of emergency for its public health system because of an outbreak of yellow fever in 94 of its 853 cities.
(SSFC, 1/21/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 24, In Brazil an appellate court unanimously upheld a graft conviction against former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and increased his prison sentence by more than two years to 12 years and one month.
(SFC, 1/25/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 27, In northeastern Brazil gunmen barged into a party and shot dead a number of people in Fortaleza. Local press said 18 people were killed with six injured.
(AP, 1/27/18)
2018 Feb 1, Brazilian federal police served 100 search-and-seizure warrants as part of an investigation into alleged graft involving a pension fund for post office workers.
(Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 6, In Brazil a section of a busy roadway overpass collapsed in the center of Brasilia, plunging slabs of concrete on top of parked cars and an outdoor restaurant. No casualties were reported.
(Reuters, 2/6/18)
2018 Feb 7, In Brazil police and military forces said they have arrested 23 people in a series of raids over the last two days in violence-plagued parts of Rio de Janeiro two days before the city's famed Carnival celebrations.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 7, Brazil's Health Ministry confirmed more than 350 cases of yellow fever as infections pick up steam in the state at the center of the last outbreak.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 8, Brazil's federal police arrested Congressman Joao Rodrigues on corruption charges at Sao Paulo's international airport, saying they feared he could try to escape to Paraguay.
(AP, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 9, Brazilian President Michel Temer criticized the leftist government of neighboring Venezuela for leading that country into a crisis that is causing an exodus of refugees into northern Brazil.
(AP, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 10, Brazilians let off steam during the first full day of Carnival, a holiday long considered a safety valve for social and political tensions.
(AP, 2/10/18)
2018 Feb 10, Brazilian police arrested Gordon Fowler (42), a homeless man from Guyana, accused of attacking Venezuelan migrants in Boa Vista, a city in northeastern Brazil that's coping with a wave of migrants from the struggling neighboring nation.
(AP, 2/11/18)
2018 Feb 15, In central-western Brazil a truck collided with a bus carrying 43 passengers, and at least seven people were killed.
(AP, 2/15/18)
2018 Feb 15, In Brazil overnight heavy rain and high winds in Rio de Janeiro left four people dead in the Alemao slum complex of Sao Paulo.
(AP, 2/15/18)
2018 Feb 16, Brazil's federal government issued a decree to put the military in charge of Rio de Janeiro's local police amid a spike in violence.
(AP, 2/16/18)
2018 Feb 17, Brazilian President Michel Temer announced the creation of a public security ministry after giving the military full control over security in crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 2/18/18)
2018 Feb 18, In Brazil eight guards and 10 inmates were taken hostage during a riot in an overcrowded Rio de Janeiro prison. All the hostages were freed early the next day.
(Reuters, 2/19/18)
2018 Feb 19, Brazil's lower house approved a decree to put the military in charge of Rio de Janeiro's security forces amid a spike in violence. The Senate was scheduled to debate it the next day.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 20, Brazil's Senate overwhelmingly approved the takeover by the army of Rio de Janeiro's security following a breakdown of law and order in drug-ravaged neighborhoods.
(AFP, 2/21/18)
2018 Feb 25, The Jornal do Brasil, an emblematic Rio de Janeiro daily founded in 1896, returned to print after eight years of exclusively digital production.
(AFP, 2/26/18)
2018 Feb 26, Brazilian President Michel Temer signed a decree creating a public security ministry as part of efforts to combat high crime rates, especially in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/26/18)
2018 Mar 8, It was reported that Brazil’s government estimated that between 500 and 1,200 Venezuelans cross the border into Brazil every day. Brazil has promised to digest all the migration from Venezuela, but little has been done.
(AFP, 3/8/18)
2018 Mar 9, A Brazilian prosecutor said the leader of Romania's ruling Social Democrats and speaker of its lower house of parliament, Liviu Dragnea, is under investigation in Brazil on suspicion of money laundering. Brazilian authorities were investigating whether Dragnea and others had used ill-gotten funds to buy beach properties in the country through third parties.
(Reuters, 3/9/18)
2018 Mar 14, German industrial group Siemens announced plans to invest a billion euros in Brazil over the next five years.
(AFP, 3/14/18)
2018 Mar 14, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro city council member Marielle Franco (38) was killed after receiving four shots to her head. Franco was an expert on police violence and often criticized authorities for their handling of public security. Her driver Anderson Gomes was also killed. On May 9 reports in O Globo and O Dia newspapers quoted an unidentified police informant pointing the finger at councilman Marcello Siciliano and ex-policeman Orlando Oliveira de Araujo, who is behind bars but allegedly remains a militia commander. In 2020 Adriano Magalhes da Nbrega, thought to be involved in Franco's killing, was killed by special forces in Bahia state.
(AP, 3/15/18)(SFC, 3/17/18, p.A2)(SFC, 3/24/18, p.A2)(AFP, 5/9/18)(SFC, 2/11/20, p.A2)
2018 Mar 15, Brazil's troubled national oil company Petrobras posted net losses of 446 million reais ($139.7 million) for 2017, reflecting continued fallout from the "Car Wash" corruption scandal, but sharply improving on the previous year.
(AFP, 3/15/18)
2018 Mar 16, In Brazil a one-year-old boy and two adults in Rio de Janeiro were killed by stray bullets during a confrontation between police and gunmen in the Alemao slum complex.
(AP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 22, US Pres. Donald Trump authorized initial exemptions for the EU, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Canada and Mexico from looming steel and aluminum tariffs.
(AP, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 27, In Brazil some 3,400 soldiers and 500 police entered the Lins Complex in Rio de Janeiro in a show of force following recent violence.
(SFC, 3/28/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 29, In Brazil federal police arrested several people in connection with an investigation into whether Pres. Michel Temer accepted bribes for favors to companies operating the country's largest port in Santos. They included Antonio Celso Grecco, head of Rodrimar, the company at the center of the inquiry.
(SFC, 3/30/18, p.A2)
2018 Apr 5, Brazil's Supreme Court rejected former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's plea to remain free until he exhausts all his appeals clearing the way for his imprisonment.
(Reuters, 4/6/18)
2018 Apr 7, Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (72) turned himself in to police to begin a 12-year sentence for money laundering and corruption.
(AP, 4/8/18)
2018 Apr 10, In northern Brazil gunmen attacked the Santa Izabel prison in Para state trying to stage a mass escape of prisoners. 20 people were killed in a gunbattle with police including 19 prisoners and one guard.
(SFC, 4/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Apr 19, The European Union decided to ban meat imports from 20 Brazilian plants amid concerns about sanitary controls.
(AP, 4/20/18)
2018 Apr 20, Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Huanacuni said that Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru had decided to temporarily leave the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), given differences over choosing the secretary general of the group. UNASUR was promoted by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela remained in the bloc.
(AP, 4/20/18)
2018 Apr 26, In Brazil as many as 2,000 indigenous people marched through Brasilia to protest what they say is an unprecedented governmental assault on their rights and lands.
(AP, 4/26/18)
2018 May 1, In Brazil an abandoned high-rise building occupied by squatters in downtown Sao Paulo caught fire and collapsed. Firefighters said at least one person was killed in the collapse and that there could be more. 44 people were soon reported missing after the 24-storey building collapsed.
(AP, 5/1/18)(AFP, 5/2/18)
2018 May 23, Brazilian authorities announced that five grain trading houses, including Cargill Inc and Bunge Ltd, and dozens of farmers have been fined a total of 105.7 million reais ($29 million) for activities connected to illegal deforestation.
(Reuters, 5/23/18)
2018 May 24, Brazil's government and several unions that represent truckers said late today that they had reached a deal for the suspension of a strike for 15t days.
(SFC, 5/26/18, p.A2)
2018 May 25, Thousands of Brazilian truckers angry over fuel price hikes blocked roads, the fifth day of a strike that led thousands of schools to shutter. The airport in Brasilia canceled flights as it ran out of fuel due to the strike.
(AP, 5/25/18)(AFP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 27, Brazil's government agreed to slash diesel prices. Pres. Michel Temer agreed to cut the diesel price by 0.46 reais a liter for 60 days.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 May 28, A Brazil truckers' strike, paralyzing fuel and food deliveries across the country, entered an eighth day but with hopes of relief after unpopular President Michel Temer caved in to the strikers' key demand.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 May 29, Brazilian truckers frustrated by rising fuel prices struck for a ninth day in several states, though sporadic deliveries of gasoline and goods were starting to ease a shutdown that has led to widespread shortages and disturbances.
(AP, 5/29/18)
2018 May 29, Brazil's environmental agency rejected for a fourth time a Total license application to drill for oil in the amazon basin.
(Reuters, 6/1/18)
2018 May 30, Brazilian oil workers began a 72-hour strike in a new blow to President Michel Temer following a nationwide trucker protest that has strangled Latin America's largest economy for over a week.
(Reuters, 5/30/18)
2018 May 31, Brazil's economy showed signs of returning to normal, as the nation's largest oil workers association ended a strike well ahead of schedule and an 11-day truckers protest appeared to dissolve, except in the nation's far south.
(Reuters, 5/31/18)
2018 Jun 8, In Brazil tennis star Maria Bueno (78), nicknamed the "Sao Paulo Swallow" for her ability to dominate the net, died in Sao Paulo. Her accomplishments included three Wimbledon and four US championship singles titles.
(AFP, 6/9/18)
2018 Jun 12, Brazil's President Michel Temer issued two decrees introducing stricter rules on miners for the recovery of degraded areas and compensating municipalities affected by mining that takes place elsewhere.
(Reuters, 6/12/18)
2018 Jun 19, Justices on Brazil's highest court acquitted Sen. Gleisi Hoffmann, the Workers' Party president, of corruption and money-laundering charges in a case stemming from the country's massive graft investigation.
(AP, 6/20/18)
2018 Jun 22, In Brazil hundreds of women marched in Rio de Janeiro to demand the legalization of abortion.
(AP, 6/22/18)
2018 Jun 26, It was reported that Brazil has expanded the area cultivated with genetically modified (GM) crops by 1.1 million hectares.
(Reuters, 6/27/18)
2018 Jul 4, Police in Brazil searched the offices of Philips and executed arrest warrants for two people linked to the Dutch electronics company as part of an investigation into suspected fraud in the supply of medical equipment to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics and the Rio de Janeiro Health Department.
(AP, 7/4/18)
2018 Jul 5, A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the suspension of labor minister Helton Yomura as part of a corruption investigation.
(AP, 7/5/18)
2018 Jul 5, Boeing and the Brazilian jet maker Embraer said they will attempt to form a joint venture that would push the US aerospace giant more aggressively into the regional aircraft market.
(AP, 7/5/18)
2018 Jul 6, Brazil, the five-time world champions, left the World Cup empty handed after losing to Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals in Russia.
(AP, 7/8/18)
2018 Jul 9, Brazil's Attorney General Grace Mendonca said corruption scandal-tainted construction giant Odebrecht has agreed to pay a multi-million dollar settlement to the Brazilian government for bribing public officials. The deal gives Odebrecht 22 years to complete the 2.7 billion reis ($700 million) payment.
(AFP, 7/10/18)
2018 Jul 20, Human Rights Watch urged the Brazilian government to establish buffer zones nationwide when pesticides are sprayed and reduce the use of highly toxic products. Some 4,000 pesticide poisoning case were reported in Brazil last year.
(SFC, 7/21/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 25, In South Africa leaders of the BRICS emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) began an annual three-day summit, with attention focused on the threat of a US-led global trade war. The meeting opened with a business forum.
(AFP, 7/25/18)
2018 Jul 26, In South Africa the leaders of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, meeting in the wake of tariff threats by US President Donald Trump, signed a declaration supporting an open and inclusive multilateral trading system under World Trade Organization rules at their summit. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed at the three-day meeting to fight unilateralism and protectionism.
(Reuters, 7/26/18)
2018 Aug 1, In Brazil Caucher Birkar, a Cambridge University professor of Iranian Kurdish origin, was named one of four winners of the prestigious Fields medal, often known as the Nobel prize for mathematics at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. The other winners included: Germany's Peter Scholze (30), who teaches at the University of Bonn and is one of the world's most influential thinkers in arithmetic algebraic geometry; Alessio Figalli (34), an Italian mathematician at ETH Zurich who jokes that the one equation still baffling him is how to spend more time with his professor wife; Akshay Venkatesh (36), an Indian-born, Australian-raised prodigy who began his undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at the University of Western Australia when he was just 13.
(AFP, 8/1/18)
2018 Aug 4, In Brazil the Workers' Party named jailed former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its nominee for the country's top job.
(SSFC, 8/5/18, p.A4)
2018 Aug 6, Brazil's Workers' Party announced that former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad will become its presidential candidate if jailed ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who leads in national polls, is barred from running in the October election.
(AP, 8/6/18)
2018 Aug 10, Brazil's security minister Raul Jungmann said politicians and public servants have been linked to the murder of high-profile Brazilian lawmaker and black rights activist Marielle Franco.
(AFP, 8/11/18)
2018 Aug 17, The UN Human Rights Committee ruled that Brazil's imprisoned leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cannot be disqualified from upcoming presidential elections because his legal appeals are ongoing.
(AFP, 8/17/18)
2018 Aug 18, Brazil's "queer museum," forced to close last year after conservatives attacked it for allegedly promoting pedophilia, blasphemy and bestiality, reopened in the shadow of Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. A crowdfunding campaign raised more than a million reais ($275,000) allowing it to reopen for a month, with free admission, at the School for Visual Arts in Rio de Janeiro's Parque Lage.
(AFP, 8/18/18)
2018 Aug 18, In northern Brazil a local merchant was robbed and severely beaten in an incident blamed on Venezuelan suspects, in Pacaraima, where an estimated 1,000 immigrants are living on the street. Dozens of locals then attacked the two main immigrant makeshift camps and burned their belongings, leading Venezuelans to cross the border back into their home country. Brazilian federal police, in charge of immigration, estimated that about 500 Venezuelans cross over to Brazil every day.
(AFP, 8/18/18)
2018 Aug 20, In Brazil at least 14 people were killed in Rio de Janeiro during operations by soldiers and police against drug gangs in impoverished favelas and a suburb.
(AFP, 8/20/18)
2018 Aug 20, In Brazil the government of the northern state of Roraima asked the country's supreme court to halt the entry of Venezuelan immigrants, as the border state struggles to cope with a flow that has already sparked violent confrontations.
(AP, 8/20/18)
2018 Aug 24, Brazil's health officials said more than 4 million children still needed to be vaccinated against measles. More than 1,380 people have been infected in an outbreak linked to cases imported from Venezuela.
(SFC, 8/25/18, p.A2)
2018 Aug 28, It was reported that Brazil's Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna, has seen about half of its native forests and grasslands converted to farms, pastures and urban areas over the past 50 years. Farmers continued to plow under vast stretches of the biome, propelled largely by Chinese demand for Brazilian meat and grain.
(Reuters, 8/28/18)
2018 Sep 1, Brazilian justices voted 6-1 barring former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from the October presidential election. Da Silva's left-leaning Workers' Party issued a statement vowing to appeal, but there appeared to be scant chance it would succeed.
(AP, 9/1/18)
2018 Sep 2, Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro caught fire and at least part of its collection of 20 million items was destroyed.
(AP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 6, A Brazilian Supreme Court judge rejected an appeal by jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to overturn his ban on running in next month's elections.
(AFP, 9/6/18)
2018 Sep 6, In Brazil Congressman Jair Bolsonaro (63), the far-right front-runner, was in serious condition after he was stabbed at a rally in the southeastern city of Juiz de Fora, just a month before the vote, raising fears of increased violence in the wide-open race. The suspect, identified by authorities as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira (40), was arrested within seconds.
(AFP, 9/7/18)(AP, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 11, Brazil's Worker's Party said former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad will replace jailed former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its candidate for October's general election.
(SFC, 9/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Sep 11, Brazilian prosecutors said police have arrested Beto Richa, former governor of Paraná, as part of an investigation into wrongdoing involving a government program aimed at bolstering policing in rural areas of the state.
(Reuters, 9/11/18)
2018 Sep 12, In Brazil countries on both sides of the whaling divide voted to renew quotas for limited whale hunts for indigenous communities in Alaska, Russia, Greenland and the Caribbean -- taking into account their cultural and subsistence needs.
(AFP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 13, In Brazil the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted to back a proposal which would safeguard whales in perpetuity, after a bitter debate. The biennial meeting of the 89-nation body passed the host country's "Florianopolis Declaration" which sees whaling as no longer being a necessary economic activity.
(AFP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 14, Japan's determined bid to return to commercial whale hunting was blocked by anti-whaling nations in a tense vote at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Brazil.
(AFP, 9/14/18)
2018 Sep 27, The US Justice Department announced that US and Brazilian authorities have fined Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras more than $853 million for covering up a massive bribery scheme involving Brazilian politicians and political parties. Brazil will receive 80 percent and the other 20 percent will be divided between the US Dept. of Justice and the SEC.
(AP, 9/27/18)(SFC, 9/28/18, p.A2)
2018 Sep 28, In southeastern Brazil a teenager (15) entered a school and fired on students, leaving two injured in the city of Medianeira, Parana state.
(AP, 9/28/18)
2018 Sep 29, In Brazil tens of thousands of women took to the streets, protesting what they see as the misogynist ways of one of Brazil's most divisive presidential candidates in years: right-wing Congressman Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 9/29/18)
2018 Oct 7, Brazilians began voting in a polarized presidential race. Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonar, a former Army captain and veteran lawmaker, nearly won the presidency outright in Sunday's first-round election, taking 46 percent of votes to leftist Fernando Haddad's 29 percent.
(AP, 10/7/18)(Reuters, 10/8/18)
2018 Oct 10, Prosecutors in Brazil said Paulo Guedes, the chief economic advisor to far-right presidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro, is under a federal investigation for alleged fraud tied to the pension funds of major state-run companies.
(Reuters, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 18, Brazilian presidential hopeful Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers Party accused his right-wing rival Jair Bolsonaro of creating a criminal group along with businessmen to spread false election-related messages on WhatsApp.
(Reuters, 10/18/18)
2018 Oct 28, Brazil held presidential elections. Voters were picking between far-right Congressman Jair Bolsonaro and former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad. Bolsonaro (63) won 55 percent of the run-off vote.
(AP, 10/28/18)(AFP, 10/29/18)
2018 Nov 1, Brazilian Judge Sergio Moroat, at the center of one of the largest corruption investigations in history, said he will become justice minister in the incoming government of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 2, A senior Palestinian official condemned Brazilian far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's announcement a day earlier that he would move his country's Israel embassy to Jerusalem.
(AFP, 11/2/18)
2018 Nov 8, Brazilian police arrested seven lawmakers in Rio de Janeiro. Three others were taken into custody earlier. They were served with arrest warrants based on allegations they accepted bribes in exchange for supporting then-Gov. Sergio Cabral's "criminal organization".
(AP, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 9, Brazilian police arrested Joesley Batista, a former chairman of the world's largest meatpacker, whose testimony was central to allegations of corruption against the president. Ricardo Saud, a former executive at the holding company that controls JBS, was also arrested. The arrests were part of an investigation into a graft scheme that dates to 2014-2015 in which executives paid bribes to civil servants and politicians linked to the Agriculture Ministry in exchange for favorable decisions and regulation that helped JBS eliminate competition.
(AP, 11/9/18)
2018 Nov 14, Cuba said it would pull 8,517 of its doctors from Brazil after the South American nation’s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro questioned their training and demanded changes to their contracts.
(Reuters, 11/14/18)(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A3)
2018 Nov 20, Brazil's incoming justice minister, the former anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro, picked Mauricio Valeixo to be director-general of the federal police with a mission to fight graft and organized crime.
(Reuters, 11/20/18)
2018 Nov 29, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao was arrested for allegedly taking about $10 million in bribes since 2007, adding to a string of corruption arrests of senior political figures.
(AP, 11/29/18)
2018 Nov 30, The Pan-American Health Organization reported a big jump in measles cases in the Americas this year, with Brazil surpassing crisis-hit Venezuela as the nation with the most confirmed cases.
(AP, 12/1/18)
2018 Dec 4, Brazil's Supreme Court said it had authorized a federal investigation into allegations that Onyx Lorenzoni, the incoming chief of staff for far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, had taken illegal campaign donations.
(Reuters, 12/4/18)
2018 Dec 4, The US Department of Agriculture says a unit of Brazil's JBS is now recalling a total of more than 12 million pounds of raw beef that was shipped around the country because it may be contaminated with salmonella. JBS Tolleson in Arizona already recalled about 7 million pounds of beef in October.
(AP, 12/4/18)
2018 Dec 7, In northeastern Brazil at least 12 people were killed, including six policemen, in an early morning shootout between police and bank robbers on the main street in Milagres, Ceará state.
(Reuters, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 8, Authorities in Brazil said two more people have died after bank robbers attempted to carry out heists in Ceara state, bringing the death toll to 14. The dead included six hostages executed by the criminal group.
(AP, 12/8/18)(SFC, 12/10/18, p.A2)
2018 Dec 8, In Brazil José Bernardo da Silva and Rodrigo Celestino, members of Brazil's landless activist group MST, were killed late today in a rural area in the northeast state of Paraíba.
(AP, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 8, In Brazil ten women on the Globo TV network accused self-styled spiritual healer Joao Teixeira de Faria, known as John of God, of sexually abusing them at a clinic in the central-western state of Goias.
(AP, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 8, In Brazil a major oil leak in Rio de Janeiro was caused by fuel thieves who punctured a pipeline in the Guanabara Bay. About 15,850 gallons (60,000 liters) were released into the bay.
(AP, 12/10/18)
2018 Dec 10, Brazil's incoming foreign relations minister said Brazil will pull out of a United Nations pact on dealing with rising migration, joining the United States and a growing number of countries in rejecting the agreement.
(Reuters, 12/11/18)
2018 Dec 11, In southern Brazil Euler Fernando Grandolpho (49) opened fire at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Campinas killing four people and wounding four more before taking a bullet in the ribs and then shooting himself in the head.
(SFC, 12/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Dec 13, Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro faced growing scrutiny as a government financial crime unit questioned payments made to his son and wife that totaled more than $300,000.
(AFP, 12/13/18)
2018 Dec 13, In Brazil Justice Luiz Fux ordered the arrest of Cesare Battisti, an Italian communist militant convicted of murder in his home country. The president would have the final word over his extradition to Italy. Battisti escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism.
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 14, Brazil launched the first of five navy attack submarines it is building under a $7.6-billion technology-sharing deal struck with France.
(AFP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 15, In Paraguay Carlos Eduardo Sales Cardoso (aka Capile), the leader of the Brazilian criminal organization Pure Third Command, was captured in Asuncion and will be expelled from the country.
(AP, 12/16/18)
2018 Dec 16, In Brazil Joao Teixeira de Faria (76), better known as "Joao de Deus" or "John of God," was arrested after women came forward in Brazilian media and to police to allege he sexually forced himself on them on pretext of "curing" them of ailments. Police conducted raids on properties linked to Faria and found handguns, gemstones and -- hidden behind a false panel in a wardrobe -- a suitcase containing the equivalent of $300,000 in cash.
(AFP, 12/23/18)
2018 Dec 17, In Brazil a fire began late today in the low-income Educandos neighborhood of Manaus and was extinguished several hours later. At least 600 wooden houses were destroyed.
(AP, 12/18/18)
2018 Dec 17, US plane maker Boeing and Brazil's Embraer said they have approved the terms of a partnership to create a joint venture now worth $5.26 billion -- more than when they first announced it in July.
(AFP, 12/17/18)
2018 Dec 22, A Brazilian court shot down a fresh injunction by a judge over a plan by plane makers Boeing of the US and Embraer of Brazil to create a $5.26-billion joint venture.
(AP, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 27, In Brazil Gen. Walter Souza Braga Netto, the man in charge of military intervention into Rio de Janeiro's public security, called the operation an unmitigated success with all its objectives reached. The operation officially ends Dec. 31.
(AP, 12/27/18)
2018 Dec 28, In Brazil Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he said would be a "new era" in ties with "great power" Brazil ahead of meeting with the Latin America's country's incoming far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.
(AFP, 12/28/18)
2018 Dec 29, Brazil's far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said he plans to issue a decree allowing all Brazilians without criminal records to own firearms, welcome news to many core supporters who want him to loosen Brazil's strict gun laws.
(Reuters, 12/29/18)
2018 In Brazil three-quarters of the 6,220 people killed this year by police were black.
(Econ., 7/6/20, p.7)
2019 Jan 1, Former Brazilian army captain Jair Bolsonaro took office as president promising to overhaul many aspects of life in Latin America's largest nation.
(AP, 1/1/19)
2019 Jan 2, New Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued an executive order making the Agriculture Ministry responsible for deciding on lands claimed by indigenous peoples, in a victory for agribusiness that will likely enrage environmentalists. The temporary decree will expire unless it is ratified within 120 days by Congress. It strips power over land claim decisions from indigenous affairs agency FUNAI.
(Reuters, 1/2/19)
2019 Jan 3, The new government of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro hit the ground running on its first day of business, rushing through changes to put a conservative stamp on the country by trashing progressive achievements of past administrations.
(AFP, 1/3/19)
2019 Jan 5, In Brazil a special deployment of troops began fanning out in the northern city of Fortaleza with orders to stop a spike in violent attacks by criminal gangs against banks, buses and shops. Intelligence reports published by media suggested gangs were revolting against tough new measures recently imposed in the state's prisons.
(AFP, 1/5/19)
2019 Jan 7, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said funding of nongovernmental organizations working in Brazil will be rigidly controlled, reflecting increased oversight by his new right-wing administration over such groups.
(Reuters, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 7, Suely de Araujo, the head of Brazil's environmental protection agency Ibama, resigned after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the amount of money the unit spends to rent vehicles in his latest attack on the agency. Ibama is tasked with policing the Amazon rainforest to stop deforestation and illegal mining.
(Reuters, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 8, In Brazil groups of criminals in the northeastern state of Ceara carried out fresh attacks for a seventh day on public infrastructure and businesses. At least four buses and a construction site were torched overnight in Fortaleza.
(AP, 1/8/19)
2019 Jan 11, The share price in Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer soared as markets reacted favorably to the country's President Jair Bolsonaro approving a merger with us giant Boeing. Embraer will only retain control of its military division.
(AFP, 1/11/19)
2019 Jan 12, Brazil's government issued a statement saying it recognized Venezuela's Congressional leader, who opposes President Nicolas Maduro, as the rightful president of Venezuela.
(Reuters, 1/12/19)
2019 Jan 14, A Brazilian police officer died and three others were hospitalized after their helicopter crashed in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay.
(AP, 1/14/19)
2019 Jan 15, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro decreed the easing of national gun laws as part of his law-and-order agenda, despite fears it could aggravate already staggering violent crime.
(AFP, 1/15/19)
2019 Jan 16, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina's President Mauricio Macri said after their first meeting that they agreed on their opposition to Venezuela's authoritarian government.
(Reuters, 1/16/19)
2019 Jan 17, Rio de Janeiro state prosecutors said they were temporarily suspending an investigation into suspicious payments handled by the former driver of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's son, Flavio, due to a Supreme Court ruling.
(Reuters, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 18, Jornal Nacional, Brazil's most respected newscast, said that 48 deposits of 2,000 reais each were deposited into the bank account of Senator-elect Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, between June and July 2017, when he was a Rio de Janeiro state lawmaker.
(AFP, 1/19/19)
2019 Jan 22, In Switzerland the annual World Economic Forum opened in Davos. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gave the keynote address vowing an investment-friendly agenda and attacking leftwing politics in Latin America. US President Donald Trump along with the leaders of France, Britain and Zimbabwe stayed away from the forum as they fought political fires back home.
(AFP, 1/22/19)
2019 Jan 25, Jean Wyllys, Brazil's second openly gay congressman, said he will not serve the new term for which he was re-elected due to death threats and he now plans to live abroad. His Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) said his seat in Brasilia will go to a substitute lawmaker who is also gay: Rio councilman David Miranda, the husband of Pulitzer Prize-winning US journalist Glenn Greenwald.
(Reuters, 1/25/19)
2019 Jan 25, In Brazil a dam collapsed at a mine owned by corporate giant Vale in Minas Gerais state. The dam collapse killed at least 84 people with hopes fading for over 200 still missing. The overwhelming majority of the dead and missing were Vale employees or contractors, buried in up to 15 meters (50 feet) of mud that stretched for 12 km (eight miles) and was at some points up to 300 meters (yards) wide. After two months the death toll reached 212 with 93 still missing.
(AFP, 1/27/19)(AFP, 1/30/19)(AP, 3/25/19)
2019 Jan 27, Brazilian officials suspended the search for potential survivors of a dam collapse that has killed at least 40 people amid fears that another nearby dam owned by the same company was also at risk of breaching. Firefighters called for the evacuation of some 24,000 people from Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 1/27/19)(Reuters, 1/27/19)
2019 Jan 27, The Minas Gerais state court in Brazil blocked 5 billion reais ($1.33 billion) in Vale SA assets to pay for damages from a tailings dam that burst at an iron ore mine.
(Reuters, 1/27/19)
2019 Jan 28, In Brazil the confirmed death toll rose to 60, with 292 people still missing for the Jan. 25 dam break in Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 1/28/19)
2019 Jan 29, Brazilian prosecutors arrested three employees of miner Vale SA and two contractors, as a criminal investigation began after a devastating dam rupture expected to leave a death toll of more than 300 people.
(Reuters, 1/29/19)
2019 Jan 30, In Brazil three state and federal agencies asked that residents refrain from using water directly from the Paraopeba River or 100-meters (109 yards) around it following the Jan. 25 Vale mining dam collapse in Brumadinho.
(AP, 1/31/19)
2019 Jan 31, Brazil's Minas Gerais state labor prosecutors' office said it had frozen more than 800 million reais ($219 million) of miner Vale's funds as compensation for victims of the Jan. 18 deadly tailings dam burst.
(Reuters, 1/31/19)
2019 Feb 1, Brazilians payed homage to the 110 victims killed and 238 who are still missing after a Vale mining dam collapsed a week ago in the city of Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state.
(AP, 2/1/19)
2019 Feb 2, Officials in Brazil said the death toll from the collapse of a dam holding back mining waste rose to 121. Another 226 people remained missing.
(AP, 2/2/19)
2019 Feb 4, In Brazil the death toll from the failure of a tailings dam operated by miner Vale SA rose to 134 while 199 people are still unaccounted for.
(Reuters, 2/4/19)
2019 Feb 7, In Brazil torrential downpours and strong winds killed at least five people and left a trail of destruction in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 2/7/19)
2019 Feb 8, In Brazil a fire tore through the sleeping quarters of the Flamengo soccer club in Rio de Janeiro's western region, killing 10 people and injuring three.
(AP, 2/8/19)
2019 Feb 11, A Brazilian Supreme Court justice suspended two criminal proceedings against the country's leader. The ruling by Justice Luiz Fux puts a hold on charges of slander and incitation to rape against President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AP, 2/12/19)
2019 Feb 11, Venezuelan opposition envoy Maria Teresa Belandria was received as her country's official ambassador in Brazil, and said Brazil's government will provide all possible support to get humanitarian aid to the border.
(Reuters, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 15, Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining company Vale SA as part of a criminal investigation into the causes of the Jan. 25 deadly dam disaster.
(Reuters, 2/15/19)
2019 Feb 18, Brazil's government banned new upstream mining dams and ordered the decommissioning of all such dams by 2021, targeting the type of structure that burst last month in the town of Brumadinho, where the death toll rose to 169 people with 141 people yet to be located.
(Reuters, 2/18/19)
2019 Feb 22, Brazilian authorities moved humanitarian aid to the country's northern border with Venezuela even though the international crossing has been closed.
(AP, 2/22/19)
2019 Feb 23, A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Venezuela left warehouses in Colombia headed for the nearby border crossing, despite President Nicolas Maduro's insistence they would not be allowed to cross. Opposition leader Juan Guaido said a first aid shipment has entered Venezuela from Brazil. Three members of the Venezuelan national guard deserted their posts early today. Venezuelan troops blocking a border bridge with Colombia fired tear gas to repel dozens of opposition lawmakers and activists walking toward the frontier to receive humanitarian aid from the Colombian side. At least two protesters were killed near the Brazilian border. Two aid trucks went up in flames. Some 60 members of security forces defected into Colombia, but the National Guard at the frontier crossings held firm.
(Reuters, 2/23/19)(AP, 2/23/19)(Reuters, 2/24/19)
2019 Feb 24, Officials in the Brazilian border state of Roraima say they've treated 22 Venezuelans who suffered bullet or buckshot wounds during a confrontation over aid shipments. The border was closed for a third day.
(AP, 2/24/19)
2019 Feb 26, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro withdrew an executive order signed in January that would have increased the number of officials able to effectively keep government documents and data secret.
(Reuters, 2/27/19)
2019 Mar 1, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro's world-famous carnival celebration got underway.
(AP, 3/1/19)
2019 Mar 7, FUNAI, Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, said it has sent an expedition to the Amazon region looking for members of the Koruba tribe that has had little or no contact with the outside world to steer them clear of the rival Matis group and avoid a bloody clash of cudgels against arrows.
(Reuters, 3/7/19)
2019 Mar 11, In Brazil heavy rains overnight caused the deaths of at least 12 people in and around Sao Paulo.
(AP, 3/11/19)(SFC, 3/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Mar 12, In Brazil two police officers were arrested in the killing of Rio city councilor and black gay rights activist Marielle Franco, almost a year to the day after the brazen murder shocked the country. A sergeant in the military police, Ronnie Lessa (48), was arrested on suspicion of being the shooter. Elcio Vieira de Queiroz (46), who had been sacked from the military police, also was arrested in the pre-dawn operation.
(AFP, 3/12/19)
2019 Mar 13, In Brazil Before Guilherme Taucci Monteiro (17) and Henrique de Castro (25) launched an assault on a K-12 public school in Suzano, a suburb of Sao Paulo. Monteiro opened fire with a .38 caliber handgun and de Castro used a crossbow. Seven were killed at the school, including five students, a teacher and a school administrator. Before assaulting the school, they shot and killed a man who owned a used car dealership nearby. Instead of facing officers Monteiro shot de Castro in the head and then shot himself.
(AP, 3/13/19)(AP, 3/14/19)
2019 Mar 18, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters, an unusual move for a foreign head of state that was not on the public agenda for his first official trip to Washington.
(Reuters, 3/18/19)
2019 Mar 19, President Donald Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the so-called Trump of the Tropics, launching what officials tout as a new alliance between their right-wing governments.
(AFP, 3/19/19)
2019 Mar 19, Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser was awarded the 2019 Templeton Prize, worth $1.4 million, for his work blending science and spirituality. Gleiser, a professor at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, has written best-selling books and appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, discussing science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of the universe and life on Earth.
(Reuters, 3/19/19)
2019 Mar 21, Brazil's former President Michel Temer was arrested in an investigation of alleged graft in the construction of nuclear plant Angra 3, rattling the political class and threatening to delay a major pension reform.
(Reuters, 3/21/19)
2019 Mar 22, In Chile a group of South American presidents formed Prosur, a new regional bloc to replace Unasur, founded in 2008. The new bloc included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.
(SSFC, 3/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Mar 31, Brazil said it had a opened a new diplomatic office in Jerusalem that would serve as part of its embassy to Israel, which is located in Tel Aviv.
(Reuters, 3/31/19)
2019 Mar 31, In Brazil Rio de Janeiro Gov. Wilson Witzel said in an interview that snipers were already operating in the state. He said he would empower policemen to shoot down any criminal seen carrying a rifle.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Mar 31, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu warmly received President Jair Bolsonaro, on the Brazilian leader's first state visit to Israel.
(AP, 3/31/19)
2019 Apr 1, A Brazilian state lawmaker asked the public prosecutors' office to open an investigation into the police's use of sharpshooters to kill alleged criminals in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the Western Wall alongside PM Benjamin Netanyahu, becoming the first head of state to do so with an Israeli premier. Such visits can be seen as granting tacit approval to Israeli sovereignty over the site.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Israel Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early today. The criminal group had arrived in five armored cars and were armed with high-caliber rifles and body armor.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Brazil a ferry collided with a bridge pillar in Belem, Para state. Witnesses saw two cars fall into the Moju river. The accident caused the span's central roadway to plunge into the river, cutting access to one of the country's busiest ports.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 7, In Brazil thousands of supporters, many chanting "Free Lula!," protested outside the jail where former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is being held on the anniversary of his incarceration.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Brazil flash floods caused by overnight torrential rain killed at least three people in Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Brazil at least two people were killed when two buildings collapsed in the hillside Itanhanga favela west of Rio de Janeiro following a storm that struck the Rio area three days ago. The death toll from the collapsed building soon rose to ten with 14 people listed as missing.
(AFP, 4/12/19)(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 14, A Banco de Brasil commercial highlighting Brazil's diversity was pulled following a request by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who Bolsonaro reached out directly to the bank's president to demand the advertisement be pulled.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Brazil thousands of indigenous people decorated with traditional feathers and body paint converged on Brasilia to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 26, Thousands of indigenous Brazilians turned up for a march in Brasilia, protesting ministerial changes implemented by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that they say are hurting their people.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 30, Brazil's Education Minister said he has cut the budget of three federal universities (Brasilia, Bahia and Fluminense) because of their ideological stance and poor performance.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A2)
2019 May 3, It was reported that police killings in the state of Rio de Janeiro have hit a record high, rising by 18% in the first three months of this year in a spike partly attributed to a zero tolerance for criminals campaign by state leaders.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 6, In Brazil at least eight people died when police raided a drug-scarred Rio de Janeiro neighborhood.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Brazil’s pro-gun Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, whose tough-on-crime rhetoric helped get him elected last year, signed a controversial order allowing Brazilians to own firearms if they meet certain criteria. Truckers, lawyers and politicians are among millions of Brazilians now eligible to carry loaded weapons in public.
(AFP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 7, In Brazil the head of the human rights commission of Rio de Janeiro's legislative assembly blamed state Gov. Wilson Witzel for a surge in police killings, which totaled a record 434 for the first three months of this year.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 10, In Brazil a few thousand people gathered in the center of Rio de Janeiro to protest against stiff budget cuts imposed by the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to the public education sector.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, A Brazilian supreme court judge said that President Jair Bolsonaro and his Justice Ministry had five days to respond to opposition assertions that a recently passed gun decree was unconstitutional.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Brazil Alfredo Sirkis, head of a government-backed climate forum, was fired. He said the firing was probably related to the forum's initiative to organize 12 Brazilian states to create a council on climate change that would act independently from the federal government.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Venezuela announced it was re-opening its land border with Brazil after Maduro ordered it shut in February. Maritime links with the Caribbean island of Aruba were also reopened. The border with Colombia and links with other parts of the former Dutch Antilles remained closed.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 17, Authorities in Brazil raised to $73 million a fine that mining giant Vale will face if it does not present within 72 hours a technical report on the risks and possible impact of the rupture of a dam in Minas Gerais.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 17, In Brazil atrophying growth forecasts and waning confidence in President Jair Bolsonaro sent local stocks and currency to their lowest level of the year this week, as analysts warned of further falls.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira (60), reportedly suspected of extorting priests and covering up sexual abuse.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 19, In northern Brazil seven gunmen attacked a bar in Para state killing eleven people in Belem.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A2)
2019 May 23, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to make homophobia and transphobia crimes like racism. Six judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law (1989) until the country's congress approves legislation specifically dealing with LGBT discrimination. The five remaining judges were set to vote in a court session on June 5.
(http://tinyurl.com/y42y8sb3)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, In northern Brazil clashes began today between inmates at a jail near Manaus, Amazonas state. At least 55 inmates were left dead.
(AFP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, The Brazilian government reported a case of atypical mad cow disease in an animal in Mato Grosso state. The case was considered "atypical" as the animal contracted the BSE protein spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 6, Brazil's Supreme Court approved an 8.6 billion dollar deal allowing state oil company Petrobras to sell its TAG pipeline network in a big win for the firm and the ruling party.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 13, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to criminalize homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 14, Brazil kicked off a general strike that is likely to paralyze major cities across Latin America's largest country. The strike is primarily against the pension reform the Bolsonaro administration is currently pushing for in Congress.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, A Brazilian judge absolved Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, the man who stabbed then-presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in his torso last year, citing his mental illness and ordering him held indefinitely in a prison mental facility.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Brazil leaked personal messages published by a news website showed the judge who led the corruption trial that jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advised prosecutors to influence public opinion against the leftist leader.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Brazil Anderson do Carmo (42), an evangelical pastor and the husband of a prominent federal lawmaker, was shot 30 times, many of the bullets hitting him in his pelvic region, around dawn in the garage of his house in Niteroi, in the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Two days later, one of the 51 children he had adopted with Flordelis dos Santos Souza, a lawmaker from Rio state, confessed to carrying out the hit. The adopted son said he had acted on the orders of one of dos Santos Souza's four biological children. In 2020 Flordelis was accused of masterminding the murder of her husband in a plot involving several of the couple's 55 children, all but four of whom were adopted.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(The Telegraph, 8/25/20)
2019 Jun 18, Brazil's Senate rejected a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that loosened the country's strict gun laws, dealing a blow to the far-right leader who had lobbied for lawmakers to approve the measure. The decree now goes to the lower house. For the decree to be killed, both the Senate and the lower house must reject it.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 20, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro said if Congress does not substantially reform Brazil's political system, he will consider running again in 2022.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he has the authority to demarcate land held by indigenous communities.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 25, Spanish authorities caught Brazilian Sgt. Manoel Silva Rodrigues carrying 86 pounds of cocaine on a presidential plane carrying Pres. Jair Bolsonaro to the G20 summit in Japan.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 26, Scientists from Argentina and Brazil said the fossil remains of Vespersaurus paranaensis, a desert-based carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to capture small prey 90 million years ago, has been unearthed in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of southern Brazil's Parana state.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 28, The EU signed a historic trade agreement with the four-nation South American bloc known as Mercosur. The agreement creates a market of 780 million people with the EU.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Brazil thousands protested in support of Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who is battling claims he conspired with prosecutors on his anti-corruption drive to keep former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from another presidential run.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jul 2, France said it was "not ready" to ratify a huge trade deal agreed by the European Union and the four South American countries of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), as farmers and environmentalists step up their resistance to the accord.
(AFP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 5, In Brazil police in Rio de Janeiro said that at least 12 bodies have been found in a clandestine grave in Itaborai, about 25 miles from Rio. Authorities believed the grave could have been used by a paramilitary group.
(SSFC, 7/7/19, p.A8)
2019 Jul 6, In Brazil Joao Gilberto (b.1931), singer and composer who helped bossa nova gain global popularity, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Gilberto)(SFC, 7/8/19, p.C3)
2019 Jul 16, In Brazil Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli suspended the investigation of Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, regarding suspicious bank deposits.
(Econ, 7/27/19, p.28)
2019 Jul 17, Brazilian police said they've shut down a clandestine factory that was producing fake Ferraris and sham Lamborghinis in the southern state of Catarina.
(SFC, 7/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Jul 23, Iran threatened to cut its imports from Brazil unless it allows the refueling of at least two Iranian ships stranded off the Brazilian coast, a sign of the global repercussions of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic.
(Bloomberg, 7/24/19)
2019 Jul 25, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge ordered the state oil giant Petrobras to refuel two Iranian ships stranded off the country's coast.
(AFP, 7/25/19)
2019 Jul 25, In Brazil a group of thieves stole $30 million worth of gold and other precious metals from Sao Paulo's airport. The gold was destined for Toronto and New York.
(ABC News, 7/26/19)(SSFC, 7/28/19, p.A4)
2019 Jul 29, In northern Brazil at least 52 prisoners were killed by other inmates during clashes between organized crime groups at the Altamira prison in Para state. 16 of the inmates had been decapitated. Four inmates died of asphyxiation while being transferred to a safer lockup bringing the death toll to 58.
(SFC, 7/30/19, p.A2)(SFC, 8/1/19, p.A4)
2019 Aug 5, Brazil’s far-right president said in a controversial interview that criminals should be killed “in the street like cockroaches".
(The Independent, 8/6/19)
2019 Aug 5, In Brazil journalist Adecio Piran, in an online article for Folha do Progresso, warned his readers in Novo Progresso that the surrounding Amazon was about to go up in flames. The article said growers and ranchers were planning to set a coordinated series of fires in the forest and nearby land on Aug. 10, in a "Day of Fire" inspired in part by Pres. Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 9/11/19)
2019 Aug 6, Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio’s agent said Victoria's Secret has hired Sampaio as its first transgender model, as the struggling lingerie brand seeks to modernize its image.
(Reuters, 8/6/19)
2019 Aug 6, New data from the Brazilian space institute pointed to a surge in deforestation in the Amazon in the last quarter. This was the biggest surge since the institute adopted its current methodology in 2014.
(SFC, 8/7/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 10, A Brazilian appeals court judge ordered the release of Eike Batista, the mining and oil magnate who was once Brazil's richest man, revoking a temporary prison order that would expire on August 12. Police had arrested the eccentric former billionaire in Rio de Janeiro on a temporary basis on August 8 on suspicion of money laundering and insider trading.
(Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019 Aug 10, In southern Brazil an armed group broke into a club in the city of Mostardas before dawn and shot at employees and customers, killing five people and leaving four others severely injured.
(Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019 Aug 10, Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that Germany will partially suspend funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving the Amazon forest due to increasing deforestation.
(Reuters, 8/10/19)
2019 Aug 15, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed European leaders’ concerns about his government’s environmental policies after Norway followed Germany and froze millions of dollars in financial aid to an Amazon rainforest preservation fund.
(Bloomberg, 8/15/19)
2019 Aug 19, It was reported that around half a billion bees died in four of Brazil’s southern states in the year’s first months. The die-off highlighted questions about the ocean of pesticides used in the country’s agriculture and whether chemicals are washing through the human food supply, even as the government considers permitting more. Most dead bees showed traces of the insecticide Fipronil.
(Bloomberg, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 20, In Brazil a man took dozens of hostages on a bus on the 8-mile-long Rio-Niteroi bridge. Police shot him dead after a 4-hour standoff. All the hostages were freed unharmed.
(SFC, 8/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 21, Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro followed the authoritarian playbook when he claimed, without evidence, that non-governmental organizations and environmental groups caused the forest fires currently destroying large swathes of the Amazon rainforest.
(he National Interest, 8/22/19)
2019 Aug 22, Paris and the UN called for the protection of the fire-plagued Amazon rainforest as Brazil's right-wing president accused his French counterpart of having a "colonialist mentality" over the issue.
(AFP, 8/22/19)
2019 Aug 23, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said the army may be enlisted to help combat fires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest, as international condemnation and calls for tough action to quell the unfolding crisis continued to mount.
(Reuters, 8/23/19)
2019 Aug 23, Finland, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, raised the idea of banning Brazilian meat imports in response to Bolsonaro’s lax stewardship of the Amazon.
(Bloomberg, 8/24/19)
2019 Aug 24, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said he’s sending troops to battle fires roaring through vast expanses of the Amazon as President Donald Trump offered US support to combat the disaster. Brazil said about 44,000 Brazilian troops were planned to deploy.
(AP, 8/24/19)(SSFC, 8/25/19, p.A6)
2019 Aug 25, Earth Alliance, an initiative founded by Leonardo DiCaprio with philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth, launched a $5-million emergency fund to help preserve the Amazon rain forest.
(Reuters, 8/26/19)
2019 Aug 25, G7 leaders meeting in France said they are preparing to help Brazil battle fires burning across the Amazon region and repair the damage as tens of thousands of soldiers got ready to join the fight against blazes that have caused global alarm. Brazil's government soon rejected the offer, but then laid out potential terms for the aid's acceptance.
(AP, 8/25/19)(SFC, 8/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 27, In Brazil a letter signed by more than 500 career public servants warned that the country's environmental protection system could collapse as policies and political rhetoric encourage illegal land grabbing and the Amazon and other biomes.
(SFC, 8/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Aug 28, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that South American countries would meet to determine a common policy in defense of the Amazon rainforest, and took another swipe at France for an offer of $20 million in aid.
(Reuters, 8/28/19)
2019 Aug 29, Brazil banned most legal fires for land-clearing for 60 days in an attempt to stop burning that has devastated parts of the Amazon region.
(SFC, 8/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 30, In Brazil federal agents exchanged gunfire with illegal miners in the Amazon state of Para, in a dramatic example of how the government has stepped up environmental enforcement in the wake of rainforest fires.
(Reuters, 8/31/19)
2019 Aug, Brazil's Amazonas state recorded more than 6,600 fires this month, 2.5 times more than the same month a year ago.
(SFC, 9/18/19, p.A3)
2019 Sep 4, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro accused Chile's former leader Michelle Bachelet, now the UN human rights chief, of meddling in his country's affairs after she criticized a rise police violence and an erosion of democracy.
(Reuters, 9/4/19)
2019 Sep 6, Brazil's leading meat export industry group and other agribusiness associations joined with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to call for an end to deforestation on public lands, demanding government action as the Amazon rainforest burns.
(Reuters, 9/6/19)
2019 Sep 6, In Colombia leaders of several South American nations gathered in Leticia to boost protection for the Amazon region. Their meeting ended with little concrete action. Since the start of the year some 95,500 fires have hit Brazil, up 59% from a year earlier.
(SFC, 9/7/19, p.A4)
2019 Sep 9, In Brazil miners protested the government's crackdown in Pará by closing a major highway used to transport soybeans and corn to a key river port in the state, demanding that officials stop burning their equipment during raids. A regional head of Brazil's environmental authority was fired two days later, after he made public comments saying he would no longer burn machinery, some of it seized from illegal miners, in an area heavily affected by forest fires. Evandro Cunha dos Santos was tapped a week earlier to run environmental enforcement in the northern state of Pará.
(Reuters, 9/11/19)
2019 Sep 10, Brazilian federal police arrested Marcio Lobao, the son of a former energy minister, as part of an investigation into corruption and money laundering involving construction of the Belo Monte dam. Parana state prosecutors said Lobao and his father received bribes worth about $12 million from the Odebrecht construction conglomerate and another company between 2008 and 2014.
(SFC, 9/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 10, Amazon.com Inc said it will launch its Prime subscription service in Brazil, where it has struggled against tough local competition in Latin America's largest economy.
(Reuters, 9/10/19)
2019 Sep 13, In Brazil at least 11 people were killed in a fire that raced through Badim Hospital in Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 9/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 17, A Human Rights Watch report found that more than 300 people have been killed over the past decade in conflicts over the use of land and resources in the Amazon, many by organized criminal networks profiting from illegal deforestation.
(Reuters, 9/17/19)
2019 Sep 20, It was reported that theft from Brazil's Petrobras pipelines soared to a record high 261 incidents in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states last year, up from just one case in 2014.
(Reuters, 9/20/19)
2019 Sep 24, Far-right Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro blamed the international media and environmental organizations for spreading “lies" about the fires that are ravaging the Amazon rainforest during a nationalist speech that opened the 2019 United Nations General Assembly.
(Huffpost, 9/24/19)
2019 Sep 26, Brazil's main environmental agency said it has detected 105 crude oil spills from an undetermined source polluting waters off its northeast coast.
(SFC, 9/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 9, Southwest Airlines Co and Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas said they have grounded a total of 13 Boeing Co 737 NG airplanes, after US regulators ordered urgent inspections.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 15, In Brazil a seven-story residential building collapsed in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, killing at least one person.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Brazil a small plane crashed on a street shortly after takeoff in the city of Belo Horizonte, killing at least three people.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 25, In China Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping in Beijing, as the Latin American leader looks to balance his tilt toward the US.
(Bloomberg, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 27, Pope Francis called for an end to the plundering of the Amazon basin, as he closed an assembly of Roman Catholic bishops who discussed the challenges the Church faces in the region.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Brazil the chief executive of state-run oil giant Petrobras said oil slicks washing up on beaches along more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of the northeast coastline could be the worst environmental "attack" in the country's history.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 30, Brazil's Justice Minister Sergio Moro said that he has asked the top public prosecutor to investigate a statement by a Rio de Janeiro doorman that links President Jair Bolsonaro to suspects in the March 14, 2018, murder of Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco. President Jair Bolsonaro said he could cancel the license of Brazil's largest TV network Globo after it reported an allegation connecting him with a former police officer accused of the killing of councilwoman Franco.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Nov 1, Brazilian police raided the offices of a Greek company as they investigate an oil tanker carrying heavy Venezuelan crude that was allegedly spilled at sea, tarring thousands of kilometers of Brazil's coastline over the past two months. Police said oceanographic and geolocation data showed that the Greek ship was the only one navigating near the origin of the spill between July 28 and 29, after docking in Venezuela on July 15. The next day Delta Tankers, which manages the Greek-flagged Bouboulina ship, reiterated the vessel sailed from Venezuela in laden condition on July 19, heading directly, with no stops at other ports, for Melaka, Malaysia, where the tanker discharged its entire cargo without any shortage.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, In Brazil Paulo Paulino Guajajara, also known as Lobo or "wolf", was killed in an attack, the latest fatality in an escalating battle between illegal loggers and indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest. One logger also died in the attack in Maranhao state.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)(SFC, 11/4/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 5, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he would push for a constitutional amendment to allow the government to cut public sector employee salaries, hours and benefits to help it comply with a public spending cap.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 7, Major global oil firms snubbed a second Brazilian oil auction in a row, passing up promising offshore blocks and forcing officials to reconsider a bidding system that gives a privileged position to state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 8, Brazil's leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a strong rival of right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, was released from prison.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 12, Brazil's Congress officially ratified the government's landmark social security reform bill into law, in a ceremony notable for the absence of President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Brazil a 2-day meeting of the BRICS heads of state opened in Brasilia. Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies (China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa) criticized what they view as politically motivated protectionism at a time of a global slowdown and said their countries are doing their best to counter the trend.
(AP, 11/13/19)(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Brazil supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido entered the country’s embassy in Brasilia, a move coinciding with the arrival of Russian and Chinese leaders for an international summit (BRICS).
(Bloomberg, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 18, Brazilian government data showed that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest rose to its highest in over a decade this year, confirming a sharp increase under the leadership of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Police in Brazil said four homeless people have died and four hospitalized after drinking from a bottle containing a "suspicious" liquid given them by unidentified people in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 21, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro launched a new political party, the Alliance for Brazil (APB), under the banner of fighting graft and advancing Christian values, a breakaway move that could fragment his base.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Dec 1, Brazilian officials said nine people were trampled to death as police pursuing suspects clashed with people at a street parade in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 2, US President Donald Trump said he would restore tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina, surprising officials in the two South American countries who sought explanations.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 10, Brazilian authorities widened a political graft investigation to target telecom firms Oi and Telefonica Brasil over alleged irregular payments to a company part-owned by the son of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 13, It was reported that some 17,000 Brazilians were apprehended at the US-Mexico border in the El Paso Sector in the fiscal year ending in October, a 600% increase from the previous high in 2016.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 15, The UN Secretary General said global efforts to tackle climate change have stalled due to a lack of ambition, as the COP25 conference in Madrid drew to a close with a watered-down agreement. Brazil, Australia and the United States were singled out for their refusal to compromise on their own emissions targets.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 19, The Arab League condemned Brazil’s opening of a trade office in the contested city of Jerusalem, warning the move will “seriously damage" Brazil’s political and economic interests in the Arab world.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2020 Jan 16, It was reported that foul tasting and smelling tap water has been running for more than a week in dozens of neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. The local O Globo newspaper has reported a spike in cases of diarrhea, gastroenteritis and vomiting in Rio's west zone.
(SFC, 1/16/20, p.A2)
2019 Brazilian police killed more than 5,800 people this year.
(Econ., 9/19/20, p.34)
2020 Jan 17, It was reported that Brazil’s government plans to push abstinence-based sex education to help cut teenage pregnancy rates, in a controversial move inspired by an evangelical Christian pressure group and Donald Trump’s policy in the US.
(The Guardian, 1/17/20)
2020 Jan 17, Leaders of native tribes in Brazil issued a rallying call to protect the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous people from what they called the "genocide, ethnocide and ecocide" planned by the country's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 1/18/20)
2020 Jan 20, In Brazil 26 inmates escaped from a prison in the northwestern state of Acre early today, with all but one remaining at large.
(Reuters, 1/20/20)
2020 Jan 21, Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said he will create an "Amazon Council" to protect and ensure the "sustainable development" of the world's largest rainforest, following intense criticism of his environmental policies.
(Reuters, 1/21/20)
2020 Jan 25, Brazilian authorities said flooding and landslides following heavy rains in the southeast have killed at least 30 people.
(SSFC, 1/26/20, p.A4)
2020 Jan 25, Brazilian miner Vale SA raised the emergency level at the Sul Inferior dam at its Gongo Soco mine in Barão de Cocais, in the southern state of Minas Gerais, after heavy rainfall eroded the structure's reservoir.
(Reuters, 1/26/20)
2020 Feb 7, Government data showed that aggressive deforestation is starting earlier this year in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, with destruction doubling in January compared with a year ago.
(AP, 2/7/20)
2020 Feb 7, It was reported that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed into law quarantine rules for Brazilians who will be brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 2/7/20)
2020 Feb 10, Brazil authorized its national public security force to support efforts to fight deforestation in the Amazon, amid worries that 2020 could see another surge in destruction of the world's largest rainforest.
(Reuters, 2/10/20)
2020 Feb 22, Brazil's famed Carnival kicked off in earnest, as millions of scantily-clad revelers poured into the streets, many of whom took the opportunity to parody or otherwise comment on the nation's deeply polarized political climate.
(Reuters, 2/22/20)
2020 Feb 26, Brazil confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Latin America, a man in Sao Paulo who returned recently from Italy. The disease reached the Amazon region by mid-March.
(Reuters, 2/26/20)(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Feb 24, The captain of the Stellar Banner cargo ship ran his vessel agound of the coast of Brazil to prevent it from sinking. Days later oil was detected leaking from the partially submerged ship. The ship was carrying iron ore destined for China.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.A4)
2020 Feb 26, Brazil's Environment Ministry reported the firing of two senior climate officials, leaving the posts vacant at a time when the country is under growing scrutiny for the greenhouse gases released by clearing the Amazon rainforest. The right-wing government of President Jair Bolsonaro had already reduced the emphasis on climate change within the ministry, turning a vice-minister-level role on climate change into a directorship.
(Reuters, 2/27/20)
2020 Mar 3, A new report said deforestation of lands occupied by isolated indigenous tribes in the Brazilian Amazon more than doubled between July 2019 and July 2018 to the highest rate in more than a decade.
(Reuters, 3/3/20)
2020 Mar 5, Brazil confirmed eight cases of the new coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/6/20)
2020 Mar 7, President Donald Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where the two leaders discussed the US-led effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
(Bloomberg, 3/8/20)
2020 Mar 12, Researchers crunched data on changes in dozens of ecosystems to conclude that Caribbean coral reefs could collapse in 15 years while the Amazon rainforest could die back within 50 years. The finding was questioned by some experts.
(Reuters, 3/12/20)
2020 Mar 13, Brazil's federal audit court suspended late today an increase of 20 billion reais ($4.1 billion) to social assistance for elderly and disabled people.
(Reuters, 3/14/20)
2020 Mar 16, In Brazil local media reported that as many as 1,000 inmates had fled four jails ahead of a planned lockdown of the facilities over the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/17/20)
2020 Mar 17, Brazil's government called for a state of emergency to loosen fiscal rules as it faced challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and oil price war. Brazil reported its first death due to the virus and closed its border to Venezuelans for an initial 15 days, citing strains on the public health system and what its president described as Venezuela's inability to respond.
(Reuters, 3/18/20)
2020 Mar 17, Brazil's Sao Paulo state prison authority said more than 500 prisoners have been recaptured who fled four jails ahead of a planned lockdown of the facilities over the coronavirus pandemic. Local officials had cancelled temporary leaves because of fears that prisoners could bring the new coronavirus back with them.
(AP, 3/17/20)(SFC, 3/18/20, p.A2)
2020 Mar 19, Brazil's confirmed cases of coronavirus surged past 600.
(AP, 3/20/20)
2020 Mar 22, Brazil's health ministry statistics showed 1,546 confirmed cases, up from 234 cases a week before. The respiratory disease caused by the virus has killed 25 people.
(Reuters, 3/23/20)
2020 Mar 24, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro laid to rest a diplomatic spat with China in a call with President Xi Jinping, with the two agreeing to work together to fight coronavirus as Brazil's largest city went into lockdown. In a televised speech Bolsonaro urged local governments to abandon "scorched-earth" strategies of closing schools and shops, and blasted the media for spreading "the sensation of fear".
(Reuters, 3/24/20)(Econ, 3/28/20, p.29)
2020 Mar 25, Brazil recorded more than 2,500 cases of coronavirus and 59 deaths.
(AP, 3/26/20)
2020 Mar 26, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (65) told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he feels Brazilians’ natural immunity will protect the nation from the coronavirus pandemic. The nation’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 3,400 and deaths top 90. 25 of Brazil’s 27 governors signed a joint letter this week begging Bolsonaro to back strict anti-virus measures.
(AP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 28, Brazil's federal government launched an advertising campaign against social distancing measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the latest flashpoint in a battle between President Jair Bolsonaro and state governors trying to stop the virus' spread.
(AP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 28, A Brazilian court blocked a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that exempted places of worship from confinement orders. The federal court in Rio de Janeiro state ruled that religious services pose a public health risk. The government can still appeal the decision.
(AFP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 29, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro called on all but the elderly to get back to work, defying his own health ministry on coronavirus guidelines.
(SFC, 4/2/20, p.A6)
2020 Mar 31, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro called for a pact against the coronavirus "to save lives without leaving jobs behind." Brazil had 1210 deaths from the virus.
(Economist, 4/4/20, p.26)
2020 Apr 1, Brazil reported that an indigenous woman in a village deep in the Amazon rainforest has contracted the novel coronavirus, the first case reported among Brazil's more than 300 tribes.
(Reuters, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 2, Brazil is Latin America's worst affected nation by the coronavirus so far, with nearly 7,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 240 deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the virus as "a little flu" and told Brazilians to get back to work.
(Reuters, 4/2/20)
2020 Apr 4, In Brazil a member of the Guajajara indigenous tribe was found shot in the head and hospitalized.This and five recent killings in the Arariboia Indigenous Territory prompted the state of Maranhao to seek federal help. Attacks have targeted members of the tribe known for their fight against illegal deforestation.
(SFC, 4/7/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 4, Brazil counted 2,369 hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients over the last four weeks. The health ministry counted 18,000 more admissions for respiratory cases than during the same period last year.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.24)
2020 Apr 8, Brazil reported 14,049 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 688 people dead.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.25)
2020 Apr 9, In Brazil a Yanomami youth (15) died after testing positive for coronavirus in Boa Vista, Roraima state. This raised fears that the epidemic will spread among the largest indigenous tribe in northern Brazil.
(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 9, General Motors Co said it plans to keep its Brazilian factories shut down for at least 60 more days due to the coronavirus crisis, as the final batch of unionized workers voted on the automaker's proposal for the shutdown and for a plan to cut salaries by up to 25%.
(Reuters, 4/9/20)
2020 Apr 10, Brazilian government data showed that deforestation in its Amazon rainforest rose in March, indicating that illegal loggers and land speculators have not stopped destroying the forest with the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 12, Brazil's Health Minister Henrique Mandetta criticized people for gathering in public without referring directly to Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, who hit the streets over the weekend, drawing crowds and greeting followers.
(Reuters, 4/13/20)
2020 Apr 13, In Mozambique Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos (49), aka Fuminho, was arrested in Maputo after spending more than two decades on the run. He was one of Brazil's most wanted criminals and the alleged leader of the São Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang, accused of shipping tons of cocaine around the world.
(BBC, 4/14/20)
2020 Apr 16, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro fired Health Minister Henrique Mandetta, who had garnered support for his handling of the pandemic that included promotion of broad isolation measures enacted by state governors. Nelson Teich, an oncologist, was named as the new health minister. Brazil has 29,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,760 deaths.
(AP, 4/17/20)(SFC, 4/17/20, p.A5)
2020 Apr 18, Brazil reported 2,917 new coronavirus cases and 211 deaths in 24 hours. Total deaths rose to 2,352 from 2,141.
(Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 19, Mozambique expelled a fugitive Brazilian cocaine trafficker following his arrest this week. Brazilian media reported that Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos left Mozambique early this morning in a Brazilian Air Force plane bound for Brazil.
(Reuters, 4/19/20)
2020 Apr 22, The UN in a report said there was evidence of rising violence against women in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, and a doubling in the number of femicides in Argentina during the coronavirus-related quarantine.
(NBC News, 4/27/20)
2020 Apr 24, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro sacked the head of the federal police. Hours late justice minister Sergio Moro resigned and accused the president of political interference in the police to shield his family.
(Econ., 5/2/20, p.23)
2020 Apr 24, Brazil's health ministry confirmed nearly 53,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 3,600 deaths. Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse.
(AP, 4/24/20)
2020 Apr 30, Brazil’s virtually uncontrolled surge of COVID-19 cases spawned fear that construction workers, truck drivers and tourists from Latin America’s biggest nation will spread the disease to neighboring countries that are doing a better job of controlling the coronavirus. The official count of coronavirus cases rocketed past 85,000 and deaths surpassed 5,900 — more than the amount suffered by China. Experts considered both figures to be significant under-counts due to a lack of widespread testing.
(AP, 4/30/20)
2020 Apr, Brazil's government created the "auxilio emergencial," a basic income to poor people to face the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In September the benefit was halved, but extended until the end of 2020.
(https://tinyurl.com/y9r4fmep)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.51)
2020 May 2, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge issued an injunction suspending for 10 days a move by the right-wing government to expel Venezuela's 30 diplomats and consular staff.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 2, In Brazil there have been 4,970 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 421 deaths over the last 24 hours. The nation has now registered 95,559 confirmed cases of the virus and 6,750 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 2, It was reported that Inmates at a prison in Manaus, Brazil, a city deep in the Amazon that has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, have taken seven prison guards hostage. Local television stations cited a video allegedly recorded by an unidentified inmate, who complained of sweltering heat and a lack of electricity in the prison.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 3, Brazil's President Bolsonaro, who has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum for dismissing the threat of the coronavirus, attacked Congress and the courts in a speech to hundreds of supporters as the number of cases blew past 100,000.
(Reuters, 5/4/20)
2020 May 5, In Brazil the mayor of Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon rainforest region, asked world leaders for help fighting the novel coronavirus, which has brought his city's health system to the brink of collapse. Brazil hit a record for daily coronavirus deaths, indicating that it is still in the thick of its battle even as some areas of the country begin to reopen.
(AFP, 5/5/20)(Reuters, 5/6/20)
2020 May 6, Brazil, one of the world's emerging hot spots, registered a record number of cases and deaths, prompting the health minister to flag the possibility of strict lockdowns in hard-hit areas.
(Reuters, 5/7/20)
2020 May 7, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro authorized the deployment of armed forces to combat deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon region. Environmental advocates say the measure may help in the short term but is not a lasting solution. Government data a day later showed that deforestation in the rainforest rose sharply in April.
(Reuters, 5/8/20)
2020 May 7, Brazil's Health Ministry registered 9,888 new cases, bringing its total to 135,106 with 9,146 deaths. Jair Bolsonaro went to the Supreme Court to ask that state be forced to roll back restrictive measures, despite the surge in the nation's coronavirus cases and deaths.
(Reuters, 5/8/20)(SFC, 5/9/20, p.A4)
2020 May 8, Brazil's 5th largest city, Fortaleza, became the nation's third metropolis to enter lockdown for COVID-19.
(SFC, 5/9/20, p.A4)
2020 May 8, Brazil's Supreme Court overturned rules that limit gay and bisexual men from donating blood in a decision considered a human rights victory for LGBT+ people in the country.
(Reuters, 5/9/20)
2020 May 11, Brazil's federal police arrested Gonzalo Sanchez (69), a former Argentine navy officer accused of dictatorship-era crimes against humanity and kidnapping. He had been on the run since 2005.
(SFC, 5/14/20, p.A2)
2020 May 15, Brazil’s health minister Dr. Nelson Teich resigned after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. Officials say almost 15,000 people have died in Brazil from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, though some experts say the figure is significantly higher due to insufficient testing.
(AP, 5/15/20)
2020 May 16, Brazil's Health Ministry registered 14,919 new confirmed cases in the prior 24 hours, taking the total to 233,142.
(Reuters, 5/16/20)
2020 May 18, In Brazil military and federal police officers burst into a home and shot João Pedro (14) in the stomach with a high-caliber rifle at close range. There was no sign of illegal activity at the house in the Salgueiro complex of favelas in Rio de Janeiro. His body was tracked down the next day, inside a police forensic institute. He was one of more than 600 people killed by police in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the first months of this year.
(AP, 6/17/20)
2020 May 18, Brazil recorded 674 new deaths and announced a total of 254,220 confirmed cases.
(Reuters, 5/19/20)
2020 May 20, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro unveiled rules expanding the prescription of chloroquine, the predecessor of an anti-malaria drug promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump, for coronavirus patients despite a lack of clinical proof that it is effective.
(AP, 5/20/20)
2020 May 24, Brazil has now surpassed Russia with a total number of confirmed cases standing at 347, 398.
(Good Morning America, 5/24/20)
2020 May 24, President Trump said the United States would suspend travel from Brazil, after a surge in coronavirus cases made the South American nation one of the world's hotspots. Brazil now has more than 22,000 deaths and 347,000 confirmed cases.
(AP, 5/24/20)
2020 May 26, Police in Rio de Janeiro raided the governor's residence and 10 other addresses as part of a widening probe into the alleged embezzlement of part of the $150 million in public funds earmarked for building field hospitals. Gov. Wilson Witzel denied any wrongdoing and accused Pres. Bolsonaro of ordering the raid as political retribution. Brazil has 375,000 coronavirus cases and 23,000 deaths so far.
(AP, 5/26/20)(SFC, 5/27/20), p.A4)
2020 May 27, Brazil's Federal Police executed more than two dozen search and seizure warrants in six states as part of an investigation into a network that allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices.
(SFC, 5/28/20, p.A3)
2020 May 28, Brazil had 411,821 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 25,598 deaths. A study by the Federal Univ. of Pelotas and Rio Grande de do Sul state has concluded that the caseload is seven time the official number.
(Econ., 5/30/20, p.26)
2020 May 30, Brazil reported a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus. Brazil now has 498,440 confirmed cases, a level of contagion second only to the United States. The death increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/30/20)
2020 Jun 4, Brazil recorded a record 1,473 coronavirus fatalities taking its total tally to more than 34,000. The official number of infections rose to nearly 615,000, second only to the US.
(The Guardian, 6/4/20)
2020 Jun 5, In Brazil a Supreme Court judge banned most police operations in the favelas for the remainder of the pandemic.
(Econ., 6/13/20, p.47)
2020 Jun 6, Brazil's government stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus deaths and infections in an extraordinary move that critics call an attempt to hide the true toll of the disease in Latin America's largest nation. President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted that disease totals are “not representative" of the country's current situation.
(AP, 6/6/20)
2020 Jun 11, Brazil reported 30,412 new coronavirus cases, bringing its cumulative total to above 800,000. Shops reopened in the country's two largest cities.
(Reuters, 6/12/20)
2020 Jun 12, In Brazil two members of the Yanomami ethnic group were shot to death be illegal gold prospectors in the Amazon regions Roraima state.
(SFC, 6/29/20, p.A2)
2020 Jun 13, Brazil has recorded nearly 40,000 deaths from the coronavirus, th world's third highest number.
(Econ., 6/13/20, p.26)
2020 Jun 16, The World Health Organization's regional director for the Americas Carissa Etienne said that the region is fast approaching 4 million cases of coronavirus and the pandemic continues to accelerate. Etienne said Brazil accounts for 23% of the more than 3.8 million cases in the Americas and 23% of the almost 204,000 deaths in the region.
(Reuters, 6/16/20)
2020 Jun 19, Brazil’s Health Ministry said that total coronavirus cases now stood at 1,032,913, up more than 50,000 from a day earlier.
(AP, 6/19/20)
2020 Jun 21, The World Health Organization reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours. The WHO said Brazil led the way with 54,771 cases tallied and the US next at 36,617. Over 15,400 came in in India.
(NBC News, 6/21/20)
2020 Jun 22, Global cases of the novel coronavirus surpassed 9 million, as Brazil and India grappled with a surge in infections, and the United States, China and other hard-hit countries reported new outbreaks.
(Reuters, 6/22/20)
2020 Jun 24, Africa's first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial started today as volunteers received injections developed at the University of Oxford in Britain. The large-scale trial is being conducted in South Africa, Britain and Brazil.
(AP, 6/24/20)
2020 Jul 4, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro approved a law requiring masks on streets and in public transportation. He vetoed clauses requiring masks in churches, schools, shops and factories. Brazil has confirmed more than 61,500 deaths and over 1.5 million coronavirus infections, the 2nd most in the world behind the US.
(SSFC, 7/5/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 7, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro said he has tested positive for COVID-19. Sources close to the president said that Bolsonaro began exhibiting symptoms of the virus July 4.
(Good Morning America, 7/7/20)
2020 Jul 7, Doctors reported that a Brazilian man infected with the AIDS virus has shown no sign of it for more than a year since he stopped HIV medicines after an intense experimental drug therapy aimed at purging hidden, dormant virus from his body.
(AP, 7/7/20)
2020 Jul 8, The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that Brazil must take emergency measures to protect its Indigenous communities from the novel coronavirus.
(The Conversation, 7/9/20)
2020 Jul 10, Inpe, Brazil's national space agency, published figures showing 400 square miles of deforestation in the Amazon in June. Total deforestation from January to June was 1,890 square miles, up 25% from the same period last year.
(SFC, 7/15/20, p.A4)
2020 Jul 13, Brazil's government fired Lubia Vinhas, an official at the national space agency Inpe whose department is responsible for satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest.
(SFC, 7/15/20, p.A4)
2020 Jul 16, Brazil's federal health ministry reported that the country had passed 2 million confirmed cases of virus infections and 76,000 deaths.
(AP, 7/16/20)
2020 Jul 25, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that he had tested negative for the new coronavirus, based on a fourth test since he said July 7 that he had the virus.
(AP, 7/25/20)
2020 Aug 1, Facebook announced that it has obeyed a Brazilian judge's order for a worldwide block on the accounts of 12 of President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters who are under investigation for allegedly running a fake news network.
(AP, 8/1/20)
2020 Aug 4, The government of Brazil said an eighth minister in President Jair Bolsonaro's Cabinet has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Brazil has confirmed more than 2.8 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began. The official death toll has risen to 94,665, with 51,603 new cases and 1,154 deaths in the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 8/4/20)
2020 Aug 8, Brazil surpassed a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. The Health Ministry said there had been a total of 3,012,412 confirmed infections with the new coronavirus.
(AP, 8/8/20)
2020 Aug 13, The Chinese city of Shenzhen's government identified a Brazilian meat plant owned by Aurora, the country's third largest processor of chicken and pork, as the source of chicken wings that tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Authorities in the Chinese city of Xian separately reported that the outer packaging of shrimp imported from Ecuador also tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 8/13/20)
2020 Aug 28, Brazil's main prosecutor's office said that Wilson Witzel, a former federal judge and the governor of Rio de Janeiro, has been removed from office for 180 days due to corruption charges.
(SFC, 8/29/20, p.A2)
2020 Aug 29, Brazil registered another 758 novel coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 41,350 new cases. The nation has now registered 120,262 coronavirus deaths and 3,846,153 confirmed cases.
(Reuters, 8/29/20)
2020 Sep 4, Brazil’s health ministry to date has confirmed more than 4 million cases of the coronavirus disease and 125,000 deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has expressed opposition to administering vaccines that are yet to be proven on Brazilian soil.
(AP, 9/5/20)
2020 Sep 6, It was reported that fires in the Brazilian Amazon have been as destructive as last year’s, but they have drawn less attention in a year overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Enormous blazes — often intentionally set but worsened by unusually dry conditions — have also scorched 7,861 square miles, or about 10 percent, of the area known as the Pantanal from January to August, an area slightly larger than New Jersey.
(NY Times, 9/6/20)
2020 Sep 9, Brazilian lab and hospital group DASA S.A. said it has agreed to conduct clinical Phase 2 and 3 trials in Brazil for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by COVAXX, a unit of privately-owned United Biomedical Inc.
(Reuters, 9/9/20)
2020 Sep 13, It was reported that a vast swath of a vital wetlands is burning in Brazil, sweeping across several national parks and obscuring the sun behind dense smoke. Nearly 5,800 square miles (1.5 million hectares) have burned in the Pantanal region since the start of August — an expanse comparable to the area consumed by the historic blazes now afflicting California. More than 20,000 fires were detected in the first two weeks of this month, more than burned in the whole of September in 2019.
(AP, 9/13/20)(Econ., 9/19/20, p.77)
2020 Sep 21, A new study that analyzed the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil has found a link between the spread of the virus and past outbreaks of dengue fever that suggests exposure to the mosquito-transmitted illness may provide some level of immunity against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 9/21/20)
2020 Sep 22, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro defended his administration’s record protecting the Amazon rainforest, telling the United Nations’ virtual meeting of global leaders that his country has been wrongly portrayed as an environmental villain.
(AP, 9/22/20)
2020 Sep 23, Brazil's government said it was adding 43 more firefighters to a small force battling blazes that have charred a Belgium-sized swath of the world's largest tropical wetlands.
(AP, 9/23/20)
2020 Sep 23, Brazil recorded 33,281 additional confirmed cases in the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 9/23/20)
2020 Sep 28, Seventy world leaders signed the “Leaders Pledge for Nature" and vowed to take steps to halt the catastrophic human-made decline. Non-signers included President Donald Trump, his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro and Australian PM Scott Morrison.
(https://tinyurl.com/y64tmyrf)(NBC News, 10/16/20)
2020 Oct 7, Brazil surpassed 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases late today and verged on 150,000 dead, the second-most in the world.
(AP, 10/8/20)
2020 Oct 10, Brazil registered 559 additional coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 26,749 new cases. It has now registered 5,082,637 confirmed cases and 150,198 total deaths.
(Reuters, 10/11/20)
2020 Oct 16, Brazil and Paraguay reopened borders that were closed for more than six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(SFC, 10/17/20, p.A6)
2020 Oct 19, Prosecutors in Brazil leveled charges against Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, with commanding a criminal organization and laundering money when he was a state lawmaker between 2007 and 2018. 16 others were also charged.
(SFC, 11/5/20, p.A4)
2020 Oct 23, Brazilian pharmaceutical company União Quimica said it has signed an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 starting in the second half of November. This is the second agreement to produce the Russian vaccine in Brazil, where four other vaccines are already being tested.
(Reuters, 10/23/20)
2020 Oct 23, Brazilian regulator Anvisa authorized a biomedical center to import 6 million doses of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, one day after President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil would not buy the Chinese vaccine.
(AP, 10/23/20)
2020 Nov 1, In Brazil small groups of protesters gathered in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to demonstrate against any mandate for the taking of a coronavirus vaccine, supporting a rejection campaign encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AP, 11/1/20)
2020 Nov 3, It was reported that Brazilian health regulator Anvisa has authorized resumption of a clinical trial of Johnson & Johnson's experimental COVID-19 vaccine. J&J's trial in Brazil had been suspended since Oct. 12, so a safety panel could evaluate an unexplained illness of a participant in its planned 60,000-person Phase III study.
(Reuters, 11/3/20)
2020 Nov 3, In northern Brazil a fire at an electricity substation interrupted power supply to 13 of 16 municipalities in Amapa state. Full restoration was expected to take as long as ten days.
(SSFC, 11/8/20, p.A6)
2020 Nov 9, In Brazil Governor João Doria said São Paulo has begun building a facility to produce 100 million doses a year of China's Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19, which will be ready by September next year.
(Reuters, 11/9/20)
2020 Nov 11, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa allowed resumption of late-stage clinical trials for China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, which had been suspended due to the death of a study subject that was registered in Sao Paulo as a suicide.
(AP, 11/11/20)
2020 Nov 13, The Chinese city of Wuhan said it had detected the novel coronavirus on the packaging of a batch of Brazilian beef, as it ramped up testing of frozen foods this week as part of a nationwide campaign. The beef had entered the country at Qingdao port on Aug. 7 and it reached Wuhan on Aug. 17, where it remained in a cold storage facility until recently.
(Reuters, 11/13/20)
2020 Nov 15, Brazil held municipal elections. Candidates backed by Pres. Bolsonaro nearly all fared poorly. Big winners were the mainstream parties.
(Econ., 11/28/20, p.30)
2020 Nov 19, In Brazil a Black man died after being beaten by supermarket security guards in the city of Porto Alegre on the eve of Black Consciousness Day observations, sparking outrage after videos of the incident circulated on social media. Carrefour soon released a statement lamenting the “brutal death" of João Alberto Silveira Freitas, and said it will end its contract with the security company, fire the store manager who was on duty and close the Porto Alegre store out of respect for the victim.
(AP, 11/20/20)
2020 Nov 19, The first 120,000 doses of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech that is being tested in Brazil, arrived at São Paulo's international airport.
(Reuters, 11/19/20)
2020 Nov 20, Brazil surpassed 6 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, becoming the third country in the world to pass that milestone after the United States and India. Brazil recorded 38,397 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 552 deaths from COVID-19. The official death toll has risen to 168,613.
(Reuters, 11/20/20)
2020 Nov 29, Brazil completed municipal elections. Pres. Jair Bolsonaro suffered big losses with only five candidates he supported winning their races, none of them in major cities.
(SFC, 12/1/20, p.A3)
2020 Nov 30, In southern Brazil some 30 bank robbers armed with “bazookas" took over the city of Criciúma, Santa Catarina state, late today setting cars on fire, starting gun fights with police and eventually leaving money strewn across the streets to encourage residents to run into the road – enabling their getaway.
(The Independent, 12/1/20)
2020 Dec 3, Brazil's São Paulo's Butantan Institute biomedical center received 1 million doses of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd that is undergoing late-stage testing by the institute at 16 locations in Brazil.
(Reuters, 12/3/20)
2020 Dec 9, Brazil reported 53,453 more confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate since mid-August, and 836 deaths.
(Reuters, 12/9/20)
2020 Dec 9, Brazil’s Gol Airlines became the first in the world to return the Boeing 737 Max jetliners to its active fleet, using a 737 MAX 8 on a flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre.
(AP, 12/9/20)
2020 Dec 10, Brazil's São Paulo state started producing the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, Governor João Doria said, even though the federal government of President Jair Bolsonaro has yet to approve its use.
(Reuters, 12/10/20)
2020 Dec 11, Brazil's Health Ministry said it is studying 58 suspected cases of COVID-19 re-infection after confirming the first case of a person getting re-infected with the illness caused by the coronavirus. The pathogen of the sample collected in June belonged to the B.1.1.33 strain and the October sample was from the B.1.1.28 strain.
(Reuters, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 12, The Brazilian government unveiled its long-awaited national vaccination plan against COVID-19 with an initial goal of vaccinating 51 million people, or about one-fourth of the population, in the first half of 2021.
(Reuters, 12/12/20)
2020 Dec 14, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said China's health authorities are not transparent in their authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use.
(Reuters, 12/14/20)
2020 Dec 16, Brazil's number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surged past 7 million, with an all-time high of more than 70,000 cases and 936 deaths.
(SFC, 12/17/20, p.A5)
2020 Dec 19, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has refused to take any coronavirus vaccine, said that he did not think the world's rush for a vaccine was justified because the pandemic is in his view coming to an end. Brazil registered 50,177 new cases, bringing the total to 7,213,155. Deaths rose by 706 to 186,356.
(AP, 12/19/20)
2020 Dec 22, In Brazil police arrested Marcelo Crivella (63), the outgoing mayor of Rio de Janeiro, in connection with an alleged kickback scheme. The evangelical bishop turned politician is scheduled to leave office on Jan. 1 after losing a re-election bid in a landslide to his predecessor Eduardo Paes.
(SFC, 12/23/20, p.A4)
2020 Dec 24, Sao Paulo's state health secretary said the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd showed efficacy between 50% and 90% in Brazilian trials.
(Reuters, 12/25/20)
2020 Dec 26, Brazil registered 307 new COVID-19 deaths, and 17,246 new cases of coronavirus. Brazil now has nearly 7.5 million confirmed cases and 190,795 deaths from the virus.
(Reuters, 12/26/20)
2020 Dec 29, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has requested regulatory approval to launch Phase 3 trials in Brazil.
(Reuters, 12/29/20)
2020 Dec 31, Brazil reported 56,773 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 1,074 deaths from COVID-19. A Brazilian lab said it has detected two cases of the new coronavirus variant that has spread rapidly in Britain, and urged reinforcement of quarantine measures for travelers coming from Europe.
(Reuters, 12/31/20)
2020 Brazil was flooded with misinformation about the coronavirus this year, and two students fought it by creating the Sleeping Giants Brazil Twitter site to call out Brazilian websites for spreading “hate speech and Fake News," and torpedoing those sites’ advertising revenue. The US Sleeping Giants campaign started in November 2016, shortly after Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 United States presidential election, with the launch of a Twitter account aiming to boycott Breitbart News.
(AP, 12/13/20)
2020 Deforestation of the Amazon region was expected to reach 28-42%.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A10)
2021 Jan 6, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro accused syringe makers of pushing up their prices after the government failed to buy hundreds of millions of syringes via auction for its COVID-19 vaccination drive, leading it to requisition surplus supplies.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 8, The Brazilian production partner for a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech filed for emergency use authorization with health regulator Anvisa, the day after announcing results from a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Brazilian researchers said they have identified the concerning new coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa in a woman who contracted COVID-19 for the second time, and said it was the first such case reported in the world.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 11, Ford Brazil said it will close its factories, laying off 5,000 workers, as supply and demand were hurt by the pandemic.
(Econ., 1/16/21, p.24)
2021 Jan 12, Local partners in Brazil said CoronaVac, a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac, showed "general efficacy" of 50.4% in a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, India's Bharat Biotech said it has signed an agreement with a medicine distributor to supply its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to Brazil, even as the shot's emergency use approval in its home country has faced criticism.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 13, It was reported that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Brazilian pharmaceutical company Uniao Quimica have agreed on supplies of 10 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to Brazil in the first quarter of 2021.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 15, Brazil's Air Force delivered emergency supplies of oxygen to the jungle state of Amazonas, where hospitals overwhelmed by resurging coronavirus cases were airlifting patients to other states to save them from dying of suffocation.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 16, The newspaper Estado de S. Paulo reported that Brazil's government will not seek to bar Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from 5G network auctions slated for June this year.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a convoy of trucks carrying emergency oxygen supplies for Brazil's northern Amazonas state, where a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard, has departed and is set to arrive at the border by tomorrow morning.
(AP, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 23, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a second emergency use request of China's CoronaVac vaccine, which will allow for the distribution of 4.8 million new doses that were partly manufactured in Brazil.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Feb 6, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said Pfizer Inc has applied for full regulatory approval in Brazil of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech Se.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 10, It was reported that Italian police have intercepted cocaine worth £228 million. The cocaine was hidden in containers full of exotic fruit from Ecuador and coffee and frozen meat from Brazil.
(The Telegraph, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a request by biomedical institute Fiocruz to import more doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford from the Serum Institute of India.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 15, France's largest bank BNP Paribas pledged to stop financing firms producing or buying either beef or soybeans cultivated on land in the Amazon cleared or converted after 2008.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 19, Brazil's health ministry said it intends to buy 30 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine to be produced locally by the Butantan public health institute and delivered between October and December. The ministry said it has already ordered 100 million of the vaccine together with Butantan to be delivered by September.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 25, Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000. It is the world’s second-highest for the same reason the second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb, The coronavirus extinguished a centuries-old tribe in Brazil's Amazon region. The last member of the Juma people died from Covid this month.
(NY Times, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 2, Scientists said a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant that emerged in Brazil and has now been found in at least 20 countries can re-infect people who previously recovered from the disease. Scientists estimated that the P.1 variant was 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than the initial form of the virus.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 8, Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that Pfizer Inc will deliver an additional 5 million COVID-19 vaccination doses, which would increase the number of shots expected from the drugmaker by the end of June to 14 million.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, A Supreme Court justice in Brazil tossed out several criminal cases against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, allowing him to challenge President Jair Bolsonaro in next year’s election.
(NY Times, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 10, Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blasted the government of President Jair Bolsonaro for mishandling the pandemic and economy in a speech marking a return to the political stage after his graft convictions were overturned.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Preliminary data from a study in Brazil indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd is effective against the P1 variant of the virus first discovered in Brazil.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned that new COVID-19 cases infections are still rising in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where a resurgence has caused record daily deaths.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said it has given final approval for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University, which will be manufactured domestically by the Fiocruz biomedical institute. The government said it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 12, It was reported that crooks in Brazil have infiltrated the country's four largest gasoline chains, where they are estimated to control hundreds, if not thousands, of stations.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 18, In Brazil 4 protesters were arrested as police started to employ a dictatorship-era national security law against critics of President Jair Bolsonaro. Lawyers and activists rallied to provide them with legal help and accused the government of trying to silence dissent.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 22, Hundreds of Brazilian business leaders and economists blasted President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the coronavirus crisis and called for a new policy approach as the country enters a critical phase of its COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, It was reported that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has agreed to help Brazil acquire sedatives and other drugs it urgently needs for the intubation of patients seriously ill with COVID-19 due to a shortage in the current surge of serious cases.
(Reuters, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 23, Carissa Etienne, the WHO's regional director for the Americas, warned that the coronavirus is surging "dangerously" across Brazil, urging all Brazilians to adopt preventive measures to stop the spread.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 24, Brazil topped 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, becoming the second country, after the US, to do so amid a spike in infections that has seen the South American country report record death tolls in recent days. The health ministry reported 2,009 daily COVID-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 29, In Brazil Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo (53), a career diplomat famed for his bashing of Xi Jinping’s China and devotion to Donald Trump, tendered his resignation, ending what critics call the most calamitous chapter in the history of Brazilian diplomacy. Defence minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva also announced he was leaving the government.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Apr 6, Brazil reported 4,195 COVID-19 fatalities bringing the total to 336,947. Cases surged by 86, 979 over the past 24 hours pushing that total to 13.1 million.
(SFC, 4/7/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 7, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said there would be “no national lockdown," ignoring growing calls from health experts a day after the nation saw its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours since the pandemic began.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 13, France suspended all flights from Brazil amid mounting fears over the P.1 variant of the coronavirus that has been sweeping across Brazil.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 14, Brazil's city of Sao Paulo warned its ability to care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients was on the verge of collapse as it ran perilously low on key drugs.
(AP, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 15, An emergency shipment of sedatives needed to intubate severely ill COVID-19 patients arrived in Brazil late late today from China. Brazil has recorded a total of 365,444 coronavirus deaths, second only to the US, and 13,746,681 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 22, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro shifted his tone on preservation of the Amazon rainforest at the US-led climate summit, exhibiting willingness to step up commitment even as many critics continue doubting his credibility.
(AP, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 23, It was reported that Brazil’s COVID-19 vaccination program is being put at risk by people failing to show up for their second shot, with 1.5 million people missing appointments for the follow-up dose needed to maximize protection. A recent real-world study from Chile found that the Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine, which has accounted for some 80% of Brazil's program, is just 16% effective after one shot.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 26, Brazil’s health authority rejected Russia’s Covid vaccine even though scientific research suggests it is safe and effective.
(NY Times, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 29, Brazil became the 2nd country to top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. Brazil announced another 3,001, bringing that total to 401,186.
(SFC, 4/30/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 29, Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 said that they were suing Brazilian regulator Anvisa for defamation, accusing it of having knowingly spread false information without testing their product.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr, In Brazil deforestation this month 40se 43% over the same month in 2020, to 224 square miles.
(SFC, 5/10/21, p.A4)
2021 May 6, In Brazil a police raid on a drug gang in a poor Rio de Janeiro neighborhood left 28 people dead in the deadliest operation ever carried out by the security forces in the city.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 11, Brazilian states halted vaccination of pregnant women after a death in Rio de Janeiro led health regulator Anvisa to warn against the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for expecting mothers.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 16, It was reported that Covid-19 is ravaging Brazil and that experts are working to understand why it appears to be killing babies and small children at an unusually high rate.
(NY Times, 5/16/21)
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