Foreign Policy Blogs

Brazil

Telecom Wars: The Battle for Brazil

Telecom Wars: The Battle for Brazil

Spain’s Telefónica announced today the successful takeover of leading Brazilian mobile operator Vivo after weeks of strained negotiations with its joint-owner Portugal Telecom (PT). The move will allow Telefónica to merge its fixed landline services with Vivo’s national mobile network and begin offering Brazilian consumers ‘triple-play’ and ‘quadruple-play’ service packages (i.e. fixed-phone, internet, television, and […]

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Indio da Costa: Da Instigator

Indio da Costa: Da Instigator

This year’s Presidential candidates are increasingly resorting to fear and competing claims of victimization to win over the electorate. Today Jose Serra’s running mate (and de facto attack dog) Indio da Costa furthered allegations tying Dilma Rousseff’s Workers Party (the PT) to organized crime and drug trafficking. Indio da Costa not only reiterated previous claims […]

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New Forest Policy For Amazon, Cerrado, Only in 2011

Brazil farmers get green light to cut more forest. Sort of…

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FGV Report On Oct Election: Govt Won't Go Quietly

On economic policy, the smart money is on Brazil’s 2011 government to spend and regulate the same — or more — but surely not less.

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Petrobras’ Lesson From BP: Invest in PR

Petrobras’ Lesson From BP: Invest in PR

Petrobras announced today the discovery of gas reserves in the Camarupin fields in the Santos Basin as well as the signing of a landmark $160 million-dollar deal with GE Oil & Gas to develop power turbines for offshore platforms. These announcements come on the heels of Tuesday’s press release by Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency (Agência Nacional […]

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Keeping It Real in The Age of Consensual Politics

Keeping It Real in The Age of Consensual Politics

Commentators were buzzing over the weekend following the publication of the PT’s ‘radical’ campaign manifesto on Dilma Rousseff’s polished official website. Listing the party’s platform and campaign commitments, the original manifesto included commitments to judge the takeover of lands on a per case basis; socialize information and the private media; and tax the country’s big […]

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Overcoming The Myth of Cardoso

Overcoming The Myth of Cardoso

“The course of history depends largely on the daring of those who act in terms of historically viable goals… These will depend, not on academic predictions, but on collective action guided by political wills that make work what is structurally barely possible.” Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s 1971 book Dependency and Development in Latin America (co-written with Enzo Faletto), […]

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The PT Tries a New Face

The PT Tries a New Face

With the backing of Brazil’s most popular president in history and support from the state’s publicity machine, Dilma Rousseff’s ongoing tie in opinion polls forces a shift in strategy. Presidential opinion polls released this week continued to show the PT’s Dilma Rousseff and the PSDB’s José Serra in a ‘technical tie’, with Jose Serra at […]

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Fighting for Free Trade

By Sean Goforth (co-author of the FPA Latin America blog) An editorial in yesterday’s Washington Post takes a swipe at American agricultural subsidies. The Obama administration recently agreed to pay Brazilian producers $147.3 million a year to resolve a trade dispute with the Brazilian government, after Brazil threatened WTO-authorized retaliatory tariffs because of unlawful cotton […]

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Shaping Lula's legacy: Brazil enters the global nuclear debate

Shaping Lula's legacy: Brazil enters the global nuclear debate

By Rich Basas (originally posted on FPA’s Latin America blog, here) The last summer created a great shift in the discussion on security and the nuclear issue worldwide. Protesters in Iran took to the street after a perceived action by President Ahmadinejad in fixing the elections in Iran to maintain himself in power with the […]

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Can Lula Mediate the Iran Nuclear Standoff?

Can Lula Mediate the Iran Nuclear Standoff?

By Sean Goforth (from a piece originally published by World Politics Review) Last week, Lula was informally tapped to mediate negotiations between Iran and the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly told his “brother,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, that Iran was prepared to accept Brazilian mediation “in principle.” […]

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Lula the Mediator

Lula the Mediator

By Sean Goforth (Latin America blog) During his tenure President da Silva has been a welcome, universally adored, conciliator in Latin America. In this week’s TIME, the annual “World’s Most Influential People” list starts with Lula. I am still not sure what to make of Michael Moore’s essay on him. Now Lula is moving center […]

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A Discussion on Brazil’s National Growth Acceleration Program – PAC 2

A Discussion on Brazil’s National Growth Acceleration Program – PAC 2

By Richard Basas (Latin America blog) Last month I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate and ask questions of Brazil’s Minister of Planning, Budget and Management, Mr. Paulo Bernardo. The discussion was an overview for foreign investors, economic experts and journalists on the second phase of Brazil’s national Growth Acceleration Program (PAC 2), […]

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Brazil and the Middle East

Brazil and the Middle East

This week, President Lula kicked off his tour of the Middle East, the first time a Brazilian head of state has been to Israel. His visit began on Sunday in Israel, and Lula will continue on to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leaders and to Jordan to conclude his trip. In Israel, President […]

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Clinton in Brazil

Clinton in Brazil

In so many ways this event mirrored bilateral relations today, cordial, but increasingly thorny as an accumulating list of important issues, from immigration to international trade and non-proliferation, lead more and more Brazilians to the conclusion that the United States is part of the problem, not the solution.

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