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Jair Bolsonaro

This Month

Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago in 2020.

Why Trump is picking on Brazil – and how it could backfire

The US president is using tariffs, not just for building domestic manufacturing capacity, but for whatever takes his fancy. And boy does he fancy strongmen.

Donald Trump

EU warns of retaliation over Trump’s 30pc tariffs

The US president has issued new threats against trading partners in letters posted to social media, as the giant European bloc mulls retaliations.

Looming large over Anthony Albanese’s China visit and meeting with Xi Jinping is Donald Trump.

Xi is duchessing Albanese while Trump ignores him

Anthony Albanese’s highly choreographed visit to China showcases the lack of a similar invitation – or enthusiasm – from the Trump White House.

June

Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping in Brazil

Why Brazil is too big and too important for Australia to ignore

Amid a shifting global order, expanding international ambitions and a tricky domestic balancing act, Brazil could have a greater impact on Australia than many realise.

How Russia used Brazil to create deep-cover spies

Elite intelligence officers started businesses, made friends and had love affairs – events that, over many years, became the building blocks of entirely new identities.

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January

It’s their world now. The rise of Trump’s right across the globe

As he takes power, the president boasts of an international group of right-wing proxies with equally provocative styles and a hostility towards migrants and “wokery”.

Sunrise over Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro with Sugarloaf Mountain in the Horizon. It’s light very early at some times of the year.

Why this country thinks it will have to bring back daylight saving

Authorities in Brazil nearly brought back daylight saving late last year to conserve energy amid a historic drought that had threatened hydroelectric power generation.

December 2024

Joe and Hunter Biden.

Biden (not Trump) has weakened America’s rule of law

In pardoning his son, the president has ensured that the distance between himself and Trump is now shrouded in fog.

March 2024

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a pro-business agenda making the country ripe for investing.

Narendra Modi figures out what Trump never has

Alone among strongmen, the Indian PM now concentrates on broadening support rather than just stoking the resentments of his base.

July 2023

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, at a ceremony with indigenous leaders in Brasilia in April.

Brazil to launch multibillion-dollar green transition

Investors welcome the bold environmentalist program proposed by left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Joesley Batista confessed to bribing 1829 Brazilian politicians and officials.

JBS Australia prepares for 1500 Brazilians

Wait until you hear of the good deeds of JBS Without Borders’ roving abattoir workers.

Five judges on the nation’s highest electoral court agreed that Bolsonaro abused his authority.

Brazil court bars Bolsonaro from elections until 2030

The decision upends the political future of the 68-year-old far-right former president, likely erasing any chance for him to regain power.

January 2023

Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro storm the Supreme Court building in Brasilia on January 8

Can Lula put Brazilian democracy back together again?

From the military to the Supreme Court, many of the country’s institutions are creaking under accusations of divided loyalties.

Security at Brazil’s Supreme Court is reinforced by National Force troops, including members of the military and civil police and military firemen, before planned protests on Wednesday.

Brazil government acts against Bolsonaro backers, new protest fizzles

Mass demonstrations proposed on pro-Bolsonaro social media to “retake power” failed to materialise.

A Federal investigator outside the Brazilian Supreme Court building in front of windows damaged by supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Rioters arrested, now Brazil goes after security officials

The nation’s top officials have turned their focus to the political and business elites suspected of inspiring, organising or aiding the rioters.

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Workers clear debris caused by radical supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro following a riot at Planalto Palace.

Bolsonaro in Florida hospital, supporters detained after riots

President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva accused rioters of trying to overthrow democracy and questioned why the army had not discouraged calls for a military coup outside their barracks.

Questionable allegiances. Members of the military outside the Planalto Palace following attacks on government buildings by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia.

Insurrection in Brazil raises questions over loyalty of security forces

Sunday’s storming of government buildings was their first big test under Lula. More will follow.

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Assault on presidential palace, congress challenges Brazil’s democracy

The siege in Brazil’s political capital suggests a spreading plague of far-right disrupters in Western democracies, as hardliners radicalised by incendiary political rhetoric refuse to accept election losses.

Supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro clash with police during a protest outside the presidential palace.

Pro-Bolsonaro protesters storm Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court

Thousands of demonstrators also invaded the presidential palace in scenes reminiscent of the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, centre left, walks up the ramp of Planalto Palace with representatives of the Brazilian people after being sworn-in during an inauguration ceremony in Brasilia, Brazil.

Lula becomes Brazil’s president, with Bolsonaro in Florida

Mr Bolsonaro was supposed to pass Lula the presidential sash, an important symbol of the peaceful transition of power in a nation where many people still recall the 21-year military dictatorship that ended in 1985.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/jair-messias-bolsonaro-1my2