Explaining Brazil

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's recent call to arms is a strategic bet on polarization. The pro-Bolsonaro protests gave him breathing room—but for how long? Read show notes. — Support the show

The Brazilian government has suggested reducing the number of questions in the 2020 Census as a way of cutting public spending. Will this compromise the results? Read show notes. — Support the show

Brazil has 138 federally-owned companies—and the government wants to privatize every single one of them. But only 17% of Brazilians support the idea. Guests: Sandro Cabral, head of the Master's Degree in Public Policies at São Paulo's Insper Business School; and former Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles.  Read show notes. — Support the show

Deemed the country's "national sport," Brazilian football remains amateur on the business side of it—which interferes with on-the-pitch action. Guest: Fernando Monteiro, managing director and partner in L.E.K. Consulting’s São Paulo office. He produced a study on Brazilian club's financial woes. Read show notes. — Support the show

It is no wonder Brazilians call their tax authority the "Lion," due to its ferocious pursuit of tax dodgers. Guests: Fundação Getulio Vargas professors Linneu de Albuquerque Mello and Antonio Carlos Porto Gonçalves. Read show notes. — Support the show

Jair Bolsonaro has been ambivalent towards China, the Asian juggernaut that is—by far—Brazil's top trading partner. But that could change soon. Guests: Charles Tang (head of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and Mauricio Santoro (Head of the Department of International Relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro). Read show notes. — Support the show

The Church's efforts to protect the Amazon and indigenous people led Brazil's intelligence agency to spy on Catholic priests. Guests: journalists Rubens Valente, Mauricio Savarese, Paula Schmitt (and voice-over of Alex Hochuli). Read show notes. — Support the show

After a year in jail, how does Lula still fit into the Brazilian political landscape? What does the future hold for him, or his Workers' Party—and for the Brazilian left? Read show notes. — Support the show

For decades, political elites and the military have tried to sweep Brazil's recent authoritarian past under the rug. It was a time in which kidnappings, torture, and rape became state policy. Now, Brazil's ultra-right wing is trying to rewrite history. Read show notes. — Support the show

After five years, Operation Car Wash's gravitational center has shifted from Curitiba to Rio, where investigators have opened up a sordid bottomless pit of corruption in that state. How will the anti-corruption probe look like moving forward? Read show notes. — Support the show

For the first time, we were able to witness the bromance between Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump on full display. Has the Brazilian president come out strong from his visit to Washington? Read show notes. — Support the show

Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco was assassinated in March 2018. Investigations stalled and were filled with missteps by the police. One year later, though, a breakthrough appears to have happened. Read show notes. — Support the show

Carnival is such a focal point of the Brazilian calendar that often locals say nothing gets done in the new year until Ash Wednesday. But, in actual fact, a huge amount of work goes into producing Carnival, and that's what we are going to take a look at this week.Read show notes. — https://brazilian.report/podcast/2019/03/06/50-business-carnival-rio/Support the show

The Jair Bolsonaro administration has submitted a reform proposal of its own. And it is the most ambitious we've seen — or the harshest, depending on how you see it. Will his administration be able to succeed where so many others failed? Read show notes. — Support the show

In politics, we usually say a new head of state enjoys a sort of grace period of 100 days. Popular support is still fresh from the campaign, the opposition still doesn't have much ammo against the new administration, and there hasn't been enough time for internal disputes to create unsolvable problems for the government. But, boy, the start of the Jair Bolsonaro administration has been anything but smooth. Read show notes. — Support the show

In 2018, law enforcement agents in Rio de Janeiro admitted to killing over 1,400 people — mostly in drug-related incidents. That's more than the number for the entire USA. That cannot be considered a success by any standard. Read show notes. — Support the show

On February 4, Justice Minister Sergio Moro presented his first bill after taking office. His anticrime plan, as the set of proposals was called, includes several measures against organized crime. And, for the first time, it singles out urban militias as one of the targets of the state. It may seem ludicrous, but urban armed militias were once well-regarded in Rio de Janeiro. Many politicians defended these militias. And yes, including President Jair Bolsonaro. Read show notes. — Support the show

On January 25, an iron tailings dam near the town of Brumadinho, in the Southeastern state of Minas Gerais, spilled the equivalent of at least 12 hundred Olympic-sized pools of mud onto the surrounding region. - How did this happen? - Who is to blame? - What will be the lasting environmental consequences? - And, most importantly, how can we prevent this from happening again? Read show notes. — Support the show

If you live in or have even been to São Paulo, it is likely that you’ve walked over a waterway without even noticing it. There are between 300 and 500 of them in Brazil’s biggest city, running through pipes extending from 1,500km to 4,000km. And the fate of the city’s main rivers doesn’t have a happy ending. They’ve become ugly and polluted – not at all fit for a São Paulo postcard. Read show notes. Support the show

Imagine you are a Brazilian soybean producer located in the state of Mato Grosso, deep in midwestern Brazil, neighboring Bolivia. And you have clients waiting for your products in China. So, how do you get your soybeans to your Chinese customers? What would you say if I told you that the drive between your silos and Santos will be more expensive than the ship taking your grains all the way to the other end of the world to China? It sounds ridiculous, but it is true. Read show notes. Support the show