Brazil Reports

New York, US — Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a pre-candidate in Brazil’s upcoming elections, met on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.  While Bolsonaro’s eldest son shared a photo on X alongside Trump in the Oval Office, the Republican president has not commented publicly on the meeting as of the time of publication, nor did the meeting appear on his official agenda.  On Wednesday, Flávio posted a photo with C

Chinese multinational ZTE Corporation recently hosted the fifth edition of its Broadband User Congress, themed “Monetize Your Intelligent Broadband”, in São Paulo, Brazil.  The event brought together more than 300 senior executives from leading ISPs, operators, local government, industry associations, industry experts, and ecosystem partners across Brazil and Latin America. The company is moving forward in Brazil and the broader Latin American region, seeking to unlock

São Paulo, Brazil – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump met yesterday at the White House.  The meeting lasted about three hours and was attended by Brazilian ministers, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representatives. While the two leaders have disagreed on a range of issues – from tariffs to extraditions – since Trump took office last year, they reported that the meeting was productive. “Just conclud

In an era where company culture is often discussed in boardrooms and strategy decks, Portuguese entrepreneur Fernando Gaspar Barros has taken a radically different approach: turning it into a live, global cultural movement. His company, Brands Like Bands, is no ordinary festival. It is the world’s only music event dedicated exclusively to bands formed within companies, and in 2026, it is entering its most ambitious phase yet, with a major expansion into Brazil. What began as an innova

With mounting international and regional pressure to combat organised crime, Brazil has sought to strengthen its domestic security strategies. However, some experts argue that the country’s greatest vulnerability lies within its own prison system, where criminal factions are not contained, but consolidated. “In Brazil, prisons have become instruments of cohesion for criminal groups,” noted Roberto Uchôa de Oliveira Santos, a public security specialist and former employee of the civil and fede

São Paulo, Brazil — Jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro will today begin serving the rest of his sentence on house arrest after a weeklong hospital stay. Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year and three-month prison sentence for an attempted coup d’état after losing his re-election bid in 2022, was hospitalized at DF Star hospital in Brasília, the capital, for more than a week due to health complications. A medical bulletin indicated that the 71-year-old ally of U.S. President Do

Brazil is facing heightened pressure both internally and from the United States to designate criminal gangs operating in the country as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).  Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 8 and pushed back against the designation, arguing it could create precedents for military intervention similar to the recent American operations against Venezuela’s alleged drug trafficking networks. The dispute intersects with Braz

As of 2026, Brazil is home to one of the largest pet populations in the world, trailing only behind China and the U.S. with over 168 million registered pets.  The country represents the largest and most mature pet care market in Latin America, reflecting a broad shift in how households view animals: increasingly humanized and essential to family life.  More widely, Brazilian culture has recently come under international spotlight for its hard stance in favor of animal rights and

São Paulo, Brazil — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a bilateral agreement last Saturday involving critical minerals and rare earth elements.   The objective is to promote “reciprocal investments” in the exploration, mining, and development of infrastructure for rare earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals in both countries, according to the signed document. The agreement comes amid a global race to s

São Paulo, Brazil —  The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement last Thursday warning Brazilians about the risks of voluntary enlistment in foreign wars. The Itamaraty Palace cited that, in addition to risking their lives, mercenaries may also face criminal prosecution.  The warning follows widely publicized cases of Brazilians dying in the war in Ukraine in recent months. Under the new guidelines, citizens could be held accountable for crimes committed i

São Paulo, Brazil — Brazilian Supreme Court Justice José Antonio Dias Toffoli on Thursday recused himself from a case involving Banco Master, for which he was the rapporteur. The bank allegedly attempted to sell US$2.43 billion in falsified loan portfolios to the state-owned BRB bank in Brasília.   Toffoli’s recusal occurred on the same day that Brazilian media reported that the judge was named in a Federal Police investigation as someone who exchanged messages with Daniel Vor

São Paulo, Brazil — Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke over the phone with China’s head of state, Xi Jinping, on Friday, according to the Chinese minister of Foreign Affairs. In a post on X, Mao Ning said the two leaders agreed to advance mutually through “beneficial cooperation across the board”, strengthening the already intimate relations between both countries.  “Facing the turbulent international landscape, China and Brazil, as important members of the Global Sout

São Paulo, Brazil — The Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was transferred this Thursday to a state prison after being held for more than a month in the federal police headquarters in Brasília.  Bolsonaro – along with several of his former ministers and military officials – was sentenced in September 2025 to over 27 years in jail for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 elections to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.  His defense team filed multiple complaints about what they d

São Paulo, Brazil — Brazil authorized national guard troops to be sent to the city of Pacaraima, on the border with Venezuela, on Thursday. The troops could remain for up to 90 days and will also be present in Boa Vista, capital of the northern state of Roraima. Brazil’s action comes a day after Venezuela reportedly sent forces to fortify its land border with Brazil.   “The contingent to be made available will comply with the planning defined by the Directorate of the National

São Paulo, Brazil — An extratropical cyclone hit São Paulo, Brazil, last week leaving over 1 million without power. Trees fell across the country’s largest city and hundreds of flights were canceled.  At the time of publication, São Paulo had not returned to 100%  of its power capacity. National media outlets reported over 400 flights had been cancelled while the cyclone passed through last Thursday. Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) issued a statement on Tuesd

São Paulo, Brazil — Brazil’s lower house of Congress on Tuesday approved a bill that aims to reduce sentences for those convicted of crimes involving the January 8, 2023 attacks on the country’s government headquarters in Brasília.  The bill would also apply to jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup.  The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill at 2:30 AM during an unusually late session by 291 votes in favor and 148 agai

MIT-based biotechnology company Harmony Baby Nutrition has secured $5.9 million USD (31.9 million Brazilian reais) from the joint FINEP-BNDES innovation fund, one of Brazil’s foremost partnerships promoting the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem under the 2024 Nova Indústria Brasil policy. With the funds, the startup is planning to create a new research and development center in the eastern city of Belo Horizonte, focused on developing a wide range of infant formulas- from everyday products

São Paulo, Brazil — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and United States President Donald Trump spoke over the phone on Tuesday. The call lasted for about 40 minutes, according to a statement from Brazil’s government.  Lula said to Trump that the decision to remove the additional 40% tariff on Brazilian exports like meat, coffee and fruits was positive, but also mentioned that there are a few other products under U.S. tariffs that should be discussed. Brazil said it wants to mo

São Paulo, Brazil — A 19-year-old man named Gerson de Melo Machado died on Sunday after climbing into a lioness enclosure at a zoo in João Pessoa, in Northwest Brazil. People who claim to know Machado said he had a history of mental illness.  The death was confirmed in an official statement issued by the Parque Zoobotânico Arruda Câmara, known as Bica.  Machado was filmed by other visitors getting inside the enclosure through a gap after climbing safety structures, and then d

São Paulo, Brazil — Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president who was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup plot, began serving his jail-time on Tuesday.  He has been detained inside the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília since Saturday after allegedly trying to remove his ankle monitor while on house arrest.  Bolsonaro was sentenced in September by the country’s Supreme Court for participating in an attempt to retain power after he lost the 2022