Blind criticism of Iran deal seen as spot on Paper of Record’s legacy.
The Times, Lula and Lily Tomlin
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Brazil
Iran, Brazil, Turkey and the Ghost of Lord Palmerston
The U.S. State Department’s claim that the “international community” is behind the U.S. is increasingly sounding like whistling past the graveyard.
The Homeless in Bahia: The Utopia of “Good Living”
Millions of Brazilians have serious housing problems. The Movimiento Sin Techo (Homeless Movement) seeks to organize them, and to occupy abandoned properties and land on the outskirts of the city to pressure the government.
Brazil as a Key Player
Brazil is now a big league player. In the decade in which it begins its ascent, the country is so important that it is forcing its main competitor in the region, the United States, to redesign its foreign policy to take into consideration Brazil’s prominence, a tactic that might destabilize all of Latin America.
Oil Nationalism in Latin America
Latin America is endowed with 132 billion barrels of “proven” oil. Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador have significant reserves and strong state involvement in the exploration and production of oil through their nationalized companies PetrÛleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), Petrobras, Pemex, and Petroecuador, respectively. There have been several notable legal developments this year in all four nations, which will have consequences for U.S. energy policy and thus its relations with oil providers overseas.
How to be a Good Friend (When You are 4,000 Miles Away)
Coming from small towns throughout the country-side, with stars overhead and veiled by the cover of darkness, Tania and 149 other families made their way in pick-up trucks and small vehicles, to a fazenda (farm) on the outskirts of Chatuba, a small town two hour’s drive from downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “Everyone was both […]
Andean Regional Initiative: A Policy Fated to Fail
Key Points
The Last Porto Alegre
ItÂs not Paris or Tokyo, Beijing or New York. Nor is it São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Enthusiastic residents of Porto Alegre, Brazil will tell you that their modest city of 1.5 million people in the countryÂs deep South is Âthe last bastion of socialism and rock Ân roll. Indeed, stalls covered with black Iron Maiden t-shirts stand in the public markets, and the municipality long served as a stronghold of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), the Brazilian Workers Party. But today Porto Alegre is best known around the globe, especially among those inclined to hold a critical opinion of capitalism, corporate power, and U.S. military aggression, as the original home of the World Social Forum.
World Social Forum Retrospective
Porto Alegre, Brazil — The second annual World Social Forum (WSF) is now over, and the intention is to make it an annual event. But the questions being discussed among participants as they exchange hugs and business cards and board planes to various parts of the globe is, what shape should this gathering take in the future?
Porto Alegre: A Competing Vision
Porto Alegre, Brazil As the sixth and final full day of the World Social Forum dawns here on southern tip of Brazil, delegates prepare for a now-familiar routine of dawn to dusk forums, side meetings over meals, and impromptu protests in the foyer of the main campus building. Today’s events culminate with a mass march opposing the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), the United States’ main proposal for integrating the hemisphere under a single trade and investment regime.