Explaining Brazil

Brazil's 2026 campaign is officially underway, and almost all the attention will be on the presidential race. That's a problem, because power in Brazil is increasingly won and lost in Congress — where the budget is controlled and where any president's ...

The US State Department revoked the visa of Brazil's ambassador to Washington ( https://newsletters.brazilian.report/p/us-brazil-ambassador-viotti-argentina-russia-putin ) and said the quiet part out loud: it is retaliation for Brasília withholding agr...

The US now takes less than 10% of Brazil's exports — the smallest share in decades — and Washington's tariff wall is accelerating a realignment that was already underway. Gustavo Ribeiro speaks with trade consultant Welber Barral, a former Brazilian fo...

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro used his turn at Debating Brazil — an event series in which Brazilian presidential candidates present their vision of the country to foreign ambassadors — to revive discredited claims about electronic voting fraud and to promis...

On this episode of Explaining Brazil, Gustavo Ribeiro, editor-in-chief of The Brazilian Report, talks with James Green, a historian at Brown University, about the fracturing landscape of Brazil's 2026 presidential race. Much of the conversation turns o...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated the Comando Vermelho (Red Command, or CV) and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Command of the Capital, or PCC) as foreign terrorist organizations. The Brazilian Report's editor-in-chief, Gustavo Ribeir...

Editor-in-chief Gustavo Ribeiro sat down with historian James N. Green to unpack Lula's recent meeting with Donald Trump. While the visit yielded no concrete trade breakthroughs, it has been cast as a diplomatic victory, bolstering Lula's domestic stan...

What role will the United States play in Brazil's high-stakes 2026 elections? Join editor-in-chief Gustavo Ribeiro and historian James N. Green of the Brazil Office Alliance as they unpack the escalating tensions and potential for US interference in Br...

Amid deepening polarization and the judiciary’s growing role in the country’s political life, Brazil’s Supreme Court has become accustomed to being rated poorly by a significant share of the population. In recent years, most of that opposition has come...

Humanity has entered what scientists are calling an “era of water bankruptcy.” According to the United Nations University, many critical water systems around the world are so overused — through depletion, overallocation, land and soil degradation, defo...

Advances in oil exploration and the construction of railways and highways in recent years have shown that, when large infrastructure projects clash with matters of Amazon preservation, the Brazilian government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tends to favo...

190,000 points. After a string of record highs that have been piling up since mid-January, the Ibovespa — the benchmark index of São Paulo’s stock exchange, the B3 — surpassed this historic threshold during Wednesday, February 11, closing the day just ...

Brasília is back to work — and the new legislative year has opened with all the familiar rituals: lofty speeches about stability, institutional balance, and dialogue, plus promises of an ambitious agenda ahead. But this is no ordinary year. Brazil is h...

As the saying goes, the calm comes before the storm. In Brazil’s Supreme Court, the current crisis came after a period of glory and renown. In September 2025, the Supreme Court made history and became a global reference. Breaking with Brazil’s long tra...

Amid a global context of eroding multilateralism and rising US trade wars, Mercosur and the European Union are trying to create a shared market for more than 700 million people. The proposed free trade zone for goods and services encompasses 27 Europea...

Lula did not recognize Maduro’s 2024 election win, but his first two terms in office in the 2000s saw him make South American integration a top priority of Brazil’s foreign policy, and maintain close ties with the Hugo Chavez government of the time. Ve...

In Latin America, 2026 quite literally got off to an explosive start. Just before sunrise on January 2, the city of Caracas was violently awoken by the sound of bombs, as US forces launched a sudden, high-intensity strike on the Venezuelan capital. Wit...

In any democratic republic, it’s normal for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to clash. That’s a sign of mutual oversight. It’s also normal for politicians to make concessions to their adversaries. That’s a sign of democracy. But the se...

In a country with 27 state governments, more than 5,000 city halls, and around 12 million people working in the public sector, calls to reform — or improve — Brazil’s civil service never really seem to go away. We talked to Brazil's special secretary f...

Carlos Nobre, head of the Planetary Science Pavilion at COP30 in the Amazon, talks to us about the conference’s results, the climate emergency we are living through, and what Brazil can still do. Send us your feedback Support the show

Five years ago, Brazil launched a public digital payment infrastructure — and its impact on the financial market and society has been immense. Send us your feedback Support the show

Over the past decade, Brazilian lawmakers have steadily built up procedures to expand their powers over the purse. That has included increasing the overall volume of congressional grants; making a large share of them mandatory spending; limiting the Ex...

Each passing year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) gains more urgency. More and more biomes around the world are approaching what scientists call tipping points — the Amazon chief among them. Hosting the 30th edition of COP in Belém,...

Justice Luís Roberto Barroso is retiring. We unpack how factors such as trust, political ties, and electoral considerations may guide President Lula’s next choice for the court. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian ...

President Lula’s popularity has risen. We examine how this might impact the political landscape ahead of the next presidential election. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report. Send us your feedback Support the...

Brazil’s Congress is discussing a proposal for income tax reform. Backed by the Lula administration, the bill seeks to make the country’s system more progressive. But just how unequal are taxes in Brazil? This week, we host economist Davi Bhering, who ...

Crowds on Sunday fanned out across Brazil’s 27 state capitals to denounce two measures moving through Congress: a constitutional amendment proposal that would essentially shield lawmakers from prosecution, and a bill that could forgive or soften penalt...

A massive police operation exposed how deep Brazil's largest criminal organization has penetrated the legitimate economy. Rafael Alcadipani, a professor at the FGV’s School of Public Administration and a member of the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, ...

The Brazilian Supreme Court has reached a majority to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro of leading a conspiracy to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat. The trial is about to bring an end to a political career long marked by authoritarian views and...

The final stage of Jair Bolsonaro’s coup trial kicked off on September 2 in Brasília. After months of evidence-gathering, arguments and testimonies, the justices are expected to deliver their ruling by September 12, in what is arguably the most consequ...

At a time when US President Donald Trump is pressuring Brazil on both trade and military fronts, the country’s digital vulnerabilities have come into focus. The notion of sovereignty now extends beyond borders to the infrastructure, systems and data th...

A political drama has unfolded inside Congress. It started with a show of force: after former President Jair Bolsonaro was placed on house arrest, lawmakers loyal to him occupied both chambers, bringing the legislature to a halt. But beneath the theatr...

In this edition of #InsiderTalks, we’ve invited experts on law, democracy and electoral trends to analyze the trial of Bolsonaro and his allies for an alleged coup plot. Subscribe to Explaining Brazil Plus on Apple Podcasts for the full episode or go t...

Professor Felipe Campante of Johns Hopkins sees little room for success in negotiations between Brazil and the US, as only the former is following the rule of law. Subscribe to Explaining Brazil Plus on Apple Podcasts for the full episode or go to The ...

In this episode of Explaining Brazil Plus, we analyzed Donald Trump’s threat of a 50% tariff on Brazil and its possible impacts on the country's economy and politics. Subscribe to Explaining Brazil Plus on Apple Podcasts for the full episode or go to T...

A major social security scandal causes a government headache. Brazil’s beef sector needs major changes to hit emissions goals. And Lula is off to Rome for the pope’s funeral, but who’s going with him? Send us your feedback Support the show

In this Explaining Brazil Plus episode, Lise Tupiassu of the Federal University of Pará gives us her on-the-ground perspective on what should be in the spotlight regarding COP30 in the Amazon Send us your feedback Support the show

Rio’s mayor looks to El Salvador for inspiration on public security. Brazil’s agro jobs are less and less done on farms. And Bolsonaro goes under the knife again in a 12-hour surgery. Send us your feedback Support the show

Trump and the US become less popular in Brazil. Embraer wades into the aerial arms race. And the pro-gun caucus wants to take firearms away from Lula’s security team Send us your feedback Support the show

US President Donald Trump promises a significant tariff announcement on April 2. We gathered a team of experts to discuss how the looming threats of tariffs from the Trump administration may affect Brazil and reshape relations between the United States...

The Supreme Court decides that Jair Bolsonaro will face trial over coup-plotting allegations. Brazilian producers are exporting eggs to the bird flu-hit US. And Brazil wants to chart its own course in purchasing defense tech. This episode refers to the...

Lula announces major income tax exemptions. The Central Bank hikes interest rates once more. And one of Bolsonaro’s sons flees to the US. This episode refers to the newsletters: 🎰 Lula goes all in (Mar. 19) 📈 Different in form, not content (Mar. 20) Se...

Inflation data shows little in the way of good news for Brazil. The country’s planned digital currency moves through testing phases. And Trump’s metal tariffs kick in — how is Brazil going to respond? This episode refers to the newsletters: 😢 Brazilian...

We’re launching Explaining Brazil Plus — a premium service bringing you exclusive content every month. As a subscriber, you’ll get access to special episodes and expert interviews, offering deeper insights into Brazil’s biggest stories. Subscriptions a...

Brazil bags its Carnival Oscar glory with “I’m Still Here.” Consumers get rattled as “fake coffee” makes its way onto supermarket shelves. And a court precedent could spell trouble for Big Four auditors in Brazil. Send us your feedback Support the show

Carnival is here, and it’s big business. Lula pulls the trigger and sacks his health minister. And STEM degrees are becoming less and less common in Brazil. Send us your feedback Support the show

Bolsonaro faces criminal charges for coup plotting. Trump’s media group is suing a Brazilian Supreme Court justice. And Brazil’s organized crime groups are expanding far beyond the drug trade. Send us your feedback Support the show

How Trump’s steel tariffs are expected to affect Brazil. A year after historic floods, Rio Grande do Sul now suffers from drought. And how Brazil’s evangelical shift is changing national politics. Send us your feedback Support the show

As Trump's trade threats reshape global commerce, Brazil grapples with a mounting yellow fever outbreak ahead of Carnival. Meanwhile, controversial Amazon oil drilling plans gain momentum under new Senate leadership, testing the country's environmental...

Our podcast is back! For our first episode of 2025, we bring you a crucial topic for Brazil’s political landscape: the upcoming elections for the leadership positions in Congress and how they will affect Brazil’s political landscape, the tensions betwe...