The Empire of Orange Juice | Cutrale v. the MST

The pro-rural media is once again drooling its hatred for the MST, which yesterday returned to reoccupy land “claim-jumped” by Cutrale in Iaras, in rural São Paulo. Altamiro Borges, a one-time editor of Vermelho — the party organ of the PCdoB — recites the litany: the commercial media in Brazil is systematically biased against the [...]

Work | From Santa Cruz to Sambolivia

In downtown São Paulo, during normal working hours, hundreds of residences and shop begin and end their days with gates locked down and windows shutterered, to dampen the sound of the sewing machines. Behind the padlocked gates, thousands of Bolivian immigrants live and work in social groups that blur the boundaries between the cooperative model, [...]

Can She Still Canecão?

This would make an exemplary case study for a backgrounder of Brazilian culture policy — if anyone care to care about such things. Judging from the Ministry of Culture subsidies for Disney’s Hollywood on Ice recently, I would says there is something to it. The Mexican entertainment company CIE has sounded out the Federal University [...]

The Ambassador Knows | Veja Lies

São Paulo – On March 16, 2005, weekly Veja ran a story headlined “The Tentacles of FARC in Brazil”, detailing a possible link between members of the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores and the Colombian guerrilla. A leading presidential candidate at the said the PT was in cahoots with the drug cartels to undermine his campaign by starting [...]

Musical Electric Chairs | Electricity Regulation in Brazil

AES Eletropaulo has just returned to us a crispy stereo and burnt-out microwave oven, both fried in a lightning strike or massive surge or something of the kind last month. Big Government made them do it. We filed a complaint with the company and receive a voucher in return for repairs services from any one [...]

How to Boycott Fox in Pindamonhangaba

How to boycott NEWS Corp in Brazil, a consumer campaign suggested by Alberto Dines of Observatório da Imprensa? Rodrigo Vianna has some timely tips, which I translate, as always, in haste. In fact, boycotting Fox in Brazil means boycotting either Sky and  NET – the “convergent oligopoly” of pay TV – or  Globo. The pay [...]