Tony Rosenberg

Brazil: Rio鈥檚 governor celebrates more Black deaths

Rio de Janeiro鈥檚 population watched in shock on August 20 as the state鈥檚 governor, Wilson Witzel celebrated the shooting by a sniper of a 20-year-old Black man who held 37 people hostage on a bus. The perpetrator had mental health problems, had never been in trouble with the police and had a plastic gun.

While Witzel鈥檚 tactics have been applauded, the politician鈥檚 merriment as he jumped from the safety of his helicopter to compliment the sniper, revealed the current security regime being enforced in the state.

Collusion in Brazil鈥檚 judiciary brings the curtain down on the rule of law

Messages between Brazil鈥檚 federal prosecutor, Deltan Dallagnol, who led 翱辫别谤补莽茫辞 Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) and then-judge, Sergio Moro, have revealed that the evidence used to jail Brazil鈥檚 Workers鈥 Party (PT) former president Luis Inacio 鈥淟ula鈥 da Silva, was tenuous at best and that the charges against him may have been groundless.

Brazil鈥檚 stride into authoritarianism

Since Brazil鈥檚 2016 parliamentary coup d鈥檈tat, in which former president Dilma Rousseff was removed on a later-exonerated technicality, Brazil鈥檚 ultra-right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro has made every effort to destroy any remnants of the legacy left by the Brazilian Workers鈥 Party (PT).