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Friday, May 15, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
BRAZIL: ‘Pacification’ of Favelas Not Just a Media Circus
The "take-over" of Rocinha, one of Rio de Janeiro's largest favelas, by heavily armed police and military units was seen by some as a media spectacle and by others as part of a successful strategy of regaining state control over an area ruled by armed drug gangs.
Brazil Commits to Quality Food for All
Representatives of the Brazilian federal and municipal governments and of indigenous, black and riverbank communities and other groups that make the population of this country so diverse assumed a commitment to fight for "the human right to an adequate diet."
BRAZIL: Proper Nutrition – the Next Food Challenge
Fighting malnutrition is not just about putting food on everyone's table every day, according to Brazil's Fourth National Conference on Food and Nutrition Security, meeting in the capital of the northeastern state of Bahia.
Brazil Takes the Fight Against Hunger Abroad
The Brazilian government is extending its fight against hunger to the world stage, by inaugurating a Centre of Excellence Against Hunger to transmit its positive experiences to other developing countries with the help of United Nations agencies.
Brazilian NGOs Say Rio+20 Paper Short on Details
Environmentalists criticised the lack of concrete proposals in the Brazilian government's submission to the preparatory process for the Rio+20 conference, to be held in this city in June 2012.
BRAZIL: Reality of Militias Is Fiercer than Fiction
When state legislator Marcelo Freixo received death threats for combating militias made up of off-duty police in Rio de Janeiro, his real life took on the form of the character portraying himself in the Brazilian Oscar hopeful "Tropa de Elite 2".
BRAZIL: Boycott of Dam Hearing Shows ‘Radical’ Foreign Policy Shift
Activists opposed to the construction of the Belo Monte hydropower dam in the Amazon jungle say the Brazilian government's decision to boycott an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing represents a "radical" shift in the country's foreign policy.RIGHTS: Brazilians Get Ready to Dig Up the Truth
The bill to establish a National Truth Commission in Brazil, which has made it through the lower house of Congress and is now in the Senate, is considered at least a start in clarifying, and preventing a repetition of, the abuses committed during the country's 21-year dictatorship.BRAZIL: Homegrown GM Bean Won’t Fight Hunger, Critics Say
Critics complain that a genetically modified bean developed in Brazil, resistant to one of the country's most damaging agricultural pests, was approved without enough debate or guarantees that the crop will not affect human health or the environment.CLIMATE CHANGE-BRAZIL: Farmers “Have Good Reason to Worry”
Bananas are harvested where apples used to grow; cassava, a traditional crop, is disappearing from the Northeast; and the southeast is losing the fragrance of good coffee. This is the science fiction of a new distribution of crops in Brazil, South America's agricultural powerhouse.RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Arrests in Judge’s Murder “Good News” – But Not Enough
The arrest of the alleged killers of Brazilian judge Patrícia Acioli, known for her work against organised crime, is seen by analysts and legislators as a step in the right direction in the fight against corruption and impunity.Brazil Plans to Wind Down Peacekeeping Force in Haiti
At a time when the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti has once again been drawing attention for alleged abuses, Brazilians have begun to ask themselves whether their first experience in leading such a force has brought them more headaches than prestige.
BRAZIL: Rousseff Winning Allies in Undeclared War on Corruption
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is starting to gain support for a war on corruption that she is quietly waging.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Brazilian Women Rise Above the Waters
Almost a year and a half after floods wreaked havoc in a large part of the state of Rio de Janeiro, a group of women are struggling to rebuild their lives. They lost everything except their will to pick themselves up again and make the best of the aid they receive, to become self-sufficient again.
Neglected Diseases Group Seeking Child-Friendly AIDS Drugs
A scientific alliance in which developing countries are playing a key role has taken on the challenge of producing paediatric AIDS drugs, an area that is no longer a priority for pharmaceutical companies because mother-to-child transmission of HIV has virtually been eliminated in the industrialised world.
BRAZIL: Organised Crime Raises the Stakes
The assassination of Brazilian Judge Patrícia Acioli, who was investigating militias made up of off-duty police and death squads, points to a new stage of organised crime, which is expanding into the vacuum left by the impunity surrounding 90 percent of murders in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
BRAZIL: Efforts to Improve Water Quality Falling Short
Despite increased spending on sanitation works, the water quality in rivers near large urban centers in Brazil ranges from poor to very poor. Some say the reason is the development model chosen by the South American nation.
Investments Are Not Improving Water Quality in Brazil
Rivers near Brazil’s most populated cities have poor or very poor water quality, according to a government report, although 71 percent of the country’s water resources are in good condition.LATIN AMERICA: Social Front Against Water Privatisation
Civil society organisations in Latin America have begun to coordinate joint actions in the region to curb what they see as a tendency towards privatisation, while protesting what they call a range of "subtle" ways of undermining public control of water.
BRAZIL: World Cup, Olympic Social Legacy Thrown in Doubt
Community organisations say the major infrastructure works for the 2014 football World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil do not reflect the spirit of the social legacy promised by the government and business community, which project 68 billion dollars in economic benefits from the first event alone.BRAZIL: Nuclear Subs to Defend Oil, Project Global Power
Plans for a Brazilian nuclear submarine that had been postponed since the 1970s are beginning to materialise, as the nuclear-propelled sub is regarded as a strategic necessity to guard Brazil's deep water oil reserves, and to project global power.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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