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Friday, September 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
BRAZIL: An Energy Source Both Cheap and Eco-Friendly
Very low-cost electricity that is not just clean but potentially beneficial for the environment, and comes from a flexible source that can be set up on any river without altering its course is the promise a Canadian company made in Brazil this week.AIDS-LATIN AMERICA: Prejudice and Ignorance, a Deadly Alliance
Prejudice and lack of information about HIV/AIDS are damaging to society and to people with the disease, creating obstacles to the prevention and treatment of the pandemic, agreed the participants in a weekend conference in Brasilia.
The Amazon Needs More Local Scientists
Foreign experts conduct most of the scientific studies of this vast and biologically rich region. Brazil is trying to triple the number of local graduate students in related fields by 2010.BRAZIL: Charges of Abuse Cast Cloud on Ethanol Boom
Allegations that sugar cane workers have been literally worked to death in appalling working conditions have tainted the euphoria of Brazil's sugar cane and ethanol industry, which has already begun to benefit from high oil prices, climate change and free trade.HAITI: General’s Death Revives Debate on Brazil’s Peacekeeping Role
The death of General Urano Bacellar, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti, which some members of the military and government officials in Brazil are reluctant to accept was a suicide, rekindled the debate on the role this South American country should play in international security operations.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: A New Law to Save the Forests
A draft law on the management of public forests has drawn mixed reactions in Brazil, but it is the great hope of the Environment Ministry and most environmentalists who are lobbying hard for its approval by the Senate in the next few weeks.CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Corruption in Brazil – Old Tricks, New Dogs
Corruption in Brazil is an age-old practice that is fuelled today by the same sources as in the past. The only novel aspect of last year's enormous scandal was the involvement of the Workers' Party (PT).ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: A Year of Great Progress, But at a High Cost
A nun's murder, an environmentalist's self-immolation and a bishop's hunger strike shook Brazil in 2005, but also prompted unprecedented environmental achievements.CHALLENGES 2005-2006: The Year of Innocence Lost in Brazil
For many Brazilians, 2005 will be the year when corruption invaded national politics like never before, thanks to the scandal that erupted seven months ago at the heart of the ruling leftist Workers Party (PT), long viewed as a champion of ethical integrity.CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Brazil’s Economic Policy under Fire
From an economic standpoint, this year in Brazil has ended in disillusionment, with widespread criticism of the performance of Finance Minister Antonio Palocci and particularly the Central Bank, accused of maintaining exaggeratedly high interest rates.BRAZIL: Contraband Transgenic Maize Causes Alarm
Reports of illegal imports of genetically modified maize in southern Brazil, crossing the Argentine border, have caused alarm among officials and experts, who warn that the crop's environmental effects could be worse than those of smuggled soybeans nine years ago.BRAZIL: Government, Activists Still at Loggerheads Over Land Reform
While Brazil's leftist government claims this was the best year ever for land reform, the National Forum for Agrarian Reform and Justice in the Countryside complains that land redistribution efforts have fallen far short of the target.
Contraband Transgenic Maize Causes Alarm
The illegal entry of transgenic maize seed into Brazil could have tragic effects on the South American giant's agricultural sector, say environmental officials.HEALTH-BRAZIL: NGOs Push to Avoid Preventable Maternal Deaths
The death of a woman in childbirth is a horrific blow to a family preparing for what is meant to be a joyous event, the arrival of a new life. In Brazil, the loss is made even more painful by the fact that over 90 percent of these deaths are preventable.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Realism Gaining Ground Among Activists
Dissatisfaction with some government decisions has not stood in the way of a positive evaluation of the second National Conference on the Environment in Brazil by participating environmentalists.WTO-SPECIAL: G20’s Key to Survival – Pragmatic Diversity
The greatest feat of the Group of 20 (G20) developing nations is to have survived as a key actor in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) multilateral trade negotiations, despite its heterogeneous nature and the diverse interests of its members.BRAZIL: Citizen Participation Requires More than Just Forums
In the space of just seven days, Brasilia is hosting three national conferences, the culmination of numerous local and state meetings that mobilised hundreds of thousands of people all around Brazil. But in and of itself, that does not make a participatory government, say activists.BRAZIL: Looking for Unlost Electoral Causes
Brazil's economic slowdown has joined forces with the corruption scandals to threaten President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's chances of re-election in October 2006, leaving progress in the fight against social inequality as his only electoral banner still waving.WTO-SPECIAL: Family Farming Vs. Agribusiness in Brazil
The farm subsidies that underwrite the "dumping" of products on a market at below cost and that distort international trade should be abolished, but not the support for family farming that forms part of rural development and food security policies.HEALTH-BRAZIL: Well on the Way to Eliminating Maternal Transmission of HIV
Brazil is pushing ahead with its widely-praised anti-AIDS programme by setting itself the goal of reducing vertical transmission of HIV, the AIDS virus, to less than one percent within three years.ARGENTINA-BRAZIL: Twenty Years of a Complicated Friendship
Presidents Néstor Kirchner of Argentina and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil will meet Wednesday to celebrate 20 years of a sometimes stormy partnership, at a moment when relations are once again strained by trade disputes.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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