Brazil | LSE Latin America and Caribbean

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Reassessment of the Itaipú Treaty and ‘brasiguayo’ political power could reshape Paraguay’s relationship with Brazil

Reassessment of the Itaipú Treaty and ‘brasiguayo’ political power could reshape Paraguay’s relationship with Brazil

Since the end of the Stroessner dictatorship in 1989, the surge in Brazilian economic, political, and cultural influence has been so pronounced as to make Paraguay almost a client state of its more powerful neighbour. This is clearest in the unequal outcomes of the Itaipú Treaty on joint hydroelectricity generation and in the untrammelled political power of Brazilian-Paraguayan agribusiness in […]

March 18th, 2019|Featured, Geopolitics and international relations|0 Comments|

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Bolsonaro’s base: the Social Liberal Party’s strengths in Rio de Janeiro could yet become weaknesses

Bolsonaro’s base: the Social Liberal Party’s strengths in Rio de Janeiro could yet become weaknesses

In terms of both support and discourse the heart of Jair Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party lies in Rio de Janeiro. Here, aggressive messaging on rising crime and rampant corruption managed to turn a ragtag bunch of political misfits, former members of the security forces, and Bolsonaro associates into the epicentre of Brazil’s recent political earthquake. But as scandals around criminality […]

March 13th, 2019|Bolsonaro's Brazil, Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured|0 Comments|

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Wilderness to wildest dreams: the remarkable rise of Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party in Brazil

Wilderness to wildest dreams: the remarkable rise of Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party in Brazil

The same disruptive tactics that swept the PSL and Bolsonaro into power may also undermine their capacity to formulate and negotiate the president’s ambitious legislative agenda, write Mark S. Langevin (George Mason University) and Edmund Ruge in the first of a two-part series on the roots and the role of the Partido Liberal Social.

March 1st, 2019|Bolsonaro's Brazil, Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured|0 Comments|

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Climate change will intensify the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and beyond, and the poor will be worst hit

Climate change will intensify the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and beyond, and the poor will be worst hit

Dengue fever has made a resurgence since efforts to eradicate the disease in the 1970s, and future rises in temperatures and rainfall will only amplify this trend. Governments need to act now and adopt pre-emptive measures that will protect their citizens, especially the most vulnerable, writes Ana de Menezes (LSE Department of Geography and Environment), winner of the LSE-IDB Postgraduate Essay Prize 2018.

February 20th, 2019|Environment, resources, and climate change, Featured|0 Comments|

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The Brazilian prison system is undermined by gaps in authority, incentives, and accountability

The Brazilian prison system is undermined by gaps in authority, incentives, and accountability

Crises in the management of Brazilian prisons tend to be neglected by state actors who see the problem as intractable. Institutional conflicts weaken state authority, political and financial incentives for change are weak, and accountability on this issue has rarely been a priority for civil society. But some novel programmes show that much progress can be made despite this difficult terrain, writes Débora Zampier.

January 15th, 2019|Featured, Society, security, and rights|0 Comments|

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Big in 2018: our most popular articles in a turbulent year for Latin America and the Caribbean

Big in 2018: our most popular articles in a turbulent year for Latin America and the Caribbean

Taking a look at ten of our of most popular blogs from 2018, it’s clear that it has been a year of major upheaval in the region. Key issues have been the diverging populisms of AMLO’s Mexico and Bolsonaro’s Brazil, the crumbling of two-party politics in El Salvador, and the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.

But wider trends have also persisted, as reflected in China’s growing […]

January 2nd, 2019|Featured|0 Comments|

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Revolt of the peripheries in Brazil: why low-income voters in wealthy regions swung from the PT to Bolsonaro

Revolt of the peripheries in Brazil: why low-income voters in wealthy regions swung from the PT to Bolsonaro

Shifts in the social and institutional conditions of the urban peripheries of Brazil’s major cities have altered political subjectivities and weakened affinities with the once-dominant Workers’ Party of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. With a “revolt of the peripheries” brewing, Bolsonaro was able exploit his comparative rhetorical advantage and win the presidency despite making few real commitments to address the […]

December 13th, 2018|Bolsonaro's Brazil, Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured|2 Comments|

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Brazil elections 2018: the five risks facing President Bolsonaro

Brazil elections 2018: the five risks facing President Bolsonaro

Jair Bolsonaro’s remarkable rise to the presidency has already caused a significant shake-up of Brazilian politics. But in the longer term, a looming fiscal catastrophe and sky-high expectations on crime and corruption could lead to political instability or even a constitutional crisis, writes Mark S. Langevin (George Mason University).

October 26th, 2018|Bolsonaro's Brazil, Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured|1 Comment|

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Brazil elections 2018: how will Bolsonaro’s victory affect migration policy in Brazil and South America?

Brazil elections 2018: how will Bolsonaro’s victory affect migration policy in Brazil and South America?

Jair Bolsonaro’s victory in Brazil’s 2018 presidential election could lead to a more severe migration policy, attacks on migrants’ rights, and fragmentation of regional approaches to mobility, write Marcia Vera Espinoza (Queen Mary University of London) and Leiza Brumat (European University Institute).

October 25th, 2018|Bolsonaro's Brazil, Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured|0 Comments|

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Populism in Mexico and Brazil: why are voters moving in opposite directions?

Populism in Mexico and Brazil: why are voters moving in opposite directions?

Differences in ethnic makeup, religious affiliation, institutional openness to outsiders, experiences of crime, and economic performance have driven Mexican and Brazilian voters in opposite ideological directions: left towards AMLO in Mexico and right towards Bolsonaro in Brazil. But this doesn’t mean Mexico will remain immune to right populism in future, writes Rodrigo Aguilera.

October 24th, 2018|Bolsonaro's Brazil, Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured, Mexico under AMLO|2 Comments|