Brazil’s president will propose a truth commission this month to investigate torture during the country’s 1964-85 military dictatorship.
The move by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva could mark a rare step by Brazil towards tackling the thorny question of dictatorship-era abuses.
Unlike neighbouring countries such as Argentina and Chile, Brazil has never tried anyone for the murder and widespread torture of dissidents during its dictatorship, which pushed an amnesty law through a weak Congress in 1979. (more…)
Thousands of fish in the river have been killed by a sharp drop in water oxygen levels
The once free-flowing Manaquiri River, which runs through the state of Amazonas in northwest Brazil, is in the fight of its life against a spell of dry weather - and it appears to be losing the battle.
Thousands of dead fish are rotting on the river banks and hundreds more float on its surface, turning the area into a toxic cesspool.
Vultures circle overhead, picking away at the rotting carcasses. Even an alligator - one of the fiercest reptiles of the Amazon - floats belly up in the river. (more…)
Flamengo, a Rio soccer team, which is also the most popular in Brazil has chosen former Olympic swimmer Patricia Amorim as its president. She became the first woman to hold that post. Amorim, 40, got 792 out of 2,342 votes in Monday’s election at the Rio de Janeiro club, which was founded 114 years ago.
“I suffered great prejudice for being a woman and for hailing from Olympic sport,” the former South American record-holder said.
“But I will show I’m competitive, being the first woman ever to be elected president in the history of the club is also making true a dream.” (more…)
Dilma Rousseff,
Brazilian minister Dilma Rousseff, the Lula administration’s chief of staff and would-be candidate in Brazil’s 2010 presidential election, accused this Sunday, in Copenhagen, rich countries of trying to treat Brazil and other developing countries as if they were developed.
She arrived Saturday, 12, in Copenhagen for the last week of the conference. For her, the proposal that developing countries also contribute to funding for a global fund to fight climate change is “a scandal.” Rousseff made her opinion known at the first meeting of ministers of the UN’s 15th Climate Change Conference (COP 15). (more…)
Members of a leftist bloc of nine Latin American nations said Saturday that they plan to use a new currency called the “sucre” for trade among themselves starting in January.
No sucres will be printed or coined, but the virtual currency will be used to manage debts between governments while reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar and on Washington in general.
Cuba signed an agreement Saturday to pay for a shipment of Venezuelan rice in sucres, said Rogelio Sierra, the island’s deputy foreign minister. He declined to say what the shipment was worth.
That agreement was made even as ever-cash-strapped Cuba has fallen behind on its debt to nations and multinational corporations during the global recession. (more…)
