More than 500 people are now known to have died in floods in south-eastern Brazil, the country’s worst natural disaster for several decades.
Heavy rain has led to massive mudslides hitting several towns, resulting in thousands being made homeless.
Police say the number of dead is likely to rise further.
The death toll has now surpassed the devastating 1967 mudslides in Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo state, in which up to 430 people perished.
Rescue workers will resume searching for survivors in the mountainous Serrana region, north of Rio de Janeiro, later on Friday.
Many spent Thursday scrabbling with their bare hands through debris.
On her visit to the area, President Dilma Rousseff promised a shipment of seven tonnes of medicines. (more…)
The year 2011 is already looking pivotal in the build-up to the FIFA World Cup Brazil™, with fans and observers to start seeing the first tangible signs of the festival of football scheduled for 2014.
Penned in for the end of July will be the Preliminary Draw in Rio de Janeiro, which will define the groups for the qualifying phase of the competition. And in the days prior to the event, at which Brazil intends to begin showing the world what it can expect over the coming three years, there will be a number of workshops and seminars taking place in the same venue as the Preliminary Draw itself.
Another significant landmark due to take place over the course of 2011 will be the unveiling of the official slogan for Brazil 2014, while in addition work on three of the 12 stadiums which will host matches at the showpiece competition should have begun by the end of June. What is more, the decision on which venues will welcome games at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 will be made this year, as will the match calendar for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the launch of its volunteer programme.
As far as security matters are concerned, the proposed course of action for the competition will continue to grow and evolve. This will occur via meetings with the country’s various public security forces (municipal guards, military police, civil police and traffic officers), a process that has already been carried out with Brazil’s fire department. (more…)
Dilma Rousseff was herself tortured by the military regime after being imprisoned for her activities with left-wing radicals resisting the dictatorship in the 1970s Photo: AFP/GETTY
Brazil’s new government has signalled its intention to press ahead with a controversial ‘truth commission’ to investigate abuses by the country’s former military dictatorship.
Days after President Dilma Rousseff was sworn in as Brazil’s first female leader, her Secretary of Human Rights said that such a commission would help to “consolidate democracy“.
Ms Rousseff was herself tortured by the military regime – which considered her “the Joan of Arc of subversion” – after being imprisoned for her activities with left-wing radicals resisting the dictatorship in the 1970s.
The idea of a truth commission caused splits in the cabinet of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose eight years as president came to an end on New Year’s Day, and led senior military figures to threaten to resign.
But Maria do Rosario, Brazil’s Secretary of Human Rights, asked the country’s Congress to approve the idea in her first speech in her post.
“We must do this for the families of those who were killed or disappeared,” she said.
Brazil is the only country in Latin America not to have investigated deaths and torture which took place under its dictatorship. (more…)
Brazil’s chief prosecutor said Monday that the government will investigate a series of threats against the new president, Dilma Rousseff, made through Twitter messages.
“The origin of those messages is being analyzed” to determine whether current legislation will allow the prosecution of the perpetrators for crimes that could range from ‘making a statement justifying crime’ to ‘incitement to murder,” Roberto Gurgel told reporters.
The phrases were sent via Twitter, mostly during the Saturday inauguration of Rousseff at an outdoor ceremony on a broad avenue in Brasilia.
Among the threatening phrases was one that said “kill that Dilma once and for all, please,” and another expressing the wish “that a sniper turns up and gets her and her vice president (Michel Temer) right in the head,” authorities said.
Dilma Rousseff became Brazil’s first female president on Saturday after promising to build on an unprecedented run of economic success achieved by her popular predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The 63-year-old former Marxist guerrilla and her Vice-President Michel Temer took the oath of office at the National Congress before hundreds of government officials and world leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyco Borisov.
After the swearing-in ceremony and a 40-minute speech, Rousseff rode to the presidential palace in a 1953 Rolls Royce with the roof down, and her daughter by her side.
Rousseff, who evolved over the years into a pragmatic civil servant, was cheered on by thousands of people as she drove by Brasilia’s modern buildings.
The cancer survivor walked up the palace’s ramp and was welcomed by outgoing Lula, who handed over the presidential sash at a balcony in front of a crowd of 30,000 supporters.
In her inaugural speech, Rousseff called for reform of Brazil’s onerous and complex tax system. She also called inflation a “plague,” vowing to keep prices under control, and referred the new oil reserves as a passport to the future.
Rousseff said she would do her best to continue the work that Lula started. (more…)
