The violation of freedoms is one of the most noticeable symptoms of a country in democratic crisis. Threats to freedom of the press, academic freedom, and science are the first to be reported in these cases. Protest rights are also often violated. In the case of artistic and cultural freedom, the violation causes even deeper damage. It is in this arena where the dispute over values ​​that underpin a social order occurs. Taming the field of culture and restricting free artistic creation is to corrupt the range of values ​​that buttress a democratic society.

Climate disasters have become increasingly frequent, affecting entire communities. However, this crisis does not affect everyone equally, as we saw recently in the floods that devastated Rio Grande do Sul. The reality is that impoverished women, especially Black women, are the most impacted.

On October 30, 2022, the date of the second round of the highly contested presidential election, the Federal Highway Police (FHP) carried out a series of blitzes on the country's highways. The practical effect of these operations was to make it difficult for voters to exercise their right to vote. The most curious thing is that most of them took place in the Northeast region, which was home to voters of then-candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. At least 610 buses transporting voters were stopped that day, almost 50% of them in the region.

Great expectations were created about a new global financing target, with consistent support from developed countries to developing countries in tackling climate change. Brazil, however, does not need to wait for international aid to do its part. We can move forward with national resources through development banks. Public money, whose function is to induce growth, is crucial to financing the climate transition and building a new economy. It takes courage and determination to redirect it. This is the promising path we need to follow from now on.

Only a few months back, Elon Musk suffered what seemed to be a personal defeat by the Brazilian judiciary. In light of federal investigations concerning voter disinformation in Brazil, X was required to close several accounts identified as superspreaders of misinformation. Following Brazil’s Marco Regulatório da Internet, social media platforms must perform content moderation and are held liable if they fail. Musk took upon himself the task to demoralize Justice Alexandre de Morais through the same platform, calling him a communist, Lula’s watch dog, and emphasizing that the Justice was, in fact, curbing dissent and endangering freedom of speech in Brazil. Musk’s refusal led to X’s non-compliance with Brazilian regulations, and the platform was quickly shut down. After a few more weeks of ranting at an empty audience and following the pressure of X shareholders who had suddenly lost one of their main markets, Musk allowed the company to make the necessary changes to comply with Brazilian regulations. The outcome was heralded as a victory for the Brazilian government. I could not disagree more with the assessment. I believe it stands as an example of a victory of democratically constituted regulation over the rules of a prince. 

Although slavery was abolished in the US in 1865, presidential elections continue to be decided by indirect vote: 270 votes are needed in the Electoral College to elect a president. In 2016, Trump garnered 306 votes to Clinton's 232. When he ran for re-election in 2020, Trump got 232 votes to Biden's 206. Trump did not accept his defeat and incited a mob to invade the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day Congress confirmed Biden's victory. To this day, Trump and his co-religionists maintain their “victory.” In 2024, there was no need for that. Trump won a landslide victory in the Electoral College: 312 to 226. He also received 50.5% of the popular vote, or almost 4 million votes ahead of Kamal Harris. Part of his success is due to the fact that he won in all the “swing states” or “battlefield states,” so called because their voters are not committed to either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. Therefore, depending on the election, they can swing in either direction, thus establishing a battleground for the parties. These are Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, on the East Coast; in the Midwest, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa; Nevada and Colorado in the West complete the picture.

Last week, representatives from countries around the world gathered at the COP16 Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia to discuss national commitments to protect biodiversity at a time when up to 1 million species are at risk of extinction. Of course, environmental crime falls squarely within the agenda of COP16. We know that illegal logging, mining, and trafficking of wild flora and fauna constitute major threats to biodiversity. This occurs through direct threats, such as trafficking of endangered species that removes them from their habitats and puts their immediate survival at risk. It also occurs through indirect threats, such as mercury use in illegal mining, which poisons living organisms downstream, including dolphins and jaguars.

If we were to paint the map of Brazil with the results of the 2024 municipal elections with the same logic that the USA does, red for the Republicans (right wing) and blue for Democrats (left wing), that map would be covered in red. Different from the dual party system present in the United States, Brazil currently has 29 registered parties across the political spectrum, and it is the parties from the center to the right that were dominant and won the majority of the mayors in Brazil's 5,569 municipalities. However, if that red meant blood, then that map would have many dots on it. In the first round of the elections, between August 16th and October 6th, 373 occurrences of violence against candidates or their staff were registered with 100 murder attempts and 10 assassinations, an increase of 130% since the 2020 elections, according to a study by Terra de Direitos and Justiça Global. Now if the color green represented money, that map would be covered with the billions of dollars from parliamentary amendments sent by congressmen to their base and that heavily influenced electoral outcomes.  Characterized by less polarization than in 2022, these elections were still marked by violence, the results of the parliamentary amendments and the consolidation of a block of parties that is increasingly more powerful.

The underrepresentation of Black women in positions of power in Brazil is a historic challenge that has been addressed with increasing mobilization and organization. The Mulheres Negras Decidem (Black Women Decide, MND) movement emerged in 2018 with a firm belief in the capabilities of current generations to reverse this scenario, transforming institutional politics ethically and aesthetically. With a network that exteneds throughout the country, the MND carries out campaigns, training sessions, and data-centered research to increase the political participation of these women, ensuring that they have the power to influence the decisions that affect their lives.

The results of the first round of the 2024 Brazilian municipal elections, held on October 6, point to a scenario that has been predicted and feared since anti-democratic political forces have intensified their influence in the country over the last decade. The election revealed significant political and electoral traction by the far right and its orbiting camp and was once again the scene of methods characteristic of this side of the political spectrum: systematic disinformation campaigns, political violence, and hostility towards the Brazilian voting system.

The Cerrado emerged 80 million years ago, making it one of the oldest biomes on the planet. In just fifty years, predatory human action has destroyed 50% of the native vegetation of this biome, which is the second largest biodiversity reserve in Brazil and the most biodiverse savannah on the planet – a biome that has about 5% of all species in the world.

Elections in Brazil take place every two years, alternating between municipal and general elections. In the municipal elections, held every four years, mayors and city councilors are elected with a focus on local city administration. In all, 156 million voters will go to the polls in the country's 5,568 municipalities. The results of these elections have a direct impact on the general elections and on the reconfiguration of the national political scenario. They are often seen as a barometer of the popularity of parties and national leaders. Elected mayors and city councilors play important roles in coordinating candidacies for the general elections, influencing party alliances and strategies. In addition, control of city halls in large cities can strengthen or weaken political projects with national ambitions, also serving as a breeding ground for new leaders.

The world is facing one of the greatest threats of modern times: an apathy epidemic. Temperature records are breaking left, right and centre. Homes are being destroyed from California to Carriacou. Our nature is collapsing faster than we predicted. This devastation is no longer restricted to lands far away: it’s on each of our doorsteps. Brazil itself -- in the last few months alone -- has suffered the worst drought on record and ongoing flooding in Rio Grande do Sul. As this existential threat hurtles towards us at breakneck speed, what do most of us do? We sit back and silently scroll. And scroll. And scroll.

On September 24, the Washington Brazil Office (WBO) and Georgetown University will hold an event to discuss the current expressions of the far right and the challenges that this sector poses. The debate will feature the participation of two eminent Brazilian colleagues who are dedicated to researching the topic in Brazil – Flávia Pellegrino, from Pacto Pela Democracia, and Guilherme Casarões, professor of International Relations at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas/São Paulo – in addition to Professor Elcior Santana from Georgetown and Democratic Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove. This will undoubtedly be a great opportunity for us to reflect on the moment we are going through. We would like to take this opportunity to present some important topics that should mark this debate, which everyone is invited to follow, either in person or via the online broadcast on the WBO YouTube channel.

The 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will be held from September 10 to 30. It is one of the most important events on the global diplomatic calendar. It brings together leaders and diplomatic delegations from 193 countries in what can be compared, in an analogy with the world of sports, to the Olympics or the Soccer World Cup, given the nature of the event as a major international stage since its first session on January 10, 1946 in London.

September 11 is Cerrado (or Savannah) Day. Still largely unknown to the public, the biome is the second largest in the country, with an area of ​​2,036,448 km², about 23 percent of the national territory, reaching 36 percent, if the transition zones with other biomes are included. Its continuous area covers the states of Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí, Rondônia, Paraná, São Paulo and the Federal District, with isolated patches in Amapá, Roraima and Amazonas. Composed of fields, trails, and forests, it is considered the most biodiverse savannah in the world, with approximately 5 percent of the species on the planet and more than 30 percent of the species in the country. It hosts half of all known birds, more than two-thirds of all mammals, at least 210 species of amphibians, 1,200 species of fish, 300 species of reptiles and 13,140 species of plants. Lack of knowledge about the biome is one of the problems in addressing the systematic devastation of the Cerrado.

The climate disasters unfolding around the world – including unprecedented floods in Brazil, Africa, and China, heat waves in Asia and the Middle East, and persistent droughts in Europe and Latin America – show that the planet is at a critical juncture. Fortunately, we can still seize the opportunity to redefine our paradigms of economic and social development. Alongside preserving and restoring our forests, we must end our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace renewables.

While Nicolás Maduro is hiding the results of the presidential election held on July 28, ignoring repeated calls from dozens of governments to present the data in a format that allows the results to be verified, the evidence of a large victory for his opponent Edmundo González is overwhelming.

The Temporal Framework thesis regarding the demarcation of Indigenous territories was declared unconstitutional by the Brazilian Supreme Court in September 2023, but threats against the fundamental rights of Indigenous peoples continue. On the same day that the anti-Indigenous thesis was overturned in the Supreme Court, Senator Hiran Gonçalves (Progressive Party) presented a proposed amendment to the constitution (PEC) 48/2023 in the Senate. The proposal must be discussed in the Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship by October 30.

Information from the Convention of the Parties to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) warns that 70 percent of people in the world who suffer from various types of malnutrition live in dry areas, whether arid, semi-arid, or sub-humid. This classification of drylands by the United Nations considers the amount of rainfall (pluviometry) and evapotranspiration, which results in a balance that tends to be low or negative in these areas. Drylands are spread throughout the world and cover more than 41 percent of the planet's land. They are present on all continents, with large areas of land, such as the Sonoran Desert in the United States, the Sahel region in Africa, and much of Australia.