Brazil

BRASILIA, April 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian authorities have sacked 28 military personnel and one civilian for their conduct during the Jan 8 uprising in Brasilia, Acting Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI) Minister Ricardo Cappelli announced in a statement.

Cappelli explained that the measure is part of the GSI renewal process determined by President Lula and said he was working to conclude in the shortest possible time an investigation to know the participation of public officials in the Jan 8 events. The deadline for closing this investigation is May 30.

BRASÍLIA (AP) — Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday granted official recognition of nearly 800 square miles of Indigenous lands, following through on a campaign promise in a move that also protects critical Amazon rainforest from commercial exploitation.

Lula recognized six ancestral lands. The two largest are in the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical forest and an important carbon sink that helps moderate climate change. The total area of recognized lands in the biome is 161,500 hectares (620 square miles).

BRASILIA, April 27 (NNN-XINHUA) — At least seven people were killed Wednesday in a shootout between police officers and suspected criminals planning to rob highway toll booths in Brazil’s Goias state, the state Military Police confirmed.

The incident took place in the early morning at a house in the town of Nova Gama, after the Military Police was alerted by intelligence services about the planned heist, according to the police.

Officers went to the address and found at least 12 people purportedly gathered to carry out the robbery.

BRASILIA, April 17. /TASS/: Russian and Brazilian Foreign Ministers, Srgey Lavrov and Mauro Vieira, are holding talks in Brasilia.

The two top diplomats are expected to make a statement for the press after the talks.

Later in the day, Lavrov will be received by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He will also meet with foreign policy adviser to the Brazilian president Celso Amorim.

Brazil is the first stopover of Lavrov’s Latin American tour.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva flew off to China on Tuesday to strengthen ties with his nation’s biggest trade partner and win support for his long shot push for peace in Ukraine.

Lula wants Brazil, China and other nations to help mediate the war as part of his nation’s return to the world stage, but his proposals to end the conflict have irked Ukraine and some in the West. Less controversial is the Brazilian and Chinese mutual interest in trade after a rocky period under Lula’s predecessor.

BRASILIA, April 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for national unity to rebuild Brazil.

He made the appeal on the eve of his 100th day in office while reviewing the main measures his administration has taken since he took office on Jan 1.

“We live in one country and we need everyone to come together to rebuild it,” Lula wrote in a column headlined “Brazil Is Back” in local daily “Correio Braziliense.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- At least four children were killed, and several wounded in an attack on a nursery school in southern Brazil Wednesday, local authorities said.

A 25-year-old attacker invaded the preschool with an axe-like weapon, police said.

BRASILIA, April 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro appeared at the federal police headquarters on Wednesday to testify in an investigation into jewellery and gifts given in 2021 to the then-president and his wife by the king of Saudi Arabia.

One of the jewellery sets given to then first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and valued at US$3.26 million was seized by customs officials in the backpack of a government aide returning from Saudi Arabia.

Bolsonaro returned two other gift packages after Brazil’s federal audit court ordered him to do so.

BRASILIA, March 26 (NNN-AGENCIA BRASIL) — Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been elected Friday to head the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS Bank to replace Marcos Troyjo, who had held the post since July 2020.

Rousseff will remain at the helm of the Shanghai-based financial institution until the end of Brazil’s mandate in July 2025. Each BRICS country (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) chairs the bank for rotating five-year terms. She will take office later next week.

BRASILIA, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who left the country for the United States two days before his term ended, will return home on March 30, his party and press service announced.

His entourage said Bolsonaro had handed over to authorities, through his lawyers, some expensive jewels given to him by the government of Saudi Arabia.

The 68-year-old far-right leader has been embroiled in a scandal over the issue and is accused of having brought the jewels into Brazil illegally.