As President Biden escalates US aggression against China, opposing this new cold war is becoming an increasingly central discussion among leading progressives across the world, including in Latin America. This is because relations with China aid Latin American countries to pursue an independent foreign policy instead of being subject to US dictates.
The No Cold War international campaign and the Tricontinental Institute are co-hosting an international webinar discussing ‘China, USA and Brazil’s quest for an independent foreign policy'. The event is taking place on Saturday 15 May 2021 at 9AM US Eastern / 10AM Brasilia / 2PM Britain / 9PM China.
On 25 January, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro published two tweets in a row to thank China, causing a considerable stir in Brazil. In one tweet, Bolsonaro said that 5,400 litters of the active ingredient of the Coronavac anti-Covid19 vaccine had been approved and would arrive in Brazil soon, "thanks to the compassion of the Chinese government.”
Latin America has become a new epicentre of the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, as the death toll rapidly increases in countries with US-backed neoliberal governments. In particular, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru seem to be seriously mishandling the public health crisis.
Brazil’s far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro is pushing Latin America’s largest nation to the brink of catastrophe. In a country of over 210 million people, Bolsonaro’s inaction and outright denial of the real threat that the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic presents is risking the premature and unnecessary death of hundreds of thousands of people. With the stakes so high, Bolsonaro is facing unprecedented opposition from millions of Brazilians as pressure builds for him to resign as president.
El coronavirus se está propagando rápidamente en varios países de América Latina, lo que supone una amenaza para la vida de millones de personas en todo el continente. En esta situación de vida o muerte, la población de América Latina necesita solidaridad y asistencia para hacer frente a una crisis que ha desbordado los sistemas de salud de algunas de las economías más ricas y avanzadas del mundo.
La respuesta de los gobiernos de América Latina ha variado considerablemente hasta ahora. Los países con un liderazgo de orientación socialista han adoptado estrictas medidas preventivas. Por otra parte, el presidente de ultraderecha del Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, está siguiendo el enfoque contrario, uniéndose a Donald Trump para restarle importancia a la crisis y no tomar medidas, lo que supone un riesgo de catástrofe y de muertes masivas en un país de 210 millones de personas.
In an exclusive interview with Brasil Wire and The Michael Brooks Show, former Brazilian President Lula da Silva has spoken out against the malign intervention of US imperialism in Brazil which has served to subvert the country’s democracy, independence and sovereignty. According to Lula “Brazil has given away its freedom and its independence and it salutes an American President… Brazil has regressed to the status of a colony.”
During the 1980s a series of shocking images and films appeared of massive devastation underway in the Amazonian state of Rondonia. There, an area of old growth rainforest roughly equivalent to the size of Great Britain was being ripped down at record rate. As the fires generated huge smoke clouds, thousands of indigenous people who had been living in the forest died off at the hands of the ranchers and farmers, gunned down, poisoned or deliberately infected with smallpox.
The election of far right politician Jair Bolsonaro in last year’s Brazilian Presidential election sent shock-waves across Latin America and the entire world. What has been the impact of Bolsonaro’s first eight months in office?
I interviewed Elias Jabbour, Professor at the Rio de Janeiro State University and member of the Communist Party of Brazil’s Central Committee (PCdoB) to find out his perspective on the great struggles that are currently taking place in Brazil.
Pedro Marin, editor and founder of Opera Magazine in Brazil argues that there is no way to save the Amazon rainforest without transforming the Brazilian economy.
Eyes on Latin America 