Brazil

BRASILIA, May 4 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Russia never should have invaded Ukraine, but he believes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is as much to blame for the war as Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with Time magazine published on Wednesday, the leftist leader also said U.S. President Joe Biden could have done more to prevent the conflict instead of inciting it.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 30 (Reuters) - Washington should make it clear to the "messianic" Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that any effort to undermine his country's elections would trigger multilateral sanctions, a newly retired U.S. State Department official wrote on Saturday.

BRASILIA, April 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is studying the creation of a new social security system for mobile app workers, especially for delivery and transportation services, Labor Minister Jose Carlos Oliveira said on Wednesday.

Technology companies and gig workers would contribute to the new welfare system, which will be proposed as legislation before the end of this year, the minister told reporters.

BRASILIA, April 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's Defense Minister joined a feud between the country's Supreme Court and his boss, right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, disputing statements by a Supreme Court judge who said the Armed Forces were being encouraged to discredit the country's voting system.

BRASILIA, April 16 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said his country faced a food security threat as a consequence of the shortage of wheat, which could become scarce due to the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bolsonaro also pointed out that local production of wheat was not enough and imports were needed. Argentina is Brazil’s main supplier, but there are concerns over Argentina’s capabilities to keep on delivering because of a local problem with the price of diesel fuel, which affects output.

BRASILIA, April 12 (Reuters) - Former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday promised Brazil's indigenous people that he would stop illegal mining on their reservations and recognize their land claims if he wins the presidential election in October.

Lula visited a protest camp in Brasilia where several thousands members of 200 tribes have gathered to oppose plans by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to allow commercial agriculture, mining and oil exploration on their lands.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and another 13 went missing in heavy rains that hit the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, local authorities said on Saturday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Twitter that the federal government was deploying military aircraft to help with the rescue efforts in the state.

Local authorities said on Friday that the region had received 655 milliliters of rain, the highest amount ever recorded in the municipality.

BRASILIA, Apr 2 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil’s trade balance registered a surplus of 7.4 billion U.S. dollars in Mar, a record for the month, since the beginning of kept records in 1989, the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy said yesterday.

The figure represents an increase of 19.3 percent over the surplus balance of 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in Mar of last year.

As a result, Brazil accumulated a trade surplus of 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of the year.

BRASILIA, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian democracy is being "threatened," Edson Fachin, the president of Brazil's electoral court (TSE), said on Friday, saying the country faced "a turbulent period" ahead of a fraught October presidential election.

Fachin's comments come as polls show President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army who has repeatedly questioned the credibility of Brazil's electronic voting system, narrowing the gap on leftist frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's lead.

BRASILIA, March 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's Education Minister Milton Ribeiro resigned on Monday following allegations of corruption in the awarding of ministry funds to municipal districts, according to an announcement in the country's official gazette.

Ribeiro has been facing political pressure after local newspapers reported that two pastors had allegedly gained preferential treatment for educational funding for their municipal districts and taken bribes.