Brazilian GDP plummets 9.7%, the biggest drop recorded by IBGE in the last 25 years #PIB

 The IBGE announced today that the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounted to R$ 1.653 trillion from April to June 2020, shrinking 9.7% in relation to the first quarter of the same year. This is the lowest result since the beginning of the historical series, in 1996. The accumulated drop in the first half was 5.9%.

This drop in Brazilian GDP has made the country economically regress in more than a decade, returning to the level of 2009. An unprecedented tragedy. According to IBGE, household consumption, which represents 65% of GDP, had a record decrease of 12.5% in the period.

It is important to remember that at the beginning of the year, Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that the country would grow by around 1% in 2020 and that only 5 billion would be needed to deal with the pandemic. Both predictions are gigantic errors, so far the government has spent more than half a trillion Reais on aid to the poorest Brazilians and even so the country has not managed to escape from a technical recession. As for the 1% growth, even before the pandemic, the country, according to the IBGE, was already finding itself downhill economically. After correcting the figures for the first quarter, the IBGE indicated that even before the pandemic, Brazil's economy had already fallen by 2.5%.

President @jairbolsonaro, why did your wife Michelle receive R$89 thousand from Fabrício Queiroz?

The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, when asked today by a reporter for the newspaper O Globo, why the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, received R $ 89,000 from Fabrício Queiroz, a former police officer who worked as an advisor to Jair Bolsonaro and his son Flávio Bolsonaro, the president said: "I'd like to give you a good battering".

The Brazilian president, when asked about his wife's alleged involvement in wide-ranging corruption scheme, again showed his complete lack of control in dealing with the press and democracy. Thus, Bolsonaro continues to owe Brazilian society the answer to the simple question: "Why did your wife receive 89 thousand reais from Fabrício Queiroz?

After this threat, Brazilian social networks were taken by the question asked by the journalist from O Globo. Thousands of people are asking the exact same question: President @jairbolsonaro, why did your wife Michelle receive R$89 thousand from Fabrício Queiroz?

A sales representative died while working at a Carrefour supermarket in the city of Recife, Brazil. The body was covered with umbrellas, surrounded by crates of beer and the supermarket continued to function for the public

 A man who works as a sales representative for a supplier at the Carrefour supermarket had a heart attack inside the supermarket while working in the unit of the Carrefour supermarket chain in Torre, a Recife district, in Pernambuco. The supermarket, which continued to operate with the body hidden by umbrellas and crates of beer, was the target of much criticism on social networks in Brazil.

According to the Hypeness website, the body of Moses stayed at the site between 8 am and 12 pm, until it was removed by the Legal Medical Institute (IML).

In an official note posted on Twitter, the supermarket chain Carrefour apologized for what happened.

IBGE: In 3 months, the number of unemployed in Brazil grows 3 million

According to data from Pnad Covid, released by the IBGE, between the first week of May and the last week of July, more than three million Brazilians were unemployed, that is, they sought employment and did not find it - thus, the unemployment rate went up from 10.5% to 13.7% in the period.

Therefore, it is possible to say that during the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19), at least 3 million people lost their jobs in Brazil.

The numbers are scary, just in the last week of July of 2020, the unemployment rate in Brazil jumped from 13.1% to 13.7%, a growth of 0.6% in just seven days, according to data from the Covid Household Sample Survey (Pnad Covid-19 ), released by IBGE. The unemployed population in Brazil was estimated at 12.9 million people in the fourth week of July.

Meanwhile, the drastic fiscal austerity policy advocated by Economy Minister Paulo Guedes is losing ground within the government of Jair Bolsonaro, who has seen his popularity soar due to the 600 reais (little git more than US$100) emergency aid given to the poorest population. It is important to note that Bolsonaro was initially against the aid of 600 reais, which was only approved due to the efforts of federal deputies, mainly from the left parties. Paradoxically, the policy that Bolsonaro opposed ended up benefiting some of the voters, who linked aid to the federal government.

Burnings and the destructions of the environment in the Pantanal reach the worst rate in the last 20 years, according to Inpe

The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), when comparing its historical series, found that between January and July 2020, the Pantanal was destroyed by more than 4,200 fires. In total, more than 840 thousand hectares are consumed by fire, which is equivalent to about 1.1 million soccer fields.

The situation is so worrying that even figures like the actor Leonardo DiCaprio continue to speak out against burning in the Amazon and criticize the current Brazilian government. Today, the actor shared a text from The Guardian newspaper on his Instagram, which cites the management of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party) in a critical tone.

Brazilian Central Bank projects a drop of more than 10% in the country's GDP in the second half of 2020

During a virtual event promoted by Abrainc (Brazilian Association of Real Estate Developers), the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, said that the institution believes that there will be a fall of almost 11% of GDP in the second half of 2020. If the forecast is confirmed, the country will enter a technical recession, which is the drop in GDP for two consecutive semesters. Economists point out that the economic crisis in Brazil is more intense than in other countries and estimate that the recovery will be slow.

The June summary was: industry and commerce showed better results than expected, agribusiness was strong, but the services sector showed a slow recovery.

The fall in the level of Brazilian economic activity comes amid the pandemic of the new coronavirus, which has been killing about 1000 people in Brazil every day for several weeks. The pandemic has brought down the world economy and put the world on the road to a recession.

So far, Bolsonaro's government, in addition to the president's denialism, which in the face of thousands of deaths continues to defend things like the use of hydroxocloquine and openly criticizing the mayors and governors who defended social isolation, has done little to face this tragedy that will reverberate in the greatest recession in our history, as everything indicates that Brazil will face an economic fall twice the world average.

Brazilian services sector closed the second quarter of 2020 with a fall of 15.4%, according to IBGE

 The services sector, the most important in the Brazilian economy, ended the second quarter of 2020 with a decrease of 15.4%, according to the Brazilian Institute of Statistical Geography (IBGE).

The sector was hit hard by the pandemic of the new coronavirus, since some of its main activities had to close its doors due to social isolation measures, such as bars and restaurants, gyms and beauty salons.

In June, the services sector recovered. The sector grew 5% in June, influenced by the easing of social isolation, but even so, the accumulated result is still at a level 24% below the peak of the historical series, recorded in November 2014.

First lady Michelle Bolsonaro's grandmother dies of Covid-19; Brazilian Ministry of Economy suffers from stampede of team members; and São Paulo Governor João Doria announces that he is with Covid-19

First lady Michelle Bolsonaro's grandmother, Maria Aparecida Firmo Ferreira, who was 80, died of complications from Covid-19 in the Federal District, Brazil. Michelle who has also been diagnosed Covid-19 has yet to comment on her grandmother's death.

The minister of Economy of Brazi, Paulo Guedes, said yesterday (11/08) that there is a "stampede" of his team members. The reason is that government wings that defend more public investments, such as the Minister of Regional Development, Rogério Marinho, and President Jair Bolsonaro himself, who was never a neoliberal but a defender of the privileges of the military in Brazil, are abandoning the neoliberal agenda defended by Guedes and his followers.

For this reason, there is great speculation that Guedes may leave the government, despite of him saying that he will not leave.

João Doria, the governor of São Paulo, the state with the largest economy in Brazil, said today that he tested positive for Covid-19, that he has no symptoms and will work from home. At 62, he is the 11th Brazilian governor to test positive for the disease.

Jornal Nacional, most-watched broadcast news program in Brazil, points possible reasons for Bolsonaro's impeachment

The Jornal Nacional, in its edition today, cited article 196 of the Brazilian Constitution, which recognizes the right of all citizens to health. The television program also cited Article 6 of the Brazilian Constitution, which states that health is a social right.

In addition, it was explained by the Jornal Nacional tv anchors that it is a crime of responsibility to violate social law according to Law 1,079 / 1950, in Articles 7 and 9.

Today, according to Al Jazeera website, "Brazil's coronavirus deaths have surpassed 100,000 deaths five months after the first reported case in a sign that the country has not contained the deadly disease".

Paulo Guedes, Minister of Economy of Brazil, affirms in an event of the Aspen Security Forum that the Americans killed Indians and deforested forests and now want to spare Brazilians from destroying the Amazon rainforest

The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, today, at the Aspen Security Forum event, organized by the Aspen Institute, a study center in Washington, USA, said:

"We understand your concern (North Americans), because you have cleared your forests. You want to save us from clearing the forest, as you cleared yours. We know that you had civil wars, you also had slavery and we just ask you to be kind. how kind we are. You killed your Indians, you didn't mix. "

The phrase was received with great concern by foreign investors, as it points to a position of the Brazilian government that is not concerned with protecting the forest. On the contrary, it seems to understand that cutting down the forest is part of the country's development process.

Unemployment in Brazil exceeds 13% after about 9 million workers had been laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic

The unemployment rate in Brazil rose to 13.3%, an increase of 1.1 percentage point (p.p.) compared to the quarter ended in March 2020. As a result, the number of unemployed workers was 12.8 million. The data are from the National Continuous Household Sample Survey (Continuous Pnad), carried out by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

The number of discouraged reached 5.7 million people, the largest contingent in the historical series. They are people with the potential to work, but who simply gave up looking for a formal job. The majority of them are working in informal jobs or are unoccupied.

According to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, "commerce was the sector most affected, with the closing of 2.1 million jobs. In civil construction, there were 1.1 million fewer. Among domestic workers, there were 1 , 3 million layoffs".

Four out of ten Brazilian municipalities have no sewage service, according to IBGE

About 39.7% of Brazilian municipalities do not have sewage service, according to the National Survey of Basic Sanitation (PNSB), released by IBGE.

Despite the growth in the supply of these sewage services, which practically doubled in the last thirty years in the Northeast region of Brazil, from 26.1% in 1989 to 52.7% and from 12.9% to 43% of municipalities in the Midwest region, the provision of basic sanitation services in Brazil is still far from an acceptable level.

According to the Trata Brasil Institute, a survey based on data released by the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS - base 2018), shows that advances in this area are insufficient for Brazil to fulfill national and international commitments in treated water, collection, and treatment of water sewers.

With two months of deflation and growth in the number of unemployed, Brazil under Bolsonaro`s government is heading for an economic scenario even more serious than the current one

The Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), considered the official indicator of inflation in Brazil, fell 0.38% in May. This is the second consecutive decline in the index, which recorded a 0.31% decrease in April, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Still, according to IBGE, the services sector dropped 11.7% in April, compared to March. The results of the Monthly Service Survey, released today (17) by the IBGE, show that, in these three months of retraction, the sector accumulates a loss of 18.7%. Unemployment grew more than 10% in May alone.

According to José Paulo Kupfer, the "deflation of the IPCA in May deepens the deflation of April. Consumption of goods and, above all, services, down. Unemployment, loss of income, fear of contagion, and the 'precautionary savings', affect the activity, and keeps inflation below the floor."

Many economists are point out that with two consecutive months of deflation, the basic interest rate defined by the Brazilian Central Bank increases in real terms for the State's creditors. In this way, it ends up promoting a rent which, while benefiting a wealthy minority of the population, accelerates the country's economic recession further.

As Brazil moves quickly to scare the number of 50,000 killed by COVID-19, Brazilian companies continue to fail and breaking down and unemployment still rising. In this dramatic scenario, the Bolsonaro government meeting that went public shows only authoritarian delusions and bravado. The coronavirus crisis was not even mentioned in this meeting, which wasn't made any proposals to take Brazil out of the crisis.

Besides that, according to research conducted by the Page Group, more than 10 million Brazilians have already had reduced working hours and wages or have their contract suspended during the coronavirus pandemic. This made the country a leader in wage reduction in Latin America. In Brazil, 11.8% indicated the reduction in salary as a measure to face the crisis, while in Latin America it is adopted by 7.1%. The reduction in working hours, in turn, represents 7.8% of the responses against 4.2% in the region.

The scenario in which Brazil is heading should be marked by a deep drop in revenue, as a result of the slowdown in economic activity, high unemployment, and serious political crisis.

Carlos Wizard resigns from the Ministry of Health after defending “recount” of deaths by COVID-19; decision came after the billionaire's companies began to suffer a boycott of Brazilians

Billionaire Carlos Wizard will no longer take over the Secretariat at the Brazilian Ministry of Health. According to the G1 website, "in recent weeks, Wizard had been participating in meetings on the coronavirus pandemic. He was not nominated in the Federal Official Gazette and, therefore, also did not receive public money".

Carlos Wizard not only announced the recount of the deaths but also stated that the number presented by the Ministry of Health was unrealistic. After that, the ministry took the information from the official website. This caused a huge reaction in the country, including a strong campaign to boycott all brands linked to the billionaire Wizard, who, after losing money, decided to leave do government with even been officially hired.

After all, Wizard also says if any of his statements could have offended victims.

The development of this case indicates that it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to support Bolsonaro's proto-fascist necropolitics. In this case, it became evident that for Wizard, as well as for other entrepreneurs, before Bolsonaro's support comes their business, and a boycott is everything a businessman doesn't want.

Carlos Wizard, the new secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Health defends the recounts of the number of deaths caused by the new coronavirus; without any scientific evidence, he said the numbers were "fanciful or manipulated"

Carlos Wizard, upon assuming the position of the new secretary of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, said that he will work to review the numbers of the coronavirus in the country.

Wizard, who is known for having founded a network of English schools in Brazil, has no experience in the health sector (the current interim Minister of Health in Brazil also has no experience in the area, he is a general in the Brazilian army ).

Many fear that Wizard intends to establish a kind of Ministry of Truth in Brazil, dedicated only to "retelling" the more than 34 thousand deaths by COVID-19. It seems like Wizard wants Covid-19 deaths to simply and magically disappear. In addition, billionaire Wizard also advocates the use of chloroquine to prevent COVID-19.

Last night the Ministry of Health of Brazil has stopped releasing a total of confirmed Covid-19 cases & deaths and the government site is "under maintenance" since then. The president Jair Bolsonaro said that the government is adapting itself "for better precision". 

This was viewed as an act of censorship. According to the John Hopkins website, Brazil has 614,941 cases and 34,021 deaths. 

While Brazil reaches half a million cases of COVID-19, with almost thirty thousand deaths, the country remains without a health minister and the president Bolsonaro rides a horse amid a demonstration as if nothing had happened

According to a survey carried out by the independent health data platform Functional Health Techo, the next July 6th will be the peak of contamination by COVID-19 in Brazil. On that date, the country will reach 1.78 million people with the coronavirus. This number, however, does not account for the cases of people recovered or who died.

According to the figures released by the state's health departments, Brazil currently has 514,992 cases of the new coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2), with 29,341 deaths, thus passing France in the number of deaths.

In the midst of this unprecedented health crisis, Brazil remains without a Minister of Health, a portfolio that is currently occupied temporarily by a military man who is not a doctor and has no experience in the area of public health. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, on the other hand, rode out on horseback to participate in a demonstration by supporters in Brasília.

Without a mask, Bolsonaro also greeted people crowded over the protective fence in the act in defense of his government. Thousands of people, many without protection (mask), gathered in front of the government headquarters.

COVID-19: João Dória, governor of São Paulo, the richest and most populous state of Brazil, decides to relax the quarantine starting June 1st

The resumption of some economic activities in the state of São Paulo as of June 1st, according to Governor João Dória, will be done gradually. Every 15 days the situation will be analyzed, in case of an increase in cases, new determinations on restrictions must be announced. Wearing masks and social detachment remains mandatory. Doria ruled out a lockdown in the coming weeks.

Dória was one of the main critics of the posture of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who defends the return of economic activities. With the decision, Dória gave up pressure from part of the State's economic and political power. The measure to relax the quarantine in the context of deaths by COVID-19, which is still increasing in several regions of the State of São Paulo and in several other Brazilian states, is, above all, a political decision.

With that, Dória intends to demonstrate that his administration was more efficient in combating the coronavirus crisis and in the deadline for the reopening of the economy than Jair Bolsonaro's presidency. With this, he intends to meet the demands of the Brazilian right and extreme right, which defend the total opening of the economy. Dória's plan is to position herself as a more technical administrator than Bolsonaro. However, despite all the discourse of respecting science, Dória is taking such measures for mainly political reasons.

São Paulo does not do enough tests to know exactly how the State is facing COVID-19, despite the nearly 4 million tests that would have been released. Doria, therefore, will reopen São Paulo in the winter, at a time when the State is also facing an increase in the number of H1N1 cases.

Crisis: Brazil closes more than one million formal jobs in April and March 2020, according to Caged

Information released today by the New General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged), of the Minsitério do Trabalho do Brasil, points to a drastic drop in the number of hires in the country was the main responsible for the negative balance of formal jobs in the first four months of 2020 in Brazil. 1,1 million formal jobs were closed in Brazil in March and April 2020, according to figures from the General Register of Jobs and Unemployed (Caged) released today by the Ministry of Economy.

In April of 2019, Caged had a positive balance of 129,601 formal jobs, resulting from 1,374,628 admissions and 1,245,071 dismissals. In the same month in 2020, there were 598,596 hires and the number of dismissals reached 1,459,099, generating a negative result of 860,503 vacancies closed.

According to the newspaper O Globo, this result is, "by far, the worst data for job creation in Brazil since 1992, when the Caged historical series began. Before, the worst data had been recorded in 1992, when the country closed 142 thousand jobs in those two months".

These frightening figures show the impact of the pandemic, the current and profound national political crisis, and the complete lack of direction of the federal government, which has been going for two weeks without a Health Minister in the midst of a health crisis without precedent. Thus, the Brazilian labor market suffers one of the strongest strokes in the country's history.

The Brazilian financial market shows how much it is a segment that is completely detached from the reality of the country by simply disregarding the disastrous conduct of Bolsonaro's government in the fight against COVID-19 and the country's unprecedented political crisis

The disclosure of the video of the ministerial meeting in which President Jair Bolsonaro and several of his ministers committed, according to several jurists, crimes, including defending the arrest of ministers of the Supreme Court, was positively received by the Brazilian financial market.

As I had already written here, on August 27, 2019, by "betting on a possible liberal agenda of the then-the financial market was one of the biggest supporters of Jair Bolsonaro's candidacy".  

After the election, the Brazilian financial market has completely disregarded the fact that Bolsonaro's "government was largely unable to organize and lead the political debate around a reformist agenda. In fact, the statements of Bolsonaro and Guedes did more harm than good in assisting the approval work of the Social Security Reform. The main architect of this reform was the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, who at various times collided with Bolsonaro and even Paulo Guedes".

This assessment, completely mistaken in my view, continues today amid the chaos caused by COVID-19 and the political catastrophe of the crises that surround the current government, which no longer hides its anti-democratic intentions. The market continues to understand that the fact that Economy Minister Paulo Guedes is considered a strong name in the government is a positive thing. The problem is that Guedes, who is a liberal with an agenda considered outdated even by liberal economists like Monica de Bolle, will be forced now to adopt policies that he has been opposed to for a lifetime.

Several financial market analysts believe the Environment Minister's calling for environmental deregulation while public distracted by COVID and Guedes saying that the suspension of server readjustments is "grenade in the enemy's pocket", during this meeting, are the representation of liberal values!

This represents how ideological the assessment that a large part of the Brazilian financial market makes of the current government, which obviously undermines immensely a pragmatic analysis of what is really happening to the Brazilian economy.

Of the meeting that was released by the courts, only the attacks on China by members of the government, including the president himself, concern part of the Brazilian financial market.

Celso de Mello decides to release video of the ministerial meeting of the government of Jair Bolsonaro

Minister Celso de Mello, of the Supreme Federal Court, decided to release the video of the ministerial meeting on April 22, which was quoted by former judge Sérgio Moro in his testimony to the Federal Police.

The content of the meeting is already available on the STF website, but the Supreme Court website is unstable, perhaps due to the huge traffic to access the content of the explosive determination.

Deforestation in the Amazon, in April 2020, is the highest in the last 10 years; number of COVID-19 cases grows among Indigenous peoples

The deforestation area in the Amazon rainforest increased by 171% in April 2020 compared to the same month in 2019. Of this area, one-third of the entire area is concentrated in the state of Pará.

According to Anfavea (National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers), crawler tractors, the main instrument of deforestation in the Amazon, between January and April 2020 set a sales record for the last 5 years. Therefore, deforestation continues to enrich various sectors of the Brazilian economy, who work illegally or take advantage of the current government's lack of supervision to destroy the forest and earn money from it. Some of the tractors used in deforestation can cost up to one million reais.

Jair Bolsonaro's government, since its beginning in 2019, has been trying to hinder the destruction of machines learned during Ibama operations (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

In total, in April 2020, 529 km² were deforested. The data are from Imazon's Deforestation Alert System (SAD). Ten municipalities were responsible for more than half of deforestation in the Amazon in April. Altamira and São Félix do Xingu, in Pará, and Apuí, in Amazonas, are at the top of that list.

Indigenous people

At least 23 Indigenous people died as a result of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. Several associations and representatives of the original peoples have, since the arrival of the virus in the country, been warning about the degree of vulnerability of Indigenous communities across the country.

The destruction of the forest also affects the Yanomami and Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Lands, in the Amazon. They are among the most deforested and also appear among the most vulnerable to Covid-19, according to a survey by ISA (Instituto Socioambiental).

Jair Bolsonaro's government deepens chaos by acting against social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Almost every Sunday, Brasilia becomes the stage of even more crazy manifestations of support for the Bolsonaro government. Every Sunday, these demonstrations and the president follow the same script, are inconsequential and irresponsible for not respecting social distance and attacking democracy. Meanwhile, Brazil surpassed the 16 thousand dead by COVID-19 yesterday.

In the middle of it all, according to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), unemployment increased in 12 Brazilian states in the first quarter of 2020.

To make matters worse, practically every Pro-Bolsonaro demonstration a journalist is attacked by the crowd who defends, among other things, the return of the Dictatorship, the end of social isolation and the widespread use of chloroquine in the fight against COVID-19, which is discouraged by experts and has already resulted in the resignation of two ministers of Health in Brazil.

According to Oliver Stuenkel, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in São Paulo, Pro-Bolsonaro protesters gathering yesterday in Brazilia "in front of the presidential palace do not amount to more than a handful of far-right crazies".

In addition, other members of the government, such as Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, say absurd things like the promise that Brazil would do 40 million monthly tests for COVID-19, which obviously has not happened so far and everything indicates that it will not happen. Guedes said this at the beginning of April and so far nothing.

The latest scandal is now a complaint, published by Folha de S. Paulo, according to which Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Jair Bolsonaro, would have been warned in advance about a federal police operation against Fabrício Queiroz and that involved the president and his family. After the request of the PGR (Attorney General's Office), businessman Paulo Marinho, who reported the leak, will testify.

The son of Bolsonaro and future senator of the Republic Flávio Bolsonaro was informed of the existence of the investigation between the first and second rounds of the 2018 presidential elections that elected Jair Bolsonaro.

Nelson Teich, Minister of Health of Brazil, resigns in the middle of the pandemic

Following what happened to Health Minister Henrique Mandetta. Nelson Teich, the Minister of Health of Brazil, who took over after Mandetta left, resigns in the middle of the pandemic due to the behavior of Jair Bolsonaro, who does not follow science and public policies defended by the medical and health organizations like WHO and Fiocruz and his ministers, Mandetta and Teich.

Teich was only a month in office. A few days ago, he was surprised by measures taken by Jair Bolsonaro, such as reopening barbershops, hair salons, and fitness centers. He learned of this measure during a press conference by journalists.

Before quitting, Teich sought out hospitals and universities to update himself on the use of chloroquine. He heard from doctors and researchers that it is not recommended to use this medicine in the initial phase of COVID-19, as Bolsonaro insists. He preferred to stay with science than with the government.

COVID-19 takes down Brazilian industrial production

According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) today, the coronavirus pandemic led to the fall of industrial activity in the country from February to March. This is what the Regional Monthly Industrial Survey points out. It is the first time in eight years that all 15 surveyed locations have retreated. The closest to this result occurred in May 2018, with the truckers' strike, which brought down industrial production in 14 of the 15 locations.

According to a survey carried out in partnership by the Brazilian Institute of Economics, of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV / Ibre), and The Conference Board (TCB), Iace (Compound Background Indicator of the Brazilian Economy) fell 10.1% in April of 2020 in compared to March of the same year. The index fell from 112.6 to 101.2 points, the biggest drop in the historical series started in 1996.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's speech on national network scares investors

According to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, President Jair Bolsonaro's speech distorted the global scenario about Covid-19. According to the newspaper, the president "criticized the closure of schools and commerce, contradicted guidelines from health agencies and attacked governors".

For Alexandre Almeida, from CM Capital, the statement by President Jair Bolsonaro may scare investors because of his lack of connection with reality.

These statements immediately provoked repudiation by congressmen, governors, in the Judiciary and in different sectors of society. A few minutes later, the president of the Brazilian Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, released an official note stating that "Brazil needs serious leadership, responsible and committed to the life and health of the population".

The president's speech is the main subject of Brazilian newspapers today: O Estado de S. Paulo states that Bolsonaro criticizes confinement and wants stores and schools open; O Globo publishes that Bolsonaro ignores the world orientation and criticizes isolation and closed schools; Correio Braziliense reports that speech caused perplexity.

Federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of President Jair Bolsonaro, becomes the center of a diplomatic crisis, after publicly blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic; allies of the Brazilian president distance themselves and Bolsonaro and he could suffer impeachment, according to Senator Major Olímpio

Since Thursday (19.03.2020), the Chinese Embassy in Brazil and Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro have been harshly accusing each other on social media. The Embassy of China even published a Twitter saying that the parliamentarian's speech is “absurd and prejudiced”. It all started after Eduardo blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic. The president's son blamed the Chinese government and compared Covid-19 to the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

In Brazil, Eduardo Bolsonaro's speech was widely criticized by the media, by Brazilian citizens (on Twitter) and even by Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourão said that Eduardo Bolsonaro's criticisms of China do not represent the government's position.

However, it is impossible to dissociate Eduardo's speech from Jair Bolsonaro's ideas. The relationship between the current president of Brazil with China has always been very complicated. During the presidential campaign, in 2018, Bolsonaro even said that China should buy Brazilian products and not "buy Brazil". Then, in 2019, during a visit to China, Bolsonaro said he was visiting a "capitalist country". Now, a member of the Bolsonaro clan decides to enter diplomatic conflict with Brazil's largest trading partner. In 2019, the trade balance with the Asian country had a surplus of another 30 billion dollars: Brazil exported 65.3 billion dollars, and imported 35.8 billion dollars.

Isolated government

According to the Congresso em Foco website, "President Jair Bolsonaro is losing support in the National Congress and in Brazilian society. Surrounded by daily national demonstrations, he is increasingly isolated.

In an exclusive interview with Congresso em Foco, a faithful ally to the president, the leader of the PSL in the Senate, Major Olimpio (SP), "says that decisive segments for the election of Bolsonaro in 2018, such as agribusiness, public security professionals and evangelicals, represented by the most influential benches in Congress, are distancing themselves from the president because of dissatisfaction with his government. Investors, he notes, also do not feel safe to bet on the country, due to the political instability created almost always by the president himself and your children".

Petrobras (PETR3; PETR4) suffers from Saudi Arabia's decision to drop the price of oil below US$ 30 to harm Russia/; Vale shares (VALE3) falls 10%

The disputes between Saudi Arabia and Russia over oil prices collapsing. In addition to this dispute, there is also a decline in product consumption due to the new coronavirus, which has been pushing the global economy into recession, a movement that should catch Brazil in a very fragile situation. Analysts say the crisis between the government and Congress, the target of a demonstration encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro, scheduled for March 15, increases distrust of the country.

2019 is going to be a tough year for Petrobras. Due to the economic effects of Conav-19, there was a drop of 24% in the international price of oil. This led the Brazilian state-owned company to lose about 80 billion reais in market value on the Brazilian stock exchange B3 until 06.03.2020.

Now, with the dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia influencing oil prices, even more, Petrobras has been hit again. Since the beginning of the year, Petrobras has seen the prospect of annual cash generation falling by 20 billion dollars.

Earlier today, the Ibovespa registered a sharp drop in Petrobras' shares (PETR3; PETR4), which fell 23%; Vale (VALE3), which fell 8%; and banks, which also fell 8% as oil prices plunged up to 30% after Saudi Arabia lowered the prices of the commodity and with projections of a drop of up to $ 20 a barrel.

According to the website Infomoney, "Petrobras' ADRs, on the NYSE pre-market, dropped by up to 20%, Vale's were down 22% and Itaú's were down by around 10% on a day of a general downturn in the stock market".

Earlier this morning, the Brent-type oil futures contract, which serves as a benchmark for the prices charged by Petrobras, dropped 19.9% to 36 dollars a barrel on the London Stock Exchange.

According to Iedi, Brazilian industry got smaller and smaller in the last 50 years

A survey by the Institute for Industrial Development Studies (Iedi) indicated that Brazil had the third-largest retraction in the industrial sector among 30 countries since 1970, trailing only Australia and the United Kingdom.

Industrial production, the main factor in the development of a country, has lost more space in the Brazilian productive structure. Currently, this sector presents numbers at the same levels as those of the 1910s.

According to the IBGE, after two years of growth, Brazilian industrial production fell by 1.1% in 2019. In the last 50 years, the participation of the Brazilian industrial sector in the national GDP has shrunk from 21.4% to 12.6%.

The El País website reports that "data released this Wednesday (March 4, 2020) reveal that the crisis that has been going on in the Brazilian industry for years has shown no signs of improvement. In the last three months of last year, the industrial sector remained stagnant and advanced 0.1% compared to the previous period.

According to El País, "the retraction further reinforces the downward trend in the participation of the manufacturing industry, responsible for converting raw materials into production and consumption goods, in GDP in recent years. In 2019, the sector that encompasses the plastics, food, beverages, metallurgy, textile industry, among others, represented only 11% of economic activity. Two decades ago, activity accounted for more than 15% of GDP. In 1970, the participation was 21.4%".

Fed cuts interest rates and Covid-19 may lead Brazilian Central Bank to rethink monetary policy and cut interest rates again in Brazil

The Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to cut interest rates led the Brazilian Central Bank to practically discard the minutes of the institution's last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom). In it, the Brazilian Central Bank indicated the end of the process of cutting the basic interest rate (Selic), which currently stands at 4.25% per year, the lowest level in the country's history.

Yesterday, the Brazilian Central Bank issued a new note in which it indicates that the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) may reduce the interest rate again. This change in Brazilian monetary policy intends to further slow the country's economy, mainly due to the unfolding of the economic crisis generated by the new coronavirus (Covid-19).

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes insists on long-term reforms (pension reform, administrative reform, and tax reform) to combat short-term economic issues (coronavirus and Fed interest rate cuts).

Concurrently, in Brazil, rains on the coast of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro cause the death of 19 people and leave hundreds homeless. The labor market in Brazil, according to IBGE, continues to break records in the growth of informality. For this reason, according to the IBGE, "since 2016, the country has shown a drop in the proportion of the employed population that contributes to a social security institute". This may result in the effects of the Pension Reform not having the results expected by the government.

According to a study by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), deforestation of Indigenous lands in Brazil increased in a scary way in 2019

According to a study made by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), deforestation is exploding in territories with the presence of isolated Indigenous peoples in the Amazon. Data from the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) point out that, "in 2019, the cutting of the forest in these lands grew 113%. In the total of all the Indigenous Lands (TIs), the increase was 80%". 

The figures are in an ISA report that will be presented today (03.03.2020), at the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations (UN).

The survey indicates that 42,679 hectares were illegally destroyed in 2019, the first year of the Jair Bolsonaro government, which considerably reduced environmental control policies in the country, which, in turn, contributed to the reduction of inspection, the increase in deforestation in public lands and, consequently, the violation of the rights of Indigenous peoples.

According to the report presented by ISA, "the outlook for isolated Indigenous peoples in Brazil, therefore, is devastating. With the explosion of deforestation and the destruction of forests and the advance of illicit practices, such as mining, illegal logging and land grabbing of land, the existence of these groups is seriously threatened".

Confirmation of a Coronavirus case (Covid-19) and president Jair Bolsonaro endorsing anti-democracy protests are the subjects of the most important Brazilian newspapers

The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo states that the stock market falls 7% after the arrival of the coronavirus in Brazil. The Valor Econômico newspaper reports that coronavirus drops the stock market and companies lose R $ 260 billion. O Globo publishes that the arrival of coronavirus in Brazil causes the stock market to plummet 7% and Correio Braziliense reports that coronavirus causes losses of R$ 290 billion in just one day.

According to The New York Times, "a 61-year-old São Paulo man who returned recently from a business trip to Italy has tested positive for the coronavirus, Brazilian health officials said on Wednesday (26.02.2020), confirming the first known case in Latin America and sending a shudder through the entire region".

In addition, there is a huge criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro by a large part of the media, politicians, leaders of civil society institutions and members of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), such as Judge Celso de Mello, who said that " Bolsonaro is not up to the job if he supported an act against Congress".

According to The Guardian, "Jair Bolsonaro’s apparent endorsement of protests designed to cow Brazil’s democratic institutions has sparked outrage across the political spectrum with one lawmaker warning of a return to the dark days of dictatorship if the demonstrations are not opposed".

Evangelical preacher Ricardo Lopes Dias, who worked on a mission to evangelize Indigenous people in the Amazon, is appointed as general coordinator of Isolated Indigenous people, one of Funai's most sensitive sectors

The government of Jair Bolsonaro, through Funai (Brazilian National Indian Foundation), appointed evangelical preacher, anthropologist, and missionary Ricardo Lopes Dias to the General Coordination of Isolated Indians and Newly Contacted, the most technical position of the agency.

Lopes Dias is a theologian and served for many years in the New Tribes of Brazil Mission (MNTB), an organization that aims to evangelize indigenous people.

According to El País, the appointment of the anthropologist produced a series of criticisms made by Indigenous entities and servants of the Funai itself, who fear a change in the policy practiced in the country since the end of the military dictatorship: to protect these peoples without forcing any type of contact, as it happened before the re-democratization with the objective of "evangelizing" and "integrating" them into society.

For the Indigenous leader, Sonia Guajajara, with the indication of the evangelical preacher Lopes Dias, "the danger [for the Indigenous people] now comes from who has the duty to protect them", that is, Funai itself.

According to The Guardian, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a UN special rapporteur, says that Jair Bolsonaro’s ‘dangerous’ appointment of Ricardo Lopes Dias threatens remote Indigenous people. For her,  “this is a dangerous decision that may have the potential to cause genocide among isolated Indigenous people.”

According to the former Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, "the president of FUNAI changed the internal rules of the agency so that a person outside the staff of career servants would assume a commissioned function of leadership. He appointed Mr. Ricardo Lopes Dias to be the new coordinator of isolated and recently contacted Indigenous people".

For her, "an area that requires a lot of experience and technical knowledge cannot be held hostage by patronage, at the risk of returning to a policy of the time of the dictatorship that does not respect the condition of isolation of some Indigenous peoples".

Cost of living in Brazil: January inflation is 0.21%, the lowest for January since the beginning of the Real Plan, in 1994

According to IBGE, the official inflation in Brazil, as measured by the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), decelerated to 0.21% in January of 2019, after registering an increase of 1.15% in December 2018. It is the lowest result for a month in January since the beginning of the Real Plan, in July 1994. In the accumulated of the last 12 months, the indicator registered 4.19%.

For economist Monica de Bolle, director of Latin American studies and emerging markets at Johns Hopkins University, "Brazil is experiencing a 'tropical version' of secular stagnation, with a stagnant economy, without reacting, and registering inflation contained below the target. It is not yet known what effect a reduction in interest rates could have on the economy in the current scenario".

To make matters worse, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean was stagnant in 2019, making it more challenging to resume growth in the region. The inflation figure for January in Brazil points to a certain stagnation remaining.

According to the IMF report, Brazil may grow by 2.2% this year and 2.3% in 2021 in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, after the emergence of coronavirus cases in Wuhan, China, Brazil's main trading partner, these figures are being revised downwards by the Brazilian financial market.

Government of Jair Bolsonaro excludes the participation of civil society members of the National Environment Fund council

According to the website G1, The National Environment Fund (FNMA), managed by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment and responsible for promoting the development of sustainable activities in the country, distributing funds collected in forestry concessions, will no longer have the participation of members of civil society.

Until then, the council had the participation of representatives of the Brazilian Association of Environmental Entities (Abema), the National Association of Municipalities and Environment (Anamma), the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development (FBOMS), of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC). Now they will no longer have a say in FNMA decisions.

Paradoxically, during the presidential campaign that elected Jair Bolsonaro, one of the themes of the then-candidate and now president was "more Brazil, less Brasília". However, what is seen in government decisions is the exact opposite. By withdrawing civil society from FNMA discussions, the government is adopting a policy of more Brasilia and less Brazil.

Now, the FNMA will manage a budget of more than R $ 33 million without the participation of civil society. In 2019, the Bolsonaro government reduced the number of participants in the National Environment Council (Conama) from 22 to 4. Thus, "the more Brazil, less Brasilia" of the campaign is consolidated as an argument used to elect a government that increasingly decreases the power and participation of decision-making councils and forums in decisions and constantly and willingly distances itself from the interaction with representatives civil society.

Brazilian BC cuts Selic and rate drops to historical level of 4.25% per year

The Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of the Central Bank (BC) of Brazil decided to reduce the basic interest rate, the Selic, from 4.5% to 4.25% per year. This is the lowest Selic rate since 1999 when Brazil adopted the monetary policy of inflation targeting.

The expectation of financial market specialists in Brazil is that the Selic will only rise again in 2021. In a statement, the Copom stated that its next steps "will continue depending on the evolution of economic activity, the balance of risks and the projections and expectations of inflation, with increasing weight for the calendar year 2021".

In general, the Brazilian financial market understood the new cut as a wise decision by the Brazilian Central Bank, as it will reduce interest rates and may positively impact the productive sectors of the economy, which, in turn, may increase the generation of jobs in Brazil. The measure also helps to lower the country's public debt costs.

Despite the Selic cut, market interest rates remain exorbitant in Brazil. According to an article published in the Jornal dos Economistas, written by the national coordinator of the Brazilian Citizen Debt Audit, Maria Lucia Fattorelli, the fault lies with the Brazilian Central Bank itself.

She believes that "the financial market charges interest as it sees fit on loans, overdraft, credit card etc. First, because there is no regulation that limits interest: it should be noted that since 2003, part of Article 192 of the Brazilian Constitution that limited real interest to 12%, above which the practice of usury would be configured ".

The water crisis in Rio de Janeiro remains unsolved

Cedae (State Water and Sewage Company) leaves 67 neighborhoods in the city of Rio Janeiro and 6 other cities in the state without water.

The Guandu Treatment Station, one of the largest in the country, stopped its activities for 14 hours due to the presence of detergent in the spring.

In total, there is no water supply in 67 neighborhoods in the capital and in six municipalities in the Baixada Fluminense, where 7 million people live.
For the sanitation specialist Renato Falcão Dantas, "the trend is getting worse", in a report published by O Globo.

In several parts of the city of Rio de Janeiro and Baixada Fluminense there is a lack of mineral water in supermarkets. Residents have been consuming mineral water for three weeks so as not to consume the muddy and fetid water that is coming out of the taps.

According to technicians, the water that is coming out of the taps is contaminated by geosmin, an organic compound formed by carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and produced naturally by algae.

Brazilian industrial production closes 2019 with a drop of 1.1%; informality in the labor market in Brazil is the highest in the last 4 years

Segundo a Pesquisa Industrial Mensal (PIM-PF), divulgada pelo IBGE, "a produção nacional da indústria brasileira recuou 1,1% no ano de 2019, após dois anos seguidos de crescimento em 2017 (2,5%) e 2018 (1%)".

De acordo com o gerente da pesquisa, André Macedo, "das 24 atividades pesquisadas, 16 tiveram queda no ano. A produção industrial pode estar sendo impactada pelas incertezas no ambiente externo e também pela situação do mercado de trabalho no país que, embora tenha tido melhora, ainda afeta a demanda doméstica”.

According to the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD), also published by IBGE, informality in the Brazilian labor market, that is, the sum of workers without a license, domestic workers without a license, an employer without a CNPJ, an own account without CNPJ and auxiliary family worker, reached 41.1% of the employed population in 2019. This total is equivalent to 38.4 million people, the largest contingent since 2016. 

According to IBGE, informal work in Brazil reaches the largest contingent since 2016, with 41.4% of the employed population, which corresponds to 38.4 million people

According to the IBGE, Brazil has 11.6 million workers without a formal contract in the private sector, a number that does not include domestic employees. This total represents an expansion of 4% in relation to 2018. This is the highest level of the historical series started in 2012. The number of self-employed workers reached the highest level in the series, rising to 24.2 million, with the most (19.3 million), without CNPJ. The number also represents an increase of 3.9 million people since 2012. In comparison with 2018, the expansion was 4.1% (958 thousand).

Therefore, informality reached 41.1% of the employed population, equivalent to 38.4 million people, the largest contingent since 2016, despite the stability in relation to 2018.

Economically, it is brutal for a country when informality reaches 41% of the labor market. If we take into account the growth of temporary and part-time contracts, Brazil is undergoing a dramatic change for the worse in employment.

It is not possible to consider the fall in the unemployment rate to be positive when it is a direct result of the growth of informality. The reason is simple: selling things on the street and working intermittently 4 hours a day is underemployment.

Jair Bolsonaro's government promises a deficit in 2019 of between R$ 70 billion and R$ 80 billion, but the government ended last year with a primary deficit of R$ 95.1 billion

According to the newspaper Correio Braziliense, data released by the National Treasury show that the deficit recorded last year is R $ 43.9 billion less than the target forecast for 2019, which was a negative result of R $ 139 billion. The result is also 23.7% better than in 2018 when the gap reached R $ 120 billion. However, the gap was much larger than the government had promised.

Jair Bolsonaro's government had promised a deficit in 2019 between R$ 70 billion and R$ 80 billion, but the government ended last year with a primary deficit of R$ 95.1 billion, that is, more than 15 billion above the government's forecast.

Despite the result being the best since 2014 after Economy Minister Paulo announced that the deficit in 2019 was expected to be R$ 80 billion. Then, Mansueto Almeida, secretary of the Treasury, even said that the 2019 deficit would be R$ 70 billion. For this reason, the final result is frustrating, if we consider the communications of the registry and the secretary. Therefore, this government's inability to communicate with the media can worsen even when the results are not so bad.

Extreme weather: rains close to three times the average in the last five days in Minas Gerais, Brazil, causing 53 dead, one person missing, 65 injured and leaving more than 4 thousand homeless and more than 28 thousand displaced from their homes

The number of deaths due to the rains in Minas Gerais in the last few days has reached 53. Since October 2019, 64 people have died in Minas Gerais in rains that behave as extreme weather events. Until then, the highest number of deaths had been 18, in the 2016/2017 and 2018/2019 rainy seasons.

According to the G1 website, the latest balance released by the State Civil Defense of Minas Gerais, published on Tuesday (28), 28,893 people are displaced and another 4,397 have lost their homes due to intense rains. More than 100 cities have already ruled out an emergency situation.

Videos of scary rain scenes in Belo Horizonte have taken over social media in Brazil in the last hours.

List of videos:

video 1;

video 2;

video 3;

video 4.

Ministry of Health of Brazil raised the risk rating to "imminent danger" after confirming 3 patients suspected of having the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Minas Gerais, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul

Ministry of Health of Brazil raised the risk rating to "imminent danger" after confirming 3 patients suspected of having the coronavirus in Minas Gerais, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. 

Today, according to the Poder360 website, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency of Brazil) has created 1 public health emergency group to conduct actions related to the new coronavirus. The team was created through an ordinance published in the Diário Oficial da União (an official government publication) today.

Today, the Paraná Department of Health has ruled out a suspected coronavirus case in Curitiba. Until yesterday, two patients were admitted to hospitals in the capital of Paraná with the suspicion of having contracted the disease. According to the folder, the patient had influenza of the Influenza B subtype, which was detected in tests.

The second case of coronavirus is still under investigation in Curitiba. It is a 23-year-old woman who is at the Hospital das Clínicas. She traveled to China in the past few days.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the three patients under observation who are in Curitiba (Paraná), Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) and Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul) fit the current definition of suspected cases for nCoV-2019 (the coronavirus) established by WHO (World Health Organization).

Rains kill 50 people in Minas Gerais and leave more than 28 thousand displaced and 4 thousand homeless

According to the newspaper O Tempo, fifty people died in Minas Gerais due to the heavy rains that hit the state last week. Two other people are still missing in the cities of Conselheiro Lafaiete, in the central region of the state, and Luisburgo, in the region of Zona da Mata. According to authorities, the death toll could rise in the coming hours. In all, 28,043 people are displaced in Minas Gerais. Of these, about four thousand are homeless in the region due to heavy rains.

For the general coordinator of Research and Development of the National Center for Monitoring and Natural Disaster Alerts (Cemaden), the meteorologist and climatologist José Mareng, Brazil will increasingly be a "climate of extremes".

For many climate experts, the rise in temperatures on the planet produces extreme phenomena such as the last rains in Minas, which are the most intense in the last 100 years, becoming more and more frequent.

Days before the rains that hit Minas Gerais, the region was hit by a heatwave. In Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state, which was hard hit by the rains, the highest temperature this year was recorded at 34.3ºC.

Brazil confirms of suspected coronavirus case in Minas Gerais

According to UOL, the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported today that it has analyzed more than 7,000 cases of rumors of Brazilians infected with the coronavirus. Of this total, 127 cases needed verification and were sent to Fiocruz. The institution will perform tests to confirm or rule out a coronavirus case in Minas Gerais. Currently, only one case is under suspicion: she is a Brazilian woman who visited China and returned to Minas Gerais. She is isolated and being accompanied by doctors.

The coronavirus (2019-nCoV) started circulating at the end of last year in China and is spreading around the world.

After public pressure government gives up to tax solar energy in Brazil

Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency), the body that regulates the electric power sector in Brazil, wanted to change the current rule, which allows solar energy produced by those who have solar panels at home or in the company to be returned to the grid. Those who do this get discounts on their electric bills.

Therefore, according to the current rules for solar energy generation for own consumption in Brazil, the operation is simple: who produces more energy than it spends throws this surplus in the distribution network and gets the credits. Those who produce less than spend pay the difference to the distributor.

Aneel's proposal, defended by Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, has been the target of numerous criticisms. The public pressure was so great that President Jair Bolsonaro, Mayor Rodrigo Maia and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre publicly made a commitment not to change the rules on solar energy production in Brazil.

Aneel argues that those who receive this benefit are receiving subsidies, but, according to journalist Elio Gaspari, there would be subsidy "if the citizen consumed R$100 of kilowatts and only paid R$ 90. In this case, who has solar energy panels paid to distributors to the last penny for the energy it consumes".

The change in rules advocated by Aneel could increase the taxation of those who have solar panels by up to 60%, which for most experts could represent a huge setback for the area.

Brazilian industrial production falls 1.2% in November 2019, according to IBGE

Industrial production in Brazil fell 1.2% in November 2019 compared to October of the same year. This downfall interrupted the upward sequence of the previous three months.

According to IBGE, this is the worst November since 2015, when the industry fell 1.9%, according to the Monthly Industrial Survey, released today (01/09).

There was a reduction in the production of 16 of the 26 surveyed activities. The 1.2% drop eliminates part of the accumulated 2.2% expansion from August to October 2019. With these results, the Brazilian industrial sector is 17.1% below the record level reached in May 2011.

This indicates that many of Brazil's macroeconomic conditions have not changed sufficiently for the current optimism of the government's economic area (Paulo Guedes has even said that the private sector in Brazil could grow by 3% by 2020) and for many economic analysts in the Brazilian media.

In fact, industrial growth in Brazil will be very difficult without strong growth in the rest of the world. Brazil also needs to reverse the country's huge productivity gap.

Brazilian agribusiness fears Iranian retaliation and calls for Brazil's neutrality in US versus Iran conflict

According to the Congress em Foco website, Brazilian agribusiness, the sector that most benefits from Brazil's trade transactions with Iran, which is the second-largest importer of corn, the fifth-largest buyer of soybeans and the sixth-largest beef producer in Brazil. 2019.

This concern is so great that the president of the Parliamentary Front of Agriculture, Deputy Alceu Moreira (MDB-RS), defended that Brazil remains neutral to avoid diplomatic problems that could harm business between the two countries.

Brazilian agribusiness has much to lose if the Bolsonaro government maintains automatic alignment with the Trump government.

The note from Itamaraty (Brazil's Foreign Ministry), which said it supported the "fight against the scourge of terrorism" and placed itself with the US in the conflict, drives away a major buyer of Brazilian raw materials.

The State Council of the Environment (Cemam) of the Brazilian state of Goiás approved a motion calling for funds from the Environment Fund not to be sent to the State Treasury

Cemam filed a motion with the governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado, concerning the application of resources from the State Environment Fund. The agency argues that the resources of the State Environment Fund accounts are the main source of funding for the control, supervision, recovery, protection, and conservation of the state's environmental conditions. Changing this could further endanger the environment in that region.

Currently, Goiás is going through a severe economic crisis. The governor struggles to balance the bills.

In December 2019, Caiado passed a new Environmental Licensing Law. According to the government, this new norm, according to the Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development (Semad), Andréa Vulcanis, was "historic" because, for her, could put Goiás in broad conditions to become a pole of sustainable development in Brazil.

Now, in January, the same secretary, Andréa Vulcanis, who chairs the State Environment Council, has signed the motion that seeks to protect investments in the environment in Goiás.

#Iranbrazil: Iranian government asks Brazil for explanations of US support note; on twitter, Brazilian population asks Bolsonaro to be silent (#BolsonaroFicaCalado) and declare themselves against the war

According to the newspaper O Globo, Iran's Foreign Ministry asked the Brazilian diplomacy for explanations on Sunday about Brazil's position on the death of General Qassem Soleimani.

Tensions between the United States and Iran worry several world leaders. In Brazil, the population is also concerned, mainly compossible manifestations by the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro (without party), about the foreign impasse. For this reason, the country had Twitter users asking: #BolsonaroFicaCalado (a request for the president to be silent).

Iranian state TV even aired Brazilian messages on Twitter asking them not to be attacked. Brazilian netizens flooded Twitter with requests for Brazil to stay out of a possible conflict between the United States and Iran. There is even a meme with singer Gretchen, who went viral in recent days, which reads: warn that the Brazilian people do not agree with the opinion of the President of the United States."

Diario16: Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) of Brazil is analyzing GetNet's hiring by Santander (SANB4) had practices against the competition

According to the Reserved Report website, the collegiate of advisors to Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) gathers strong evidence that GetNet, the Spanish bank's machine company, used competitor master data to offer its services. had access to someone else's base is still a mystery.

According to the UOL website, Cade questioned Santander about hiring Getnet, the credit and debit card machine company that it owns, as a condition for opening current accounts by merchants. The agency also asked if the bank has already imposed sales targets for customers using GetNet. I also wondered if the card machine has ever required a merchant to have a Santander account to close a contract.

Cade is investigating whether Santander is using information from other accredited companies to offer products to its customers or if it offers discounts on the purchase of bank products. The Brazilian antitrust agency (Cade) also requested the bank information on whether the entity has special policies for those businesses that use only GetNet machines and if they impose fines for those that do not meet the sales objectives.