Amazonia is burning! Number of fires in the Brazilian region grows scary 70%, in 2019

According to a research by the Programa Queimadas (Burning Program) of Inpe (Brazilian National Institute for Space Research), which measures the number of fire outbreaks in Brazil, the number of fires grew a staggering 70% in 2019 compared to 2018. 

The Amazon is by far the most affected biome as it accounts for over 50% of fires. The Brazilian Cerrado biome, in turn, is the scene of 30% of fire outbreaks. 

Most of the fires are produced by ranchers who want to turn the forest into an area for beef cattle production. The current drought in the region greatly facilitates the spread of fire.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, during an event in the interior of São Paulo, said that much of the responsibility of the fires are of the state governments, which do not make the ideal control of fire outbreaks.

However, the Mato Grosso Fire Department, one of the states most affected by the fires, said it needed more support from the federal government. The Fire Department of Mato Grosso also said to see with concern the blockade of the Amazon Fund that, until this year, has invested R$ 12 million in structure to combat fire in the state.

The current government has refused to receive millions of reais sent from Germany and Norway to the Amazon Fund. President Jair Bolsonaro even said that Chancellor Angela Merkel should use the money to reforest Germany.

A possible global recession could produce the perfect storm for Brazil's already weak economy

Brazil's economy is suffering from very poor performance, with GDP growth for 2019 expected to be around 0.83%. However, due to the emergence of a possible risk of a global recession coupled with a change in Argentina's political landscape (moving from a neoliberal government, Mauricio Macri, to a more developmental government, Alberto Fernández).

With the global economy slowing down, Brazil must face even greater difficulties to get out of the scenario of extremely high unemployment (over 12 million unemployed people) and very little economic growth.

Even with the Pension Reform and the Tax Reform walking the Brazilian National Congress, which decided to act almost independently of the executive power, which through the often absurd speeches of President Jair Bolsonaro greatly harms any political coalition, the country will face economic difficulties to get out of the crisis scenario in which it finds itself.

In recent days, the outflow of foreign capital from the São Paulo Stock Exchange is higher since the one recorded in the global crisis of 2008. According to the website Terra, until the 15th of August 2019 (most recent data), the volume was negative in R$ 19.1 billion. In 2008, the red balance recorded in the year to the end of August was R$ 16.5 billion.

A direct consequence of the search for global security, this outflow of resources from the country will further weaken the Brazilian economy. To make matters worse, studies released this week indicate the collapse of investments in Brazil. Capital used to expand production in the country fell to the lowest level in 70 years in some sectors.

German media (Der Spiegel and Die Zeit) talk of imposing sanctions against the Brazilian government over Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policies

Der Spiegel magazine and weekly newspaper Die Zeit, two of Germany's leading publications, said it was "time for sanctions against Brazil" over the environmental policy of the current government-run by Jair Bolsonaro.

According to a report published today in the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, the largest in Brazil, Der Speigel magazine states in its pages that “Europe should not be idle while a hateful skeptic of science sacrifices vast areas of the forest for ranchers and soybean plantations ”.

At the beginning of August, the British magazine The Economist, in its cover story, drew attention to the fact that the Amazon was in danger of dying. The publication also called for global vigilance and stated that "the world must make clear to Bolsonaro that it will not tolerate its vandalism."

According to the newspaper, Folha do Progresso, in Novo Progresso, Pará, the producers, feeling "supported by the words of President" Jair Bolsonaro, coordinated a collective action to burn pasture and areas in the process of deforestation. The goal, according to one of the leaders heard under anonymity, is to show the president that they want to work.

Meanwhile, the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office opened an inquiry to investigate suspicion of illicit enrichment by Environment Minister Ricardo Salles between 2012 and 2017, during which time he alternated his legal activity with the positions of Private Secretary and Secretary of the Environment of the São Paulo Government.

Smoke from Amazonian and Pantanal fires darken Brazil's Midwest and Southeast cities; São 16h (It's 4pm) becomes a trend on Twitter in Brazil

The city of Sao Paulo has become an apocalyptic movie set today. The CGE (São Paulo City Hall's Climate Emergency Management Center) explanation for the darkness is related to the weather and the burning that take place in the country. The Civil Defense has warned of heavy rain in some parts of the metropolitan region of the city and winds that have brought particulate matter originating from burning in Paraguay, on the border with Mato Grosso do Sul, and other regions in Brazil, turn the sky black.

The unusual darkness of the sky in the middle of the day frightened residents of São Paulo and other large cities in southeastern Brazil.

The subject took over social networks in Brazil. On Twitter, the "São 16h" trend has produced thousands of comments and photo posts from the completely dark sky in the middle of the day in São Paulo and other cities.

Focus Survey indicates positive Brazilian financial market expectations for Brazilian economy despite the risk of a global economy crisis

According to Reuters, the market's expectation for growth in the Brazilian economy has risen again for 2019 and 2020. The Focus survey released today by the Central Bank indicates that Brazilian economists have come to see the possibility of growth in GDP. 0.83% in 2019 and 2.20% in 2020, compared to 0.81% and 2.10% respectively in the previous week.

This reading seems to be detached from global and regional reality. In the world last week was marked by fear of the world going into recession; In Argentina, the economy minister fell and the current president Mauricio Macri, with fear of losing the elections, decided to adopt a completely populist agenda in the economy.

It will be very difficult for Brazil's economy to grow, which Focus indicates today if these scenarios of global recession and the certainty of the continuing crisis in Argentina, Brazil's main regional economic partner, are confirmed.

Again, as when the election of Jair Bolsonaro occurred, the Brazilian financial market takes a stance much more closely linked to political ideology than the rational readiness of global and regional economic indicators.

While trying to criticize Norway, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ends up releasing a video from Denmark

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has again associated Norway with killing whales in retaliation for the Scandinavian country's decision to suspend the transfer of 133 million reais to the Amazon Fund. On Sunday night, August 18, Bolsonaro posted a video to his Twitter account with images of mammal hunting that would have occurred in the Norwegian Sea. There is evidence, however, that the cases depicted occurred in the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark.

This episode is another demonstration of the complete lack of political and negotiating skills of the Brazilian president, who always behaves raising the tone of the conversation and, often, with misinformation.

Such behavior by the Brazilian president and some of his ministers creates insecurity and alienates foreign investors and possible economic deals like the one between Mercosur and European Union. Because of that, even after the Social Security Reform was approved, despite the president's constant unwelcome statements about the reform, international investors are still reluctant to invest their capital in Brazil.

The attacks that President Bolsonaro has made in recent days against the German chancellor Angela Merkel, the candidate leading the presidential race in Argentina Alberto Fernández, and also against the Norwegian government only reinforce this fear in international investors.

The hashtag #idiotadeipanema gains traction on Twitter in Brazil after President Jair Bolsonaro was satirized on a humoristic German show from ARD television channel

According to the Deutsche Welle Brazil website, a prime-time humor show on the German television network ARD, portrayed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as "a jester, agribusiness buffoon, and protagonist of the horror classic Massacre da Serra Elétrica."

The program strongly criticized the environmental and agricultural policies of the current Brazilian government and called President Jair Bolsonaro the "Der Depp von Ipanema", which could be translated as "the vulgar man from Ipanema".

In Brazil, this fact generated on Twitter the hashtag #idiotadeipanema, which a version of the statement made by the German television program and can be translated as "the idiot from Ipanema".

In fact, the complete lack of diplomatic skill of the current Brazilian government could turn the country into a kind of global pariah. Criticism by Bolsonaro and some of his government ministers to European countries and Mercosur member nations could undermine the recently concluded free trade agreement between Mercosur-European Union. In a way, the lack of political skill of the current Brazilian government, coupled with the obvious inability of many of its members, ends up sabotaging the country's growth agenda. It's the Brazilians the biggest losers of this freak show produced daily by the Brazilian government.

Last week, for example, Bolsonaro said that the Brazilians concerned about the environment should "poop every two days" to solve the country's environmental problems. 

Livestock production breaks a record in Brazil

According to the IBGE, cattle slaughter in Brazil exceeded 8 million head in the second quarter of 2019. The result represents a growth of 2.4% compared to the previous quarter and 4.1% compared to the same period the previous year.

The institution also pointed out that "there was an increase in pig slaughter and chicken egg production. 11.39 million pig heads were slaughtered, up 5.1% and 0.7% from the first quarter and in compared to the second quarter of 2018, respectively. Chicken egg production was 930.93 million dozen, up 5.8% and 2% on the same basis".

Milk acquisition and leather acquisition also increased compared to the same period last year but fell compared to the first quarter of the year. But, according to Sérgio Saud, president of the Brazilian Association of Artificial Insemination (Asbia), the agreement with China will be "vital for dairy farming because today there is no outlet for Brazil's milk production. If supply increases, the first thing that happens is to bring down the price ”.

After President Jair Bolsonaro has Angela Merkel reforested Germany, the European embassy in Brazil publishes a video in which it says Germany is one of the largest densely forested countries in Europe, with 1/3 of its national area covered by forests

The German government's response to the attacks by President Jair Bolsonaro over the European country's cancellation of money sent to the Amazon Fund, aimed at protecting the Amazon rainforest, has had many repercussions in the Brazilian media.

The largest media channels in the country showed the video in the newspapers of yesterday and today. For many analysts, propaganda was a class of diplomacy for the rudeness practiced by the Brazilian president.

This week Bolsonaro stated that Brazil “did not need German money” and stated: “I even wanted to send a message to dear Angela Merkel, who suspended $ 80 million for the Amazon. Take this money and reforest Germany, okay? There it needs much more than here.”

Norway, which also decided to cancel sending money because of the current Brazilian government policy, was also criticized by Bolsonaro.

During an interview, the Brazilian president said that "Norway is not the one that kills whales up there at the North Pole, is it? It also exploits oil there? It has nothing to offer us. It takes the money and helps [chancellor] German] Angela Merkel reforesting Germany ".

Environmentalists, scientists, and expert journalists say that the destruction of the Amazon has been increasing under the Bolsonaro government and that current environmental policies run counter to environmental guidelines.

Chaotic and volatile week scares the Brazilian financial market; the Ibovespa (IBOV) index varied almost 3 thousand points yesterday

Almost two months after hitting the previously unprecedented 100,000-point mark, the Bovespa Index, the Ibovespa (IBOV), has again curved against the strong risk aversion in the international market. In an environment of intense volatility since June 19, when the Ibovespa it had been holding above 100,000 points, reaching over 105,000 on July 10. From that peak, the international market turmoil coupled with the election results in Argentina and the unpreparedness of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government to participate in political negotiations in the country and internationally have been holding back the index's advance beyond this level. Since then, the index has fallen by 6.39%.

The actions of the Brazilian Central Bank helped to hold the dollar around the 4 reais, which, in a way, helped calm the financial market a bit.

Today the Ibovespa has opened up, but in recent days the index has shown very large variations. This morning, the index recovered part of the accumulated losses in recent days. A scenario of corrections for the violent falls of recent days.

Inequality does not stop growing in Brazil and already reached 23.3 million people; unemployment reaches 12 million people

According to a study by FGV Social economist Marcelo Neri, Brazil faces the longest period of increasing inequality in its history. There are already 17 consecutive quarters of the increase in income concentration in the country. The survey also notes that the number of poor grew in the country and reached 23.3 million in 2017, the most recent data. These are people who live on less than 233 reais per month.

To make matters worse, more than 13 million Brazilians live in poverty or extreme poverty, according to data released this week by the Unified Registry of the Ministry of Citizenship.

Unemployment continues to erode Brazilian society. According to IBGE, 3.3 million unemployed people have been looking for work for at least 2 years in the country. This number corresponds to 26.2% of the 12.8 million Brazilians who were unemployed in the second quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, the latest Focus Report, released by the Brazilian Central Bank, predicts that the economy will grow a meager 0.81% in 2019. A very small number in the face of rising inequality and unemployment affecting Brazilian society.