Mega auction of oil fields in Brazil fails and ends with figures far below that what was expected by the government of Jair Bolsonaro; paradoxically, Brazilian state-owned Petrobras (PETR3; PETR4) dominated the auction by a government that claims to be liberal in the economy

The pre-salt auction that took place today in Brazil was the dream of neoliberals who are in charge of the country's economy. Despite every announcement made, the lion was a resounding failure. Atapu camp did not even receive an offer.

The Brazilian government announced that it expected to raise more than $ 100 billion reais. However, in the end, the government only managed to get only $ 69,9 billion, which was received with great frustration.

The poor performance of the auction was not well received by the Brazilian financial market. One of the main developments of the fiasco was the dollar soaring and hitting the R$ 4,08.

The failure of the auction was therefore very badly received by the Brazilian financial agents. After the lion, in addition to the rise of the dollar, future interest rates also rose. 

Petrobras, a Brazilian state-owned company, bought 100% of a block and 90% of the largest one on the auction in partnership with Chinese state-owned companies CNODC and CNOOC.

It is very paradoxical that the auction made by a neoliberal government was dominated by Chinese communist companies and a Brazilian state-owned company.

The auction denied analysts that were saying that the pre-salt would be sold for a very low price. That did not happen simply because no multinational (BP walks Total) wanted to participate in the auction. The auction also denied those who were saying that this auction would be a kind of resurgence of Brazil's economy. At the end of the story, most of the auctioned oil went to Petrobras and the rest went to China.

Completely disconnected from the Brazilian reality, Paulo Guedes, Brazil's economy minister, complains about the country's poor because they do not save money

About to submit an economic package, Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes gave an interview to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, which President Jair Bolsonaro said he would cancel the signatures made by government agencies and the same newspaper that the president accuses to be one of the hyenas that attack the government.

In Paulo Guedes's interview with Folha de S.Paulo, the minister's complete disconnection from the reality of most Brazilians is evident.

Guedes, speaking in his interview that "the rich capitalize on their resources. The poor consume everything," shows that he simply cannot understand the Brazilian reality. This complete disconnect coupled with the inability to interpret shows that the minister is simply saying that our savings problem lies in the fact that the poor do not spare. It is a mixture of lack of empathy and ignorance.

Only a completely unprepared economist does not realize how terrible it is to claim that Brazilian probes do not spare. In 2019, in Brazil, the poorest 50% live with 413 reais per month (about 100 dollars). How those people are going to save money?

In the current Brazilian reality, of high unemployment and increased informality, about 104 million Brazilians live with the equivalent of half a minimum wage, currently at 998.00 reais.

According to economist Monica de Bolle, "It is well established - and almost tautological - that the poor are more likely to consume than the rich." According to her, "the reason is not that they undertake little, but that the resources they have are often enough just to reach the end of the month. Often not even that."

Number of microentrepreneurs grows 13% in Brazil

According to data from research made by Boa Vista, the number of Individual Microentrepreneurs (MEI) in Brazil rose 13% over the previous three months. According to the report, the growth in the number of microentrepreneurs continues to happen due to the high unemployment rate in the country. Reflecting on the slow recovery of the economy, individual microentrepreneurship has become an outlet for those who have lost their jobs with a formal contract in the crisis.

The number of individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs) is already over 9 million, according to federal government data. This is the first time that the number of self-employed Brazilians has exceeded this mark.  According to the IBGE, at the end of the quarter ended in August, self-employment reached 24.3 million people, the highest level ever recorded in the country.

The survey points out that Brazilians are undertaking by necessity, which is very different from starting an innovative company. Due to the gigantic number of 9 million microentrepreneurs, most open businesses come out of necessity and do not have a long life. Most companies close in 3 years, according to Sebrae.

So the growth in the number of microentrepreneurs is actually increased underemployment, forced entrepreneurship, and job insecurity.

In an unacceptable statement, Federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonado, the son of current Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, said the current government could implement a new AI-5, which means the closing of the National Congress and the persecution, torture and extermination of opponents

Federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of current Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, explicitly threatened in an interview by saying: "If the left radicalizes this point, we will need to have an answer. And one answer may be via a new AI-5."

The AI-5 was the most repressive decree of the Brazilian military dictatorship in the decades of 1960, 1970, and 1980 that eliminated all constitutional rights and solidified a bloodthirsty and totally arbitrary military rule.

Several parties like PSOL and political movements like Livres from a broad political spectrum will represent against Eduardo Bolsonaro in the House and ask for the cancellation of his mandate for the crime of advocating for the closing of the National Congress, and the persecution of political opponents. Eduardo's speech is clearly against the Brazilian Constitution and other democratic institutions. The requests must be made to the Ethics Council of the House of Representatives and the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

Countless politicians have responded to Eduardo's speech about AI-5, for all the speeches of Jair Bolsonaro's son represent a clear setback and high risk to Brazilian democracy.

Copom reduces basic interest rates of the Brazilian economy to the lowest level in history: 5% per year; the rate is expected to continue to be reduced at future meetings

For the third time in a row, in a decision that was already expected by financial analysts, the Brazilian Central Bank (BC) lowered the basic interest rates of the economy. Unanimously, the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) reduced the Selic rate to 5% per year, with a 0.5 percentage point cut.

With today's decision, Selic reached its lowest level since the beginning of the Central Bank's historical series in 1986. From October 2012 to April 2013, the rate was maintained at 7.25% per year and has now been readjusted. gradually until it reached 14.25% per annum in July 2015. In October 2016, the Copom again reduced the basic interest rates of the economy until the rate reached 6.5% per annum in March 2018. Now the country reached 5% per annum.

At the meeting of the Monetary Policy Council (Copom) of the Brazilian Central Bank, which took place today, a new 0.50 pp cut in the Selic rate was practically anticipated at the next meeting, in December 2019. The Copom also introduced, in the balance sheet risks, the lagged effects of the stimulating monetary policy (upward risk of inflation) and mentioned that the current stage of the economic cycle recommends caution in any further adjustments in the degree of the stimulus.

The minute of the Copom meeting also pointed to projections for the 2020 IPCA between 0.30 pp and 0.40 pp below the 4.0% target. Therefore, the Selic terminal is expected to be between 4.0% and 4.5% in the coming months. More cuts thus likely as reforms go through, according to the Copom minute. 

Bloomberg, AFP, Washington Post, and AP echo the news from Jornal Nacional that says that investigation cites visit of the suspected man of the murderer of Marielle Franco to Bolsonaro's house in Rio de Janeiro on the day of the murder

According to AFP, "Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has angrily denied links to last year's assassination of a prominent politician in Rio, after reports that a suspect in the murder investigation visited his residence before the killing". According to The Washington Post, Brazilian president had lashed "out at media over links to left-wing politician’s murder". According to Bloomberg, Bolsonaro was "furious as his name is cited in murder case".

President Bolsonaro has photos of militants linked to the Marielle murder, the president's sons also have a photo of these militiamen and their family members, some of whom worked in the offices of the president's sons, and his youngest son has dated the daughter of one of the militia members who has even been arrested.

Although the formal accusation is relatively fragile against Bolsonaro, since the president would be at the same time in Brasilia, at the National Congress, which is more than 1,100 kilometers away from the city of Rio de Janeiro, the very nervous reaction of the president showed that the information released by Rede Globo's Jornal Nacional has left Jair Bolsonaro visibly altered.

In his transmission on Facebook, the president made harsh criticism of Rede Globo media group, saying that this company made his life a living "hell". Bolsonaro even threatened to revoke the station's concession, which will have to be renewed in 2022.

Today, according to AP, Bolsonaro continued to say things in a tone far above the expected of a president. On his website, AP published that "Brazil’s president launched a fiery defense of his far-right government on Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia".

Jornal Nacional, from Rede Globo, Brazil's largest television news program, reported today (29.10.2019) that there is a nominal mention of President Jair Bolsonaro in the investigation into the murders of Councilwoman Marielle Franco of Rio de Janeiro and her driver, Anderson Gomes

Today's edition of Jornal Nacional released a nominal mention to President Jair Bolsonaro in the case of the murders of Rio de Janeiro's councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, in 2018.

According to Jornal Nacional, the concierge of the condominium where Bolsonaro lived at the time said in a statement that someone with his voice authorized the entry of one of the suspects of the councilwoman's death on the day of the crime. The suspect, Élcio Queiroz, entered the condominium saying that he would visit Bolsonaro House 58, but eventually went to the residence of Ronnie Lessa, suspected of shooting the councilwoman. Both Queiroz and Lessa are under arrest.

Bolsonaro's lawyer accused the story of untruth and said the president, then a federal deputy, was in the National Congress on the day of the murder of Marielle and Anderson. Social networking records reinforce the president's argument.

However, according to the Jornal Nacional, the witness who, at that time, worked as a doorman for the condominium where Jair Bolsonaro lived, said that the suspect of Marielle's death entered the condominium to seek his partner in crime claiming that he was going to Jair Bolsonaro's home.

The news fell like a bomb in Brazil. Bolsonaro, who is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, recorded a live via Facebook. Much altered, the president accused Rede Globo, saying that the station is "a sow, scoundrel and immoral"; Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel, who, according to Bolsonaro, reportedly leaked his statement to Jornal Nacional.

The repercussion of the case has already generated the trending topic on Twitter #QuemEstavaNaCasa58 (Who was in the house 58?) because the doorman says that someone with the voice very similar to the president answered the concierge call to the president house and released the entry of the suspect to kill Marielle and Anderson on the day the murder of this two.

Eletrobras (ELET3; ELET6) opens new layoff plan to shut down 1,681 employees by year-end; meanwhile, the Brazilian economy remains slow and with high unemployment

Eletrobras (ELET3; ELET6) announced the second consensus dismissal plan for its employees for 2019. The plan will be launched today. Eletrobras' goal is to lay off 1,681 employees by December 31, 2019. The estimated savings in this new termination plan are R $ 510 million per year, at a cost of about R $ 548 million, which represents a return. of 12.9 months.

This decision by the Brazilian state company to lay off hundreds of employees does not help the Brazilian economy. In fact, it is part of a scenario of a general fall in product prices, with a 0.04% deflation in September, registered by the Extended Consumer Price Index (IPCA), which fits in with this second option, reflecting the slow Resumption of employment. The result of September reflects a repressed consumption. In this context of economic slowdown, low inflation should be seen as a warning sign that things are not going well.

Eletrobras is on the list of state-owned companies that the government has already announced that it intends to privatize by means of a capital increase and sale of shareholding control.

On Twitter, Brazil's Environment Minister Ricardo Salles insinuates that Greenpeace is linked to oil on beaches in the northeast of the country; Greenpeace goes to court against Salles for hinting NGO link to environmental disaster

In his Twitter account, Brazil's Environment Minister Ricardo Salles has again attacked the environmental organization Greenpeace. This time, Salles hinted that the organization could be behind the oil spill that affects the country's coast.

Greenpeace public policy coordinator Marcio Astrini responded to the accusations by saying that the NGO is "going to court against false statements made by the minister."

In an official statement, Greenpeace stated that it will take “all reasonable legal measures against all statements made by Minister Ricardo Salles. The authorities have to take responsibility and account for the rule of law for their actions.”

This unacceptable behavior is present throughout Jair Bolsonaro's government. The environment minister just replicates the same practice of making irresponsible and unrealistic accusations on social networks. Brazil's own president did this when the Amazon fires gained worldwide attention. At that time, Bolsonaro said, with no proof of his claim, that NGOs could be behind the fires. 

However, investigations by the Brazilian Civil Police and Federal Police indicate, for example, that farmers and businessmen from Novo Progresso were organizers of the 'Fire Day' that burned thousands of hectares in the Amazon region.

Pension Reform is approved by the Brazilian Senate and generates the expectation of an economy of around 800 billion reais over the next 10 years, meanwhile, the Brazilian Military pensions remain untouched and highly deficient

The Social Security Reform approved yesterday in the Brazilian Senate will reach more than 72 million Brazilians, including workers from the private sector and the public service. The main change will be the establishment of minimum retirement age for workers in these two sectors. Now the minimum retirement age for men is 65 and for women 62. The rule also applies to politicians. Pension Reform also extinguished retirement by the time of contribution.

Despite so many signs that the peoples of Latin America no longer support the social inequality caused by the reforms. Chile is an example of this, as it made a Social Security Reform very similar to the Brazilian one and impoverished many of the country's elderly. Currently, Chile is the Latin American country with the highest mortality rate of the elderly by suicide.

The Social Security Reform approved yesterday also did not address several problems. The largest of these is the retirement of the Brazilian military. Currently, this sector represents only 1% of the total retirees in the country but corresponds to 15% of the deficit. Per year, the military costs 47 billion reais per year to Brazilian Social Security and contributes 3 billion reais.

The current government, which has not affected the retirement of the military, has a strong military presence in command positions. According to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, approximately 2,500 members of the Armed Forces hold leadership positions or advise in Bolsonaro government ministries and departments.

There is a proposal for the reform of the Military Welfare in the Brazilian National Congress, but it has not been moving at the same speed as the rules that will now affect all other Brazilian workers.

According to biologists and oceanographers, oil damage and chemical contamination on the northeast coast of Brazil will last for decades

In an interview with BBC Brazil, oceanographer Mariana Thevenin, one of the coordinators of the Brazilian volunteer group Guardião do Litoral, which was formed in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, to clean beaches, estuaries and mangroves since the contamination reached the Brazilian coast, said that substances that contaminate Brazilian beaches as a result of this disaster could "easily fall into the food chain." According to her, "a small fish, for example, can eat something that is contaminated. This goes into jail until it reaches the fish we eat."

Yesterday, according to the website G1, biologists from the Solidarity Fisheries project found spots of crude oil on the area where is the aquatic plants that are the main food of a species on the Brazilian coast that is in serious danger of extinction: the Manatees (Peixe-boi). The discovery occurred in Praia da Lama, municipality of Cajueiro da Praia, 384 km from Teresina, on the Piauí Coast. According to biologists, after contamination of the area, the manatees disappeared from the site.

According to the marine biologist and professor at the University of Pernambuco (UPE), Clemente Coelho Junior, cleaning the oil slicks that had hit the reefs of Carneiros Beach, in Tamandaréa, in Pernambuco is "practically impossible" because the reefs are porous and absorb the substance. Reefs from various other locations in the northeastern Brazilian coast were also affected by the oil.

Until now 900 tons of oil were collected from the beaches. According to Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), the oil has reached 200 locations in 76 municipalities in 9 states of the Brazilian Northeast.