Brazil

When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2026, the Brazilian president posed a question to both an international and domestic audience: Who is to decide Brazil’s future?

On the night of November 17 2025, Brazilian federal agents pulled banker Daniel Vorcaro off the tarmac at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos airport as he prepared to board a private jet. He was initially detained as a flight risk and arrested a few months later on multiple charges of bank fraud, corruption and money laundering. He currently awaits judgment. Now, less than a month before Brazil’s national elections, the so called “Banco Master crisis” threatens to shake the country’s democracy to its core.

Brazil’s Supreme Court is in the throes of an unprecedented crisis. Sessions are being canceled. Justices are overruling each other’s decisions. And suspicions of graft, political bias and police interference loom over several of its members ahead of the country’s October presidential election.

Brazil is becoming a key global battleground for rare earth minerals that are crucial for renewable energy and technology.

In his resignation letter, Perez, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami, said he would leave his legislative office on Friday, Aug. 21.

Authorities from five Amazon countries have arrested hundreds in a major crackdown on environmental crime. Operation Green Shield 2026, which ran from July 15 to July 31, involved over 3,600 officers targeting illegal mining, logging and wildlife trafficking. Officials from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru coordinated the effort.

For years, many Cubans hoping to leave the island looked to the United States. Now, with legal pathways largely closed, a growing number are heading to Brazil instead.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has confirmed his candidacy for what is likely his last reelection bid.

Brazil is using forensic science to tackle illegal gold mining in the Amazon. The mining is a top threat to the rainforest and Indigenous and other local communities as it has accelerated deforestation and driven mercury contamination to dangerous levels. Federal police in Brasilia, the country's capital, are using "gold fingerprinting" — a highly specialized method that can precisely trace the origin of gold in samples.

Scientists have discovered that a cove in Brazil's Ilha Grande bay is a nursery for pregnant blacktip sharks. This has led to conservation efforts to protect the area. Brazil is a major market for shark meat, but sharks face extinction threats from overfishing and climate change.

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez to be ambassador to Brazil.

Brazilians — along with the green and yellow from the country's flag — dominate some stretches of Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach and Coconut Creek. The soccer-obsessed community celebrated when it was announced Brazil would be playing a FIFA World Cup match at Hard Rock Stadium. But steep prices and ICE threats appear to be muting the excitement.