Latest news with #JairBolsonaro
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Pension fraud scandal threatens stability of Lula government in Brazil
SANTIAGO, Chile, June 3 (UPI) -- Brazil's federal court has authorized freezing assets that belong to suspects, including former officials from the National Institute of Social Security, or INSS, and consulting firms, in connection with a massive pension fraud scheme that affected millions of retirees and pensioners. The pension fraud scheme, which operated between 2019 and 2024, diverted roughly 6.3 billion reais -- more than $1.1 billion -- through unauthorized deductions from the benefits of more than 6 million INSS recipients. While initial investigations suggest the unauthorized deductions began during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, the scheme's growth under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has placed his administration in a politically uncomfortable position -- particularly because one of the unions involved is led by Lula's older brother, Frei Chico. For Lula, who was previously jailed and later acquitted on corruption charges, these incidents pose a direct challenge to his image and his promise of a transparent government. A poll published May 30 by AtlasIntel showed disapproval of Lula's administration reached 53.7%, the highest since the start of his current term. Approval fell to 45.5%, down slightly from the previous month. The decline in support is attributed primarily to the pension scandal, as well as rising food and service prices and a perception of weak government response to economic problems. The Federal Police investigation, known as "Operation No Discount," identified at least 11 organizations, including unions and retiree associations, that received diverted funds over several years. About 97% of affected pensioners did not notice the deductions, which were often small amounts withdrawn monthly from modest pensions. Lula's government has moved to contain the fallout from the scandal, emphasizing in public statements that it was his administration that granted the Federal Police the autonomy to investigate and dismantle the scheme. The scandal already has triggered political fallout. Social Security Minister Carlos Lupi resigned, and several other officials, including INSS President Alessandro Antonio Stefanutto, were dismissed. The Federal Police have carried out more than 200 search and seizure operations and confiscated assets worth over 1 billion reais. The government has pledged to reimburse all affected pensioners by Dec. 31. More than 2 million people have submitted reimbursement requests. Since returning to office in January 2023, Lula has faced a difficult political landscape. His Workers' Party government has made some progress in stabilizing the economy and restoring social programs, but deepening political polarization and a fragmented Congress have complicated legislative efforts. Lula's relationship with Congress has been a key factor. He has been forced to make concessions to secure support for major reforms, including a tax overhaul, while Brazilians voice growing concern over issues such as public security and economic performance. Opposition lawmakers have called for a congressional investigation, a move that could keep the scandal in the public and media spotlight for months and increase political pressure on the administration. Beyond the political fallout, the pension fraud scandal highlights a sensitive and urgent issue: the long-term viability of Brazil's pension system. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pension fraud scandal threatens stability of Lula government in Brazil
SANTIAGO, Chile, June 3 (UPI) -- Brazil's federal court has authorized freezing assets that belong to suspects, including former officials from the National Institute of Social Security, or INSS, and consulting firms, in connection with a massive pension fraud scheme that affected millions of retirees and pensioners. The pension fraud scheme, which operated between 2019 and 2024, diverted roughly 6.3 billion reais -- more than $1.1 billion -- through unauthorized deductions from the benefits of more than 6 million INSS recipients. While initial investigations suggest the unauthorized deductions began during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, the scheme's growth under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has placed his administration in a politically uncomfortable position -- particularly because one of the unions involved is led by Lula's older brother, Frei Chico. For Lula, who was previously jailed and later acquitted on corruption charges, these incidents pose a direct challenge to his image and his promise of a transparent government. A poll published May 30 by AtlasIntel showed disapproval of Lula's administration reached 53.7%, the highest since the start of his current term. Approval fell to 45.5%, down slightly from the previous month. The decline in support is attributed primarily to the pension scandal, as well as rising food and service prices and a perception of weak government response to economic problems. The Federal Police investigation, known as "Operation No Discount," identified at least 11 organizations, including unions and retiree associations, that received diverted funds over several years. About 97% of affected pensioners did not notice the deductions, which were often small amounts withdrawn monthly from modest pensions. Lula's government has moved to contain the fallout from the scandal, emphasizing in public statements that it was his administration that granted the Federal Police the autonomy to investigate and dismantle the scheme. The scandal already has triggered political fallout. Social Security Minister Carlos Lupi resigned, and several other officials, including INSS President Alessandro Antonio Stefanutto, were dismissed. The Federal Police have carried out more than 200 search and seizure operations and confiscated assets worth over 1 billion reais. The government has pledged to reimburse all affected pensioners by Dec. 31. More than 2 million people have submitted reimbursement requests. Since returning to office in January 2023, Lula has faced a difficult political landscape. His Workers' Party government has made some progress in stabilizing the economy and restoring social programs, but deepening political polarization and a fragmented Congress have complicated legislative efforts. Lula's relationship with Congress has been a key factor. He has been forced to make concessions to secure support for major reforms, including a tax overhaul, while Brazilians voice growing concern over issues such as public security and economic performance. Opposition lawmakers have called for a congressional investigation, a move that could keep the scandal in the public and media spotlight for months and increase political pressure on the administration. Beyond the political fallout, the pension fraud scandal highlights a sensitive and urgent issue: the long-term viability of Brazil's pension system.
Irish Times
21 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
Determined not to let his murder silence him, friends of Dom Phillips finish his book on the Amazon
Three years ago this Thursday, British journalist Dom Phillips set out on the long journey home after a research trip deep into the Amazon rainforest for a book he was writing. He never made it back to his wife Alê. Instead he was brutally murdered alongside his travelling companion, Brazilian indigenist Bruno Pereira. They were shot dead by a gang of illegal fishermen who viewed Bruno's efforts to help local indigenous communities protect their territory as a direct threat to their criminal livelihood. Dom had wanted to write about the conflict and the efforts to resolve it, which Bruno understood would have to include providing realistic alternatives to those whose living depended on illegal fishing. But in 2022 such a nuanced approach was lost in the rising lawlessness that gripped the Amazon during the far-right administration of Jair Bolsonaro , a government that declared the forest open to plunder by gutting its own agencies responsible for its protection. Instead Bruno was shot dead and Dom with him, most likely so there would be no witness to the crime. In the 12 days between the two being reported missing and the grim discovery of their bodies, burnt and hastily buried in a shallow grave, their friends had mobilised to pressure authorities into intensifying the initially underwhelming search effort. READ MORE This campaign provided a focus to Dom's colleagues, many of us caught between desperately hoping for news that he had emerged from the forest with another dramatic Amazonian adventure to tell but increasingly dreading the worst as the days passed. When word finally came that the bodies had been found, there was at least some consolation that Alê and Bruno's wife Bia could bring their husbands home, even if just for their funerals, rather than be left stranded in a limbo of uncertainty at their disappearance. Journalist Dom Phillips talks to two indigenous men in Aldeia Maloca Papiú, Roraima State, Brazil, in November 2019. Photograph: Joao Laet/AFP via Getty Images But among Dom's journalist friends as well as the shock and anger, there was also a determination, borne out of the initial mobilisation during those first agonising 12 days, that his murder would not silence him. Discussions turned to the possibility of completing How to Save the Amazon, the book he had not been given the chance of finishing himself. Alê quickly entrusted the project to a small editorial group of Dom's colleagues. She arrived from their home in Salvador for the funeral in Rio de Janeiro with a suitcase full of his electronic devices and his notebooks (which in classic reporter style were borderline illegible). [ Dom Phillips obituary: British journalist whose killing highlighted the plight of the Amazon Opens in new window ] These she handed over to Andrew Fishman, president of the investigative website the Intercept Brasil, who was a close friend of Dom's and an important sounding board as he developed his initial idea for the book. Reviewing the material, the group's initial task was to work out how much of the book Dom had completed and then what still needed to be done, and more importantly how and by who. Once the word spread that the project would continue, the editorial group was inundated with offers of help. This reflected the deep affection for Dom as a friend, and he was a great friend to many of us. It was also a demonstration of professional respect for someone who at the time of his death was recognised as one of the best foreign journalists working in Brazil. Alessandra Sampaio, widow of British journalist Dom Phillips, left, and Beatriz Matos, widow of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira talk to indigenous people at Atalaia do Norte. Photograph: Fabiano Maisonnave/AP This meant the book would achieve the aim of our editorial group's co-ordinator Jonathan Watts, Dom's old friend from their days as correspondents based in Rio together and now the Guardian newspaper's global environment editor who lives much of the year in the Amazon. Jon wanted the book to be an act of solidarity with a colleague murdered because of his commitment to reporting from the remote front lines of a conflict that has profound consequences for our entire planet. Now, in time for the third anniversary of the murders, How to Save the Amazon is published, its original subtitle, Ask the People Who Know, poignantly changed to, A Journalist's Deadly Quest for Answers. [ The Dom Phillips I knew: A sensitive and selfless soul with a gift for lifelong friendships Opens in new window ] This is a necessary reflection of the cruel circumstances that meant others had to take on the task of finishing the book. But Dom's original subtitle remains hugely relevant. It informs the spirit of the book, which was Dom's modus operandi as a journalist: get out there, find the people who know, and ask the questions. (And with Dom it could be so many questions, until he was sure he understood what you were talking about and, more importantly, was convinced you did too.) It is also an optimistic book. The crisis in the Amazon can at times seem overwhelming. But Dom's insight was an important one: that the solutions to it are already being implemented, just the people in the rainforest making a positive difference need to be heard, their voices and insights amplified. His book, now out in the world, helps in that effort. It is a worthy legacy for a much-missed friend and colleague.
New York Times
5 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Trump Administration Targets Brazilian Judge for ‘Censorship'
Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, is a political Rorschach test of sorts. Over the past several years, he has undertaken an aggressive campaign to rid the Brazilian internet of what he says are threats against Brazil's democratic institutions, ordering the removal of hundreds of social media accounts in the process, nearly all of them right-wing. As a result, the left in Brazil considers him a savior of the nation's democracy, helping to protect it against an attempted coup in 2022. To the right, he is a dangerous government censor who has abused his power to silence conservative voices online. Elon Musk has challenged him, President Trump's media company has sued him, and the former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, is accused of plotting to assassinate him. Now, for the first time, he appears to be in the cross hairs of the U.S. government — a development that could cause a diplomatic rift between the Western Hemisphere's two largest nations. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States would restrict visas from foreign officials who are 'responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States.' In an online post, Mr. Rubio noted Latin America as an example of a region where he believed such censorship has been a problem. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Bolsonaro's Son Investigated Over Alleged Court Intimidation
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has authorized the federal police to investigate one of the sons of former President Jair Bolsonaro over allegations that he sought to intimidate members of the court while in the US. Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday approved a request from the Prosecutor General's Office to open a formal probe into Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman currently on leave. In March, Eduardo moved to the US, where he sought support from Donald Trump's allies amid mounting legal troubles facing his father in Brazil. The conservative former president is accused by prosecutors of leading a criminal organization that allegedly attempted to stage a coup following his 2022 election loss.
