Tag: Brazil

War-torn FC Mariupol reborn in Brazil: ‘The least we could do to help give hope’
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A Ukrainian community in southern Brazil has decided to turn its local football team into FC Mariupol, a top-flight club disbanded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a show of solidarity with the war-torn country.
AA Batel, a team from the Prudentópolis region in Paraná, said on Monday they will take on Mariupol’s kit, crest and logo a year after the Ukrainian club’s facilities and stadium were destroyed in the invasion which Moscow calls a special military operation.
“The club represents the identity of our community and our community is more than 70% Ukrainian and Ukrainian descendants,” said the AA Batel president, Alex Lopes. “Ukraine has always been incredibly supportive of great Brazilian football talent and became an important gateway for players to enter the European market. This is the least we could do to help keep their club alive and give hope to Ukrainians all across the world.”
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Andriy Sanin, vice-president of the disbanded club, said: “We’re so grateful for this warm welcome by AA Batel. The war has been devastating to our city, but to have this football team from halfway around the world offer to keep our name alive during this dark time in our history – it’s impossible to express how much this means to us.”
Ukrainian Premier League club Mariupol have previously competed in the qualifying rounds for the Uefa Cup and the Europa League, most recently in the 2019-20 season.
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#Wartorn #Mariupol #reborn #Brazil #give #hope
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
April 25, 2023
EU firms accused of ‘abhorrent’ export of banned pesticides to Brazil

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Pesticides banned in the EU because of their links to human health risks are being exported and used on farms in Brazil supplying Nestlé, an investigation has revealed.
Europe is home to some of the world’s biggest and most profitable chemical companies, including the Swiss-based Syngenta and the German multinationals BASF and Bayer.
But a number of the pesticides and fungicides they produce have been banned by European health officials after they were linked to cancer, reproductive problems and neurodegenerative diseases.
Despite the ban, millions of pounds worth of the products are still being exported to Brazil, where they are used on farms that supply the international sugar market, according to a new investigation by Lighthouse Reports and Repórter Brasil.
Documents from the Brazilian agriculture ministry obtained through a freedom of information request reveal that a fungicide made by BASF and based on epoxiconazole, a chemical banned in the EU, was sprayed over two sugar plantations that supply Nestlé.
One of the farms using this banned fungicide is part of the giant Brazilian sugar corporation Copersucar, which sold €1bn (£880m) of sugar to Europe in 2020.
In São Paulo state, Usina Atena, a Brazilian sugar plantation, is under investigation after a complaint from a neighbouring resident about the health impacts from the spraying of chemicals on the farm.
Justice ministry officials in São Paulo found the farm had the Syngenta fungicide Priori Xtra. This contains the active substance cyproconazole, which is banned for use in the EU.

They also found the insecticide Regent 800WG, produced by BASF, and Certero, made by Bayer, which include the active ingredients fipronil and triflumuron. Both substances are banned in the EU.
The ECHA has classed epoxiconazole as a suspected carcinogen, and similar concerns were highlighted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Sugar at a Copersucar warehouse in Santos, Brazil. The company sold €1bn of sugar to Europe in 2020. Photograph: Patricia Monteiro/Bloomberg/Getty
Marcos Orellana, UN special rapporteur on toxics and human rights, called the continued export of the chemicals by EU-based companies an “abhorrent practice” and urged the EU to implement a ban.
CropLife International, which represents agri-chemical companies including BASF, Bayer and Syngenta, said the active ingredients in the pesticides had “valid use registrations in several OECD countries”.
It said in a statement: “A non-registration or deregistration in the European Union does not automatically mean a product cannot be used in another country. Pesticides are not automatically ‘more hazardous’ or ‘less necessary’ because they are not authorised in Europe.”
Bayer and BASF maintain that all their products are safe for humans and the environment.
Copersucar said it complied with Brazilian and international legislation, exporting its products within safety standards in the regions where it operates.
A spokesperson for Nestlé said all its suppliers must meet Nestlé’s responsible sourcing standard, including in relation to good agricultural practices. “We continue to closely follow regulatory developments everywhere we operate to ensure full compliance for all our products. Nestlé is not involved in campaigning against an export ban on pesticides and active ingredients banned in the EU.”
Officials at DG Sante, the EU body responsible for regulating pesticides, said the export of banned pesticides would be phased out in line with the chemicals strategy for sustainability, although no timetable had been set for implementation.
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#firms #accused #abhorrent #export #banned #pesticides #Brazil
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 25, 2023
‘Absurd and destructive:’ Zelenskyy slams Russia’s UN Security Council presidency

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Russian President Vladimir Putin taking on the rotating monthly presidency of the 15-member United Nations Security Council came just after a young boy was killed by artillery launched by Moscow’s invading forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we … have news that is obviously absurd and destructive,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address Saturday night. “Today, the terrorist state began to chair the U.N. Security Council.”
The Ukrainian leader announced that a five-month-old child named Danylo had been killed by Russian munitions in Donbas on Friday. “One of the hundreds of artillery strikes that the terrorist state launches every day,” the Ukrainian leader said. “And at the same time, Russia chairs the U.N. Security Council.”
Even though the position at the top of the Security Council is largely ceremonial, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia’s presidency a “slap in the face to the international community” given the ongoing conflict.
The last time Russia held the rotating monthly presidency was in February 2022, when Putin ordered the brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
At present, in addition to the five permanent members, the U.N. Security Council also includes countries supportive of Ukraine such as Japan, Ghana, Malta and Albania, along with others such as the United Arab Emirates, Mozambique and Brazil which take a more neutral approach to the conflict.
In his Saturday address, Zelenskyy also said he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron for an hour on Saturday. He also welcomed Switzerland’s decision — as another temporary U.N. Security Council member — to join the 10th sanctions package against the Russian state.

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#Absurd #destructive #Zelenskyy #slams #Russias #Security #Council #presidency
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

April 1, 2023
USA will announce donations for environmental actions in Brazil in a timely manner, says Marina – ISTOÉ DINHEIRO

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By Lisandra Paraguassu
BRASILIA (Reuters) – U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry did not announce a figure for U.S. donations to fight deforestation in Brazil after a first meeting with Brazilian government representatives, but a plan to action should be announced on Tuesday, said the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva.
The minister’s team has already confirmed that there should be a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, after a working meeting with Kerry and the delegations of both countries.
′′ Who will announce the value is the Biden government in the opportune time for them. They depend on Congress, nothing will be done that disregards the dynamics of each country,” Marina told reporters after the meeting.
“Brazil works so that we can have, as quickly as possible, the contributions that are being made by the different governments, as already signaled, for example, by Germany. But each country has its time and its internal dynamics.”
The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, reported having spoken with Kerry about technical cooperation and investment in research for sustainable production, which, defends Fávaro, could come from the Amazon Fund.
“We talk a lot about cooperation, research. They have the world’s largest temperate climate research company and tropical climate nodes. If we unite, we can together, through Embrapa, find innovative solutions. Brazil is an example of no-till planting, nitrogenous dispensing, an innovation that the US does not have”, said the Minister of Agriculture.
“We are going to promote technical cooperation, investment partnership, in the Amazon Fund. He made it very clear how difficult it is for the government to approve funds for the Amazon Fund in the US Congress, but they will do it. We suggest that the Amazon Fund invest in research,” added Fávaro.

Earlier, upon leaving the meeting with Kerry, vice president Geraldo Alckmin clarified that the US special envoy had not spoken of values, but that he had guaranteed that he would work together with his government, Congress and private companies in the North -American companies to guarantee “large resources” in contributions, whether for the Amazon Fund or for other options negotiated with the Brazilian government.
Alckmin, who is also Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, spoke briefly with journalists at the Itamaraty after meeting with Kerry, which was also attended by, among others, Marina and the president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development ( BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante.
At the beginning of the month, when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with US President Joe Biden in Washington, an initial donation of US$50 million to the Amazon Fund was discussed. The amount, however, was not officially announced because the assessment was that the amount — the maximum amount that the US government could donate by executive act, without passing through Congress — would be low compared to other donations. According to a source, the announcement has been postponed so that the US can negotiate a higher number.
According to Marina, the two governments are drawing up a work plan on issues such as climate change, deforestation, low-carbon economy and other topics, and on Tuesday a joint announcement of cooperation should be made.
“We are going to revisit the framework agreement that was made by Brazil and the US in 2015. This framework agreement has several themes that need to be updated in light of the interests of President Lula’s government and the Biden government. It has to do with protecting the forest, climate, tackling inequalities, strengthening democracies, but betting on the energy transition, facing the major issues on the global environmental agenda, including issues that have to do with this cooperation in terms of trade,” he said. .
This morning’s meeting, according to Alckmin, dealt with the fight against climate change, deforestation, energy transition, in addition to the possibility of partnership in several areas. Kerry should also meet with the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro.
So far, the Brazilian government has signaled donations from France, Spain and the United Kingdom to the Amazon Fund. During the World Economic Forum, in Davos, in meetings with actor Leonardo di Caprio and investor Jeff Bezos, Marina also heard that both would raise 100 million dollars each, through their foundations, to invest in the Fund.
Initiated by Germany and Norway to support the country’s forest protection and sustainable development projects, the Fund has so far received donations of US$1.3 billion.
LOGGING
The Minister of the Environment was asked about the increase in deforestation in February, which in two weeks broke the record for the entire month since 2015, when the historical series began.
According to Marina, there is a “kind of revenge” against the actions that are being taken by the government in the region.
“Right now we are identifying that there is criminal action even in the rainy season, advancing deforestation. We are preparing to face this confrontation”, said the minister, noting that she took the ministry as “scorched earth”.
“We are still two months into the government, the deforestation prevention and control plan will be updated and reimplemented from April, when we will conclude the plan. But even so, we are taking emergency action on several fronts, on the Yanomami front, on the front of deforestation and other crimes that happen throughout Brazil, ”he said.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu)
#USA #announce #donations #environmental #actions #Brazil #timely #manner #Marina #ISTOÉ #DINHEIRO

[ad_2] #USA #announce #donations #environmental #actions #Brazil #timely #manner #Marina #ISTOÉ #DINHEIRO ( With inputs from : pledgetimes.com )

February 28, 2023
Brazil ministers to visit site of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira’s murder

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Indigenous activists are planning to take some of Brazil’s top ministers to the spot where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were murdered in the Amazon rainforest amid reports security forces are poised to launch a major environmental clampdown in the remote border region.
Leaders of Univaja, the Indigenous association for which Pereira worked in Brazil’s Javari valley, said senior politicians, including justice minister Flávio Dino and the minister for Indigenous peoples Sônia Guajajara, would travel there on 27 February.
The visit is part of a high-profile push by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s new government to beat back the illegal miners, loggers and poachers who wrought environmental havoc during the four-year term of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
Last week special forces operatives from the environmental protection agency Ibama and federal police launched what is expected to be a months-long operation to drive tens of thousands of illegal miners from the Yanomami indigenous territory after claims its 28,000 inhabitants had faced “genocide” under Bolsonaro.
Beto Marubo, one of Univaja’s main leaders, said the government delegation would be taken to the decrepit riverside base which guards the entrance to the Javari Valley territory, the world’s largest refuge for Indigenous tribes living in isolation.
The ministers would also be taken to the spot where Phillips, a British journalist who reported for the Guardian, and Pereira, a Brazilian Indigenous expert, were shot dead on 5 June last year as they traveled by boat down the Itaquaí river.
“We will show them,” said Marubo. “This is going to be a historic moment.”
As the activists spoke, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the defense ministry planned to launch a “mega-operation” in the Javari valley on the same day as the ministerial visit. The springboard for that operation will reportedly be Atalaia do Norte, the isolated river town Phillips and Pereira were trying to reach when they were attacked by a trio of men apparently enraged by Pereira’s defense of the region’s Indigenous communities.

An aerial view taken from a Brazilian helicopter patrolling the area of Atalaia do Norte in the search for Phillips and Pereira in June 2022. Photograph: João Laet/AFP/Getty Images
The Univaja activists welcomed the new government’s moves to protect Indigenous communities and the environment but voiced skepticism about the “mega-operation”. Rather than a cinematic, headline-grabbing crackdown, Beto Marubo said they wanted to see a forceful, long-term intervention that would protect Indigenous communities and activists from ongoing violence.
“The threats continued [after Phillips and Pereira were murdered]. The invasions continue. We are constantly being threatened … No one is safe in our region – be they Indigenous people or those we call ‘the whites’,” said Paulo Marubo, Univaja’s president.
Paulo Marubo said urgent government action was now needed in the Javari valley – which, as well as environmental crime, has become a major thoroughfare for cocaine produced over the border in Peru – “so that what happened to the Yanomami Indigenous territory doesn’t happen here”.
“We lost a great friend,” he said of Pereira. “And we do not feel safe on our own land … There is no security in our region … We are human beings too. We have lived on these lands for thousands of years … and we are the greatest protectors of the forest.”
The planned ministerial visit to the Javari is another highly symbolic gesture of how Brazil’s attitude towards the environment and environmental defenders has changed since power passed from Bolsonaro to Lula on 1 January.
After Phillips and Pereira went missing, Bolsonaro’s administration faced international condemnation for dragging its heels with the search effort. Bolsonaro claimed the men had embarked on an “ill-advised adventure”. No ministers visited the Javari region in the days or months after their murders.
Lula’s ministers, in contrast, have voiced solidarity with the families of the murdered men and the Indigenous communities whose plight they were chronicling when they died. After Lula’s election last year, his environment minister, Marina Silva, said the new government would battle to honour the memory of the rainforest martyrs killed trying to safeguard the Amazon.
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#Brazil #ministers #visit #site #Dom #Phillips #Bruno #Pereiras #murder
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

February 16, 2023
Bolsonaro says he may return to Brazil in the coming weeks

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Saturday’s event was held entirely in Portuguese for a Brazilian crowd of Bolsonaro supporters living abroad and was organized by the right-wing organization Yes Brazil USA. Bolsonaro was cheered throughout the event.
There has been speculation during recent weeks on when Bolsonaro might return to Brazil, where is the subject of several investigations into possible wrongdoing.
He initially entered the U.S. on a one-month diplomatic visa, which ended Jan. 31. He was accompanied by a team of presidential advisers and his wife, all of whom left Florida last month.
Lawyers for Bolsonaro told Brazilian media recently that they applied for a tourist visa to extend his stay in the U.S.
Amid the speculation about Bolsonaro’s plans, one of his sons, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, told Brazilian reporters that he didn’t know when his father would return. “It could be tomorrow, it could be in six months, he might never return. I don’t know. He’s relaxing,” the son said.
For the first time in his more than three-decade political career as a lawmaker and then as president, Bolsonaro no longer enjoys the special legal protection that requires any trial be held at the Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro is being investigated in four inquiries, which had been in the Supreme Court and were sent to trial court this past week.
Among the inquiries is whether Bolsonaro had any role in inciting the Jan. 8 riot by his supporters who stormed into government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, demanding his election defeat to Lula be overturned.

Investigators are also looking into who organized and financed the mass gathering of Bolsonaro supporters, who came to the capital from all over Brazil.
One of the investigations held by the Brazilian justice is who are the ones responsible for inciting the crimes, as well as who financed people from all over the country to travel to Brasilia.
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#Bolsonaro #return #Brazil #coming #weeks
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 12, 2023