Journalist Brian Mier, co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for teleSUR English, returns to the podcast to discuss the recent chaos in Brazil, days after the inauguration of popular center-left President Lula da Silva.
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#293 | Genocídio: Bolsonaro's Neoliberal Agenda & Brazil's Ghosts Of Future Past w/ Brian Mier
Intro: 12:34
Brian Mier, co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent at teleSUR English, returns to the podcast to detail some of the most prominent and pressing issues facing Brazil today, much of which was documented in the recently released Redfish documentary ‘Dismantling Brazil: Bolsonaro's Neoliberal Agenda,’ which he co-produced.
So much has happened in Brazilian politics since I interviewed Brian last year, just as the consequences of the pandemic was beginning to press down on us. This interview covers a great deal of the most dramatic and important developments in Brazilian politics since then, including: neo-fascist president Jair Bolsonaro's purposefully negligent and genocidal response to the coronavirus pandemic (https://bit.ly/3fgmKKu); the Bolsonaro family's direct connection to the US Capitol siege on January 6th (https://bit.ly/3sww28Y); the Bolsonaro administration's neoliberal economic agenda since taking office, resituating Brazil as a colonial subject to the United States and Western interests (https://bit.ly/2QDnsag); the ongoing controversy surrounding the Lava Jato investigation (Operation Car Wash) and the US's direct involvement in what was effectively a "lawfare" coup (https://bit.ly/31pqp0v); and what the future of Brazil looks like now that former president Lula da Silva may run for president again in 2022 after a recent Supreme Court ruling dismissing him of all Lava Jato related charges. (https://bit.ly/31r4O7L)
Brian Mier is a writer, geographer and development professional who has lived in Brazil for 22 years. He is a former directorate member of the Fórum Nacional de Reforma Urbana (National Urban Reform Forum), and has lived in São Luis, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. He is co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for teleSur English's news program From the South, and is the author/co-editor with Daniel Hunt of ‘Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil.’
Episode Notes:
- Learn more about Brian and his work at Brasil Wire and FAIR, and support his work on Patreon: https://www.brasilwire.com/author/brianmier / https://fair.org/author/brian-mier / https://www.patreon.com/BrianMier
- Watch the Redfish documentary ‘Dismantling Brazil: Bolsonaro's Neoliberal Agenda’: https://youtu.be/_ToGVJ3Zk2I
- The music featured is by Waxie: https://waxiemusiclibrary.com
Video Segment:
#241 | The Perfect Storm: COVID-19, Brazil, & The Maniac At The Helm w/ Brian Mier
Intro: 13:45 | Book Pre-sale
In this episode, I speak with Brian Mier, journalist and co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for teleSUR English.
I ask Brian to discuss the current political situation in Brazil under far right president Jair Bolsonaro, as the nation begins to reel from the coronavirus pandemic and the wholly inadequate, and frankly psychopathic, response from President Bolsonaro. The editors at Brasil Wire starkly condemned the Brazilian president in their recent article ‘Bolsonaro and Coronavirus: A Tragedy Foretold’:
“In the past weeks, as the scale of the pandemic was already clear to the world, we have heard from Bolsonaro, his allies and his supporters that Coronavirus is a hoax, “communist”, and a “little flu”. These messages are spread on social media and invisibly on the WhatsApp platform, which was infamously the primary channel used to deliver him votes at the 2018 election. Such as sustained flow of disinformation to discourage public safety has extremely disturbing implications. The population is being encouraged to endanger itself.” (https://bit.ly/2WWAAIG)
Brian Mier is co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for teleSur English's news program From the South, and is the author/co-editor with Daniel Hunt of ‘Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil.’
Episode Notes:
- Read ‘Bolsonaro and Coronavirus: A Tragedy Foretold’ at Brasil Wire: https://bit.ly/2WWAAIG
- Read Brian’s article ‘São Paulo: Perfect Storm for Covid-19’ at Brasil Wire: https://bit.ly/2ydhbc6
- I referenced the article ‘Brazil bangs pots and pans to protest’ from The Hindu: https://bit.ly/2wNJAVY
- Follow Brasil Wire, teleSUR English, and Brasil de Fato for updates on Brazil: http://www.brasilwire.com / https://www.telesurenglish.net / https://www.brasildefato.com.br/english
- Support Brian’s work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/brianmier
- The song featured in this episode is “👑” by Knxwledge: https://youtu.be/_WJWcyo2qwE
- The photo featured is by Andre Borges: https://bit.ly/2UvNMTj
#210 | Blotting Out The Sun: Fires Of The Amazon & Pulling The Mental Trigger w/ Brian Mier
Intro: 8:09
In this episode with Brian Mier, co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for TeleSur English, we discuss the fires and deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, the United States intervention in the Brazilian political system, and the rise of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
On August 19th, the city of Sao Palo, Brazil experienced a complete blackout of the sun. Brian describes the event in the article ‘The day the sky went out’: “Was I dreaming? I immediately checked my watch. Sunset on that mid-winter day was scheduled for 5:51 PM. ‘There must be a massive thunderstorm rolling in,’ I thought to myself. There wasn’t. It drizzled but it appeared as if the sun had simply gone down 2.5 hours early, and there was a weird, clammy feeling in the air. As it turns out, it was a freak incident caused by smoke from out of control forest fires burning in thousands of points across the country and satellite photos were showing that a lot of this was coming from the Amazon rainforest, including a huge fire in the Margarida Alves nature reserve in Roraima that has been burning out of control for 20 days, which the MST says was set by illegal loggers and miners connected to the international capitalist value chains who are trying to steal the land. In short, one more example of the kind of behavior that US backed right wing extremist President Jair Bolsonaro has been encouraging since he took office in January.” (http://bit.ly/2lAQTKM)
In order to understand the context of this event, Brian provides an overview of the various international corporate and political forces responsible for the ongoing devastation of one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. In particular, Brian describes the direct role soy farmers and cattle ranchers have played in this process, as they continue to expand operations into the virgin rainforest, invading and killing indigenous people and destroying their reservations, all with the tacit approval of elected president Jair Bolsonaro and his administration. In order to understand the rise of Bolsonaro, Brian explains the U.S. backed coup that made way for his rise to power (http://bit.ly/2m4PnRr), as well as the international corporate interests that benefit from the ruthless environmental deregulation emblematic of the Bolsonaro regime. On his visit to the regions most impacted by these fires, Brian quotes local journalist Luciana Oliveira in an article for Brazil Wire, in which she states: “We warned everyone that this was going to happen […] we said that President Bolsonaro’s rhetoric would pull a mental trigger. He gave the order when he relativized the issue of environmental crimes, when he discredited the work of the environmental protection agencies, and when he ridiculed the fines, he gave an order. He said, ‘do it.’” (http://bit.ly/2kwd4Bq)
Brian Mier is co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for TeleSur English's news program From the South, and is the author/co-editor with Daniel Hunt of ‘Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil.’
Episode Notes:
- Read Brian’s most recent article ‘As Brazil Burns, Northern Media Deploy a Strategy of Deflection’ at FAIR: http://bit.ly/2kszyDF
- Read Brian’s work at Brasil Wire: http://bit.ly/2k45A8C
- Much of Brian’s work is through Telesur English: https://www.telesurenglish.net
- Learn more about ‘Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil’: http://bit.ly/YearOfLead
- Read more about “Operation Car Wash” from The Intercept: http://bit.ly/2m4PnRr
- The music featured in this episode is by Cacilda Barbosa and Ermano Soares de Sá choir, recorded by Mirna Wabi-Sabi: http://bit.ly/2lFXQKu / http://bit.ly/2lN13b1
#156 | Not Him: The Farce Of Liberal Democracy & Indigenous Rights In Brazil w/ Mirna Wabi-Sabi
In this episode, I speak with Mirna Wabi-Sabi — writer and Co-Editor of Gods & Radicals Press. We discuss the recent presidential election in her home country of Brazil and her recent piece on the subject; voting and the farce of liberal democracy; the destruction of indigenous and quilombist peoples’ lands, culture, and heritage and the ecocide currently underway in the rainforests of Brazil; the ongoing efforts by leftist and indigenous groups to generate dialogue and united action in the face of rising far right populist organizing and violence.
Mirna and I address her recent piece in Gods & Radicals ‘‘A Luta Continua’: The Struggle Continues,’ in which she addresses the recent presidential election in Brazil, resulting in the election of far right neofascist candidate Jair Bolsonaro (referred to as “J.B.” or “the dude” in this episode). As an anti-capitalist and an anarchist, Mirna elaborates on her views about voting as expressed in her piece: “People are so stressed that even anarchists are talking about voting and doing the ‘lesser-evil’ thing. But what will voting actually do?”⚑ We get into what participating in the voting process would actually accomplish, as well as the social/economic/political realities of the situation in Brazil in spite of which candidate is elected. Mirna also elaborates on the struggle of the indigenous and quilombist peoples to maintain and gain real autonomy and protect the wholeness and health of the rainforests of Brazil, especially in the face of J.B. promises that “there won’t be a square centimeter demarcated as an indigenous reserve” and “where there is indigenous land, there is wealth underneath it.”☍ Even in the face of this threat, which is to be taken very seriously, the health of the Amazon is already under massive threat and vast destruction due to both legal and illegal mining, logging, fossil fuel extraction, and agricultural projects.
This conversation covers a wide variety of subjects, and addresses the sense of anxiety present in Brazilian society as a result of this election, particularly within minority groups most affected by this election. Mirna was very open about her worries and fears about the state of affairs in her home country, and what these trends mean for the future of not only the people and ecology of Brazil, but also the global implications of these developments as well. I thank her for her willingness to have this discussion with me.
Mirna Wabi-Sabi is an anti-capitalist writer and organizer in Brazil, and is the Co-Editor of Gods & Radicals Press — “a site of beautiful resistance” — where writes about decoloniality, feminism, and anti-capitalism.
⚑ Source: https://bit.ly/3erNSCj
☍ Source: https://nyti.ms/2K6cnHz
Episode Notes:
- Read Mirna’s writing at Gods & Radicals Press: https://bit.ly/GRwabisabi
- Follow Mirna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MirnaWabiSabi
- Read more excellent pieces from Gods & Radicals Press: https://abeautifulresistance.org
- The documentary Mirna mentions is ‘Master Moa of Katendê - The First Victim’ by Carlos Pronzato. The documentary now has English subtitles: https://youtu.be/-iV7RQ_oc5U
- The songs featured in this episode are “I’m Overflow” and “Feels Like A Wheel” by Death Grips from the album Government Plates.