Over the last few years thousands of desperate migrants have come in from Venezuela, swelling the population to more than 600,000, but that is still less than in any other of Brazil’s twenty-seven states. Indeed, for much of its history Roraima was a no-man’s land occupied by a handful of indigenous groups, where the British, Spanish, Dutch and Por

A government official estimated in 2008 that reserves could amount to between 60bn and 100bn barrels. Brazil could have as much oil as Kuwait and more than established players such as Russia or Nigeria. Ministers were soon talking about joining the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The financial markets were euphoric with optimism,

Since the 1990s the homicide rate had quadrupled in the state of Ceará, the state in which Fortaleza is the biggest city. When I visited, the annual murder rate stood at 50 in every 100,000 of Ceará’s inhabitants – or one in every 2,000 people – one of the highest rates in the country. In the most violent neighbourhoods, where factions allied to Br

In 2018 the PT’s problems with the evangelicals deteriorated another notch. By choosing Fernando Haddad, a former education minister, as their candidate as soon as it became clear that the imprisoned Lula would not be allowed to stand, the PT was backing a man who had clashed directly with the powerful Universal Church. As mayor of São Paulo betwee

Critics would claim that Lula had been lucky. During the 1990s his party had opposed both the Real Plan and the subsequent rounds of fiscal austerity that had eventually vanquished inflation. The trade boom – from which his government benefited – was mainly a result of China’s own growth and opening to world markets, and the neat fit between this a

Some achievements were simply creating new problems. Poorer Brazilians may have been buying more cars and travelling to work in greater comfort, but they were also experiencing the misery of São Paulo’s traffic jams. Brazil’s highway infrastructure was simply not keeping pace with the volume of traffic. Between 2002 and 2012 the numbers of cars on

By the mid-2000s these changes were beginning to affect the pattern of wealth distribution. Brazil has always been an unequal society, with a small number of wealthy people, a larger number of relatively well-off middle-class people, and vast quantities of poor people. Represented visually, the income pyramid resembled an isosceles triangle: squat

Perhaps the biggest concern is that Chinese investments and economic ties will cause companies and politicians to act in ways that are counter to Brazil’s national interest.

As the death rate climbed, Bolsonaro became ever more blasé about the disease. When told by a journalist that the death toll had passed 5,000, he said, “Well, I’m sorry, but what do you want me to do about it? My second name is Messiah but I can’t work miracles.” Most of Brazil’s political and judicial class took a different view, however. On 15 Ap