Brazil 2013

10-1-2013  
In Brazil Chilean artist Jorge Selaron (b.1947), a symbol of his adopted city of Rio de Janeiro, was found dead in front of his house. In 1990 he began a staircase project in the Lapa neighborhood tiling steps and collecting old porcelain bathtubs to use as planters along the sides
   (AP)
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25-1-2013  
Brazil’s government announced that it is undertaking a 4-year, $33 million study of its Amazon rain forest to compile a detailed inventory of the plants, animals and people that live there
   (SFC, 1/26/2013, p.A2)
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27-1-2013
In southern Brazil a fire swept through the crowded Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria early today. The fire broke out after band members lit flares. There was no alarm, no extinguishers, no sprinklers and almost no escape from the nightclub. 3 people were detained the next day in connection with the blaze that left 237 dead. In April the nightclub's two owners and two band members were charged with murder. 4 others were also charged in connection to the fire.
   (SFC, 1/28/2013, p.A2)(AP, 1/29/2013)(SFC, 2/4/2013, p.A2)(Econ, 2/2/2013, p.28)(AP, 4/2/2013)
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9-2-2013  
In Brazil a wave of arson attacks, about 80 since the end of January, was reported in Santa Catarina state. Local officials described the attacks as a reaction to reports of inmate abuse in the state’s prisons
   (SFC, 2/9/2013, p.A2)
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12-2-2013
In Brazil a fire on a Carnival float killed four people and injured five in the port city of Santos. The float reportedly caught fire after striking a power line
 (AP)
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18-2-2013
In Brazil protesters backing the Cuban government blocked the screening of a documentary featuring Cuba's best-known dissident, the blogger Yoani Sanchez, who was in attendance after being allowed to leave the communist island for the first time in nearly a decade. This was the first stop on her 80-day tour of about a dozen nations
   (AP)
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19-2-2013  
Brazil’s Pres. Dilma Rouseff announced increased welfare payments to 2.5m poor people
   (Econ, 2/23/2013, p.35)
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27-2-2013  
Brazilian police said Father Emilson Soares Correa, a Roman Catholic priest, is being investigated for allegations of sexual abuse of three young girls in his parish in Niteroi, a city across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro
   (AP)
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15-3-2013
In Brazil a new oil law that gives a greater share of royalty revenues from the country’s oil fields to non-producing states went into effect and producing states filed appeals against it with the Supreme Court
   (AP, 16-3-2013)
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22-3-2013
Brazilian police surrounded an old Indian museum complex next to Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracana football stadium in a bid to expel a group of indigenous people and their supporters to make way for works related to the World Cup
   (AP)
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26-3-2013  
China and Brazil signed a deal to do up to $30 billion of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers worked to lessen dependence on the US dollar and euro
   (AP)
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31-3-2013
In Brazil a French man and US woman studying Portuguese were held for hours while the woman was sexually assaulted aboard a public transport van they boarded in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach neighborhood. Three men, ages 20 to 22, were soon taken into custody and a third was being sought in connection with the attack. Police later detained a 14-year-old suspected of participating in the attack. On Aug 14 three men were convicted of grand theft, rape and extortion
   (AP, 4/2/2013)(SFC, 4/3/2013, p.A3)(SFC, 4/9/2013, p.A2)(Reuters, 8/15/2013)
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5-4-2013
Brazil’s Public Ministry announced an investigation into a report connecting former Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a vast vote-buying scheme that involved the channeling of funds to the governing Workers’ Party
   (SSFC, 4/7/2013, p.A6)
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10-4-2013
Researchers reported a new species of tree-dwelling porcupine in Brazil’s Northeastern Atlantic Forest. With just 2% of the original forest habitat still standing, the newly discovered creature was already considered endangered
   (SFC, 4/11/2013, p.A2)
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17-4-2013
It was reported that some 700 Brazilian Indians were occupying part of the lower house of Congress to protest a proposed amendment that would give Congress a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory
   (SFC, 4/17/2013, p.A2)
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17-4-2013
Brazil’s police said they have arrested 3 men suspected of involvement in killings of homeless people in Goiania, Goias state.
   (SFC, 4/18/2013, p.A2)
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17-4-2013
Brazil raised its base interest rate by .025 points to 7.5%
   (Econ, 4/20/2013, p.40)
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29-4-2013
The Catholic Church in Brazil said it has excommunicated Father Roberto Francisco Daniel for defending homosexuality, open marriage and other practices counter to Church teaching in online videos
   (Reuters, 4/30/2013)
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7-5-2013
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Marcos Pereira da Silva, a pastor of the Assembly of God of the Last Days, was arrested for raping 6 women. He also faced drug trafficking and money laundering charges
   (SSFC, 5/12/2013, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/d65sryf)
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9-5-2013
Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin unveiled a program that will provide about $650 per month in subsidies for the rehabilitation of addicts who voluntarily enroll in the rehab program
   (SFC, 5/10/2013, p.A3)
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11-5-2013
It was reported that unsafe cars made in Brazil, coupled with the nation's often dangerous driving conditions, have resulted in a death rate from passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States
   (AP)
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14-5-2013  
Brazil’s National Council of Justice said that the country’s notary publics must register same-sex civil unions as marriages if the couple requests it
   (AP)
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16-5-2013  
The Brazilian Congress approved legislation to modernize and expand its overcrowded ports, attract private investments to the sector and make it easier for companies to hire skilled foreign workers, in a bid to spur economic growth
   (AP, 5/17/2013)
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4-6-2013
Brazil’s government scrapped a tax on foreign purchases of bonds, in order to encourage currency inflows and slow the weakening of its currency
   (Econ, 6/8/2013, p.39)
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4-6-2013
Brazilian police said they have dismantled an international drug trafficking ring that for almost two years sent cocaine from Colombia and Bolivia to Portugal hidden in crates containing frozen fish
   (AP)
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5-6-2013
Brazil said it has sent 110 soldiers to Mato Grosso do Sul state where hundreds of Terena Indians were occupying a ranch they said was on ancestral lands. The Indians were also protesting a proposed amendment that would give Congress a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory
   (SFC, 6/6/2013, p.A2)
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5-6-2013
In Brazil the son of billionaire Eike Batista was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a cyclist, the Rio de Janeiro state. He was sentenced to two years of community service, a two-year suspension of his driver's license and a one million real ($500,000) fine. Thor Batista (21) hit the cyclist last year while driving his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren at night through a low-income suburb in Rio de Janeiro
   (AP, 6/6/2013)
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6-6-2013
In Brazil protests began in Sao Paulo over a 20-centavo (nine-cent) rise in bus fares
   (Econ, 6/22/2013, p.40)
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10-6-2013
Brazil’s government said it plans to build its first auto crash test facility in an effort to improve the poor safety record of vehicles built and sold in the world's fourth-largest automobile market
   (AP)
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11-6-2013
Brazil’s government said over 100 Mundurucu Indians have occupied the offices of the federal indigenous affairs agency in Brasilia to protest the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam
   (SFC, 6/12/2013, p.A2)
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13-6-2013
In Brazil over 100 protesters and 12 police were injured and 230 people detained as thousands of demonstrators clashed with police in Sao Paulo over hikes in bus and subway fares. Similar protests took place in Rio, Brasilia and Porte Alegre
   (SFC, 6/15/2013, p.A2)
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15-6-2013
In Brazil at least 500 protesters complaining against the high cost of staging the World Cup rallied in front of the National Stadium in Brasilia just hours before Brazil played Japan in the opening match of the Confederations Cup
   (AP, 6/15/2013)
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17-6-2013
In Brazil more than 100,000 people were in the streets for largely peaceful protests in at least eight big cities. Demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte were marred by vandalism and violent clashes with police. The wave of protests, which began over a hike in bus prices, was also in large part motivated by widespread images of Sao Paulo police last week beating demonstrators and firing rubber bullets during a march that drew 5,000
   (AP, 6/18/2013)
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18-6-2013
In Brazil some 50,000 protesters energetically returned this evening to the streets Sao Paulo, a demonstration of anger toward what they call a corrupt and inefficient government that has long ignored the demands of a growing middle class
   (AP)
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19-6-2013
In Brazil street demonstrations popped up again around the country as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and high prices. Leaders in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo reversed an increase in bus and subway fares which ignited anti-government protests over the past week
   (AP)
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20-6-2013
More than a million Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 80 cities in this week's largest anti-government demonstrations yet. Violent clashes broke out in several cities as people demanding improved public services and an end to corruption faced tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. At least one protester was killed in Sao Paulo state after a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators
   (AP)
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21-6-2013
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to battle corruption while improving government services as she acknowledged the anger that has led to vast, sometimes violent protests across the country
   (AP, 6/22/2013)
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22-6-2013
In Brazil tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators again took to streets in several cities. An estimated about 60,000 demonstrators gathered in a central square in Belo Horizonte, largely to denounce legislation that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crime
   (AP)
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24-6-2013
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff proposed a wide range of actions to reform the political system, fight corruption and improve public services — all demands angrily asked for by the millions of protesters who've taken to the streets the past week. Rousseff shifted some of the burden for progress onto the back of Brazil's widely loathed congress — in particular, in calling for a plebiscite on political reform that only lawmakers have the authority to call. 9 people were killed during a police operation in a Rio favela after a protest march
   (AP, 6/25/2013)(Econ, 6/29/2013, p.34)
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25-6-2013
Brazil's congress late today shelved legislation that had been a target of nationwide protests, hours before another expected round of large-scale demonstrations
   (AP, 6/26/2013)
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26-6-2013
Brazil's senate voted to increase penalties for those found guilty of corruption, responding to a key demand made by protesters across the country. Protesters and police clashed near a stadium hosting a Confederations Cup soccer match, as thousands of demonstrators trying to march on the site were met by tear gas and rubber bullets
   (AP, 6/26/2013)
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27-6-2013
In Brazil some 5,000 protesters battled police in Fortaleza. In Rio some 2,000 people marched without clashes. Demonstrators were angry over corruption and poor public services despite high taxes
   (SFC, 6/28/2013, p.A2)
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30-6-2013
In Brazil more than 5,000 anti-government protesters marched near the Maracana stadium before a major international soccer match, venting their anger about the billions of dollars the government is spending on major sporting events rather than public services
   (AP, 6/30/2013)
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2-7-2013
In Brazil Rayfran das Neves Sales, the confessed killer of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang Para, was released after serving less than nine of the 27 years he was sentenced to back in 2005. Para state Judge Claudio Henrique Rendeiro ruled that Neves Sales was entitled to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest
   (AP, 7/4/2013)
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3-7-2013
Brazilian truckers demanding cheaper fuel, better highways and lower tolls torched toll booths and crippled traffic in several regions, continuing their protests into a third day
   (AP)
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11-7-2013
In Brazil tens of thousands of union demonstrators blocked roads and snarled traffic in dozens of cities in a one-day strike aimed at seizing the momentum of huge protests that swept the country last month
   (Reuters)
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22-7-2013  
Pope Francis arrived in Rio de Janeiro to begin a weeklong visit to participate in the World Youth Day festival
   (AP)
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25-7-2013
In Brazil Pope Francis urged young Catholics to shake up the church and make a "mess" in their dioceses by going out into the streets to spread the faith as he visited one of Rio's most violent slums and opened the church's World Youth Day on a rain-soaked Copacabana Beach
   (AP, 7/26/2013)
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27-7-2013
In Brazil Pope Francis challenged bishops from around the world to get out of their churches and preach, and to have the courage to go to the farthest margins of society to find the faithful
   (AP)
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28-7-2013
In Brazil Pope Francis wrapped up a historic trip to his home continent with a Mass on Copacabana beach that drew a reported 3 million people
   (AP)
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4-8-2013    
In Brazil 25 police officers were found guilty of killing 52 inmates during the 1992 riot at Sap Paulo’s Carandiru prison. Each officer was sentenced to a prison term of 624 years
   (SSFC, 8/4/2013, p.A2)
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4-8-2013  
It was reported that nearly 35,000 disappearances have taken place in the city and state of Rio de Janeiro
   (SSFC, 8/4/2013, p.A6)
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22-8-2013  
Brazil said it will import thousands of Cuban doctors to work in areas where medical services and doctors are scarce. Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota defended the plan as a way to give "the best possible medical services for the Brazilian population."
   (AP)
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27-8-2013  
In Brazil a commercial building, under construction in Sao Paulo, collapsed and killed at least 6 people
   (SFC, 8/28/2013, p.A2)
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9-9-2013  
Chilean press reported that the US has spied on communications from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay from the island of Ascension according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden
   (SSFC, 9/15/2013, p.A6)
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20-9-2013  
In Brazil rancher Vitalmiro Moura, accused of ordering the 2005 murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang, was again sentenced to 30 years in prison. Moura was previously convicted of Stang's murder and then acquitted in an automatic retrial
   (SFC, 9/21/2013, p.A3)
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2-10-2013
Brazilian police used pepper spray to stop hundreds of protesting Indians from storming Congress, clamping down on the second day of indigenous rights marches
   (Reuters, 10/2/2013)
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7-10-2013  
In Brazil thousands marched in Rio de Janeiro to support teachers seeking pay hikes before masked anarchists turned to violence, setting fires, breaking into buildings and smashing a City Hall gate
   (AFP, 10/8/2013)
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11-10-2013  
In Brazil an official report disclosed that the powerful PCC prison gang runs a nationwide criminal business worth $60 million a year with operations extending into neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay.
   (AFP, 10/11/2013)
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18-10-2013
In Brazil a fire destroyed up to 300,000 tons of sugar and much of the Santos Port warehouses owned by Copersucar, the world's largest trader of the sweetener
 (Reuters)
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19-10-2013  
In southeastern Brazil animal rights activist clashed with police in front of a laboratory in Sao Roque that used dogs for drug tests
   (AP)
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22-10-2013
In Brazil prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro charged an additional 15 state police officers in the torture and death of Amarildo Dias de Souza (42), a bricklayer who disappeared from a city slum in July. Ten officers were charged earlier this month
   (Reuters, 10/22/2013)
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25-10-2013
Brazilian police said a group of hit men shot to death 7 people at a house in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
   (SFC, 10/26/2013, p.A2)
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25-10-2013
In Brazil protesters went on a rampage in Sao Paulo, smashing windows and teller machines and battling riot police in violence blamed on the "Black Bloc" anarchist group. The protests began as a peaceful march to demand free public transportation for students before turning violent. Police fired tear gas and arrested 92 people
   (AFP, 10/26/2013)
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28-10-2013
In Brazil one person was injured and 90 detained while trucks and buses were torched in Sao Paulo late today in renewed violence after police fatally shot a 17-year-old boy
   (AFP)
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30-10-2013
In Brazil oil giant OGX, once the jewel in the EBX crown, was forced to file for bankruptcy protection after debt-restructuring talks with its creditors failed. Eike Batista's debt-ridden EBX empire appeared to be on its last legs as the Brazilian magnate desperately tried to sell assets and lure investment to keep his sinking ship afloat
   (AFP, 11/2/2013)
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2-11-2013
Brazil’s O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said President Dilma Rousseff will allow state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA to increase domestic fuel prices "two or three times" a year through the use of a formula without triggering significant consumer price gains
   (Reuters)
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13-11-2013
In Brazil the remains of Joao Goulart, ousted as president ahead of the 1964-85 military dictatorship, were exhumed to determine if he was poisoned
   (AFP)
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14-11-2013
Brazilian government figures showed that deforestation in the Amazon increased by nearly a third over the past year
   (Reuters)
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15-11-2013
Brazil’s Supreme Court Pres. Joaquim Barbosa issued warrants for the arrest of Jose Dirceau, the former chief of staff to Pres. Lula da Silva in 2003-05, and eleven others for charges including bribery and conspiracy in the “mensalao” (big monthly stipend) case. They were among 25 found guilty in the case last year
   (Econ, 11/23/2013, p.39)
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16-11-2013
In Brazil Jose Genoino, the former chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, surrendered to police after a court ruled that those convicted in a corruption scandal should serve their terms immediately
   (AFP)
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16-11-2013
In Brazil the 12th edition of the Games of the Indigenous People ended in Cuiba, Mato Grosso state.
   (SSFC, 11/17/2013, p.A7)
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27-11-2013  
In Brazil a giant crane collapsed at the construction site of Sao Paulo's Itaquerao stadium killing two workers. An engineer reportedly warned his supervisor that it appeared the ground was not stable enough to support the 500-ton piece of roofing
   (AP, 11/29/2013)(SSFC, 12/1/2013, p.A6)
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1-12-2013  
In Brazil Ambrosio Vilhalva, a Guarani tribal elder, was stabbed to death at the entrance of his community known as Guyra Roka, Mato Grosso do Sul state. The indigenous leader had decades fought for his people's right to live on their ancestral lands
   (AFP, 12/3/2013)
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6-12-2013
Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to open a £240-million manufacturing plant in Brazil
   (AFP)
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14-12-2013  
Brazil was rocked by a fourth fatal World Cup stadium accident as a young construction worker fell to his death
   (AFP, 12/14/2013)
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17-12-2013
US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden offered to help Brazil defeat US spying, but in an open letter said he needs permanent political asylum to do so
   (AFP)
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18-12-2013
Brazil’s defense minister said Sweden's Saab has edged out French and US rivals to win a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply Brazil's air force with 36 new fighter jets
   (AFP)
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22-12-2013
In Brazil 14 people died when a bus drove off a road and plunged into a ravine in Sao Paulo state
   (AFP)
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24-12-2013
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff flew over the flood-hit southeastern state of Espirito Santo, where at least 14 people have died in days of torrential rain. 47 cities in Espirito Santo, which borders Rio de Janeiro state, were affected by the flooding
   (AFP)
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25-12-2013
In Brazil angry farmers, convinced that Tenharim tribesmen in Amazonas state had kidnapped three local men nine days earlier, torched several Tenharim huts and the offices of the federal indigenous affairs agency, as well as several of its vehicles and river boats
   (AP, 2/5/14)
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26-12-2013
Brazilian officials said at least 44 people have died and more than 60,000 have been left homeless following torrential rain in the southeast over the past few weeks
   (AFP, 12/27/2013)
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2013        
Napoleon Chagnon authored “Noble Savages: My Life Among the Two Dangerous Tribes – the Yanomamo and the Anthropologists"
   ((Econ, 2/23/2013)