On 20 February Russia’s prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, met President Dilma Rousseff in Brasília. The two inked a number of agreements, including a couple of memorandum of understandings (MOUs) on educational programmes, small -and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and a declaration of intent on military-technical cooperation in defence. Brazil also expressed an interest in buying five Russian anti-aircraft missile systems ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Before the meeting Medvedev told reporters that Brazilian-Russian trade could reach US$10bn. In 2012, trade between the two countries was US$5.95bn. The two countries will begin detailed negotiations in March on…

Workers at Brazil’s main port of Santos, one of the country’s main export hubs. walked out for six hours on 22 February in protest at the government’s reform plans for the ports sector, disrupting crucial agri-exports including soya beans and maize. Days earlier (18 February), port workers grouped under Força Sindical seized a Chinese ship at Santos The seized Zhen Hua 10 ship was carrying construction equipment for a new terminal at the port of Santos, according to a statement by Embraport, who requested its immediate release. The Rousseff government was having none of it, insisting that it intended to…

On 3 March President Dilma Rousseff accused the political opposition of being “merchants of pessimism” and said it had “placed all its bets on the failure of country”. The president, who was speaking at the national convention of her main coalition ally, Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (PMDB), denied that Brazil was in economic trouble and insisted that recent measures would produce a recovery this year after real annual GDP growth of just 0.9% in 2012. The leading opposition presidential aspirant for 2014, Aécio Neves, in turn accused Rousseff of early campaigning for the 2014 race. In an official note…

Elections may be eighteen months away in Brazil, but jockeying for position for the 2014 race has already begun. For the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), the occasion of their tenth year in power provided a timely opportunity to remind voters of its achievements and warn them of the alternatives. President Dilma Rousseff retains high approval ratings, but with little good news to impart to voters at present, the government runs the risk of dwelling too much on the past. After noting Brazil’s “piffling” GDP figure for 2012, the leading opposition presidential candidate for 2014, Aécio Neves, said that “Brazil…