Brazil's Workers' Party proclaimed Lula its candidate for an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday, with the incumbent anchoring the bid on sovereignty and defence amid Trump-era interference concerns
Brazil's three-term president and declared 2026 fourth-term candidate who shaped Latin American labor politics and social policy over five decades.
full dossier ›Both chambers of Paraguay's Congress voted to formally repudiate Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who visited an arms factory on July 24 and said Paraguay 'one fine day decided to invade Brazil' to justify defense spending; Paraguayan legislators and historians said Lula's framing cast Paraguay as the sole aggressor in the 1864-1870 war that killed roughly 90% of the country's pre-war adult male population, and the Chamber of Deputies formed a commission to demand return of war trophies held in Brazil, including the Cannon El Cristiano
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dismissed Argentina's President Javier Milei with an ironic 'Who's that guy?' on July 27-28, after Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira described Milei's July 26 insults as a 'provocation unprecedented in 200 years of bilateral relations'; the first formal diplomatic encounter ended without any agreement, Argentina's presidential palace refused to apologize, and Brazil's Finance Minister called Milei a 'clown'
Argentina's President Javier Milei called Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a convict and a thief at a political rally in São Paulo on July 26 supporting Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy; Brazil's government recalled its ambassador Julio Bitelli from Buenos Aires for consultations, describing the relationship as a diplomatic crisis, while Argentina's presidential palace acknowledged political relations are now 'critical'
A 25% US tariff on most Brazilian goods took effect on July 22, with the Lula government choosing not to retaliate immediately despite pressure from Vice President Alckmin and industry; Brazil's government says it sees no chance of negotiation before elections in both countries, and analysts note the tariffs are paradoxically strengthening President Lula against Flávio Bolsonaro in the upcoming Brazilian elections
The US announced a 25% tariff on most Brazilian imports under Section 301, after a yearlong investigation concluded Brazil had engaged in unfair trade practices; a separate forced-labor probe could add 12.5% more within days; Brazil formally condemned the move and vowed to retaliate
Asunción hosts a bloc split three ways: Argentina's Washington pact and CPTPP bid, Venezuela's re-entry, and a stalled EU agreement
Brazil's autonomous central bank sets the Selic rate and targets 3% inflation; one of the world's highest real rates makes its decisions a bellwether for emerging-market monetary policy.
Brazil's 38th president, a former army captain who served seven terms in Congress, sentenced in September 2025 to 27 years for leading a post-election coup conspiracy.
The largest US bilateral trade corridor in South America, worth US$127.6 billion in 2024, is under acute strain from Trump-era tariffs and a June 2026 USTR Section 301 action.
Official count stood at 1,943 dead and 10,571 injured as of June 30, with 43,000 still missing; La Guaira port declared operational June 30, removing the aid bottleneck; UNICEF confirmed 680,000 children require assistance
A 7.2 foreshock and 7.5 mainshock 39 seconds apart destroyed buildings near La Guaira and Caracas; USGS gives 44% odds the toll exceeds 10,000; confirmed dead rises as teams clear rubble
A third straight quarter-point cut paired with a hawkish communiqué, election-year fiscal stimulus and El Niño flagged as upside risks
Four years two months and ineligibility to 2038 for coercion, tried in absentia for seeking US sanctions on the court trying his father
At 80, Lula runs for an unprecedented fourth term with the right's standard-bearer dogged by scandal and his father jailed
A 30-day deadline lapses, Washington moves on a 25% levy, and Lula readies a retaliation law months before facing Flávio Bolsonaro
Jailed and barred, Jair Bolsonaro hands the flag to Senator Flávio; an 80-year-old Lula seeks a fourth term with the race tied
The right's 2026 candidate confirms a recording asking ex-banker Daniel Vorcaro to release money for a biopic of his father, widening Lula's lead
Brussels bans Brazilian meat, poultry and honey from September over growth-promoter use, weeks after Mercosur-EU took provisional effect
The chamber blocks AGU Jorge Messias 42–34 in a historic rebuke tied to its own president; Lula sends the name back