Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Saturday (Dec. 20), during the Mercosur Summit, held in Foz do Iguaçu, South Brazil, that tackling organized crime should be one of the priorities of the bloc formed by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, regardless of the political profile of the countries’ governments.

He argued that the weakening of democratic institutions is one of the problems opening the way for illegal activities. The president also mentioned a series of initiatives underway in South American countries.

“Public safety is the right of citizens and the duty of the state, regardless of ideology. Mercosur has shown its willingness to tackle criminal networks jointly. More than a decade ago, we created a body of authorities specializing in anti-drug policies. Early this year, we signed an agreement against human trafficking. We created a commission to implement a common strategy against transnational organized crime. We established a specialized working group on asset recovery in order to stifle the sources of financing for illicit activities,” he declared.

Lula also advocated the regulation of digital environments to combat crime and announced an international meeting with security ministers to discuss the issue.

“We agree that the internet is not a lawless territory and we have adopted measures to protect children and adolescents and personal data in digital environments. Freedom is the first victim of a world without rules. But this is a struggle that goes beyond Mercosur. There is currently no South American body dedicated to this problem. Therefore, in consultation with Uruguay, Brazil intends to propose a meeting of the ministers of justice and public security […] to discuss how to strengthen South American cooperation in the fight against organized crime,” he stated.

Gender-based violence

At the Mercosur Summit, President Lula addressed the issue of violence against women – one of the main public safety challenges in Brazil, but also a problem in neighboring countries.

“Latin America also holds the sad record of being the most lethal region in the world for women. According to ECLAC [Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean], 11 Latin American women are murdered every day. Yesterday, I sent an agreement to the National Congress for ratification that will allow women who benefit from protective measures in one country of the bloc to have the same protection in other countries. I would like to propose to Paraguay – which is taking over the presidency of the bloc today – that we work to create a major Mercosur pact to end femicide and violence against women,” said the president, who has made repeated speeches proposing a national effort to combat gender violence.

Risk of military conflict

Another key point in Lula’s speech at Saturday’s Mercosur meeting was the risk of armed conflict in South America, given the threat of US military intervention in Venezuela, which could attempt to overthrow the current regime of President Nicolás Maduro and trigger a new war. Today, US troops surround the Caribbean Sea on the Venezuelan border, allegedly to combat drug trafficking.

“More than four decades after the Falklands War, the South American continent is once again haunted by the military presence of an extra-regional power. The limits of international law are being tested. An armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe for the hemisphere and a dangerous precedent for the world,” he warned.

In addition to advocating a doctrine of peace in South America, Lula defended democracy and praised the ability of Brazilian institutions to thwart an attempted coup d’état almost three years ago.

“Brazilian democracy survived the most serious attack it has suffered since the end of the dictatorship. Those responsible for the coup attempt on January 8, 2023, were investigated, tried, and convicted in accordance with due process of law. For the first time in its history, Brazil has settled its accounts with the past,” he argued.

Specialists at Rio de Janeiro’s Botanical Garden have come across a rare species of bromeliad in its grounds. They named it Wittmackia aurantiolilacina, due to the orange and lilac colors of its inflorescence.

The species was described by researcher Bruno Rezende – one of the authors of the study and curator of the scientific bromeliad collection at Rio’s Botanical Garden – in an article published on November 19 this year in the journal Phytotaxa, considered the world’s leading scientific journal in the field of botanical taxonomy.

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The species is endemic to the Atlantic forest biome and was collected in the Alto Cariri National Park, in Bahia state. It was collected in August 2023 by a team from the Botanical Garden on an expedition for an environment preservation initiative.

“It was collected in August 2023, but it had no flowers. It was what we call sterile, a bromeliad that did not raise any suspicion of being something so special,” Bruno Rezende told Agência Brasil. It was then incorporated into the scientific collection of the Botanical Garden’s bromeliad nursery and also into the Refúgio dos Gravatás, in Teresópolis, in the mountainous region of the state.

Flowering

The bromeliad bloomed in July 2024 at the Botanical Garden, leading the researcher to suspect it was a new species, “because the inflorescence has a highly unusual combination of colors – orange with lilac – which is not something I have seen in bromeliads in 30 years,” he said.

He contacted an expert in the genus, with whom he developed a more detailed study of the plant, and together they published an article in an international journal.

Even though the orange and lilac inflorescence caught the researchers’ attention, Bruno Rezende said that what defines the new species is a set of characteristics related to the shape of the sepals and petals, the size they reach between these structures, “and also the coloration, which gave the plant its name.” The sepals of bromeliads are usually green and their main function is to protect the flower bud.

There is only one pot of the new bromeliad in Rio’s Botanical Garden. Depending on the nutritional input, Rezende noted, two or three vegetative shoots will form per year. These are lateral shoots.

“This enables vegetative propagation, which is clonal or asexual propagation.” In this case, the seedlings are genetically identical to the mother plant.

The expert pointed out, however, that if the flowers are pollinated, seeds can be obtained. And each seed system is a genetically distinct individual, as it originates from sexual reproduction.

Predators

Rezende states that it would not be advisable to plant this type of bromeliad in trees, because it is native to the Atlantic forest in southern Bahia and could spread throughout the biome in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Besides, there are many capuchin monkeys in the Botanical Garden’s arboretum. “And unfortunately, they have developed a macabre taste for bromeliads. They eat the palm hearts inside the leaves and kill the bromeliads. That’s what they like. In the bromeliad garden, we still have more control because there is a fence, security guards, and gardeners.”

The newly discovered bromeliad species has already been classified as “critically endangered” because, despite being a national park, the Botanical Garden is a vast area subject to a number of impacts.

“It’s difficult to monitor such a large area. There’s a lot of fire, a lot of deforestation, a lot of cocoa and coffee farming – in addition to climate change, which in the coming decades will likely significantly alter the entire Atlantic forest.”

Brazil’s indigenous agency FUNAI registers 115 uncontacted indigenous peoples across the country, but the government only confirms the existence of 29, as 86 – 75 percent of them – are still under analysis.

“There’s a huge backlog in the process of recognizing the existence of these isolated peoples. Their records are in the FUNAI database, but they haven’t been confirmed by the state. This is serious,” says anthropologist and executive coordinator of the Observatory of Isolated Indigenous Peoples (OPI), Fábio Ribeiro.

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A survey by the NGO Survival International points out that there are 196 uncontacted indigenous peoples around the globe. Brazil stands at the top of the ranking, with 115 of these groups. In Fábio Ribeiro’s view, however, the gap between records and confirmations increases the vulnerability faced by the indigenous peoples.

“We know that the policy of protecting these territories is effective to the extent that FUNAI is able to generate sufficient evidence to say ‘there is an isolated indigenous people there, we need to protect that territory,’” explains Fábio Ribeiro, who was a FUNAI official before coordinating the observatory.

Among the protection policies, he cites the construction of surveillance posts in strategic locations, flyovers, institutional coordination efforts, and the presence of FUNAI itself, in addition to the Secretariat for Indigenous Health, SESAI.

The general coordinator of Isolated and Recently Contacted Peoples at FUNAI’s Territorial Protection Directorate, Marco Aurélio Milken Tosta, acknowledges the discrepancy. “There is indeed a deficit on the part of the Brazilian state with regard to these records. There are records that need to be worked on, and institutional limitations prevent us from working with all of them,” he argued.

Vale do Javari

In Brazil, the Vale do Javari – where expert in indigenous peoples Bruno Pereira worked before being murdered alongside UK journalist Dom Philips in 2022 – is home to most of the country’s uncontacted indigenous peoples, in addition to those living along the borders with Peru and the Guianas.

Fábio Ribeiro, however, warns that “these are not the most vulnerable isolated peoples, because they still live in continuous areas of monumental forests.”

“The most vulnerable are the peoples living in the Arc of Deforestation, because these territories have been completely fragmented, and they live on pockets of forest. These people live surrounded by roads, developments, mining, cities, highways, farms, and forest concession projects, so it’s a really challenging situation,” he points out.

In the view of FUNAI Director Aurélio Milken, “the pressure on territories occupied by isolated [peoples] will increase exponentially, given climate change and the advance of exploration fronts, as the location where these peoples live represents the last remaining strongholds of natural resources.”

Milken is not exaggerating. A survey by the news program Repórter Brasil, produced by EBC, shows that, of the 55 records of isolated peoples already confirmed or under study, 80 percent are surrounded by areas under review for rare earth and critical mineral mining. 

“[FUNAI] needs to be strengthened and prepared to face these increasing challenges,” he argues.
 

Isolated peoples

Isolated peoples are groups that are aware of the existence of other peoples, indigenous or non-indigenous, and choose to remain isolated, usually due to experiences of extreme violence.

“They do not accept a permanent relationship with the Brazilian state – for various reasons, but mainly because they are survivors of massacres, raids, and slaughter. In other words, isolation is strictly linked to the idea of genocide,” Fábio Ribeiro says. 

As a result, confirming the existence of isolated peoples is a complex process. It usually consists of a collection of evidence such as the presence of huts, vegetable gardens, tools, footprints on trails, sightings, and, when researchers are lucky, recorded images.

“There is a huge asymmetry in the burden of proof between demarcating [indigenous] land and clearing that land for development. For the former, FUNAI is required to take a photo alongside isolated indigenous individuals to prove [that they exist]. For the latter, all it takes is a statement affirming there are no isolated indigenous peoples in a given location for that land to be cleared for development,” Fábio Ribeiro notes.

“There is a question of experience and training, which requires the ability to read the traces of isolated indigenous peoples and also the physical conditions for land travel – and that’s exhausting,” says Aurélio Milken, explaining why the biggest challenge in working with isolated peoples is not only budgetary constraints, but also the training of qualified professionals.

“We are talking about expeditions, monitoring efforts, land travel, spending days in the jungle without access to any kind of comfort, and facing a wide range of logistical difficulties and the dangers inherent in this type of activity in the forest,” he adds.

Today, FUNAI has 12 field teams working on ethno-environmental protection. But according to Aurélio Milken, not all professionals are able to carry out activities with uncontacted peoples.

FUNAI, he notes, is currently in the process of hiring 1 thousand temporary employees. Most of the contracts should be for indigenous employees. In 2024, 502 positions were offered at FUNAI for secondary and higher education levels.

Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad confirmed on Thursday (Dec. 18) that he intends to leave the government in February. At a coffee meeting with journalists on Thursday (18), he stated he intends to collaborate with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s reelection campaign in 2026 and that this would be incompatible with his current role.

Under Brazilian electoral law, ministers running in the 2026 elections have until April 3 of next year to leave office. Haddad, however, said he intends to leave earlier to give the next occupant time to prepare measures typical of the economic team at the beginning of each year.

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The minister would like his successor to prepare the first edition of the 2026 bimonthly revenue and expenditure report, a document that informs the execution of the budget, in March. He would also like to leave the 2027 budget guidelines bill to the future minister, which must be sent to Congress by April 15 of next year.

Haddad said he has already communicated his desire to President Lula and did not respond when asked if he intends to run for office next year.

“First, I expressed my desire to collaborate with President Lula’s campaign. And that is incompatible with the requirements of the Finance Ministry. There is no way to collaborate with the [2026 election] campaign while serving as finance minister,” Haddad said.

“So it was in this sense that I spoke with the president, saying that if my request is granted in some way – so be a campaign collaborator in his bid for reelection – a change of leadership here would be important,” added the minister.

Haddad pointed out that he waited for the approval of the 2026 budget guidelines bill at the beginning of the month as well as the bill reducing tax incentives, approved on Wednesday (17) in the Senate, to formally communicate his decision.

“I was really careful in talking about my future after the [budget guidelines bill] was approved and after the measures needed to make sure the budget was consistent with the [bill] were approved. I was always worried that the [bill] and the budget had to be internally consistent so that the goals could be met,” he said.

The minister, who was formerly mayor of São Paulo, gave no clues about a possible candidacy in 2026. He only reported that President Lula told him he would respect the decision that “Haddad made or will make.”

Brazil’s Supreme Court decided on Thursday (Dec. 18) to recognize the existence of structural racism in the country, further ordering the creation of a national plan to address this social problem.

The plan must be developed by the government within 12 months and contain goals, implementation stages, and efforts to monitor results.

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Under the court’s guidelines, the government must establish concrete measures to combat structural racism in health care, public security, food security, and the protection of life.

Reparatory measures for violations of the rights of black people should also be included in the plan.

In addition, the plan should implement a protocol for assisting black people in the judiciary and include the adoption of advertising campaigns to combat racism and prejudice against African-based religions.

The case

The Supreme Court ruled on the lawsuit in which the Black Coalition for Rights – an entity that brings together representatives of the black movement – and seven political parties sought recognition of the “unconstitutional state of affairs” in relation to structural racism in Brazil.

The lawsuits were filed with the Supreme Court in May 2022, under former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The hearing began last month, when a majority vote was formed in favor of adopting the plan.

During Thursday’s session (Dec. 18), Justices Gilmar Mendes and Edson Fachin, head of the court, cast the last two votes.

Justice Fachin cited the history of violations of the rights of black Brazilians.

“It is well known that the Brazilian state has implemented policies and practices that have resulted in deeper exclusion. The absence of reparatory policies in the post-abolition period and the whitening policies promoted by the Brazilian state have fueled a system of social hierarchy in which the black population still has its fundamental rights violated,” he declared.

Last month, Brazil’s Attorney-General’s Office announced it is committed to adopting the plan and will coordinate the government’s work to implement the measures.

A possible delay in signing the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) may enable the conclusion of the treaty that has been under negotiation for more than two decades, said Finance Minister Fernando Haddad on Thursday (Dec. 18). More time is needed to reassure European farmers that they will not be negatively affected, he argued.

“It is worth insisting a little more on my perception. Because, first, there is no harm. There is no harm to Italian and French farmers. There is none,” the minister stated.

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The statement was made during an afternoon coffee break with journalists, before the European Commission officially announced the postponement of the agreement’s signing until January. France and Italy still face resistance from their farmers.

The agreement had been scheduled to be formalized this Saturday (20) during the Mercosur summit in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná state, but faced resistance from European countries, especially France and Italy, due to pressure from farmers opposed to the pact.

At the meeting with journalists, Haddad said he sent a message to French President Emmanuel Macron, highlighting that the agreement goes beyond the commercial aspect and has geopolitical relevance.

The minister pointed out there is no economic damage to French and Italian farmers, as the negotiated text provides safeguards. He attributed part of the resistance to the political exploitation of internal sensitivities. “This does not correspond to the content of the agreement,” he said. Haddad said that if Europeans need “a little time” to clarify the issue to the public, “it is worth waiting.”

Meloni

Earlier, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he had spoken by phone with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to Lula, she is not against the agreement, but faces internal political difficulties and has asked for up to a month to convince Italian farmers. “She asked for patience for a week, ten days, a month at most,” said the president.

Negotiated for over two decades, the Mercosur–EU agreement would create one of the largest free trade areas in the world – bringing together some 722 million consumers and a combined GDP of approximately USD 22 trillion.

The increase in Brazilian exports to China has offset the decline caused by the US tariffs on Brazilian sales, which began in August with a surcharge of up to 50 percent.

From August to November, the value of exports to China grew 28.6 percent from the same period in 2024, while those bound for the US fell 25.1 percent.

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A similar trend can be observed in terms of foreign sales volume. When headed for Chinese ports and airports, the increase stands at 30 percent. For the US, however, there was a 23.5-percent decline.

The data can be found in the Foreign Trade Indicator report, or Icomex, released Thursday (Dec. 18) by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), based on results provided by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services.

China is Brazil’s main trading partner, ahead of the US. According to Icomex, China’s share – which receives about 30 percent of Brazilian exports – helped offset the drop in sales to the US.

“[US President Donald] Trump overestimated the United States’ ability to cause widespread damage to Brazilian exports,” the report says.

Sectors impacted

The sectors that saw the biggest drops in exports to the US from August to November were:

Non-metallic mineral extraction: -72.9%
Beverage manufacturing: -65.7%
Tobacco product manufacturing: -65.7%
Metallic mineral extraction: -65.3%
Forestry production: -60.2%
Manufacture of metal products, except machinery and equipment: -51.2%
Manufacture of wood products: -49.4%

Annual performance

The survey notes that sales volume to the US grew steadily from April to July, when compared to the same month in 2024. However, with the introduction of the tariff, four months of decline were recorded.

Variation in export volume to the US in 2025 compared to the same month in 2024:

April: +13.3%
May: +9%
June: +8.5%
July: +6.7%
August: -12.7%
September: -16.6%
October: -35.3%
November: -28%

Exports to China jumped after the tariffs began:

April: +6.4%
May: +8.1%
June: +10.3%
July: −0.3%
August: +32.7%
September: +15.2%
October: +32.7%
November: +42.8%

FGV associate researcher Lia Valls points out that one of the factors that led to the increase in Chinese exports was soybean shipments, which were concentrated in the second half of the year.

“When exports to the US were falling, exports to China began to increase, which had an impact on the country’s overall exports,” she told Agência Brasil.

In the year-to-November data, Brazil’s total exports were up 4.3 percent compared to the same 11 months of 2024.

US tariffs

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs came into effect in August 2025. By raising taxes on imported goods, the US government claims it intends to protect the US economy, as taxation encourages Americans to manufacture products locally rather than purchasing them from abroad. 

In the case of Brazil, which suffered from one of the highest rates, the US president also claimed it was retaliation for Brazil’s treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Trump considered to be persecuted, before being convicted by the Federal Supreme Court in September 2025 for attempting a coup d’état.

Since then, the Brazilian and US governments have been negotiating ways to reach agreements for a trade partnership, including direct talks between Trump and Lula.

On November 20, Trump removed an additional 40-percent tax on 269 products, 249 of which are from the agricultural sector, such as meat and coffee.

“The effects of this removal should not be visible until December and January,” the report says.

Brazil’s vice-president and minister of development, industry, trade, and services, Geraldo Alckmin, estimates that 22 percent of exports to the US remain subject to surcharges.

The board of directors of Brazil’s lower house has officially announced its decision to expel Federal Representatives Eduardo Bolsonaro and Alexandre Ramagem – both members of the Liberal Party (PL).

Eduardo Bolsonaro

The board decided to strip Eduardo Bolsonaro of his seat for excessive absences. He failed to attend a third of the deliberative sessions of the house, which resulted in punishment under the Constitution.

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In March, Eduardo Bolsonaro fled to the US and requested leave from office. It ended on July 21, but he did not return to Brazil and had already racked up a significant number of unexcused absences from plenary sessions.

Eduardo Bolsonaro is also facing trial before the Supreme Court for attempting to have sanctions brought against Brazil to protect his father Jair Bolsonaro from prosecution for his role in a coup plot.

Ramagem

In Ramagem’s case, the removal was ordered after the Supreme Court ruled that he had lost his seat in the trial for the attempted coup. He was also sentenced to 16 years in prison.

A former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) during Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, Ramagem is currently a fugitive in Miami, Florida. Since September, he had been presenting medical certificates to justify his absence from the house.

After discovering his escape, the lower house reported it had not been informed of his departure nor had it authorized him to go on any official mission abroad.

An important carbon sink with an enormous capacity to infiltrate water into the soil and ensure the replenishment of aquifers in Brazil’s semi-arid region, the caatinga is the country’s biome most threatened by desertification. The recovery of 10 million hectares of degraded land in the biome is one of the main goals of the Brazilian Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Mitigate the Effects of Drought, known as PAB-Brasil, launched Tuesday (Dec. 16) in Brasília.

Unveiled by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, the plan includes 175 initiatives focused on combating desertification and recovering degraded land in all Brazilian biomes by 2045.

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“By doing so, we want to leverage the entire socio-productive restoration process, ensuring the recovery of degraded soil and vegetation, water availability, healthy food production, job creation, and other ecosystem services,” said Alexandre Pires, director of the ministry’s Department for Combating Desertification.

According to the United Nations, environmental degradation caused by poor land use and drought intensified by climate change are the main causes of desertification – which is the loss of the land’s productive capacity. Arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions are the most threatened, but worldwide, 75 percent of the population could be affected in the coming decades.

In Brazil, according to a study released in June by the Superintendence for the Development of the Northeast (Sudene), desertification threatens the productive capacity of the soil in 18 percent of the Brazilian territory. Thirty-nine million people live in the caatinga region, which is mainly concentrated in the Northeast.

Brazilian biomes

In addition to the caatinga, the cerrado and Atlantic forest are already under threat and, according to a report presented at the launch of PAB-Brasil, areas susceptible to desertification have been identified in the pantanal for the first time.

In view of this, all indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers have been included in the registry for payment for environmental services – a public policy to promote sustainable development that compensates those who promote conservation and environmental improvement.

“Only together will we make progress in combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought,” said Edel Moraes, the ministry’s national secretary for traditional peoples and communities and sustainable rural development.

Among the initiatives are the construction of an early warning system for desertification and drought, financial support for the development of state plans to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought, the creation of conservation units, and landscape connectivity through the restoration of native vegetation.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday (Dec. 18) he will veto the piece of legislation known as Dosimetry Bill, which would reduce the sentences of those convicted for the anti-democratic riots on January 8, 2023, and for attempting a coup d’état.

“People who committed crimes against the Brazilian democracy will have to pay. The trial isn’t even over – people are still being convicted – and folks are already deciding to reduce sentences. I’d like to tell you that, with all due respect to the National Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it. This is no secret to anyone,” he stated.

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“Congress has the right to do things, I have my right to veto, then they have their right to overturn my veto or not. That’s how the game works,” he added in an interview with the press at the Planalto presidential palace.

The president also argued it is necessary to “finish this process” and also investigate those who financed the coup attempts. 

“We need to take what happened on January 8, 2023, very seriously, and there are people who want us to forget, but we cannot forget. Because if democracy forgets how important it is to a nation, we end up losing the game,” he said.

On Wednesday (17), in a roll call vote, the Senate approved the bill with 48 votes in favor and 25 against. The bill now goes to the president for approval.

The piece of legislation stipulates that crimes against the democratic rule of law and coup d’état, when committed in the same context, should incur the most severe penalty rather than the sum of both penalties.

The focus of the bill is a change in the calculation of penalties, “setting the minimum and maximum penalties for each type of crime, as well as the general method of calculating penalties [hence “dosimetry”], also reducing the time required for convicts to serve their sentence in jail before moving to an open regime.”

The changes could benefit defendants such as former President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as military personnel who participated in the coup plot and were convicted by the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, Lula welcomed journalists for breakfast at the presidential palace, followed by a press conference.

The report prepared Wednesday (Dec. 17) by Federal Police experts confirms that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attempted to tamper with his electronic ankle tag while under house arrest. 

On November 22, Bolsonaro was arrested after confessing that he used a soldering iron to try to break the device.

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The experts confirmed there are signs of tampering with the device, which showed significant damage to its plastic cover.

“Tests carried out with a soldering iron on the surface of the material in question showed results consistent with the damage found. No additional tests were carried out with other types of tools,” the report says.

The experts also mention that the attempted breach lacked “technical precision.”

“It should be noted that the damage to the material in question shows signs of rough execution, suggesting that the tool was used without technical precision,” the professionals added.

The report was forwarded to Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur for the case in the Supreme Court.

Bolsonaro is imprisoned at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for his conviction in the criminal case involving a coup plot.

The identification of a new type of influenza A (H3N2) virus, known as the “K virus,” in Brazil is not yet a cause for concern, says Renato Kfouri, vice-president of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm).

The circulation of influenza strains is part of the natural dynamics of the virus, and at this point, there is not enough information to predict a major impact on the upcoming flu season, he noted. Any estimates regarding the severity, duration, or intensity of the upcoming season would be premature.

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“We don’t know if this will be the predominant strain circulating worldwide. The season is just beginning in the Northern Hemisphere. We don’t even know if it will be the H3N2 season or if another H1N1 will come. It’s all still very theoretical,” said Kfouri.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an information note drawing attention to the rapid increase in the circulation of the K variant of influenza A in the Northern Hemisphere – particularly in Europe, North America, and East Asia.

In Europe, influenza activity started earlier than usual. The K variant accounted for almost half of the cases of infections reported from May to November this year. No significant change in clinical severity has been reported yet in terms of hospitalizations, intensive care admissions, or deaths.

Registration

This week, the Brazilian Ministry of Health published a report on the epidemiological situation in the country and mentioned for the first time the identification of a case of the K variant in Brazil, in the northern state of Pará.

On Wednesday (17), the research institute Fiocruz provided more details about the registration. The sample containing the new strain was collected in Belém, capital of Pará, on November 26 and was first analyzed there.

After confirmation of influenza A (H3N2), the material was sent to Fiocruz, where it underwent genetic sequencing.

The case involved an adult patient, a woman from Fiji, and was classified as imported. To date, there is no evidence of local transmission associated with the variant in Brazil.

The detection of new variants is expected, Kfouri pointed out.

“Every year we have new influenza strains. It is in the nature of the virus to mutate and cause annual epidemics. That is why we need to get vaccinated every year. Vaccines are updated according to what can be predicted will circulate in the following season,” he stated.

Vaccine

Fiocruz experts emphasize that vaccination remains the main prevention tool. The composition of the inoculation recommended by the WHO was updated in September, with strains closer to those currently in circulation, including the K subclade.

“The composition of the influenza vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization was updated in September for next year, with strains closer to those currently in circulation, including the K subclade,” says Marilda Siqueira, laboratory head at Fiocruz.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday (Dec. 17) that the government needs to find the “right narrative” to tell the Brazilian people about what has happened in the country in recent years. This morning, the president chaired the last ministerial meeting of 2025 at the official residence of Granja do Torto in Brasília.

In his view, the country is in a “largely favorable” situation, although, he went on to argue, this does not appear to be reflected as strongly as it should be in public opinion polls due to the political polarization faced by the nation. Lula stated that his team’s discourse needs to be defined for next year’s elections.

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“The election year will be the year of truth. In other words, we have to create the idea of a moment of truth to show who is who in this country, who does what in this country, what happened before us, and what happens when we come to power,” he told his ministers, citing initiatives in various areas, such as economy and social inclusion.

“We need to let the people know what happened in this country. I have the impression that the people still don’t know. I have the impression that we still haven’t come up with the right narrative to let the people know how to assess the things that happened in this country,” he added.

Lula said he will accept the resignation of ministers who want to run for office or seek reelection. In the 2026 election, a new president will be chosen – as well as governors, senators, plus federal, state, and district representatives.

The president also highlighted his team’s ability to negotiate measures of interest to the government in Congress – such as income tax exemptions and tax reform. In his opinion, the country is experiencing a “unique moment” from an economic point of view, partly due to the increased investment and financing capacity of public banks.

President Lula reaffirmed his policy, stating that money needs to circulate in the hands of the people. “We need to do much more, because my theory is that a little money in the hands of the people solves the problem. There is no macroeconomics, there is no exchange rate. If there is money in the hands of the people, our problem is solved – the problem of industrialization, consumption, agriculture, and inflation is solved,” he argued.

“We have ended the invisibility of the poor people of this country. We have ended the invisibility of a people who were only recognized during election season,” he went on to say.

Korea’s Innospace announced it has postponed the launch of the Hanbit-Nano rocket, originally scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 17), to Friday at 3:45 pm. It would have been the first time a commercial flight departed from a Brazilian base. 

According to a statement, the company changed the launch date to allow sufficient time to “replace components after detecting an anomaly in the cooling device of the first stage oxidizer supply system during the final inspection.”

The Brazilian Air Force, which operates the Alcântara Launch Center in Maranhão state, confirmed the postponement.

The space vehicle – which is 21.8 m long, 1.4 m in diameter, and weighs 20 tons – was scheduled to go into space on Wednesday, carrying satellites into low Earth orbit at an altitude of some 300 km and an inclination of 40 degrees.

The Brazilian Supreme Court on Tuesday (Dec. 16) reached the milestone of 29 convictions in criminal proceedings in connection to the coup plot orchestrated during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. Only two defendants were acquitted.

The court’s first panel concluded the trial of Nucleus 2, the second group of defendants, and decided to convict five more. From September to November this year, the panel convicted 24 individuals who belonged to Nuclei 1, 3, and 4.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Supreme Court upholds Bolsonaro’s imprisonment.
• Amnesty bill rapporteur rules out total pardon for pro‑coup rioters.

Nucleus 5 comprises Paulo Figueiredo, grandson of former dictator João Figueiredo. He lives in the US, and there is no date set for his trial.

Army General Estevam Theófilo, who was charged in Nucleus 3, and Fernando de Sousa Oliveira, a career Federal Police officer and former director of operations at the Ministry of Justice, charged in Nucleus 2, were the only ones acquitted, due to lack of evidence.

To date, only the defendants in Nucleus 1 – consisting of former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven other defendants – have had their convictions enforced. The other groups are still in the appeal phase.

Below is the list of convicted individuals:

Nucleus 1 – Date of conviction: September 11

• Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil – 27 years and three months;
• Walter Braga Netto, former minister and running mate in the 2022 election – 26 years;
• Almir Garnier, former Navy commander – 24 years;
• Anderson Torres, former minister of justice and former secretary of security for the Federal District – 24 years;
• Augusto Heleno, former minister of the Institutional Security Office – 21 years;
• Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former minister of defense – 19 years;
• Alexandre Ramagem, federal representative and former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) – 16 years, one month, and 15 days;
• Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp to Bolsonaro – two years in prison under open regime and guaranteed freedom in exchange for plea bargaining.

Nucleus 2 – Date of conviction: December 16

• Mário Fernandes, retired Army general – 26 years and six months in prison;
• Silvinei Vasques, former director of the Federal Highway Police – 24 years and six months in prison;
• Marcelo Câmara, former advisor to Bolsonaro – 21 years in prison;
• Filipe Martins, former advisor on international affairs to former President Jair Bolsonaro – 21 years in prison;
• Marília de Alencar, former director of intelligence at the Ministry of Justice – eight years and six months in prison.

Nucleus 3 – Date of conviction: November 18

• Hélio Ferreira Lima, lieutenant colonel – 24 years in prison;
• Rafael Martins de Oliveira, lieutenant colonel – 21 years in prison;
• Rodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo, lieutenant colonel – 21 years in prison;
• Wladimir Matos Soares, federal police officer – 21 years in prison;
• Sérgio Ricardo Cavaliere de Medeiros, lieutenant colonel – 17 years in prison;
• Bernardo Romão Correa Netto, colonel – 17 years in prison;
• Fabrício Moreira de Bastos, colonel – 16 years in prison;
• Márcio Nunes de Resende Júnior, colonel – three years and five months in prison;
• Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Júnior, lieutenant colonel – one year and 11 months in prison.

Nucleus 4 – Date of conviction: October 21

• Ângelo Martins Denicoli, Army reserve major – 17 years in prison;
• Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu, Army colonel – 15 years and six months in prison;
• Marcelo Araújo Bormevet, federal police officer – 14 years and six months in prison;
• Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues, Army sergeant major – 14 years in prison;
• Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros, Army reserve major – 13 years in prison;
• Guilherme Marques de Almeida, Army lieutenant colonel – 13 years and six months;
• Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha, president of the Voto Legal Institute – seven years and six months in prison.

The launch of the Hanbit-Nano rocket, developed by South Korean company Innospace, will take place from the Alcântara Launch Center in Maranhão state and is scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 17) at 3:45 pm Brasília time.

According to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), which will conduct the operation, the launch window runs from December 16 to 22. This is the first commercial launch of a space vehicle from Brazilian territory.

“It will be an inaugural flight from Brazil, symbolizing the country’s entry into the global space launch market,” said Colonel Clóvis Martins de Souza, director of the launch center.

The mission, called Operation Spaceward, involves around 400 professionals – including Brazilians, both military and civilian, and South Koreans. The Air Force described the inititive as an unprecedented and strategic advance for the Brazilian Space Program.

“It is a milestone that demonstrates our technical maturity and inserts Brazil into the global commercial launch market. Alcântara is establishing itself as a strategic space hub, attracting investment, companies, and innovation. It is a significant step for Brazil’s future in space,” said the head of the CLA Operations Division, Major Engineer Robson Coelho de Oliveira.

The space vehicle – which is 21.8 meters long, 1.4 meters in diameter, and weighs 20 tons – will carry satellites into low Earth orbit, at an altitude of approximately 300 km and an inclination of 40 degrees.

A total of eight payloads are inside the fairing at the top of the launch vehicle – five small satellites for placement in orbit and three experimental devices. The equipment's propulsion is hybrid, using solid and liquid fuel.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes decided Monday (Dec. 15) to request the US to extradite federal representative Alexandre Ramagem. The procedure is expected to be formalized by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

Former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) during the Bolsonaro administration, Ramagem was sentenced in the criminal coup plot case to 16 years in prison and is appealing while at liberty.

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In September, he fled the country to avoid serving his sentence and is now living in Miami, Florida.

In his decision, the minister ordered the Supreme Court’s judicial secretariat to send the Ministry of Justice the documents necessary to formalize the extradition.

During the investigation into the coup plot, Ramagem was prohibited by Justice Alexandre de Moraes from leaving the country and had to surrender all his passports.

After discovering his escape, the Brazilian lower house reported that it had not been informed of the congressman’s departure and had not authorized him to go on any official missions abroad.

The lower house also reported that the lawmaker had presented medical certificates covering the periods from September 9 to October 8 as well as from October 13 to December 12.

Impeachment

Due to the conviction, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower house must strip Ramagem of his seat. The board of directors of the house is expected to deliberate on the issue this week, the last before the parliamentary recess.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Monday (Dec. 15) that the work of the government and the quality of national production have led to the opening of over 500 international markets for Brazilian agricultural products from 2023 to 2025. “The success of what’s happening in Brazil comes as a result of the lessons we’ve learned over many years,” he stated.

He attended the inauguration of the Brasília headquarters of ApexBrasil – Brazil’s promotion agency for international trade. The event also celebrated the opening of these new markets, which have so far resulted in USD 3.4 billion in exports.

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• Lula to seek market of 680 million inhabitants in Southeast Asia.

This commercial expansion is spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, with the participation of ApexBrasil, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Services, in association with the private sector.

“Here’s what’s happening in Brazil today – we produce to meet the domestic market, and we’ve been producing so well that we’re now able to meet the needs of the international market. This is the most perfect thing that could happen,” the president said.

The president praised the work of ministers and authorities involved and said he envisions even further expansion. Next year, for instance, he is expected to attend the Hannover Messe in Germany, one of the world’s leading industrial innovation and technology fairs.

The Brazilian leader will also travel to South Korea, where he plans to explore partnerships in the cosmetics sector, and to India, where, he says, there is potential in defense, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural technology.

Potential

Located in over 80 countries, the new markets are estimated to have export potential of more than USD 37.5 billion a year, as per official figures. Each country may have several markets for different types of products – chief among them are meat, cotton, fruit, and fish.

In the view of Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro, the “historic achievement” of commercial expansion is the result of good Brazilian diplomacy and the nation’s production capacity. He also recalled that, in 2025, Brazil received certification as a foot-and-mouth disease–free country.

“For 72 years, Brazil fought against this disease. And the world now recognizes the healthiness of Brazilian products and the country’s ability to produce more and more with guaranteed quality,” he pointed out.

Trade promotion

According to ApexBrasil, from 2023 to 2025, the joint effort between the agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Foreign Ministry resulted in more than 170 international initiatives across 42 countries, totaling USD 18 billion in projected business and serving over 3 thousand Brazilian companies. During this period, 19 official presidential missions and five vice-presidential missions were carried out.

The president of ApexBrasil, Jorge Viana, also spoke about the importance of the partnership with the private sector.

“Apex has 52 agreements with 52 sectors of the Brazilian economy [for participation in events abroad]. These are fifty-fifty agreements, with Apex providing half the money and the organizations providing the other half. Why? So that Brazil can make its presence felt around the world. Events amount to close to a thousand each year,” he said.

Officially created in 2003 – during President Lula’s first term, which ended in October 2025 – ApexBrasil registered 20,754 companies supported during the year, 66 percent of which were micro, small, and medium-sized, with a special focus on the North and Northeast regions, as part of a strategy to decentralize trade promotion activities.

Brazil’s Vice-President and Minister of Industry Geraldo Alckmin said that Brazil is expected to break its export record this year. “Even with slower global growth and lower prices, we are expected to break a record of USD 345 billion in exports and USD 629 billion in trade flow,” he said.

Brazil’s Ministry of Health has begun releasing sterile male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the indigenous village of Cimbres, in the municipality of Pesqueira, state of Pernambuco, in yet another effort to combat dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. In a statement, the ministry reported that 50 thousand insects have been released with the aim of strengthening arbovirus control in the region.

“The strategy prevents mosquitoes from producing offspring when they mate with females, contributing to the gradual reduction of the vector population and virus transmission,” the statement reads.

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• Brazilian creator of dengue-blocking Aedes honored by Nature.
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According to the ministry, the initiative marks the beginning of the implementation of the sterile insect technique in indigenous territories. Planned for the next phases is the weekly release of more than 200 thousand sterile mosquitoes. The initial investment is BRL 1.5 million – covering production, logistics, and monitoring.

In addition to Cimbres, the technology will also be implemented in indigenous territories in the states of Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul.

The continuity and expansion of the initiatives will depend on the results achieved and the technical evaluation of the teams involved, the ministry said. The data will enable the analysis of the impact on the reduction of cases of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.

Sterile insect technique

The sterile insect technique uses the species itself to reduce the population of Aedes aegypti. In the laboratory, male mosquitoes are sterilized by ionizing radiation, rendering them incapable of producing offspring, and are then released in large numbers in target areas.

When mating with females, the males do not produce offspring, leading to a progressive decrease in the population of arbovirus vectors.

“Because it does not use insecticides and poses no risk to health or the environment, the technique is recommended for indigenous territories located in conservation areas and forests, where the use of chemicals is restricted or prohibited,” the ministry stated.