On April 8 and 9, representatives of the foreign ministries of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere will meet in Rio de Janeiro for the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the South Atlantic Zone of Peace and Cooperation (ZOPACAS).

ZOPACAS is a diplomatic mechanism established in 1986 by the United Nations to keep the region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. The Zone of Peace and Cooperation comprises Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and 21 countries along Africa’s west coast, from Senegal to South Africa.

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As has been the case throughout its 40-year history, the country hosting the ZOPACAS ministerial meeting assumes the presidency of the mechanism for two to three years. Brazil will succeed Cape Verde.

With the risk of armed conflict reduced among the 24 countries in the region, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry aims to strengthen cooperation.

“For 40 years, United Nations member states have, by consensus, reiterated this declaration [regarding a zone free of weapons of mass destruction]. However, ZOPACAS is also a zone of peace and cooperation, and this aspect, in our view, has not developed to its full potential,” said Ambassador Carlos Márcio Bicalho Cozendey, Secretary for Multilateral Political Affairs at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Documents

According to the diplomat, the countries are expected to sign three documents in Rio: a convention on the marine environment; a cooperation strategy establishing three areas of action (subdivided into 14 thematic areas); and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which is political in nature.

Although it is a “political declaration,” Ambassador Carlos Bicalho rules out the possibility that the 30–40 paragraphs of the text currently being drafted will contain references to conflicts in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. “One should not expect statements on all current events,” he said.

The ZOPACAS ministerial meeting, however, should “reiterate and make clear that this is a peaceful region and that the countries of the region themselves are capable of and interested in maintaining it as a region of peace and security” and “prevent extra-regional powers from bringing their conflicts and problems here,” the diplomat added during a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasília.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to attend the meeting’s closing ceremony.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated Tuesday (Mar. 31) that politics has become a business, adding it is necessary to convince the people that a change in Brazil’s political landscape is possible through the election of good candidates.

Lula held his first cabinet meeting of 2026 today and bid farewell to the ministers who will be leaving their posts to run in the elections this October. At the event, Lula confirmed that Alckmin will run for vice-president again.

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“We have a lot of great politicians today, but the truth is that in many cases, politics has become a business,” he noted. “Political offices come at a high price. Someone told me the other day, ‘A federal representative won’t get elected for less than 50 million reais.’ And if that’s true, we’ve reached the end of any sense of integrity in Brazilian politics,” the president went on to argue.

In Lula’s view, everyone is to blame in this process. In a bid not to “bring anyone into the spotlight,” he said, the necessary changes are not being proposed. “And things just keep getting worse, and today we’ve reached a state of decline, including in some institutions.”

Candidacies

According to the president, of the 37 government ministers, at least 18 will step down to run for elected office in October.

Among them is vice-President Geraldo Alckmin, who also served as Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services.

The president and vice-president do not need to resign from office to run in the upcoming election. If they were running for another office, however, they would need to resign.

Politicians who intend to vie for office have until April 4 to leave their current positions, six months before the first round of the elections, which takes place on October 4.

During the meeting, Lula also emphasized he would not appoint new ministers and that the ministries would be headed by members of the current team, such as the then-executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan, who took over after Minister Fernando Haddad stepped down.

“We have confidence in the team you’ve put together,” Lula said. “We have a lot to accomplish by December 31, and it is the duty of those who remain to see it through – to ensure the wheels keep turning without any disruption. We can’t start building a new ministry with only nine months left in our term,” he added.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from the hospital on Friday morning (Mar. 27), according to a medical bulletin released by DF Star Hospital, where he had been hospitalized since March 13 to treat pneumonia.

Bolsonaro returned to his home in a gated community in Lago Sul, an upscale neighborhood in Brasília, where he will serve temporary house arrest authorized by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

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The former president had been hospitalized since March 13 after falling ill at the Papuda Prison Complex.

At the time, he was taken by a medical team to hospital with a high fever, low oxygen saturation, sweating, and chills.

House arrest

Under house arrest, Bolsonaro will once again be monitored by an ankle tag. In November last year, before being convicted of the coup plot, the former president had been arrested after attempting to tamper with the device.

Agents from the Federal District Military Police will be responsible for securing the residence to prevent an escape. 

According to the ruling, house arrest has an initial term of 90 days. After this period, the measure will be reviewed by the presiding justice, who may request a new medical evaluation.

Jair Bolsonaro is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for attempted coup d’état and other related crimes.

The first F-39E Gripen fighter jet produced in Brazil was presented Wednesday (Mar. 25) to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The christening ceremony for the supersonic aircraft, produced by Brazil’s plane maker Embraer and the Swedish Saab, took place at the Embraer Gavião Peixoto Airfield, in São Paulo state.

The production of the aircraft on Brazilian soil represents a milestone that places Brazil among “a select group of nations” capable of developing and producing highly complex combat aircraft – a first in Latin America – a note from the Planalto presidential palace says.

During the visit, Lula was also introduced to the eVTOL flying car. This prototype of a fully electric aircraft, which takes off and lands vertically, was developed by Embraer’s subsidiary Eve Air Mobility.

F-39 Gripen Fighter

The Brazilian Air Force believes the development of the F-39 Gripen fighter jet in Brazil will bring major benefits to the country.

It should strengthen air sovereignty, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers and boosting the Defense Industrial Base, as the contract includes technology transfer and the training of Brazilian professionals.

A large number of jobs will be created through this project, which integrates the domestic industry into the sector’s global supply chain, the Air Force stated. The program has generated more than 2 thousand direct jobs and some 10 thousand indirect jobs.

Innovation, technology and defense

Brazil’s vice-President Geraldo Alckmin, who attended the event, noted that the government has made BRL 108 billion available through the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) for projects focused on innovation.

“Whoever masters technology masters the future,” said Alckmin, who also serves as minister of development, industry, trade, and services. “The defense industry is a safeguard for national sovereignty, as well as a leader in industrial development,” he added.

Defense Minister José Múcio highlighted, among the advantages of manufacturing the fighter jet in Brazil, access to cutting-edge technologies, which, he said, has a positive impact on the domestic industry.

“By investing in defense, our industry marks a milestone in maturity and competence, enabling Brazil to position itself as the largest manufacturing hub in Latin America. It will also consolidate our deterrent power, expanding our capacity to guarantee national sovereignty and regional security,” said the minister.