Tidbits
Canada just increased the Carbon tax by 23%. Farmers are unhappy.
Brazil's Politics
Political unrest is growing in many around the world and that includes Brazil, the world’s leading exporter of corn, soybeans, beef, sugar, orange juice, and coffee. Â
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Lula da Silva (Lula) has been Brazil’s 39th President since 1 January 2023. Lula was also the 35th president from 2003 to 2010. He is a leftist politician. His first presidency was marked by the consolidation of social welfare programs and corruption.
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In July 2017, Lula was convicted on charges of money laundering, corruption, and sent to prison. His political buddies managed to pack the Supreme Court and get his conviction overturned in 2019 and he ran for the presidency again in 2022, defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, Trump-like conservative. There were widespread allegations of election fraud. Â
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Lula said he admires Gandhi, Che Guevara, Mao Zedong, Hitler, Castro, and Ayatollah Khomeini: "I admire in a man the fire to want to do something, and then his going out to try to do it."