Key Points — Tax-authority documents handed to the Senate’s Crime Organized commission show Brazil’s failed Banco Master made roughly R$65 million in declared payments to law firms and consultancies tied to former president Michel Temer (R$10 million), União Brasil party chief Antônio Rueda (R$6.4 million), former Bahia capital mayor ACM Neto (R$5.4 million), Justice Minister […]

The post Brazil’s Biggest Banking Scandal of 2026 Now Reaches a Former President, Three Ex-Ministers and a Sitting Party Chief appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Senator Flávio Bolsonaro — the right-wing frontrunner for Brazil’s October 2026 presidential election — pledged on April 22 at the Norte Show agribusiness fair in Sinop, Mato Grosso to end the Amazon soy moratorium, the 20-year-old voluntary accord that bars traders from buying soybeans from land deforested after 2008. —The timing is strategic: […]

The post Flávio Bolsonaro Promises Farmers He Will End the 20-Year Amazon Soy Deforestation Agreement appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —A UK holding called Titan Capital Holdings Ltd was registered at Companies House on April 2, 2026 (number 17135437), roughly four weeks after Brazil’s Central Bank froze the assets of a near-identical Cayman Islands vehicle — Titan Capital Holding — tied to jailed Banco Master founder Daniel Vorcaro. —The new company’s sole director, […]

The post A Second Titan Holding Surfaces in London as Brazil’s Master Bank Probe Widens appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Brazilian exports to the 15-country Middle East region fell 26% in March to US$882 million, down from US$1.2 billion a year earlier, as the US–Israel–Iran war disrupted Gulf shipping routes. —Agribusiness took the main hit, with pork exports down 59%, soy down 25% and chicken — Brazil’s top item sold to the region […]

The post Brazil Middle East Exports Fall 26% to $882 Million as Iran War Hits Agribusiness appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Bank of America strategists David Beker and Natacha Perez published a Brazil strategy note on April 14 titled “Brazil: the new gold?” after client meetings in New York ahead of the IMF Spring Meetings. The note argues Brazilian equities and the real continue to outperform global peers, driven primarily by foreign inflows, […]

The post “Brazil: The New Gold?” BofA Explains Why Foreign Money Keeps Piling In appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — The US State Department’s narcotics report lists Brazil among major sources of precursor or essential chemicals used to make illicit drugs, alongside China, Argentina, Chile, India, Mexico and others. — The report identifies the PCC as the main transnational threat, present in 22 of Brazil’s 27 states and 16 countries, and names […]

The post Washington Puts Brazil on Drug Precursor Source List appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Brazil’s agro-industrial output fell 1.9% in February year-over-year according to the FGV Agro PIMAgro index — critically, this data captures the period before the Iran war began on February 28, meaning the full impact of Hormuz disruptions is not yet reflected — The non-food agro-industrial segment collapsed 5.5%, driven by an 11.5% […]

The post Brazil’s Agro-Industry Was Already Shrinking Before the Iran War Made Everything Worse appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Raízen creditors have presented a new restructuring proposal demanding a capital injection of approximately R$8 billion (US$1.6 billion) — more than double the R$4 billion Shell and Cosan previously committed — The bondholders are also demanding the removal of Cosan founder Rubens Ometto as Raízen’s chairman, seeking a governance overhaul as the […]

The post The Raízen Power Struggle: Creditors Want the Money, the Equity, and the Chairman  appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points Brazil is the world’s largest fertilizer importer, consuming roughly 47 million tonnes annually while producing only about 7 million domestically — an 88% import dependency that the Ukraine war, Chinese export bans, and the Iran-Hormuz crisis have each exposed but none have fixed. Petrobras approved the US$1 billion revival of the UFN-III fertilizer […]

The post Brazil Races to Rebuild Its Fertilizer Industry After Decades of Neglect appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Brazil’s Ministries of Finance and Planning sent the 2027 Budget Guidelines Bill (PLDO) to Congress on Wednesday with a primary surplus target of 0.50% of GDP, or R$73.2 billion, with a tolerance band of ±0.25pp (floor R$36.6 billion, ceiling R$109.8 billion). The trajectory continues at 1.0% in 2028, 1.25% in 2029, and […]

The post Brazil’s 2027 Budget Law Sets R$73B Surplus Target, Debt Peak in 2029 appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Brazilian crude oil shipments to China doubled in the first quarter of 2026 versus Q1 2025, reaching US$7.19 billion and capturing 57% of Brazil’s total crude exports—and 65% in March alone. March 2026 was the largest monthly Brazilian oil export volume to China since the trade series began in 1997, at roughly […]

The post Brazil’s Oil Exports to China Double in Q1 2026 as Hormuz Rewires Flow appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Justice Kassio Nunes Marques was elected president of the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) on Tuesday evening in a symbolic vote, becoming the first Bolsonaro-appointed justice to lead the court that oversees Brazilian elections. — He will preside over the October 2026 congressional and gubernatorial elections—the most polarized since 2022—in which Lula faces […]

The post First Bolsonaro Appointee to Lead the Electoral Court Takes Over as Brazil Heads to October Vote appeared first on The Rio Times.