Rio de Janeiro:

The Brazil government has expressed outrage and said it would demand an explanation from the Donald Trump administration, after dozens of immigrants who were deported from the United States, arrived by plane in handcuffs. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said the treatment mated to immigrants during the fight home was a “flagrant disregard” of human rights.

The controversy comes as Latin America grapples with US President Donald Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration agenda. Since returning to power a week ago, Trump has implemented his crackdown plans on irregular migration and mass deportations, with several planes flying in illegal immigrants to different countries like Guatemala and Brazil. 

When one such plane landed in Brazil’s northern city of Manaus, authorities reportedly found that 88 Brazilians who were aboard the aircraft, were in handcuffs. They ordered US officials to “immediately remove the handcuffs,” Brazil’s justice ministry said in a statement.

Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski told President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of “the flagrant disregard for the fundamental rights of Brazilian citizens,” the statement said.

BRAZIL SLAMS HANDCUFFS ON DEPORTEES—TRUMP ADMIN UNMOVED

Brazil called the use of handcuffs on deportees “blatant disrespect,” demanding their removal mid-flight during an unexpected landing in Manaus.

The Trump administration, now ramping up mass deportations, sees the… https://t.co/C1DdUEQCIB pic.twitter.com/N0jKCp7yHK

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 26, 2025

Brazil will request “explanations from the US government about the degrading treatment of passengers” on the Friday night flight, the foreign ministry said on X.

The American Nightmare

Among the Brazilians who were on the flight was Edgar Da Silva Moura, a 31-year-old computer technician. Before being deported, he was in detention in the United States for seven months.

“On the plane, they didn’t give us water, we were tied hands and feet, they wouldn’t even let us go to the bathroom,” he told news agency AFP.

“It was very hot, some people fainted,” Moura said.

Twenty-one-year-old Luis Antonio Rodrigues Santos, who was also on the flight, recounted the “nightmare” of people with “respiratory problems” during “four hours without air conditioning” due to technical issues on the plane.

“Things have already changed (with Trump), immigrants are treated as criminals,” he said.

The flight was originally destined for the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte but encountered a technical issue forcing it to land in Manaus.

Flight Not Part Of Trump’s Plan

A government source told AFP the deportation flight was not directly linked to any immigration orders issued by Trump upon taking office but rather stemmed from a 2017 bilateral agreement.

Brazil’s Minister of Human Rights, Macae Evaristo, told journalists that “children with autism … who went through very serious experiences” were also on the flight.

Footage on Brazilian television showed some passengers descending from the civilian aircraft, with their hands handcuffed and their ankles shackled.

“Upon learning of the situation, President Lula ordered that a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft be mobilized to transport the Brazilians to their final destination, in order to ensure that they could complete their journey with dignity and safety,” the justice ministry said.

A Brazilian government source told AFP that the deportees who arrived in Manaus travelled “with their documents”, which shows that they agreed to return home.

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States. On his first day in office, he signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern US border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”

Several deportation flights since Monday have garnered public and media attention, though such actions were also common under previous US presidents.

In a break with prior practice, however, the Trump administration has begun using military aircraft for repatriation flights, with at least one landing in Guatemala this week. The United States also expelled 265 migrants to Guatemala on Friday.

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security statistics.

Washington DC:

Donald Trump has sniffed trouble brewing afar against the United States – one that may topple the US’s position as a dominant global power and end Washington’s ability to impose economic sanctions against those it deems fit for the case. The storm in question is the steadily-expanding BRICS+ grouping.

Within hours of taking office as President of the United States, Donald Trump went after the BRICS+, threatening to impose 100 per cent tariffs on member countries. The reason Washington feels threatened by the grouping is because it makes the US dollar, America’s greatest weapon – one it can actually use, vulnerable.

In recent times there have been reports of a possibility of the BRICS+ nations working on a common currency which would replace the US dollar for international trade. The founding members of the BRICS are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – the acronym of which is BRICS. Over the years, several other countries have become members of the bloc, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Indonesia. Saudi Arabia has accepted the membership, but has not formally joined yet, saying that the matter is under consideration.

BRICS+, which is shaping up to be the developing world’s alternative to the West-led G7, has set up its own financial structure and institutions, and is cooperating economically and diplomatically to reduce its dependence on the US Dollar – the default currency for international trade.

Donald Trump has now said his administration will impose 100 per cent tariffs against countries of the BRICS+ bloc, should they take any steps to replace the US dollar. “If the BRICS nations want to do that (replace the US dollar), that’s okay, but we’re going to put at least a 100 per cent tariff on the business they do with the United States,” President Trump told the international media shortly after his presidential inauguration.

“They will have a 100 per cent tariff if they so much as even think about reducing the use of the US Dollar in global trade,” he threatened.

Less than a month before he took office, Mr Trump had made a similar reference warning the BRICS+ countries. “We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or, they will face 100 per cent tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy,” Donald Trump, then President-elect, had warned in December.

HOW THE US DOLLAR IS WEAPONISED IN SANCTIONS

The US Dollar, has for decades, been the world’s principal reserve currency. It has been the case since the Second World War, following which global institutions like the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund, among many others were set up. All these institutions were set up in the United States – And America being the largest trading country of the world at that time led to US Dollar becoming the default currency for global trade.

In 1973, a new system was set up to moderate international transactions. This system is known as SWIFT, which is short for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Since then, this has become the world’s commonly accepted and standardised model for international money transfers.

According to its website, SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative connecting more than 11,000 banks, financial institutions and corporations in more than 200 countries and territories. SWIFT is neither a payment nor a settlement system, and is therefore is not regulated as such by any of the world’s central banks.

SWIFT is overseen by the central banks of G10 nations – namely, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, and Sweden.

Since the US Dollar is the default currency of trade globally, and SWIFT is the method or channel of settlement, sanctions are imposed by controlling these two. Sanctions are imposed via SWIFT by restricting access to the network or completely prohibiting individuals, institutions, and countries from using its services. When sanctions are imposed, it completely freezes an account and restricts any further transactions from it.

SWIFT sanctions can freeze any bank’s ability to transact with the rest of the world. Under an international rules-based order, much of the global financial governance is dominated by the US-led West.

MULTI-POLAR WORLD

In the 21st Century, with the rise of Asia, and economies like China, India, Russia, Indonesia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others, the world has become much more multi-polar, instead of being bipolar – which was the case during the Cold War between the US and USSR through much of the 20th Century, post the two world wars in the first half of the century.

Brazil in South America and South Africa in Africa were also rising global economies.

With time, emerging economies became increasingly disgruntled with the dominance of the US Dollar being the default in almost all global transactions. This also kept them under a constant threat of Western sanctions, should they not two the line. To deal with this, BRICS leaders have for long reportedly advocated for de-dollarisation, and been in favor of increased trade in local currencies and even reportedly explored the possibility of a potential common BRICS currency.

The BRICS members have even set up the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement or CRA – which act and function exactly like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund or IMF, respectively.

The so-far 10-member BRICS+ grouping already comprises nearly half of the world’s population and over a third of the global economy. It also has more than 25 per cent of the world’s landmass, produces more than 30 per cent of the world’s oil output and is on track to surge ahead of the G7 economies in less than 20 years.
 

Rio de Janeiro:

Brazilian police on Thursday called for the indictment of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro over a 2022 “coup” plot to prevent current leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office.

A police statement said its investigators concluded that Bolsonaro and 36 others planned the “violent overthrow of the democratic state.”

“Federal police concluded on Thursday the investigation into the existence of a criminal organization that acted in a coordinated way in 2002 in an attempt to maintain the then-president in power,” the statement said.

“The final report has been sent to the Supreme Court with the request that 37 individuals be indicted for the crimes of the violent overthrow of the democratic state, coup d’etat and criminal organization,” it said.

It is up to Brazil’s attorney general to decide whether the allegations are substantiated enough to warrant criminal charges being laid. The charge of attempting a coup carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.

Bolsonaro vowed to “fight” the allegation, and accused the Supreme Court judge overseeing the case of overstepping the law.

“The fight begins at the Attorney General’s office,” Bolsonaro said on his X social media account.

The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, “leads the entire investigation, adjusts statements, arrests without charges, fishes for evidence and has a very creative advisory team. He does everything that the law does not say,” Bolsonaro said.

According to police, the alleged plot was hatched in the final months of Bolsonaro’s 2019-2022 presidency.

Lula, a left-winger who was previously president between 2003 and 2010, won October 2022 elections to succeed the far-right Bolsonaro.

The police statement did not draw a direct link between the alleged plot and an insurrection that took place in Brasilia on January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters entered the capital’s presidential palace, the Congress building and the Supreme Court.

Investigations continue into that upheaval, which echoed scenes from the United States two years earlier, when supporters of Donald Trump protesting President Joe Biden’s election win attacked the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021.

Bolsonaro has expressed admiration for Trump in the past.

The list of alleged co-conspirators in the Bolsonaro case included the names of three elite soldiers and a police officer arrested on Tuesday for allegedly plotting to assassinate Lula and Moraes, in a separately announced case.

Trump parallels 

Bolsonaro is the target of several investigations, but the one on Thursday placing him at the center of an alleged coup is the most dramatic.

He says he is innocent and the victim of “persecution.”

A former army captain, Bolsonaro has already been declared ineligible to hold public office until 2030 for having made unsubstantiated claims of fraud in Brazil’s electronic voting system.

He has been prohibited from leaving the country while a vast probe named “Tempus Veritatis” (“the time of truth” in Latin) continues. The investigation has already swept up several of Bolsonaro’s closest aides.

Bolsonaro hopes to overturn the ineligibility ruling and attempt a comeback in 2026 presidential elections.

On X, he has posted parallels between his situation and that of Trump, who won over US voters this month to secure a return to the White House.

The police investigation calling for Bolsonaro’s indictment detailed an alleged decree the ex-president was said to have given high-ranking military officers in December 2022 ordering them to arrest Moraes.

Moraes was head of the national electoral tribunal that validated Lula’s victory in 2022.

That decree was confirmed by the military officers in police questioning, according to transcripts made public by Moraes, who is now in charge of the case at the Supreme Court.

According to a transcript released in March, a retired Brazilian army general, Marco Antonio Freire Gomes, had spoken to police investigators about the December 2022 meetings with Bolsonaro.

He said a Bolsonaro aide had seen legal opinions the then-president had had drawn up supporting his attempt to stay in power.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A 54-year-old man in Brazil who has been accused of sexually abusing and imprisoning his wife, their seven children and his mother-in-law for two decades has been arrested. Citing Brazilian outlets, the People reported the alleged crimes came to light after one of the daughters escaped the home in Novo Oriente, Brazil. The man, who has not been named in the reports, allegedly held his 40-year-old wife captive for almost the entirety of their marriage. She only left the house to receive benefits and was usually accompanied by him. 

“None of the neighbours knew her, not even her relatives had access to her,” police spokesperson Herika Ribeiro Sena said, per the outlet. 

The seven children, between the ages of 3 and 22, were also victimised by the man. He also allegedly sexually abused his now-deceased mother-in-law. Police allege the woman died after falling ill and not being given proper care. 

The daughters claim that the man drilled holes into the walls of the house so he could see them taking showers and getting dressed. He also allegedly raped them before forcing them to have abortions.

It was only when one of the daughters gave him a sleeping pill that she could escape and report him to the police. Authorities then carried out a month-long investigation before they carried out a raid at the home. 

Also Read | Elon Musk’s X Back Online To Some Brazil Users After Suspension Lifted

According to People, the man is also accused of burying three fetuses on the property after forcing his wife to have three miscarriages by making her take medication. 

The 54-year-old is being charged with false imprisonment, rape of a vulnerable person, psychological violence, abortion and concealment of a corpse. “What this daughter did is very important: bringing what was happening to the public so that action could be taken,” Ms Sena said, per the outlet. 

The man is currently in custody and has denied all charges against him. The investigation is ongoing. 

Smoke from burning vegetation rises in a rainforest in Yanomami Indigenous land, Roraima state, Brazil, March 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has experienced its largest blazes on record in the first four months of the year, with the environmental workers union on Monday placing partial blame on lower government spending on firefighting.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has staked his international reputation on protecting the Amazon rainforest and restoring Brazil as a leader on climate policy.

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is vital to curbing catastrophic global warming because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas it absorbs.

A record drought in the Amazon rainforest region, driven by the El Nino climate phenomenon and global warming, has helped contribute to dry conditions fueling fires this year.

More than 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles) of the Brazil’s Amazon rainforest burned between January and April, the most in over two decades of data, according to Brazil’s space research agency Inpe. That’s an area larger than Qatar, or nearly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut.

Fires in the Amazon generally do not occur naturally but are ignited by people, often seeking to clear land for agriculture.

Firefighting budget cuts are also partially to blame, environmental workers union Ascema said in a statement. They complained that this year’s budget for environmental agency Ibama to fight fires is 24% lower than 2023.

In a statement, Brazil’s environment ministry said that the Amazon fund, which draws on donations from foreign governments, put 405 million reais ($79.4 million) toward firefighting at the state level under Lula’s current administration, which began in 2023.

The federal government sent about 380 firefighters to Roraima, the northern Amazon state that was hit the hardest by the fires, which were intensified by drought, the ministry said.

It did not respond to questions on cuts to Ibama’s firefighting budget. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ibama agents have suspended field work since January amid tense negotiations with the federal government for better pay and working conditions.

Ascema has rejected the latest government offer and demanded larger salary rises after more than a decade of paltry increases and dwindling staff.

While the area burned is a record for the first four months of the year, it pales in comparison to blazes in the peak dry season from August to November, when an area that size can burn in a single month.

“The government needs to understand that without total engagement from environmental workers, the situation foreseen for this year is unprecedented catastrophe,” said Ascema President Cleberson Zavaski.

“Prevention efforts, such as raising awareness about ignitions, creating firebreaks in strategic areas, and conducting prescribed burns, depend on employing people with stable conditions,” said Manoela Machado, a fire researcher at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. “These measures will influence the severity of the fire crisis when the dry conditions allow fires to spread.”

Residents observe a flooded street at the city center of Sao Sebastiao do Cai, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil on May 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The death toll from floods and mudslides triggered by torrential storms in southern Brazil climbed to 39 on Friday, officials said, as they warned of worse to come.

As the rain kept beating down, rescuers in boats and planes searched for scores of people reported missing among the ruins of collapsed homes, bridges and roads.

Rising water levels in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were straining dams and threatening the metropolis of Porto Alegre with “unprecedented” flooding, authorities warned.

“Forget everything you’ve seen, it’s going to be much worse in the metropolitan region,” Governor Eduardo Leite said Friday as the streets of the state capital, with a population of some 1.5 million, started flooding after days of heavy downpours in the region.

The state’s civil defense department said at least 265 municipalities had suffered storm damage in Rio Grande do Sul since Monday, injuring 74 people and displacing more than 24,000 – a third of whom have been brought to shelters.

At least 68 people were missing, and more than 350,000 have experienced some form of property damage, according to the latest data.

And there was no end in sight, with officials reporting an “emergency situation, presenting a risk of collapse” at four dams in the state.

Disastrous cocktail

The level of the state’s main Guiaba river, meanwhile, was estimated to have risen 4.2-4.6 meters (about 13.7-15 feet), but could not be measured as the gauges have washed away, the mayor of Porto Alegre said.

As it kept rising, officials raced to reinforced flood protection.

Porto Alegre’s worst recorded flood was in 1941, when the river reached a level of 4.71 meters.

Elsewhere in the state, several cities and towns have been completely cut off from the world in what Governor Leite described as “the worst disaster in the history” of Rio Grande do Sul.

Many communities have been left without access to drinking water, telephone or internet services.

Tens of thousands have no electricity.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the region Thursday, vowing “there will be no lack of human or material resources” in responding to the disaster, which he blamed on climate change.

The central government has sent aircraft, boats and more than 600 soldiers to help clear roads, distribute food, water and mattresses, and set up shelters.

School classes have been suspended state-wide.

“I feel very sorry for all those who live here… I feel pain in my heart,” Maria Luiza, a 51-year-old resident of Sao Sebastiao do Caí, some 40 miles (70 km) from Porto Alegre, told AFP.

In Capela de Santana, north of the state capital, Raul Metzel explained that his neighbors had to abandon their livestock.

“You don’t know if the water will continue to rise or what will happen to the animals, they may soon drown,” he said.

Climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino told AFP on Friday the devastating storms were the result of a “disastrous cocktail” of global warming and the El Nino weather phenomenon.

South America’s largest country has recently experienced a string of extreme weather events, including a cyclone in September that claimed at least 31 lives.

Aquino said the region’s particular geography meant it was often confronted by the effects of tropical and polar air masses colliding — but these events have “intensified due to climate change.”

And when they coincide with El Nino, a periodic weather system that warms the tropical Pacific, the atmosphere becomes more unstable, he said.

Extreme flooding hit the state in the last two years at “a level of recurrence not seen in 10,000 years,” said Aquino, who heads the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul’s geography department.

Brazil’s new climate change targets would be more ambitious than the United States, which has pledged to cut emissions by 50-52% by 2030.
| Photo Credit: AP

Brazil is expected to announce revised climate targets this week, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva strengthens a prior pledge made by his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, government officials with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Lula is expected to speak on Wednesday at a Climate Ambition Summit called by the United Nations secretary general, where “in principle” he would announce the revised target, one Brazilian official said.

The country will institute an annual cap of 1.32 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, equivalent to a 50% reduction from 2005, said a second Brazilian official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media ahead of the announcement.

Brazil intends to cap 2030 emissions at 1.20 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas, a reduction of 53% compared to 2005, the source said. Brazil’s new climate change targets would be more ambitious than the United States, which has pledged to cut emissions by 50-52% by 2030, also compared to 2005.

The person said that capping the emissions in gigatonnes would bring clarity and put the new target on a par with Brazil’s original 2015 target before Bolsonaro laid out new targets.

Brazil’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Lula dedicated a section of his speech to climate change on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly.

“The vulnerable populations of the Global South are most affected by the losses and damages caused by climate change,” Lula said.

Video footage showed the plane lying on a muddy dirt track with the front part of the aircraft in green foliage. Image for representation purpose only. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A small passenger plane crashed in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest Saturday, killing all 14 people on board, Amazonas state Governor Wilson Lima announced.

“I deeply regret the death of the 12 passengers and two crew members who were victims of the plane crash in Barcelos on Saturday,” Mr. Lima said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Embraer PT-SOG aircraft had taken off from Manaus, the Amazonas state capital and the biggest city in the Amazon, and was attempting to land in heavy rain when it crashed, local media reported.

The passengers were Brazilian tourists on their way to fish, the reports said.

Video footage posted by the Globo television network showed the plane lying on a muddy dirt track with the front part of the aircraft in green foliage. A couple of dozen people are seen standing nearby holding umbrellas.

The Brazilian Air Force sent a team from Manaus to collect information and preserve any evidence that could be used for the investigation into the crash, an air force statement said.