Mateus Ribeiro da Silva – AU Brazil Research Initiative

Bolsonaro’s Increasing Electoral Mischief

In their influential 2018 book “How Democracies Die” Levitsky and Ziblatt argued that rather than staging an open coup, modern leaders may subvert the democratic process by repeatedly undermining institutions. In the runup to the October election, Bolsonaro appears to be following their script closely, and his electoral mischief continues...

By Mateus Ribeiro da Silva May 11, 2022Institutional, Judiciary, Politics1 Comment

Environment Judiciary Politics

The Brazilian Environment on Trial

Since the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration, Brazil has experienced numerous environmental disasters, including the rupture of a tailings dam in Minas Gerais, wide-reaching oil spills on the northeastern coast, and a sharp increase in wildfires throughout the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetlands. International perceptions of Brazil's environmental performance have also...

By Mateus Ribeiro da Silva April 15, 2022Environment, Judiciary, Politics

Foreign Policy Politics

China’s Campaign for Brazilian Hearts

China's cultural influence in Latin America remains understudied. While there are many good analyses of its rising economic heft in the Western Hemisphere, our understanding of China’s public diplomacy efforts and its cultural outreach is incipient. With the aim of beginning to address this gap, American University's Center for Latin American...

By Mateus Ribeiro da Silva March 18, 2022Foreign Policy, Politics