The new Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom, Roberto Jaguaribe, has taken up his post in London. His previous position was as Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs in the Brazilian foreign ministry. A diplomat since 1979, Ambassador Jaguaribe has held a number of high-level positions both in the foreign ministry and in other government agencies.
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Brazilian agriculture: The miracle of the cerrado – The Economist – 27/8
Brazil holds its first online presidential debate – BBC News – 20/8
Latin American airlines to merge – Financial Times – 19/8
The transformation of Latin America is a global advance – The Guardian – 19/8
Rio de Janeiro sets up grammar hotline – BBC News – 18/8

The total number of homicides in Rio de Janeiro state in June was lower than in any other month since 1991. The state security secretary said the improvement is due in part to the 'pacification' programme that has seen police units establish an ongoing presence in many favelas. Read more

Life in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, home to around a quarter of the city’s population, is explored by American sociologist Janice Perlman in this new book. In the early 1970s Perlman conducted a study of 750 favela residents, publishing her findings in The Myth of Marginality (1976). More than 30 years later she returned to Rio to track down these original participants and see what the changes in their lives revealed about the prospects for social mobility in Brazil.
Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio De Janeiro
More books on Brazil

During a visit to Brasília by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, President Lula said that progressive democratic reforms in Central America merited greater attention from the United Nations.
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The Southbank Centre in London is hosting a summer-long Brazilian arts festival featuring musical icons such as Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia, Os Mutantes and Tom Zé; Brazilian visual arts in the Hayward Gallery; design from the Campana brothers; and talks with writer Milton Hatoum and ex-footballer Socrates. For further information visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk/brazil