Once a Pioneer in Fighting Poverty, Brazil Is Backsliding Under Austerity

Once a Pioneer in Fighting Poverty, Brazil Is Backsliding Under Austerity
A demonstrator carries a poster that reads “More Motherland, Less Temer,” during a protest after an Independence Day military parade, Brasilia, Sept. 7, 2017 (AP photo by Eraldo Peres).

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, and associate editor, Omar H. Rahman, discuss what Germany’s election results mean for Europe and the rise of populist nationalism on the continent, as well as Iraqi Kurdistan’s big leap forward for independence. For the Report, Ciara Long talks with Peter Dörrie about how Brazil’s economic downturn and austerity budgets are combining to undo the impressive gains the country previously made in poverty-reduction, while also jeopardizing the celebrated Bolsa Familia initiative that has helped move millions out of poverty since 2003.

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Relevant Articles on WPR:

‘Hope Is the Last Thing That Dies’: Brazil’s New Poor in an Age of Austerity

Germany’s Anti-Climactic Election Masks Problems for Merkel Down the Line
Can Macron and Merkel Really Save the European Union?
The Kurdish Struggle for Autonomy
Is Kurdish Independence From Iraq Impossible? Or Inevitable?
Iraqi Kurds’ Independence Referendum Is a Lightning Rod for Broader Regional Conflict
The Battle to Come Over Reconstruction in Syria
Cambodia Turns Against the U.S. as Hun Sen’s Political Crackdown Widens

Trend Lines is produced and edited by Peter Dörrie, a freelance journalist and analyst focusing on security and resource politics in Africa. You can follow him on Twitter at @peterdoerrie.

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