Brazil

November 2017, Dean Baker

US News and World Report: Brazilian politician Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right, misogynist, and nostalgic supporter of the country’s military dictatorship, is rising in the polls partly due to media support and judicial interference against his main rival, former president Lula da Silva, highlighting the fragility of Brazil’s democracy amid economic turmoil and elite-driven political manipulation.

October 9, 2017

The Nation: Lula da Silva and his Workers’ Party are an affront to the country’s traditional elite — which is itself mired in corruption — so they want to destroy him by any means necessary.

HuffPost: Brazil’s sky-high interest rates act as a hidden tax, dragging down growth and enriching the financial sector at the public’s expense.

A letter from the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island nation located in the Southern Caribbean, provides a stellar example of the wide gulf between the way the US government and allied media present many issues of international imp

April 2017, Mark Weisbrot, Jake Johnston, Julia Villarruel Carrillo, and Vitor Mello

The New York Times told readers that Mexico is preparing to “play the corn card” in its negotiations with Donald Trump. The piece warns:

“Now corn has taken on a new role — as a powerful lever for Mexican officials in the run-up to talks over Nafta, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“The reason: Much of the corn that Mexico consumes comes from the United States, making it America’s top agricultural export to its southern neighbor. And even though President Trump appears to be pulling back from his vows to completely overhaul Nafta, Mexico has taken his threats to heart and has begun flexing its own muscle.

“The Mexican government is exploring buying its corn elsewhere — including Argentina or Brazil — as well as increasing domestic production. In a fit of political pique, a Mexican senator even submitted a bill to eliminate corn purchases from the United States within three years.”

It then warns of the potential devastation from this threat:

“The prospect that the United States could lose its largest foreign market for corn and other key products has shaken farming communities throughout the American Midwest, where corn production is a vital part of the economy. The threat is particularly unsettling for many residents of the Corn Belt because much of the region voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump in the presidential election.

“‘If we lose Mexico as a customer, it will be absolutely devastating to the ag economy,’ said Philip Gordon, 68, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat on a farm in Saline, Mich., that has been in his family for 140 years.”

Okay, I hate to spoil a good scare story with a dose of reality, but let’s think this one through for a moment. According to the piece, instead of buying corn from the United States, Mexico might buy it from Argentina or Brazil. So, we’ll lose our Mexican market to these two countries.