1. Joelma had just walked up the hill on the way to her place. From there she could see the rest of the slum: the shacks at the bottom, interrupted only by a grocery store at the end of the block, and the ones above her, which lead to an evangelical church. Too many people for a single street. It had rained the day before. Her sandals were covered with mud. Not that this mattered much: her own home stood on muddy ground, so there was no point in complaining. She left her sandals in the washing sink right by…
A major reform dominating the political agenda in Brazil seeks to overhaul the tax system. Former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva each sought to pass their own tax reforms during their respective terms but failed. Unlike these previous attempts, the current tax reform has its origins in Congress — not the Executive branch.
Since the 1988 Constitution, the Executive branch has been the primary player behind every major reform in Brazilian politics. It is therefore surprising that the current push for tax reform has come from Congress. Despite the creation of a working group within…
Beatriz Rey
Research Fellow at American University studying legislative effectiveness in Latin America. Twitter: @beatrizprey
