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Former Fifa world player of year says violence is ‘getting uglier’ Wider public concerns over Zika virus and political turmoil Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo is telling tourists to stay away from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro because of the danger of endemic violence. Rivaldo posted the warning on his Instagram account and alluded to the case of a 17-year-old woman killed on Saturday in a shootout. “Things are getting uglier here every day,” Rivaldo wrote. “I advise everyone with plans to visit Brazil for the Olympics in Rio — to stay home. You’ll be putting your life at risk here. This is without even speaking about the state of public hospitals and all the Brazilian political mess. Only God can change the situation in our Brazil.” The Olympics open in just under three months. In a recent statement, Amnesty International said at least 11 people were killed in police shootings in Rio’s impoverished favelas in April. It said at least 307 people were killed by police last year...

Embattled Brazilian president tells foreign media she is the innocent victim of a ‘coup’ and will only leave office if voted out by the electorate The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff , has told journalists in New York there is “no legal foundation” for her impeachment as she took her fight for political survival into the international ring. After losing a lower house vote that puts her just weeks away from being ejected from office, on Friday Rousseff repeated claims that she was the innocent victim of a “coup” and said she would only give up the fight if the electorate voted against her. Rousseff’s appeal to the Guardian and a handful of other foreign news organisations appears to be a last-ditch attempt to win away after losing catastrophically at home. As a result of recession, political upheaval and a huge corruption scandal, her government is deeply unpopular with the Brazilian media, the country’s Congress and in public opinion. But Rousseff has not been charged with an...

Nothing is clear in Brazil’s murky political crisis, except that the country will suffer the consequences for a long time to come.  Ever since Stefan Zweig, writing in 1941, dubbed it “the land of the future” , Brazil has been reproached for failing to live up to the promise that its size, its resources and its insulation from the wars and troubles afflicting other parts of the world seemed to hold out. There have been moments when that promise seemed on the verge of becoming a reality, but such hopes have again been repeatedly dashed. The most recent came with the accession to power of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003. Lula and his Workers party, or PT, brought new ideas, new energy and a new style into a Brazilian politics disfigured by corruption, patronage, and persistent procrastination in the face of the pressing issues before the nation. Published By - Theguardian.com - LifeStyle News, Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis: Monday 18 April 201...