Silvio Simonetti is a Brazilian lawyer, graduated in international affairs from the Bush School at Texas A & M University. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Acton Institute. Silvio loves history and the Catholic Church.
There are few men who define an era, a school of thought or anything of the sort. There are even in smaller numbers those who, once dead, give us a feeling that along with them a whole era comes to an end. Continue Reading...
The recent victory of the conservative populist Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential elections brought the name of the philosopher Olavo de Carvalho to the center of Brazilian political debate. Many have since stated that Carvalho is an intellectual precursor to the populist candidate – as someone who was able to reshape the Brazilian political discussion in ways that cleared an intellectual path for Bolsonaro’s electoral victory. Continue Reading...
Once we get beyond the myths surrounding the long presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we soon recognize that one of FDR’s successes was to establish a myriad of symbols that captured the imagination of world politics. Continue Reading...
John Stuart Mill was a prominent public intellectual of the Victorian era. A popular figure in liberal circles, Mill wrote about economics, politics, and society. One of his contemporaries in London was Karl Marx. Continue Reading...
In his book Sovereignty (1955), the French philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel observed that one of the significant phenomena in the construction of the modern state was the concentration of the means of communication in the hands of a few. Continue Reading...
The Sandinista Revolution (1979 – 1990), which sought to transform Nicaragua into a new Cuba, was well-known for many things, including the way in which it highlighted the new alliance between the Latin American Communist movements and liberation theologians. Continue Reading...
1968 was a year of intense change for the world. Anyone who lived it may have thought the world was being engulfed by the waters of revolution. Across the world, students took to the streets promising to destroy the political system. Continue Reading...
It was in Brazil’s 2010 elections that the majority of the voters first learned about Silas Malafaia. It was also the election in which the left-wing president Lula da Silva reached the height of his political power. Continue Reading...
When Jair Messias Bolsonaro walked into TV Cultura’s studio in July, no one had any idea of the political tsunami that would engulf Brazil 90 days later.
The “Roda Viva” is the oldest talk show on Brazilian television; a group of eight journalists sit on a wheel-shaped bench and in the center lies the interviewee. Continue Reading...
Father Paulo Ricardo is a very sympathetic man. Always smiling, he is tall, thin, and balding. His austere appearance reminds us of priests portrayed in the films of the 1960s. Father Paulo could easily pretend to be Dom Camilo, the wise Italian priest created by Giovannino Guareschi and immortalized in the cinema by the brilliant French actor Fernandel. Continue Reading...
