Commemorating International Women's Day, thousands of landless women engaged in protests across Brazil. Several of the protests targeted large eucalyptus plantations for pulp production, as part of a renewed effort by the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) and Vía Campesina to fight against multinational agribusiness corporations. As activists turn the screws on agribusiness, state repression against the landless movement has also increased.

In the early 1990s, the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, then-led by the leftist Workers’ Party (PT), garnered international attention for pioneering citizen participation in allocating a chunk of city resources. Nearly 20 years after Porto Alegre first moved toward Participatory Budgeting (PB), the government reports a rise in participation, and attendance at this year’s citywide assemblies has been near capacity, but for many long-time participants the PB process is heading toward stormy weather.