Ana Ionova

Over 130 Killed in Bloody Crackdown on Drug Gangs in Rio de Janeiro

Tragic and shocking images in Rio, after the deadliest police crackdown on drug gangs in history.

Story in @nytimes.com (free link):

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/w...

Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for overseeing a failed coup plot after losing Brazil's last presidential elections.

Our story on this landmark ruling, with @jacknicas.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/w...

Jair Bolsonaro World

In Brazil, the Supreme Court has began weighing whether to convict Jair Bolsonaro on charges that he tried to stage a coup. Follow our coverage of the trial here:

www.nytimes.com/spotlight/ja...

With Jair Bolsonaro on Trial, Brazil Braces for U.S. Sanctions

As Brazil's Supreme Court decides the fate of Jair Bolsonaro, the country is bracing for the possibility of more U.S. sanctions targeting justices and banks, sources told me.

My latest in @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/w...

Thank you, Mauricio!

Today, Jair Bolsonaro goes on trial on charges that he tried to cling to power after losing Brazil's last election.

To piece together the case against him, I combed through dozens of hours of testimony and hundreds of pages of documents. My tale of a failed coup in @nytimes.com

bit.ly/45VQViM

Brazil Clamped Down on Big Tech. Trump’s Tariffs Could Change That. With President Trump on their side, U.S. technology companies now have more leverage in Brazil, where they seek to influence new rules policing their platforms.

Brazil kept a tight rein on Big Tech. Now, Trump’s 50 percent tariffs could change that.

bit.ly/3HifuhF

With Trump’s Help, Scandal-Ridden Brazilian Meatpacker JBS Makes a Comeback JBS, a giant Brazilian firm once fined billions for bribery, is trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Some credit President Trump’s era of deal-making for the company’s success.

JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, was fined billions for bribing politicians in one of the biggest corruption cases in history.

Now, it's trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Some credit President Trump’s era of deal-making for the Brazilian company’s success.

bit.ly/4eqTGwu

Elon Musk’s Starlink Hits a Roadblock in Its March Across South America (Gift Article) Mr. Musk’s Starlink has brought the internet to some of South America’s most remote places. But Bolivia is shunning it, even as many there are desperate for better service.

Elon Musk's Starlink has brought the internet to some of South America’s most remote places. But Bolivia is shunning it, even as many there are desperate for a better connection.

For @nytimes.com, we wrote about why one Latin American country said no thanks to Starlink.

bit.ly/43XEMc5

Episode one: the disappearance Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America corr...

Three years ago today, Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira vanished in a remote stretch of the Amazon. In a new @theguardian.com podcast series, we investigate what happened to them on that final journey, and why.

Listen to “Missing in the Amazon” wherever you get your podcasts.

bit.ly/4dQzpQB

Episode one: the disappearance Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America corr...

Three years ago today, Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira vanished in a remote stretch of the Amazon. In a new @theguardian.com podcast series, we investigate what happened to them on that final journey, and why.

Listen to “Missing in the Amazon” wherever you get your podcasts.

bit.ly/4dQzpQB

Jair Bolsonaro Ordered to Face Trial in Brazil for Attempting a Coup (Gift Article) Brazil’s top court ruled that the former president will be tried over his role in a vast plot to cling to power after his 2022 election loss.

Jair Bolsonaro will face trial on criminal charges that he plotted a coup after losing the 2022 elections, Brazil's Supreme Court decided.

Story in @nytimes.com (free link):

bit.ly/3FIlWgD

Son of Jair Bolsonaro Says He Will Seek Political Asylum in the U.S. Eduardo Bolsonaro, a son of Brazil’s former president, said he planned to stay in the United States, claiming persecution back home.

Son of Jair Bolsonaro Says He Will Seek Political Asylum in the U.S., by @anaionova.bsky.social via @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/w...

A Surprise Blockbuster in Brazil Stokes Oscar Hopes, and a Reckoning (Gift Article) Decades after her mother missed out on an Oscar, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres may have a chance to win a golden statuette with a role in a film that has set off deep soul-searching.

"I'm Still Here" - and Fernanda Torres - are nominated for Oscars!

ICYMI, my story in @nytimes.com about the film and the fever it has set off in Brazil (free link):

bit.ly/41AO5zk

Sim, a matéria aborda essas mudanças mesmo :)

Obrigada @luizantoniosimas.bsky.social, Instituto Jogo Legal e muito outros pela colaboração!

Brazil’s Mafia-Run Animal Lottery Was Invincible. Online Games Changed That. (Gift Article) Digital gambling could spell the end for a lottery run by criminal gangs that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.

Por décadas, o jogo do bicho parecia imbatível. Até a chegada das apostas online, como o Jogo do Tigrinho.

Escrevi para o @nytimes.com sobre como essas novas apostas digitais estão ameaçando a contravenção, que faz parte da vida e do imaginário brasileiro há mais de um século.

bit.ly/42c8efk

Brazil’s Mafia-Run Animal Lottery Was Invincible. Online Games Changed That. (Gift Article) Digital gambling could spell the end for a lottery run by criminal gangs that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.

A mafia-run lottery in Brazil seemed invincible. Until Fortune Tiger came along.

For the @nytimes.com, I wrote about how digital gambling is spelling trouble for an illegal game that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.

bit.ly/42c8efk

Brazil’s Mafia-Run Animal Lottery Was Invincible. Online Games Changed That. (Gift Article) Digital gambling could spell the end for a lottery run by criminal gangs that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.

A mafia-run lottery in Brazil seemed invincible. Until Fortune Tiger came along.

For the @nytimes.com, I wrote about how digital gambling is spelling trouble for an illegal game that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.

bit.ly/42c8efk

An immense thank you to @jacknicas.bsky.social for the opportunity and the support. Looking forward to more great stories in 2025!

Under a Highway in Rio, a Dance Style Charms a New Generation On Rio de Janeiro’s fringes, partygoers have been dancing “charme” to the sounds of R&B for decades. Now, a new crop of dancers is reviving — and transforming — the scene.

And, to cap off 2024, I spent some time under a highway in Rio, where partygoers have been dancing a style called “charme” to the sounds of R&B for decades.

bit.ly/3DC7fuB

A Surprise Blockbuster in Brazil Stokes Oscar Hopes, and a Reckoning Decades after her mother missed out on an Oscar, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres may have a chance to win a golden statuette with a role in a film that has set off deep soul-searching.

Then, I wrote about two legends of Brazilian cinema – and a new film that has sparked Oscar hopes and deep soul-searching in the country. This one was pretty special to report.

bit.ly/41AO5zk

In Milei’s Argentina, Economic Albatross Is Tamed but Life Is Much Harder A year after becoming president, Javier Milei has been praised inside and outside Argentina for reining in galloping inflation. But his economic policies have inflicted widespread hardship.

I also got to write about Argentina, a year after Javier Milei took office and started rolling out his economic "shock therapy." I put this story together with Daniel Politi and Lucía Cholakian Herrera.

bit.ly/3W5vLdR

What Do 5 Million Brazilians Have in Common? A Name With a Grim Past Silva, the surname of presidents and soccer stars, has long carried stigma over its colonial links. Now, many see its legacy in new ways.

What do 5 million Brazilians – including the president and Neymar Jr. – have in common? A last name with a grim colonial past. I looked into why many in Brazil are starting to see the country’s most popular name in a new light.

bit.ly/4ghiK8I

A Difficult Few Days for Bolsonaro’s Right-Wing Movement Accusations that former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro plotted a coup arose after a former top aide of his was implicated in a plan to kill the current president.

Bolsonaro has been accused of orchestrating the coup attempt in a bid to cling to power. I wrote about how the far-right leader – and the movement he helped to build in Brazil – are now facing a crisis.

bit.ly/4952zZZ

Lula Was Target of Assassination Plot, Brazilian Police Say Members of an elite army unit planned to kill Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022 as part of an effort to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power after he lost the presidential election.

I also covered the sprawling investigation into a coup plot aimed at keeping Jair Bolsonaro in power after he lost the 2022 elections, which police say included plans to poison Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva before he took office.

Some of my stories here:

bit.ly/4a1YZAj
bit.ly/3CDqTGd
bit.ly/3DH0F6c

Biden Visits Amazon, Vowing Help to Fight Climate Change The president toured the rainforest and promised Brazil funds for environmental initiatives, even as the incoming Trump administration appears poised to roll them back.

In November, I travelled to Manaus to cover President Joe Biden’s historic trip to the Amazon rainforest, the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited the region.

I wrote this story with my colleague Michael Shear: nyti.ms/3Czi5B5

For the past 10 weeks, I’ve been filling in as interim bureau chief at The New York Times in Brazil. It’s been a wild ride – and an incredible chance to report on some fascinating stories.

As a wrap up my stint, I wanted to share some of my work from the last couple of months (free links below).

Under a Highway in Rio, a Dance Style Charms a New Generation On Rio de Janeiro’s fringes, partygoers have been dancing “charme” to the sounds of R&B for decades. Now, a new crop of dancers is reviving — and transforming — the scene.

Under a highway in Rio de Janeiro, partygoers have been dancing “charme” to the sounds of R&B for decades. Now, a new crop of dancers is reviving — and transforming — the scene in surprising ways.

My dispatch for @nytimes.com from Madureira, Rio's home of charme.

Read for free: bit.ly/3DC7fuB

Under a Highway in Rio, a Dance Style Charms a New Generation On Rio de Janeiro’s fringes, partygoers have been dancing “charme” to the sounds of R&B for decades. Now, a new crop of dancers is reviving — and transforming — the scene.

Under a highway in Rio de Janeiro, partygoers have been dancing “charme” to the sounds of R&B for decades. Now, a new crop of dancers is reviving — and transforming — the scene in surprising ways.

My dispatch for @nytimes.com from Madureira, Rio's home of charme.

Read for free: bit.ly/3DC7fuB