Brazil

Cleuzenir Barbosa, a retired teacher, was fed up with Brazil’s corrupt politics. She was also an avid supporter of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right politician who won the presidency last year on the promise to clean up the capital.

A female lawmaker who attended a swearing-in ceremony in a business suit accentuating her breasts is causing a furor in Brazil — a deeply conflicted country that recently elected an ultra-conservative president but is also known for skimpy swimsuits and exuberant celebrations during Carnival.

The controversy began when Ana Paula da Silva, from the southern state of Santa Catarina, showed up to the Feb. 1 ceremony in a tight, two-piece red pantsuit that showed deep cleavage.

Sao Paulo - Joenia Wapichana never thought she would get into politics.

The 43-year-old indigenous lawyer also never imagined she'd make history, not just once but on three occasions.

But when she saw an "extreme, urgent necessity" to protect the rights of her community, she knew she had to take action.

With just one week to go before Brazil’s Oct. 7 presidential elections, up to 10 percent of the country’s male voters remain undecided — and roughly 19 percent of female voters. Many voters and observers, both inside and outside Brazil, are worried about the current front-runner, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who is expected to win enough votes to compete in the runoff slated for Oct. 28 — and women may be key to preventing his election.

When a leftwing female congresswoman was described as too ugly to be raped, Manuela D’Avila’s stomach turned. The speaker was Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian far rightwing congressman and presidential candidate.

That feeling only worsened after the execution-style murder in March of Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro councillor, a crime that many attribute to the fact that she was a black lesbian activist.

Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco was on her way home Wednesday evening when she and her driver were shot and killed on the road.

The 38-year-old left-leaning politician was an outspoken critic of police brutality, according to The Guardian. That evening, she had participated in a discussion about black women changing the status quo.