Under the Shadow

In the first round of voting on October 4, Trump-ally, far-right presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro came in two points ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvia. 
Lula supporters have been responding both in the streets and online. And they have been closing the gap, but it’s an uphill battle. Big Tech—and in particular Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp—have been helping to lift Bolsonaro’s presence online over that of President Lula.
Meta temporarily suspended Lula’s campaign page on Facebook, blocked more than 1,000 pro-Lula accounts, and allowed its algorithm to benefit Bolsonaro while hindering Lula’s campaign. Meta admits that there has not been parity in its treatment of the candidates but it blames mechanical glitches.
Meanwhile, a Meta AI chatbot admitted to one graduate student that “Meta indeed has a clear political and economic interest in the election of Flávio Bolsonaro.” 
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a close political ally of US President Donald Trump. Flávio Bolsonaro has promised that if he is elected, he will join Trump’s Counter Cartel Coalition and open up Brazil’s rare earth minerals to the United States. That is something that Big Tech companies are interested in, because those minerals are necessary for their hardware, AI, and data centers.
Brazilians have protested at Meta’s headquarters in São Paulo. And they have turned to creativity to try to break the bubble of the algorithm and spread their message to precious undecided voters, who can make or break this election.
Meta and its secret algorithm have become the latest tool of US intervention in Latin America. It is not a branch of the US government. But it’s working in tandem. 
In this episode, host Michael Fox speaks with Brazil-based journalist Brian Mier. They discuss where things are now, what’s at stake, and in particular look at the role that Meta is playing ahead of the second round of the Brazilian elections on Sunday.
Brian Mier has master’s degrees from Loyola University Chicago and the University of London. He’s lived in Brazil for more than 30 years and he co-hosts a weekly Portuguese-language web TV program called Globalistas on Brasil 247. Mier is an editor of Panamerican Dispatch, which was launched ahead of the Brazilian vote.

Guests: Brian Mier
Joao Feres Junior

Resources About Meta in Brazil: Meta Censors Over 1,080 Accounts Supporting Lula During Brazilian Elections
Whistleblower Exposes Meta, Bolsonaro, and Cerimedo Election Meddling Partnership
Meta Acknowledges the Reduced Reach of Lula’s Profiles
Beyond Meta AI, Other AI Platforms Steer Content Against Lula
Meta Discovers New Tool to Sabotage Lula’s Campaign
Meta AI Admits and Explains Pro-Bolsonaro Manipulation
Report Reveals Flávio Bolsonaro’s Campaign Paid AI Company to Manipulate Elections
Meta Reaps Highest Corporate Earnings in Brazil’s 2026 Elections
Meta Ignores Brazilian Court Order to End Bolsonaro Favoritism
Complaint filed to disqualify Bolsonaro ticket over Meta ‘algorithmic manipulation’
Hundreds Protest at Meta Headquarters in Brazil Against Far-Right Bias
UN Presses Meta Over Manipulation in Brazil’s Election
Brian Mier’s Substack, Delinking Brazil

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Brazil votes this Sunday, and the Trump administration has spent months trying to tilt the outcome toward far-right presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Tariffs. Terrorist designations. Revoked visas. Frequent meetings with the Bolsonaro family. Taken alone, each move looks random. Put the pieces together, and a picture emerges: U.S. interference in Brazil's 2026 elections. 

Over the last year, Trump has met frequently with members of the Bolsonaro family. In June, the State Department put two Brazilian gangs on the terrorist list. Just a few weeks later, Trump shared an article on Truth Social that said Brazil was his next big challenge. Less than a month later, in July, Trump imposed new 25% tariffs on Brazilian goods. In August, Trump revoked the U.S. visa of the Brazilian ambassador.

The Brazilian Intelligence Agency recently raised the risk of external influence and interference by the United States in Brazil’s 2026 elections to a quote, “critical level.”

This is Episode 15 of Under the Shadow, Season 2. 

Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.
This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.
It is supported, in part, by Global Exchange.

VOTE by October 15: Under the Shadow has been nominated for three podcast Signal Awards. Please consider voting for Under the Shadow and The Real News:
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Panamerican Dispatch 
You can check out Michael Fox's new reporting project on Brazil, Panamerican Dispatch. It's a project of The Real News in partnership with Global Exchange. The website is www.panamericandispatch.org.
You can also follow us on social media below:
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/padispatch.bsky.social
X x.com/PAdispatch
IG instagram.com/padispatch
Tiktok www.tiktok.com/@padispatch

Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.
Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed, and edited by Michael Fox.

Guests: 
Alexander Main
Maria Martha Bruno
Igor Fuser

Resources: 
Visit Panamerican Dispatch for all of the latest news on Brazil
You can visit Agencia Public for their reporting and analysis about Brazil. 
Here is Agencia Publica’s investigación, Digital Militia. 
Many thanks to Jake Johnston from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Maria Martha Bruno, from Agencia Publica, for taking the time to speak with me and for their excellent analysis and insight.
You can visit CEPR’s Live Tracker on Latin America.
You can check out Michael Fox’s Patreon.
More background… 
The Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1
Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13
The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 

Support Under the Shadow Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.
You can subscribe to Michael Fox's new free speech podcast, The Battle for Free Speech  On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033olXvh3dLzQFJc1HSd6O?si=7eda46a92fe14894 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-battle-for-free-speech/id1896829044 Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
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Fernando Cerimedo. A name that unless you follow Latin America closely, you likely have never heard.

He’s been called “MAGA’s man” in Latin America. And he is at the heart of a shocking scandal that includes “attempted femicide,” election rigging, fake news, disinformation and powerful political ties to far-right presidents across Latin America, and even the White House, under Donald Trump.
It’s big news in Latin America, even though it's been largely under the radar in the United States, until now.

The scandal has dire implications for the legitimacy of elections up and down the Americas, including elections where U.S. President Donald Trump has been throwing his weight around over the last year. Elections where right-wingers have won close, but shocking victories. And big elections are coming up in Brazil and elsewhere.

This is Episode 14 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.

Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

It is supported, in part, by Global Exchange.

Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.

Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed, and edited by Michael Fox.

Guests: 
Jake Johnston
Maria Martha Bruno

Resources: 
Progressive International’s Investigation into Fernando Cerimedo — How to Steal a Hemisphere: Fernando Cerimedo and the Heist of Latin American Democracy
Facebook não barra anúncios com desinformação sobre eleições brasileiras
You can visit Agencia Public for their reporting and analysis about Brazil. 
Here is Agencia Publica’s investigación, Digital Militia. 
Many thanks to Jake Johnston from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Maria Martha Bruno, from Agencia Publica, for taking the time to speak with me and for their excellent analysis and insight.
You can visit CEPR’s Live Tracker on Latin America.
You can check out Michael Fox’s Patreon.
More background… 
The Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1
Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13
The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 

Support Under the ShadowPlease consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.

You can subscribe to Michael Fox's new free speech podcast, The Battle for Free Speech on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033olXvh3dLzQFJc1HSd6O?si=7eda46a92fe14894

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-battle-for-free-speech/id1896829044

Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork

This week marks the 1-year anniversary of Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans. On September 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the first air strike on a boat in the Caribbean. Trump said the boat allegedly carried drugs off the coast of Venezuela. It marked the beginning of a hostile U.S. foreign policy that has seen the U.S. invade Venezuela, unleash a devastating oil blockade on Cuba, and justify it all under a renewed Monroe Doctrine, which the President is calling his Donroe Doctrine.

Meanwhile, the boat strikes have continued until today, even though Trump administration officials say they have not actually decreased the amount of drugs arriving on U.S. soil. As of this week, the U.S. government has attacked at least 68 boats over the last year, killing more than 220 people.

The Trump administration is now using his foreign policy to attack progressive opponents at home, labelling them pawns of Cuba, and "one of the single largest, most sophisticated and dangerous vectors for hostile foreign influence in modern American history."

In this episode, Michael Fox walks through the anniversary of the boat strikes. He dissects a new Cuban report published by the State Department to attack dissidents at home, and then looks at the regional resistance to Trump at the Panamerican Congress, which was held in August in Montevideo, Uruguay. 

This is Episode 13 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.

Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.
This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.
It is supported, in part, by Global Exchange.

Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.

Script editing by Heather Gies.
Hosted, written, produced, mixed, and edited by Michael Fox.

Guests: 
Alexander Main
Jake Johnston

Resources: 
Belly of the Beast is a U.S-based independent media outlet, reporting from Havana. 
Many thanks for their incredible ongoing work. You can visit their site here: www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com
Below are links to the video clips used in today’s episode: 

“Helping” Cuba While Destroying Its Economyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TRYNU9-h5A
This History Professor Graded Marco Rubio's Cuba Report. He Got an F.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hqJI4kOWc
Many thanks to Alex Main and Jake Johnston from the Center for Economic and Policy Research for taking the time to speak with me and for their excellent analysis and insight.
You can visit CEPR’s Live Tracker on Latin America.
You can check out Michael Fox’s Patreon.
More background… 
The Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1
Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13
The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 

Support Under the Shadow: Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.

You can subscribe to Michael Fox's new free speech podcast, The Battle for Free Speech
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033olXvh3dLzQFJc1HSd6O?si=7eda46a92fe14894
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-battle-for-free-speech/id1896829044Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork

Just over the last 24 hours, Trump announced that he is levying new 25% tariffs on Brazilian goods. This is supposed to combat supposed quote "UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES” by Brazil. 
In reality, Trump is rolling out these tariffs out in defense of his personal interests and those of his allies. That includes powerful US credit card companies. And as I look at in depth in this episode… Silicon Valley tech billionaires and their far right allies. 

There is one other important thing at stake in Brazil right now: the upcoming presidential elections in October. President Lula is running for reelection. The Bolsonaro family is trying to take the presidency back. Trump has already said that he sees this as his next big challenge. 

This episode is a joint collaboration together with my podcasts Brazil on Fire, Under the Shadow, and The Battle for Free Speech. 

The Battle for Free Speech is my latest. It’s an 8-part investigative narrative podcast series. I’ve been working on it for the last year. It looks at the attacks on free speech today from the Trump administration. But also how people are standing up and pushing back. This is episode 6 of that podcast. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing and listening, wherever you get your podcasts. 

OK. I hope you enjoy the show… 

This is really a tale of two countries: the United States and Brazil. In both countries, far-right presidents come to power — Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. In both those countries, the presidents spent several years unraveling democratic institutions and public policy. Both presidents then ran for reelection. Both presidents lied about their country's voting systems in order to undermine the elections and whip up their base. 

Both those presidents lost their reelections — Trump in 2020. Bolsonaro in 2022. They both claimed fraud and tried to carry out a coup to stay in power. 

But that is where these two paths diverged. In the United States, President Donald Trump continued to peddle his lies about the elections. He created his own social media platform and he used it to push his agenda. He was reelected in 2024 and returned to power. In Brazil, however, the country’s Supreme Electoral Court blocked former President Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years, because of the lies he told about the country’s electoral system.

It wasn't censorship. it was a different interpretation of free speech. One that said the right to free expression must be balanced with the other rights in the country and the country’s democratic system. The United States doesn’t agree. And the Trump administration has been pushing to bend Brazil toward its definition of "free speech."

In this episode, Michael Fox journeys to Brazil to understand the lengths that the country has gone to fight disinformation. 

Michael is joined in the episode by Maximillian Alvarez, editor-in-chief and co-executive director of The Real News Network and the host of the Working People Podcast.

The Battle for Free Speech is a production of The Real News Network.

Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Theme music by Michael Fox, Jordan Klein and Daniel Nuñez. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound. Production and Sound Design by Michael Fox and Stephen Frank. Editorial support by Kayla Rivara. Research by Ben Schweiger.

Guests: 
Fabio de Sa e Silva
Artur Romeu
Fernando Paulino
Brian Mier
Resources: 
Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Support Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox

Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork