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Gabriela Sá Pessoa

Brazilian journalist, Amazon correspondent with the AP

Who I am

I am a Brazilian journalist working as an Amazon Rainforest correspondent with The Associated Press.  My works have been published by revista piauí, Rest of World, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, BBC, UOL, and Folha de S.Paulo. I have also done research and fact-checking for documentaries. I was the 2023 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow at MIT Center for International Studies, The Boston Globe and The New York Times. 

Jornalista e pesquisadora. Trabalho como correspondente para a Amazônia para a Associated Press. Já publiquei no The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, revista piauí, Rest of World, UOL e Folha de S.Paulo. Também tenho experiêcia com pesquisa e checagem para audiovisual. Em 2023, vivi nos EUA como IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow, em uma temporada no MIT, The Boston Globe e New York Times.

What I've been doing

AP News •

Legal setbacks against a dam in the Amazon raise questions about Brazil's reliance on hydropower

SAO PAULO (AP) — The Belo Monte hydropower plant in the Brazilian Amazon, one of the world’s largest, was designed to channel water from the Xingu River in a way that would avoid the need for large reservoirs, which could flood surrounding areas. After years of legal battles, authorities approved the project, located in the southwestern part of the state of Para, on one condition: it would not threaten ecosystems and communities of Indigenous people along stretches of the river. A decade after o...
AP News •

Brazil soy industry’s exit from moratorium on using Amazon land could spur deforestation

SAO PAULO (AP) — For nearly 20 years, Brazil’s largest soy producers assured buyers that their harvest — the world’s biggest — wasn’t grown on land cleared from Amazonian forests. The pledge, known as the soy moratorium, has been widely credited with helping curb rainforest loss.That changed this week when the biggest grain traders announced they would withdraw from the agreement, threatening not only its survival but also President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s pledge to end deforestation by 2030...
AP News •

Oscar contender ‘The Secret Agent’ capitalizes on the rise of Brazilian cinema

SAO PAULO (AP) — “The Secret Agent,” a Brazilian feature shortlisted for the Oscars, is all about ordinary people. It follows an unassuming scientist and widowed father who becomes a target of Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s — not because he is an activist or revolutionary, but because he stands up to a business owner with ties to the regime.“He’s in danger simply for being who he is, for holding the values he holds,” star Wagner Moura told The Associated Press in a recent interview....
AP News •

Bolsonaro's conviction brings vindication for some Brazilians who lost loved ones to COVID-19

SAO PAULO (AP) — Simone Guimarães, a retired 52-year-old teacher in Rio de Janeiro, lost at least five relatives to COVID-19: her husband, sister, two brothers-in-law and the godfather of her grandchild. She also lost friends and neighbors.She woke to the news on Saturday that Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom she blames for her losses. A judge claimed Bolsonaro was intent on escaping days before he was set to begin a 27-year prison sen...
AP News •

A man in Brazil turned his childhood dream into a small cinema for film lovers

SAO PAULO (AP) — Carlos Costa would never forget the summer day his grandmother took him to the movies. He was 6 years old when he first walked into a dark theater to watch “O Trapalhão nas Minas do Rei Salomão,” a 1977 Brazilian comedy that remains one of the country’s biggest box office hits.“When I saw that giant screen, wow, I was mesmerized. I thought: someday I’ll have a movie theater of my own,” he said. “Fifty years later, that dream has come true.”In 2022, Costa opened Cine LT3, a 35-se...
AP News •

Brazilians avoid drinking after authorities confirm methanol poisoning cases, including 1 death

SAO PAULO (AP) — Friday night was anything but typical at a bar near Paulista Avenue, one of Sao Paulo’s busiest areas and a popular destination for tourists. Nearly every table was ordering beer, wine or draft beer but no cocktails.Edilson Trindade, the manager who has worked at the bar since 2018, told The Associated Press the establishment usually sells about 80 caipirinhas — Brazil’s national cocktail made with cachaça, lime, sugar and ice — each night. Last week, he didn’t sell a single one...
AP News •

Bolsonaro's political influence in Brazil could endure despite his conviction

SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was not present in the room when a Supreme Court panel convicted and sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison on charges of attempting a coup.With Bolsonaro under house arrest and in poor health, his lawyer has said that the ex-leader was too sick to attend the final hearings. But despite frailty and his conviction, Bolsonaro’s political influence will certainly endure.Even after his sentencing, public opinion is divided on w...
AP News •

Brazil braces for new US sanctions after Bolsonaro's conviction angers Trump administration

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil braced Friday for possible new U.S. sanctions linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro ‘s conviction on coup charges, after the administration of President Donald Trump warned it would respond “accordingly.” Trump said he was “very unhappy” with the conviction, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on his X account that the U.S. government would “respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called Rubio’s comments an inappropriate threat that...
AP News •

Volkswagen faces historic $30 million compensation for Amazon labor abuses in Brazil

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s labor court on Friday ordered Volkswagen to pay 165 million reais (about $30 million) for collective moral damages after workers were subjected to slave-like conditions at a company-owned farm in the Amazon during the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors said it is the largest such reparation in the country’s history.The Labor Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation in 2019 after obtaining extensive documentation from a local priest who had tracked the case for decades. F...
AP News •

Trump's politically motivated sanctions against Brazil strain relations among old allies

SAO PAULO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear who his new Latin America priority is: former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a personal and political ally.In doing so, he has damaged one of the Western hemisphere’s most important and long-standing relationships, by levying 50% tariffs that begin to take effect Wednesday on the largest Latin America economy, sanctioning its main justice and bringing relations between the two countries to the lowest point in decades.The White Hous...
AP News •

Trump's 50% tariff on Brazilian goods like coffee and orange juice could drive up US breakfast costs

SAO PAULO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s threat to boost import taxes by 50% on Brazilian goods could drive up the cost of breakfast in the United States. The prices of coffee and orange juice — two staples of the American morning diet — could be severely impacted if there’s no agreement by Aug. 1. Brazilian beef and regional airliners are also among the products that could be affected by Trump’s decision announced Wednesday, which Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised on Thursd...
AP News •

Brazil's first lady is under fire. Critics say her outspokenness oversteps her ceremonial role

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ’s government is grappling with unpopularity that has dented his credentials as the frontrunner for reelection next year. Critics and even some in his administration say his wife’s outspokenness hasn’t helped, accusing her of overstepping what has traditionally been a ceremonial role.Rosângela da Silva, a 58-year-old sociologist also known as Janja, has also drawn criticism for insulting tech billionaire Elon Musk and advising the pr...
revista piauí - _pra quem tem um clique a mais •

Cocaína, álcool, bingo e… bets - revista piauí

Quando o médico Hermano Tavares começou a estudar o vício em jogos, nos anos 1990, o problema da vez eram os bingos. Em São Paulo, jogadores compulsivos que perdiam até o salário do mês de olho nas cartelas buscavam ajuda no Hospital de Clínicas, onde Tavares concluía sua residência em psiquiatria. O bingo seria proibido em 2004. Hoje, porém, o acesso a apostas rápidas está literalmente na palma da mão: o celular permite que se coloque dinheiro em partidas de futebol e em jogos como o Fortune Ti...
Rest of World •

Uber and Chinese-owned rival 99 have a common enemy in Brazil

“Uber Moto: Rio de Janeiro has it,” declared a digital billboard along one of São Paulo’s busiest streets last month. “São Paulo doesn’t.”


The ad, from Uber, is the latest in a monthslong battle that has pitted the ride-hailing giant against the São Paulo city government, which banned motorcycle transport via app in 2023. Uber has found an unlikely ally in its Chinese-owned competitor, 99.


Brazil, home to more than 211 million people, is the largest ride-hailing market in the region, and t...
revista piauí - _pra quem tem um clique a mais •

Quando os socialistas fazem o “L” - revista piauí

Era junho de 2004 e o governo Lula, iniciado havia pouco mais de um ano, acelerava “a rota para o precipício”. Assim dizia (ainda diz) o quinto parágrafo do programa do Partido Socialismo e Liberdade, o Psol. Aprovado em uma convenção com cerca de setecentos militantes, em pleno domingo, no Minas Brasília Tênis Clube, o texto inaugurou “a verdadeira oposição ao governo Lula”, nas palavras do então deputado federal Babá. O mundo só recebeu a notícia no dia seguinte, quando, postados em frente a u...
AP News •

Brazil ex-President Bolsonaro will stand trial over an alleged coup plan. Here’s what happens next

SAO PAULO (AP) — A panel of Brazil Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven of his associates will stand trial on five counts, including attempting to stage a coup after the far-right leader lost the 2022 election.The panel will review existing evidence, potentially gather new evidence and hear testimonies. Legal experts estimate that Bolsonaro could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison, though his actual jail time — if convicted — would be less...
AP News •

Oscar fever for Brazil's Fernanda Torres has made her this year's Carnival muse

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Carnival muse this year isn’t one of the divas or drum queens parading with the Rio de Janeiro samba schools. It’s Fernanda Torres, who’s competing for the best actress Oscar on Sunday.The Oscars fall smack in the middle of Carnival, Brazil’s largest celebration, which runs through Tuesday. During the five-day revelry, the rest of the universe usually fades into the background as Brazilians cut loose and indulge.Not this year, and the keen focus on the Oscars speaks to...
Quatro cinco um •

Ina Kerner analisa o alvo comum da extrema direita

Uma viagem ao México e à América Central como mochileira no começo dos anos 90 mudaria para sempre o rumo da trajetória intelectual de Ina Kerner, cientista política e professora no departamento de estudos culturais da Universidade Koblenz, na Alemanha. “Vivi coisas que, na época, não conseguia explicar, como ser recebida e tratada extremamente bem em quase todos os lugares aonde fui, enquanto, de volta à Alemanha, migrantes estavam sendo mortos por extremistas de direita”, ela conta, em entrevi...
AP News •

Brazilian film 'I’m Still Here' tops box office, forcing nation to reckon with dictatorship trauma

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian-made dramas rarely last long in local cinemas. But, nearly two months after its release, “I’m Still Here,” a film about a family torn apart by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades, has drawn millions of moviegoers across the South American country.The film’s domestic box office success — with nearly 3 million tickets sold, it secured the fifth spot at the 2024 box office by mid December — is rooted in its exploration of a long-neglected...
revista piauí - _pra quem tem um clique a mais •

Colaboração - O bonde do tigrinho - revista piauí

Casada com um bombeiro e mãe de um menino, Tathiara Barbosa Fonseca ganhava em média 15 mil reais mensais como corretora imobiliária em Gravataí, na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Em maio de 2022, ela vivia uma fase de estabilidade financeira, depois de receber sua parte na venda de um imóvel de família. Nas horas de descanso, sacava o celular e se entretinha com influenciadores nas redes sociais.
Um dia, deslizando pelos stories do Instagram, Fonseca viu a gaúcha Tali Ramos (hoje com 1,5...
revista piauí - _pra quem tem um clique a mais •

A vida em Marçal City - revista piauí

Duas pistas da Avenida Chucri Zaidan, na Zona Sul de São Paulo, foram fechadas. Em frente ao Edifício Jornalista Roberto Marinho, sede paulista da TV Globo, carros, motos e ônibus se espremiam para atravessar um mar de apoiadores estridentes de Pablo Marçal (PRTB). Faltava mais de uma hora para o debate entre os candidatos à prefeitura de São Paulo, o último antes do primeiro turno. O ex-coach, candidato azarão que dominou a pauta da eleição até aqui, havia convidado seus eleitores para recebê-l...
AP News •

Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher

CACONDE, Brazil (AP) — Silvio Almeida’s coffee plantation sits at an ideal altitude on a Brazilian hillside, whose clay-rich soil does well at retaining moisture from rainfall and a nearby reservoir. Lately, though, water is scarce on Almeida’s modest farm in Caconde, a town in one of Sao Paulo state’s key growing regions. He can’t get his coffee to grow the way it should.In Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, Almeida and other farmers have started grappling with the nation’s worst drou...
AP News •

Drought is making Sao Paulo's river emerald green while smoke turns its skies grey

SAO PAULO (AP) — A major river in the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo is suddenly emerald green and clear skies this week turned from blue to grey. In the late afternoon, the sun’s rays filtering through the smoky haze exhibit the color of deep orange.This isn’t a fantasy world: Environmental threats in recent days have transformed the colors of the city’s landscape.The state’s environmental authority attributes the Pinheiros River’s new green hue to an algae bloom, the result of severe drough...
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