Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips

@tomphillips.bsky.social

Latin America correspondent for the @guardian based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 🇧🇷 via London 🇬🇧, Beijing 🇨🇳 and Mexico City 🇲🇽 Say hello: tom.phillips@theguardian.com

34K followers1.4K following500 posts

Tom Phillips reposted

Damian Carrington
@dpcarrington.bsky.social

‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold mining - @theguardian.com goes on the ground with Brazilian forces fighting to eradicate mining that has destroyed protected areas of Indigenous land By @tomphillips.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

theguardian.com‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold miningThe Guardian goes on the ground with Brazilian forces fighting to eradicate mining that has destroyed protected areas of Indigenous land
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

The Guardian spent two days touring the destruction in the Sararé Indigenous territory with government forces, the only foreign media organisation given permission to visit the embattled area, where about 200 members of the Nambiquara people live.

The Guardian@theguardian.com

‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold mining

theguardian.com‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold miningThe Guardian goes on the ground with Brazilian forces fighting to eradicate mining that has destroyed protected areas of Indigenous land
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

"In more than two dozen interviews with community leaders, lawyers, security specialists and bereaved relatives, the Guardian pieced together the story of the bloodiest day in Rio’s modern history" www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

theguardian.comRio’s bloodiest day: the untold story of Brazil’s most deadly police raidIn interviews with community leaders, lawyers, security specialists and bereaved relatives, the Guardian pieces together how an operation targeting a criminal gang left 122 people dead last October
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

"The last thing we want is for South America to become a war zone – and a war zone that would inevitably not just be a war between the US and Venezuela. It would end up having global involvement and this would be really unfortunate" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

theguardian.comUS attack on Venezuela risks ‘Vietnam-style’ regional conflict, warns Lula adviserBrazil aide says Trump’s closure of Venezuelan airspace amounts to an ‘act of war’ that could escalate

Tom Phillips reposted

Alex Horton
@alexhorton.bsky.social

Exclusive: Hegseth ordered everyone killed in the first alleged drug boat strike on Sept. 2, prompting a second hit to finish off survivors in the water in a mission led by SEAL Team 6. Ordering no quarter could legally perilous www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

washingtonpost.comHegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them allDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

If you haven’t listened to it yet you can find Missing in the Amazon here on the Guardian, or wherever you get your podcasts www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

theguardian.comMissing in the Amazon: the disappearance – episode 1 – podcastThree 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...
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

Bolsonaro says he took a soldering iron to his ankle tag out of “curiosity”

Karla Gamba@karlagamba.bsky.social

No momento da troca da tornozeleira eletrônica, Jair Bolsonaro foi questionado sobre pq ela estava tão danificada. Ele responde que, por “curiosidade”, usava o ferro de solda desde a tarde 👇🏾

Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

“Moraes said Bolsonaro’s electronic ankle monitor had been tampered with at 12.08am on Saturday. That suggested “the convict had planned to break the ankle monitor in order to ensure the success of his escape, aided by the confusion caused by the protest”

theguardian.comBrazilian police arrest Bolsonaro amid suspicions he was about to fleePolitician reportedly taken from his villa into custody at a federal police base about 7 miles from presidential palace
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

“Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to receive dignified treatment – but dignified treatment in prison,” said ⁦‪@reimont.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

theguardian.comJailhouse shock: Brazil coup monger Bolsonaro finally faces life behind barsThe former president’s far-right supporters have discovered a new interest in prison conditions as incarceration looms

Tom Phillips reposted

Latin American Elections
@latamerelection.bsky.social

Replying to @latamerelection.bsky.social

3/ José Antonio Kast is polling second behind Jara, and is the likely winner of a runoff. He has campaigned on vilifying migrants, calling immigration an invasion, and proposing deportations and building barriers on the border. @tomphillips.bsky.social reports: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

theguardian.com‘We need an iron fist’: the Trump-inspired favourite to win Chile’s electionJosé Antonio Kast, 59, is appealing to voters with a hard-right pitch on crime and immigration
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

In 1988, on the eve of Just Cause, the US indicted Noriega for drug smuggling – just as they have w/ Maduro who recently had a $50m bounty put on his head. “So they’ve established a convenient pretext if they choose to pursue a military route”

theguardian.comUS military buildup off Venezuela coast stirs echoes of 1989 Panama invasionSome see anti-Noriega operation as model for deposing Maduro but others say US-orchestrated military coup is more likely option

Tom Phillips reposted

Graham Snowdon
@gsnowdon.bsky.social

“In 30 years working in the favelas this is the greatest act of savagery, the biggest massacre I have seen” Horrifying report from @tomphillips.bsky.social on Rio’s deadliest-ever police raid www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.com‘This was a slaughter, not an operation’: the favela reeling from Rio’s deadliest police raidResidents of Vila Cruzeiro gather bodies after more than 130 were killed in pre-dawn assault
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

Between 4.15am and 9am, when government body collectors finally arrived, the Guardian witnessed pick up trucks delivering dozens of corpses to a square in Vila Cruzeiro named after Saint Luke the Evangelist. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.com‘This was a slaughter, not an operation’: the favela reeling from Rio’s deadliest police raidResidents of Vila Cruzeiro gather bodies after more than 130 were killed in pre-dawn assault
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

"This doesn’t solve the problem,” said Rene Silva, from @vozdascomunidades.com.br “Rio’s crime problem needs to be combated in other places – not just in the favelas" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.comBrazil: at least 64 reported killed in Rio’s worst day of violence amid police favela raidsGovernor says city ‘at war’ after gunfights between troops and Red Command drug traffickers who reportedly used weaponised drones
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

A Venezuela mission would not be the first in Latin America & the Caribbean conducted by the Night Stalkers, whose pilots specialise in infiltrating and exfiltrating special forces troops – called “customers” – from hostile places, nearly always at night.

theguardian.comUS ‘Night Stalkers’ seen in Caribbean as fears of regime change rise in VenezuelaElite helicopter unit’s part in military deployment comes as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Nicolás Maduro

Tom Phillips reposted

Isabel Medeiros
@isabelmedeiros.bsky.social

Entrevista do diretor Kleber Mendonça Filho para o The Guardian @kmendoncafilho.bsky.social @theguardian.com VIVA O CINEMA NACIONAL

Tom Phillips@tomphillips.bsky.social

“I am very proud of what is happening in Brazil,” @kmendoncafilho.bsky.social tells me as his incredible new film The Secret Agent hits the big screen www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

theguardian.com‘I hope he goes to jail’: Brazil’s Cannes-winning director on Bolsonaro and political amnesiaKleber Mendonça Filho’s gripping thriller The Secret Agent is set in the 70s but casts light on present day politics
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

“I just want to know why Donald Trump killing poor people just so,” Joseph’s uncle, known only as “Dollars”, said. “Just because he going after the people gas and their oil. He going after people riches and killing poor people children.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.com‘Trump is killing poor people’: Caribbean village mourns victim of US strikeRelatives of Trinidadian man believed killed in US military strike on alleged drug boat say he was denied due process
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

“Since Milei took office & slashed spending, traffickers are taking advantage of rising needs, according to priests & community leaders. Gang bosses support soup kitchens, run events for children & offer jobs & loans in drive to expand their control of poor areas” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.com‘Saying yes puts you in their debt’: narco gangs profit from Argentinian austerityDrug traffickers gaining influence by stepping in and offering donations after Milei’s sweeping social cuts
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

“The remark went viral and unleashed a torrent of criticism, with many comparing it to Bolsonaro’s callous and incompetent response to Covid, which killed more than 700,000 Brazilians.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.comBrazilian governor apologies after joking about deadly methanol poisoning crisisSão Paulo’s teetotal governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, says of scandal that has killed three that he would only worry when ‘they start faking Coca-Cola’
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

🤦🏽‍♂️

Robert Mackey@robertmackey.bsky.social

The Oregon Republican Party tried to help Donald Trump make the case for military intervention in Portland with an image of a fiery protest — but since Portland is calm, they had to fabricate one by merging old photos of police in Ecuador and protesters in Brazil www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.comRepublicans post fake image of Oregon protest – using photos of South AmericaA federal judge had blocked Trump’s request to deploy California national guard to Portland
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

“Many observers suspect Trump’s counter-narcotics crusade is really a pretext to depose Maduro, either by sparking an internal rebellion against Hugo Chávez’s authoritarian heir or perhaps through direct military intervention within Venezuela itself” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

theguardian.comVenezuela on edge over Trump regime change whispers: ‘If it does happen we are ready’Allies of President Nicolás Maduro vow to resist any military intervention but experts suspect Venezuela’s leaders were rattled by Trump’s decision to bomb Iran

Tom Phillips reposted

Antonio Luiz M. C. Costa
@aluizcosta.bsky.social

No Guardian: "Animais selvagens são apanhados no fogo cruzado do Rio. De macacos-prego a gaviões-pombos, o Instituto Vida Livre trata de uma miríade de animais abatidos numa cidade devastada pela criminalidade com armas de fogo" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

theguardian.com‘Not even animals escape the extreme barbarity’: wildlife caught in Rio’s rampant gun crimeFrom capuchin monkeys to mantled hawks - Instituto Vida Livre has treated a myriad of shot animals in a city blighted by gun crime
Tom Phillips
@tomphillips.bsky.social

What a lovely man with a big heart. I miss our conversations about China, from which I always learned so much. RIP.

Melissa Chan@melissakchan.bsky.social

I met Jerry as a young foreign correspondent in China. In any field there are those who gate keep, and those who do the opposite. Jerry treated what I said seriously in a way that made me feel he considered me an equal. That is so rare. In other words — he had deep kindness... (1/2)

wsj.comJerome Cohen, the First American to Practice Law in China, Dies at 95An expert on China—and a sometime critic—Cohen defended companies and dissidents.