Cartoonist Renato Aroeira releases a free comic book showing how Brazil’s tax system deepens inequality — and a national campaign launches April 8.
Humor as a political tool
The fifth book featuring the comic strip character Niara, created by Brazilian cartoonist Renato Aroeira, is now available for free download. The collection gathers every weekly strip published in 2025 and ties directly into the campaign “Tax the Super-Rich: Fiscal Justice Starts at the Top”, set to launch officially on April 8 in Brasília, at the Chamber of Deputies.
Niara is a sharp, questioning Black girl who has been sparking weekly conversations on social media for over five years. Published every Friday, the strips have surpassed 250 episodes and established themselves as one of Brazil’s most effective tools for popular communication on fiscal justice.
Numbers that reveal a structural flaw
Brazil remains one of the world’s most unequal countries. The top 10% hold roughly 59% of national income, while half the population receives less than 10%. Wealth concentration is even more extreme: the wealthiest 1% own more than one-third of all national assets.
The tax system makes things worse. Most Brazilians commit more than 40% of their income to taxes, while the ultra-rich may pay an effective rate of less than 2%. Tax exemptions — dubbed the “Corporate Welfare Fund” — cost the public coffers approximately R$ 600 billion per year.
“Brazil taxes high incomes too little and consumption and labor too much — a distortion that deepens inequalities and limits development. Fiscal justice is a prerequisite for social justice.” — Clair Hickmann, president of the Instituto Justiça Fiscal
A debate now on the global stage
Globally, around 2,800 billionaires control approximately US$ 15 trillion, growing their fortunes by roughly US$ 5.7 billion per day. During its G20 presidency, Brazil proposed a global minimum tax on billionaires — estimated at around 2% on large fortunes — with the potential to raise hundreds of billions of dollars to address inequality and fund public and climate policies.
Cases such as Daniel Vorcaro in Brazil and Jeffrey Epstein in the United States illustrate this machinery: episodes that expose the ties between great wealth, political power, and weaknesses in oversight mechanisms.
Five books, five years of advocacy
Each year, the campaign compiles the strips into a book available for free download, educational use, and even printing. This new edition spans 120 pages in A6 format, covering tax inequality, fiscal privileges, taxation of large fortunes, and the social, environmental, and political impacts of wealth concentration.
The Tax the Super-Rich campaign, which brings together more than 70 national organizations, continues to lead this agenda, advocating for a progressive tax system where those who earn more pay proportionally more. All previous editions are available at https://ijf.org.br/niara/
Event Info
- Book: Niara – Strips 2025
- Format: PDF | 120 pages | A6
- Free download: https://ijf.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Niara-Livro-tiras-2025.pdf
- All strips and previous editions: https://ijf.org.br/niara/
- Campaign launch: “Tax the Super-Rich: Fiscal Justice Starts at the Top”
- Venue: Chamber of Deputies – Nereu Ramos Auditorium (Annex II), Brasília
- Date: April 8, 2026 | 9 a.m.
