This chapter begins the case study on Brazil. It provides an overview of the country’s political and economic trajectory within the study’s timeframe, spanning from Lula da Silva’s first administration to Michel Temer’s government. This analysis captures shifts in economic policy, transitions of power between governments with different ideological orientations, and changes in the international economic environment over the period. The chapter then offers a descriptive examination of rating agencies’ actions within this context, laying the groundwork for applying the study’s analytical framework in the following chapter.