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It does seem like there's potentially some kind of bad electrical system / lack of grounding issue going on.

"potentially"? ;-)

Look around on the Internet and you'll definitely see how a lot of electrical systems in Brazil are not quite up to North American standards. Grounding is part of it.

typically phone chargers aren't grounded, so probably not relevant? lightning travels through the ground, so i'd expect the ground wires to be rather dangerous. also, neutral is bonded to ground at the meter (at least here)... so also not good?

Neutral bonding to ground is definitely not how it is done everywhere. A proper ground according to modern standards will have a true grounding rod that the buildings ground wiring is connected. Of course wiring predating those standards are a mix of how they are handled. Some older wiring used the buildings metal plumbing as ground which is why people say not to shower during an electrical storm.

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