[Tex/LaTex] Why isn’t the biblatex document accepting UTF-8 in the bibliography

biberbiblatexerrorsinput-encodingsunicode

After the questions:

  1. How to set the english option to abntex2cite bibliography package?
  2. What is the difference between bibtex and biblatex?

I am trying to migrate to biblatex as it seems more up-to-date state-of-the-art. But my unicode characters as é are not working anymore. If my bibliography contains a letter such as é, I get a very unpleasant error:

test3.tex:42: Undefined control sequence 
...
test3.tex:42:  ==> Fatal error occurred, no output PDF file produced!

On line 45 is the line right after \printbibliography which brought me to the questions:

  1. Biber/BibLaTeX \printbibliography causes "undefined control sequence" in the proceeding line
  2. Undefined control sequence in \printbibliography (biblatex)

Leading me to find out the é letter is causing this very strange error.

Running this minimal example you will get the error mentioned:

% How to make \PassOptionsToPackage add the option as the last option?
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/385895/how-to-make-passoptionstopackage-add-the-option-as-the-last
\PassOptionsToPackage{brazil,main=english}{babel}
\documentclass{abntex2}

% Package hyperref Warning: Token not allowed in a PDF string?
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/384885/package-hyperref-warning-token-not-allowed-in-a-pdf-string
\pdfstringdefDisableCommands{\let\uppercase\relax}

\usepackage[style=abnt, language=english]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}

% Package biblatex Warning: 'babel/polyglossia' detected but 'csquotes' missing
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/229638/package-biblatex-warning-babel-polyglossia-detected-but-csquotes-missing
\usepackage{csquotes}

% How does 'filecontents' keep LaTeX parsing while temporarily stop writing output
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/104159/how-does-filecontents-keep-latex
\usepackage{filecontents}

\begin{filecontents*}{references.bib}
@mvbook{assis08,
    author = {Machado de Assis},
    title = {Obra completa em quatro volumes},
    year = {2008},
    editor = {Aluizio Leite and Ana Lima Cecilio and Heloisa Jahn},
    editortype = {organizer},
    edition = {2},
    volumes = {4},
    publisher = {Nova Fronteira},
    location = {Rio de Janeiro},
    series = {Biblioteca luso-brasileira. S{é}rie brasileira}
}

\end{filecontents*}

\begin{document}

    Citing \cite{assis08}

    \printbibliography

\end{document}

But if you edit the bibliography and remove the é letter, then it is successfully build, however with the letter é missing:

enter image description here

Though if I replace the é by {\'e} it is correctly displayed with no errors:

enter image description here

However it is not nice to do so with my text. They said on the question What is the difference between bibtex and biblatex? biblatex is compatible with UTF-8:

You should consider switching to biblatex when you often have style guides for which you do not have appropriate BibTeX styles, or when you need to use UTF-8 for some reason.

Then why my document is not accepting UTF-8?

Here is my compilation log of the minimal example, using the {\'e} character:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.18 (MiKTeX 2.9.6400) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2017.8.23)  7 SEP 2017 23:37
entering extended mode
**./test3.tex
(test3.tex
LaTeX2e <2017-04-15>
Babel <3.12> and hyphenation patterns for 76 language(s) loaded.
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\abntex2\abntex2.cls
Document Class: abntex2 2016/02/26 v-1.9.6 abnTeX2
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\base\ifthen.sty
Package: ifthen 2014/09/29 v1.1c Standard LaTeX ifthen package (DPC)
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\memoir\memoir.cls
Document Class: memoir 2016/05/16 v3.7f configurable book, report, article docu
ment class
\onelineskip=\skip41
\lxvchars=\skip42
\xlvchars=\skip43
\@memcnta=\count79
\c@@memmarkcntra=\count80
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\oberdiek\ifpdf.sty
Package: ifpdf 2017/03/15 v3.2 Provides the ifpdf switch
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\ifetex\ifetex.sty
Package: ifetex 2011/12/15 v1.2 ifetex

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\plain\ifetex\ifetex.tex))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\ifxetex\ifxetex.sty
Package: ifxetex 2010/09/12 v0.6 Provides ifxetex conditional
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\oberdiek\ifluatex.sty
Package: ifluatex 2016/05/16 v1.4 Provides the ifluatex switch (HO)
Package ifluatex Info: LuaTeX not detected.
)
\stockheight=\skip44
\stockwidth=\skip45
\trimtop=\skip46
\trimedge=\skip47

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\memoir\mem10.clo
File: mem10.clo 2008/01/30 v0.3 memoir class 10pt size option
)
\binding=\skip48
...
Package verse [2008/07/23] emulated by memoir.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\memoir\mempatch.sty
Package: mempatch 2009/07/24 v6.0f Patches for memoir class v1.6180339
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\textcase\textcase.sty
Package: textcase 2004/10/07 v0.07 Text only upper/lower case changing (DPC)
LaTeX Info: Redefining \MakeTextUppercase on input line 47.
LaTeX Info: Redefining \MakeTextLowercase on input line 50.
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\hyperref\hyperref.sty
Package: hyperref 2017/03/14 v6.85a Hypertext links for LaTeX

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\oberdiek\hobsub-hyperref.st
y
Package: hobsub-hyperref 2016/05/16 v1.14 Bundle oberdiek, subset hyperref (HO)


(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\oberdiek\hobsub-generic.sty
Package: hobsub-generic 2016/05/16 v1.14 Bundle oberdiek, subset generic (HO)
Package: hobsub 2016/05/16 v1.14 Construct package bundles (HO)
Package: infwarerr 2016/05/16 v1.4 Providing info/warning/error messages (HO)
Package: ltxcmds 2016/05/16 v1.23 LaTeX kernel commands for general use (HO)
Package hobsub Info: Skipping package `ifluatex' (already loaded).
Package: ifvtex 2016/05/16 v1.6 Detect VTeX and its facilities (HO)
Package ifvtex Info: VTeX not detected.
Package: intcalc 2016/05/16 v1.2 Expandable calculations with integers (HO)
Package hobsub Info: Skipping package `ifpdf' (already loaded).
Package: etexcmds 2016/05/16 v1.6 Avoid name clashes with e-TeX commands (HO)
Package etexcmds Info: Could not find \expanded.
(etexcmds)             That can mean that you are not using pdfTeX 1.50 or
(etexcmds)             that some package has redefined \expanded.
(etexcmds)             In the latter case, load this package earlier.
Package: kvsetkeys 2016/05/16 v1.17 Key value parser (HO)
Package: kvdefinekeys 2016/05/16 v1.4 Define keys (HO)
Package: pdftexcmds 2017/03/19 v0.25 Utility functions of pdfTeX for LuaTeX (HO
)
Package pdftexcmds Info: LuaTeX not detected.
Package pdftexcmds Info: \pdf@primitive is available.
Package pdftexcmds Info: \pdf@ifprimitive is available.
Package pdftexcmds Info: \pdfdraftmode found.
Package: pdfescape 2016/05/16 v1.14 Implements pdfTeX's escape features (HO)
Package: bigintcalc 2016/05/16 v1.4 Expandable calculations on big integers (HO
)
Package: bitset 2016/05/16 v1.2 Handle bit-vector datatype (HO)
Package: uniquecounter 2016/05/16 v1.3 Provide unlimited unique counter (HO)
)
Package hobsub Info: Skipping package `hobsub' (already loaded).
Package: letltxmacro 2016/05/16 v1.5 Let assignment for LaTeX macros (HO)
Package: hopatch 2016/05/16 v1.3 Wrapper for package hooks (HO)
Package: xcolor-patch 2016/05/16 xcolor patch
Package: atveryend 2016/05/16 v1.9 Hooks at the very end of document (HO)
Package atveryend Info: \enddocument detected (standard20110627).
Package: atbegshi 2016/06/09 v1.18 At begin shipout hook (HO)
Package: refcount 2016/05/16 v3.5 Data extraction from label references (HO)
Package: hycolor 2016/05/16 v1.8 Color options for hyperref/bookmark (HO)
) (D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\graphics\keyval.sty
Package: keyval 2014/10/28 v1.15 key=value parser (DPC)
\KV@toks@=\toks22
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\oberdiek\auxhook.sty
Package: auxhook 2016/05/16 v1.4 Hooks for auxiliary files (HO)
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\oberdiek\kvoptions.sty
Package: kvoptions 2016/05/16 v3.12 Key value format for package options (HO)
)
\@linkdim=\dimen147
\Hy@linkcounter=\count137
\Hy@pagecounter=\count138

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\hyperref\pd1enc.def
File: pd1enc.def 2017/03/14 v6.85a Hyperref: PDFDocEncoding definition (HO)
)
\Hy@SavedSpaceFactor=\count139

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\00miktex\hyperref.cfg
File: hyperref.cfg 2002/06/06 v1.2 hyperref configuration of TeXLive
)
Package hyperref Info: Hyper figures OFF on input line 4498.
Package hyperref Info: Link nesting OFF on input line 4503.
Package hyperref Info: Hyper index ON on input line 4506.
Package hyperref Info: Plain pages OFF on input line 4513.
Package hyperref Info: Backreferencing OFF on input line 4518.
Package hyperref Info: Implicit mode ON; LaTeX internals redefined.
Package hyperref Info: Bookmarks ON on input line 4751.
\c@Hy@tempcnt=\count140

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\url\url.sty
\Urlmuskip=\muskip10
Package: url 2013/09/16  ver 3.4  Verb mode for urls, etc.
)
LaTeX Info: Redefining \url on input line 5104.
\XeTeXLinkMargin=\dimen148
\Fld@menulength=\count141
\Field@Width=\dimen149
\Fld@charsize=\dimen150
Package hyperref Info: Hyper figures OFF on input line 6358.
Package hyperref Info: Link nesting OFF on input line 6363.
Package hyperref Info: Hyper index ON on input line 6366.
Package hyperref Info: backreferencing OFF on input line 6373.
Package hyperref Info: Link coloring OFF on input line 6378.
Package hyperref Info: Link coloring with OCG OFF on input line 6383.
Package hyperref Info: PDF/A mode OFF on input line 6388.
LaTeX Info: Redefining \ref on input line 6428.
LaTeX Info: Redefining \pageref on input line 6432.
\Hy@abspage=\count142
\c@Item=\count143
\c@Hfootnote=\count144
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\memoir\memhfixc.sty
Package: memhfixc 2013/05/30 v1.17 nameref/hyperref package fixes for memoir cl
ass
\c@memhycontfloat=\count145
\c@Hpagenote=\count146
)

Package hyperref Message: Driver (autodetected): hpdftex.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\hyperref\hpdftex.def
File: hpdftex.def 2017/03/14 v6.85a Hyperref driver for pdfTeX
\Fld@listcount=\count147
\c@bookmark@seq@number=\count148

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\oberdiek\rerunfilecheck.sty
Package: rerunfilecheck 2016/05/16 v1.8 Rerun checks for auxiliary files (HO)
Package uniquecounter Info: New unique counter `rerunfilecheck' on input line 2
82.
)
\Hy@SectionHShift=\skip185
) (D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\oberdiek\bookmark.sty
Package: bookmark 2016/05/17 v1.26 PDF bookmarks (HO)

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\oberdiek\bkm-pdftex.def
File: bkm-pdftex.def 2016/05/17 v1.26 bookmark driver for pdfTeX (HO)
\BKM@id=\count149
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\babel\babel.sty
Package: babel 2017/06/29 3.12 The Babel package

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\babel\switch.def
File: switch.def 2017/06/29 3.12 Babel switching mechanism
)
*************************************
* Local config file bblopts.cfg used
*
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\arabi\bblopts.cfg
File: bblopts.cfg 2005/09/08 v0.1 add Arabic and Farsi to "declared" options of
 babel
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\babel-portuges\portuges.ldf
Language: portuges 2008/03/18 v1.2q Portuguese support from the babel system

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\babel\babel.def
File: babel.def 2017/06/29 3.12 Babel common definitions

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\babel\switch.def
File: switch.def 2017/06/29 3.12 Babel switching mechanism
)
\babel@savecnt=\count150
\U@D=\dimen151
)
\l@brazil = a dialect from \language\l@portuges 
Package babel Info: Making " an active character on input line 145.
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\babel-portuges\portuges.ldf
Language: portuges 2008/03/18 v1.2q Portuguese support from the babel system
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\babel-english\english.ldf
Language: english 2017/06/06 v3.3r English support from the babel system
\l@canadian = a dialect from \language\l@american 
\l@australian = a dialect from \language\l@british 
\l@newzealand = a dialect from \language\l@british 
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\enumitem\enumitem.sty
Package: enumitem 2011/09/28 v3.5.2 Customized lists
\labelindent=\skip186
\enit@outerparindent=\dimen152
\enit@toks=\toks23
\enit@inbox=\box29
\enitdp@description=\count151
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\tools\calc.sty
Package: calc 2014/10/28 v4.3 Infix arithmetic (KKT,FJ)
\calc@Acount=\count152
\calc@Bcount=\count153
\calc@Adimen=\dimen153
\calc@Bdimen=\dimen154
\calc@Askip=\skip187
\calc@Bskip=\skip188
LaTeX Info: Redefining \setlength on input line 80.
LaTeX Info: Redefining \addtolength on input line 81.
\calc@Ccount=\count154
\calc@Cskip=\skip189
)

\c@abntex@bookmarkcounter=\count155
\cftlastnumwidth=\skip190
\chapternamenumlength=\skip191
\ABNTEXcitacaorecuo=\skip192
\c@alineasi=\count156
\c@alineasii=\count157
\enitdp@alineas=\count158
\c@subalineasi=\count159
\enitdp@subalineas=\count160
\c@incisosi=\count161
\enitdp@incisos=\count162
\ABNTEXsignwidth=\skip193
\ABNTEXsignthickness=\skip194
\ABNTEXsignskip=\skip256
) (D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\base\inputenc.sty
Package: inputenc 2015/03/17 v1.2c Input encoding file
\inpenc@prehook=\toks24
\inpenc@posthook=\toks25

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\base\utf8.def
File: utf8.def 2017/01/28 v1.1t UTF-8 support for inputenc
Now handling font encoding OML ...
... no UTF-8 mapping file for font encoding OML
Now handling font encoding T1 ...
... processing UTF-8 mapping file for font encoding T1

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\base\t1enc.dfu
File: t1enc.dfu 2017/01/28 v1.1t UTF-8 support for inputenc
   defining Unicode char U+00A0 (decimal 160)
...
   defining Unicode char U+2423 (decimal 9251)
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\base\fontenc.sty
Package: fontenc 2017/04/05 v2.0i Standard LaTeX package

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\base\t1enc.def
File: t1enc.def 2017/04/05 v2.0i Standard LaTeX file
LaTeX Font Info:    Redeclaring font encoding T1 on input line 48.
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\biblatex.sty
Package: biblatex 2016/12/05 v3.7 programmable bibliographies (PK/JW/AB)

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\etoolbox\etoolbox.sty
Package: etoolbox 2017/01/02 v2.4 e-TeX tools for LaTeX (JAW)
\etb@tempcnta=\count163
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\logreq\logreq.sty
Package: logreq 2010/08/04 v1.0 xml request logger
\lrq@indent=\count164

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\logreq\logreq.def
File: logreq.def 2010/08/04 v1.0 logreq spec v1.0
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\xstring\xstring.sty
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\generic\xstring\xstring.tex
\@xs@message=\write4
\integerpart=\count165
\decimalpart=\count166
)
Package: xstring 2013/10/13  v1.7c  String manipulations (C Tellechea)
)
\c@tabx@nest=\count167
...
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load biblatex default data model...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'blx-dm.def' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\blx-dm.def)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load biblatex style data model...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'abnt.dbx' not found.
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load biblatex custom data model...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'biblatex-dm.cfg' not found.
\c@afterword=\count279
...
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load compatibility code...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'blx-compat.def' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\blx-compat.def
File: blx-compat.def 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex compatibility (PK/JW/AB)
)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load generic definitions...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'biblatex.def' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\biblatex.def
File: biblatex.def 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex compatibility (PK/JW/AB)
\c@textcitecount=\count345
\c@textcitetotal=\count346
\c@textcitemaxnames=\count347
\c@biburlnumpenalty=\count348
\c@biburlucpenalty=\count349
\c@biburllcpenalty=\count350
\c@smartand=\count351
)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load bibliography style 'abnt'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'abnt.bbx' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex-abnt\bbx\abnt.bbx
File: abnt.bbx 2017/07/28 v3.1 ABNT BibLaTeX citation style
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load bibliography style 'standard'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'standard.bbx' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\bbx\standard.bbx
File: standard.bbx 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex bibliography style (PK/JW/AB)
\c@bbx:relatedcount=\count352
\c@bbx:relatedtotal=\count353
))
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load citation style 'abnt'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'abnt.cbx' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex-abnt\cbx\abnt.cbx
File: abnt.cbx 2017/07/28 v3.1 ABNT BibLaTeX citation style
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load citation style 'authoryear'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'authoryear.cbx' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\cbx\authoryear.cbx
File: authoryear.cbx 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex citation style (PK/JW/AB)
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\cite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\parencite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\footcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\footcitetext'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\smartcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\textcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\textcites'.
)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load citation style 'abnt-ibid'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'abnt-ibid.cbx' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex-abnt\cbx\abnt-ibid.c
bx
File: abnt-ibid.cbx 2017/07/28 v3.1 ABNT BibLaTeX citation style
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\cite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\parencite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\footcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\footcitetext'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\smartcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\textcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\textcites'.
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\l3packages\xparse\xparse.sty
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\l3kernel\expl3.sty
Package: expl3 2017/07/19 L3 programming layer (loader) 

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\l3kernel\expl3-code.tex
Package: expl3 2017/07/19 L3 programming layer (code)
...
\l__coffin_scaled_width_dim=\dimen185
)
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\l3kernel\l3pdfmode.def
File: l3pdfmode.def 2017/03/18 v L3 Experimental driver: PDF mode
\l__driver_color_stack_int=\count437
\l__driver_tmp_box=\box45
))
Package: xparse 2017/07/19 L3 Experimental document command parser
\l__xparse_current_arg_int=\count438
\g__xparse_grabber_int=\count439
\l__xparse_m_args_int=\count440
\l__xparse_mandatory_args_int=\count441
\l__xparse_v_nesting_int=\count442
)
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\cite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\cites'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\textcite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\textcites'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\parencite'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\citeauthor'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\citetitle'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\citeyear'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\@apud'.
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\apud'.
.................................................
. LaTeX info: "xparse/define-command"
. 
. Defining command \textapud with sig. 'o o m o o m' on line 353.
.................................................
Package biblatex Info: Redefining '\footcite'.
)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load configuration file...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'biblatex.cfg' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex\biblatex.cfg
File: biblatex.cfg 
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\csquotes\csquotes.sty
Package: csquotes 2017/03/11 v5.2b context-sensitive quotations (JAW)
\csq@reset=\count443
\csq@gtype=\count444
\csq@glevel=\count445
\csq@qlevel=\count446
\csq@maxlvl=\count447
\csq@tshold=\count448
\csq@ltx@everypar=\toks26

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\csquotes\csquotes.def
File: csquotes.def 2017/03/11 v5.2b csquotes generic definitions (JAW)
)
Package csquotes Info: Trying to load configuration file 'csquotes.cfg'...
Package csquotes Info: ... configuration file loaded successfully.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\csquotes\csquotes.cfg
File: csquotes.cfg 
))
(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\filecontents\filecontents.sty
Package: filecontents 2011/10/08 v1.3 Create an external file from within a LaT
eX document
)

LaTeX Warning: Overwriting file `./references.bib'.

\openout15 = `references.bib'.


Package biblatex Info: Trying to load language 'english' -> 'abnt-english'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'abnt-english.lbx' found.

(D:\User\Documents\latex\texmfs\install\tex\latex\biblatex-abnt\lbx\abnt-englis
h.lbx
File: abnt-english.lbx 2017/07/28 v3.1 ABNT BibLaTeX citation style
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load language 'english'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'english.lbx' found.

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File: english.lbx 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex localization (PK/JW/AB)
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Package biblatex Info: Trying to load language 'brazil' -> 'abnt-brazilian'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'abnt-brazilian.lbx' found.

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File: abnt-brazilian.lbx 2017/07/28 v3.1 ABNT BibLaTeX citation style
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Package biblatex Info: ... file 'brazil.lbx' found.

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Package csquotes Info: Redefining alias 'default' -> 'english'.

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\openout1 = `test3.aux'.

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Package biblatex Info: Trying to load bibliographic data...
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 47i,9n,48p,10426b,1832s stack positions out of 5000i,500n,10000p,200000b,50000s
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Output written on D:\User\Dropbox\Applications\SoftwareVersioning\SublimeText\D
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PDF statistics:
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Best Answer

It works if you set the input encoding correctly by loading inputenc with the appropriate option.

\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@mvbook{assis08,
    author = {Machado de Assis},
    title = {Obra completa em quatro volumes},
    year = {2008},
    editor = {Aluizio Leite and Ana Lima Cecilio and Heloisa Jahn},
    editortype = {organizer},
    edition = {2},
    volumes = {4},
    publisher = {Nova Fronteira},
    location = {Rio de Janeiro},
    series = {Biblioteca luso-brasileira. Série brasileira}
}
\end{filecontents*}
\PassOptionsToPackage{brazil,main=english}{babel}
\documentclass{abntex2}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[style=abnt, language=english]{biblatex}
\pdfstringdefDisableCommands{\let\uppercase\relax}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}
\begin{document}
Citing \cite{assis08}

\printbibliography
\end{document}

input encoding for error-free output