A leading manager of the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht involved in corrupting government officials in virtually all Latin American countries revealed that millions of dollars in kickbacks were delivered in Argentina to pay for the natural gas pipelines network expansion contract.
Industrial output in Brazil contracted unexpectedly in March, the latest in a string of weak data suggesting a recovery in Latin America's largest economy hit a bump in the first quarter. Production fell 0.1% from February, government statistics agency IBGE announced.
Brazil's highest court voted on Thursday to restrict a legal protection afforded to federal lawmakers that critics say has resulted in impunity, as the country grapples with massive official corruption. The protection known as “privileged standing” allows tens of thousands of politicians to have cases against them tried in higher courts than a normal citizen would.
Brazilian prosecutors filed charges against the country’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi on Wednesday, accusing him of orchestrating a bribery scheme in 2009 when he was governor of Mato Grosso state. Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge filed charges at the Supreme Court, according to a written statement from the federal prosecutor’s office.
Brazilian investigators conducted one of their largest operations against graft ever on Thursday, targeting a money laundering ring linked to powerful politicians and businessmen that moved some US$1.6 billion through offshore accounts in 52 countries.
Brazil’s state-controlled Petrobras expects oil production to start by the end of June at its Tartaruga Verde e Mestica offshore platform, the second of seven facilities planned to be installed this year, a company executive said on Monday.
A 24-storey building used by squatters in the center of Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city, collapsed early Tuesday after a blaze that tore through the structure, leaving at least three missing. Survivors described waking in the night to find themselves surrounded by flames and escaping with their children before the tower turned to rubble.
Brazilian former president Dilma Rousseff will be joining May first Labor Day activities in Argentina, and participate of a special ceremony at the Argentine unions federation umbrella organization, CGT.
Imprisoned former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, along with the current leader of the Workers Party he founded, was hit on Monday with fresh corruption charges by federal prosecutors.
A man was seriously wounded early on Saturday when a gunman opened fire on a vigil in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, where former president Lula da Silva is serving time for corruption, his party said.