Brazil's embattled president Dilma Rousseff with the help of her political mentor. Lula da Silva managed on Thursday night to plea support from the ruling Workers Party, WP, delegates for drastic spending cuts designed to restore confidence in Latin America's largest but battered economy.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff stated on Thursday in Brussels she was not upset by differences with Argentina over the trade agreement Mercosur is to sign with the European Union, despite president Cristina Fernandez administration's cold feet on the issue.
Argentine Foreign minister Hector Timerman affirmed that a trade deal would not be signed between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) in the second summit of the Community of Latin American States (CELAC) and the European body, which is taking place in the Belgian city of Brussels.
Mercosur is ready to deliver its proposal on goods, services and tariff reductions as part of the negotiations with the European Union for a trade and cooperation agreement, said Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday, following a meeting in Brussels with Charles Michel, Belgium's Prime minister.
Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez said that Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay are ready to sign the long delayed trade and cooperation agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. Such an agreement has become one of the cornerstones of Vazquez presidency faced with falling exports and limited markets.
Brazil announced a $64 billion infrastructure spending package on Tuesday, hoping to revive its flagging economy with investment in highways, railroads, ports and airports. Businesses and analysts have long pointed to overburdened infrastructure as a drag on the world's seventh-largest economy, which pays high prices to ship the raw materials it exports.
A top Brazilian minister said that Mercosur must allow member countries to sign trade agreements with third parties and called for the end to the rule which prevents such initiative. Development, Industry and Trade minister Armando Monteiro Neto made the statement during a competitiveness seminar in Rio do Janeiro a couple of days ahead of a crucial meeting in Brussels between Mercosur representatives and the European Union to address an encompassing free trade agreement.
Brazil's debt levels will continue to increase through 2016 and remain high despite the government's fiscal consolidation efforts, potentially weakening the sovereign's credit profile, says Moody's Investors Service.
Brazil raised interest rates to the highest levels in more than six years on Wednesday, extending a tightening campaign and leaving the door open for more hikes despite concerns that steep borrowing costs could deepen an expected economic recession.
Appalled by the brutal murders of two Brazilian journalists in the space of a few days, Reporters Without Borders has written to President Dilma Roussef asking her to end the prevailing impunity for crimes of violence against media personnel in her country.