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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 4th 2025 - 22:07 UTC

Brazil

  • Thursday, November 17th 2016 - 08:54 UTC

    Demonstrators break into the Brazilian Lower House

    Several of the protesters shouted slogans against the government of Michel Temer and against corruption, calling for a military coup

    About 50 demonstrators on Wednesday invaded the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies causing chaos and forcing lawmakers to suspend the congressional session. The protesters, who had been demonstrating against social budget cuts outside the chamber, managed to get through the door and into the lower house itself after deceiving security agents tasked with restricting access.

  • Wednesday, November 16th 2016 - 09:38 UTC

    IMF anticipates a more gradual recovery of the Brazilian economy than forecasted

    Temer has said he will not raise taxes unless reforms fail to pass; IMF directors warned tax hikes may need to wait until the economy is on stronger footing.

    International Monetary Fund's executive board said on Tuesday that the Brazilian economy could be close to pulling out of a grueling recession, but faces a long and bumpy recovery that hinges on the approval of unpopular reforms. In its considerations of the IMF staff's annual report on Brazil, the executive board said that despite the new government's efforts to avoid a fiscal crisis they expected a gradual recovery in Latin America's top economy.

  • Wednesday, November 16th 2016 - 09:16 UTC

    Brazil's annual inflation below 8%; October's 0.26% increase was the lowest since 2000

    With inflation on a downward path, the central bank cut interest rates last month from a decade high to help lift the economy out of a two-year downturn.

    Brazil's annual inflation rate in October fell below 8% for the first time since February 2015, keeping the door open for small interest rate cuts as a deep recession lingers. Prices rose 7.87% in the 12 months through October, down from an annual increase of 8.48% in the previous month, statistics bureau IBGE said.

  • Wednesday, November 16th 2016 - 08:55 UTC

    Brazil and Argentina crop and yield estimates on the increase

    Brazil’s CONAB has raised its soybean production estimate to 103.5 MMT, an increase of 1.9 MMT, and also increased soybean exports by 5 MMT

    Brazil and Argentina production estimates are going up, but hailstorms ruined soybean and corn crops in Argentina’s Santa Fe Province. However, La Niña is forecast to be relatively mild this year, according to NOAA forecasters.

  • Tuesday, November 15th 2016 - 11:07 UTC

    Shell planning to invest US$ 10bn in Brazil's deep water production

    Shell held a series of investor presentations in Brazil, and Chief Executive Ben van Beurden was received by president Temer in Brasília

    Oil major Shell is planning to continue investing heavily in Brazil as part of a bid to double its global deep water production by the early 2020s. Shell plans to invest US$10 billion over the next five years, Wael Sawan, the company’s executive vice president for deep water, said in an interview this week.

  • Monday, November 14th 2016 - 07:54 UTC

    Petrobras cleans balance sheet and posts unexpected third quarter loss

    Despite losses, operational and cash flow trends improved, said Chief Financial Officer Ivan Monteiro said.

    Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras posted an unexpected third-quarter loss after drastically reducing the value of oil fields and other assets amid a severe downsizing and weak oil prices. Petrobras lost a net 16.458 billion reais (US$4.9 billion) last quarter, five times more than a year earlier. Despite that, operational and cash flow trends improved and, without an impairment, profit could have totaled 600 million Reais, Chief Financial Officer Ivan Monteiro said.

  • Sunday, November 13th 2016 - 14:32 UTC

    Miss Bumbum beauty contest sparks controversy in Brazil from behind

    Érika Canela, winner of the sixth edition of the “Miss Bumbum” contest, is already the muse of the Corinthians football club

    The Brazilian pepople's cult of the female rear came back to life once again in the 2016 edition of the “Miss Bumbum” beauty contest, in which candidates from the 27 states disputed the title to the “best behind,” raising again controversy around the issue of “object woman.”

  • Saturday, November 12th 2016 - 21:31 UTC

    Demostrators rally in Sao Paulo against Temer's adjustment proposals

    Temer's austerity plans draw opposition that causes havoc in Sao Paulo

    Protesters Friday blocked some of Sao Paulo's main avenues to object to the the bill to freeze public spending for 20 years. Others set roadblocks with tires at the Vía Dutra, which links Sao Paulo with Rio de Janeiro, and Via Anchieta, the main road between the city and the coast.

  • Saturday, November 12th 2016 - 21:27 UTC

    Congress opens Brazil's huge “pre-salt” oil fields to the private sector

    Huge amounts of oil could be lying under the pre-salt fields, but high costs of equipment and human capital are necessary to get extraction started

    Petrobras will begin selling off huge “pre-salt” oil fields to raise cash for the desperate Brazilian national oil company, according to new legislation passed by Congress. Politicians in the lower house had fought against the bill, but lawmakers succeeded in pushing the bill through during a late-night session, and the vote stood at 251-22 by the end of the night.

  • Saturday, November 12th 2016 - 12:19 UTC

    Lula's claim of a “diabolic pact” derided by Brazil's attorney general

    Lula, who is set to stand trial in three separate corruption cases, said at an event Thursday in Sao Paulo, where he received the support of intellectuals and leaders of political, labor and social mo

    Brazil's attorney general on Friday offered a joking retort to former President Lula da Silva's remark that the corruption allegations he faces are due to a “diabolical pact” among different institutions, saying he is not a religious person. “What I can say is that I'm not religious,” Rodrigo Janot joked to reporters when asked about Lula's comments. Janot, who gave a press conference to review anti-corruption investigations this year, added that Lula was free to express his opinion.