Brazil

• Wednesday, May 25th 2016 - 08:16 UTC

  Brazil with a current account surplus in April, first since 2009

  

  Brazil recorded a public current account surplus of US$412 million in April, the first positive result since 2009. Brazil's central bank's chief economist, Tulio Maciel, on Tuesday said the result was way better than anticipated.

• Wednesday, May 25th 2016 - 05:58 UTC

  Temer announces tough austerity measures but needs to show Congress supports him

  

  Brazil's interim president announced austerity measures on Tuesday aimed at pulling Latin America's largest economy from its worst crisis in decades, warning that a failure to act would sentence future generations to “extraordinary hardship.” Speaking with government leaders in a national televised meeting, interim president Michel Temer, 75, also banged his hand on the table while insisting he was up to the job.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2016 - 08:18 UTC

  Brazil and Argentina to work together to help find a solution to Venezuela

  

  Brazil and Argentina will work together to help find a solution to Venezuela's political crisis, Brazil's acting foreign minister said on Monday. Venezuela is facing a severe economic crisis, with the world's highest inflation and shortages. Polls indicate most Venezuelans want President Nicolas Maduro out of office.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2016 - 08:05 UTC

  Macri's Argentina and Temer's Brazil seal close political and working relationship

  

  Argentina and the new interim government of Brazil sealed this Monday their close relationship when foreign minister Jose Serra in a brief visit to Buenos Aires, his first overseas trip, met privately with President Mauricio Macri. . Earlier in the day the Brazilian official signed a memorandum of understanding for a bilateral mechanism of political coordination with his peer Susana Malcorra.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2016 - 05:34 UTC

  Temer loses top minister to Petrobras scandal: recordings expose plans to obstruct investigation

  

  Brazil's Planning Minister Romero Juca said on Monday he will temporarily step down after a newspaper published recordings of him discussing plans to obstruct the country's biggest-ever corruption investigation, which includes him among its targets.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2016 - 05:16 UTC

  Meirelles on Tuesday will announce spending cuts to contain a huge fiscal deficit

  

  Brazil's government on Tuesday will announce spending curbs and other measures to reduce its rising debt burden and contain a fiscal deficit as it seeks to regain the confidence of investors, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2016 - 05:08 UTC

  Brazilian Justice warns government should not interfere in trials and recommends transparency

  

  Brazilian federal judge hearing the Petrobras case, Sergio Moro, avoided commenting Monday on the voice recording in which a minister of acting-President Michel Temer suggests ways to end the investigation into corruption at the state-run oil company Petrobras, but warned that the government should not interfere in trials, which are the responsibility of the justice system.

• Monday, May 23rd 2016 - 12:14 UTC

  Argentina, one of Brazil´s main foreign policy priorities, anticipated Serra who is expected in Buenos Aires

  

  Argentina will be one of the main priorities for Brazil’s interim government under President Michel Temer, declared foreign minister José Serra who is expected this Monday in Buenos Aires for his first overseas trip. He is also anticipated a review and redraw of Mercosur plus agreements with the US, European Union and Japan.

• Monday, May 23rd 2016 - 11:13 UTC

  Limited street protests against Temer's government in Sao Paulo and Rio

  

  Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Brazil's two biggest cities Sunday to protest acting President Michel Temer, trying to keep up pressure on his interim administration only 10 days after he was sworn in. A march in Sao Paulo was heading toward Temer's residence, but police blocked roads near the house, and the interim president left for the capital of Brasilia hours earlier.

• Monday, May 23rd 2016 - 10:58 UTC

  Temer backsteps and this Monday will reinstate the Culture Ministry

  

  Brazil's interim President Michel Temer will reinstate the Culture Ministry this Monday, a government official said, after an outcry from some of the country's top artists over his policy to fold it into the Education Ministry to save money