Brazil

Friday, April 28th 2017 - 17:28 UTC
General strike in Brazil to protest changes to labor laws and pensions system

Public transport largely came to a halt across much of Brazil on Friday as protesters blocked roads and scuffled with police in a general strike to protest proposed changes to labor laws and the pension system. It is the first general strike in over two decades.
Friday, April 28th 2017 - 17:23 UTC
Brazil hit by record 13.7% unemployment in March, 14 million out of a job

Brazil's jobless rate rose to a record for the fifth straight month in March with more than 14 million workers unemployed, government data showed on Friday, illustrating the hardships caused by the country's deepest recession ever.
Thursday, April 27th 2017 - 17:50 UTC
Brazil's reforms advance in Congress to the relief of beleaguered president Temer

Brazil's lower house of Congress on Wednesday approved the main text of a bill to relax the country's restrictive labor laws, a main issue of President Michel Temer's efforts to bolster investment and pull the economy out of its worst recession ever.
Wednesday, April 26th 2017 - 12:15 UTC
Bribes in Brazil “institutionalized” since the fifties, reveals Emilio Odebrecht

The former CEO of the huge Brazilian builder at the center of the world's biggest corruption scandal spoke frankly about the billions in bribes and illegal financing that the Odebrecht company put into the pockets and campaign coffers of politicians and public officials.
Wednesday, April 26th 2017 - 11:41 UTC
Brazil and Spain lay direct subsea cable rerouting communications to avoid US bugging

The Spanish and Brazilian governments have teamed up to lay an undersea cable in the Atlantic Ocean to offer fast online and cloud services to citizens of both countries by 2019, underscoring efforts to rout communications outside North America.
Wednesday, April 26th 2017 - 08:28 UTC
Tribesmen with bows and arrows clash with riot police in Brasilia on “Indigenous Week”

Thousands of Brazilian indigenous tribe members clashed with riot police Tuesday while demonstrating in the capital, Brasilia, for greater rights. Some of the indigenous people were armed with bows and arrows, while police rained tear gas onto the protesters.
Wednesday, April 26th 2017 - 08:20 UTC
EU/Mercosur trade agreement “closer than ever”, says Spanish president Rajoy

The European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur should intensify talks to reach a trade agreement this year, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Tuesday, urging haste after 18 years of negotiations.
Tuesday, April 25th 2017 - 07:10 UTC
Paraguay and Brazil after a 60-member gang that robbed US$ 40 m and terrorized a city

Brazilian police near the border with Paraguay have exchanged gunfire with members of a gang who carried out what Paraguayan officials are calling the robbery of the century. So far three gang members were killed and two injured in the clash, police say. The number of robbers involved and display of weapons has led authorities to believe it is a one of Brazil largest criminal gangs.
Monday, April 24th 2017 - 08:42 UTC
Temer insists that the corruption scandal won't paralyze Brazil

President Michel Temer insists that a growing corruption scandal in his government will not paralyze Brazil as it struggles to emerge from its deepest recession in history. “Brazil doesn’t stop,” he said in an interview broadcast on Spanish television TVE ahead of a visit Monday by Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. “So it won’t be corrupt acts that paralyze the country.”
Monday, April 24th 2017 - 08:25 UTC
Spain's Rajoy visits Brazil and Uruguay to stress trade and Mercosur

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy arrived in Brazil on Sunday on an official two-day visit during which he will meet with President Michel Temer and follow a markedly economic agenda, including Mercosur and current ongoing talks with the EU in Brussels. The second leg of the trip will take Rajoy to Uruguay.