Brazil

• Monday, January 22nd 2018 - 23:26 UTC

  No matter what, Brazil's 2018 election will be controversial

  

  Brazil will head to the polls on October 7 in what is set to be the most polarizing presidential race in living memory. While the final ballot is beginning to take shape, there is still a question mark over the candidacy of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party), who may be ineligible to run after his impending appeals court decision on charges of corruption. The imbroglio surrounding Lula guarantees that however the 2018 election turns out, both sides will feel they have reason to call foul play.

• Monday, January 22nd 2018 - 09:36 UTC

  Brazil seizes contraband of Paraguayan cigarettes, some from president Cartes factory

  

  Brazilian authorities have reported the seizure of a huge contraband of cigarettes from Paraguay, and some of the brands in the boxes belong to a well known tobacco company in Asunción, which belongs to president Horacio Cartes.

• Monday, January 22nd 2018 - 09:21 UTC

  Brazil looking to overcome the self imposed ban of fish produce to the EU

  

  “Suspending the export of Brazilian fish to the European Union was a hard decision and still not well understood,” the interim fisheries minister Eumar Novacki said at a meeting with businessmen from the sector, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA).

• Friday, January 19th 2018 - 09:13 UTC

  China poured US$ 21bn into Brazil in 2017 taking advantage of recession asset prices

  

  China invested US$20.9 billion in Brazil in 2017, the most since 2010 as a recession helped push down asset prices and attracted investors, according to Brazil’s planning ministry.The energy, logistics and agriculture sectors drew the most Chinese capital, including investments in Brazil’s rich pre-salt oil fields and China’s State Power Investment Corp US$2.25 billion deal to operate the São Simão hydropower plant.

• Friday, January 19th 2018 - 09:01 UTC

  Lula is no radical or a threat to stability: everyone won when he was president

  

  The leader of Brazil's Workers' Party, PT, argued in an interview that former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is anything but radical and does not pose a threat to Brazilian financial stability. Brazilian senator Gleisi Hoffman told Bloomberg News that Lula is working on a second “letter to Brazilian people” (as he did in 2002) to reassure the markets about his commitment to fiscal responsibility.

• Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:36 UTC

  Brazil willing to admit US ethanol, if US opens market to fresh beef exports

  

  Brazil is studying the removal of a 20% tariff on ethanol imports from the United States, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Wednesday, in a decision that could depend on Washington lifting a ban on fresh beef exports from Brazil. Last year, Brazil imposed a 20% tax on ethanol imported from the U.S. that exceeds a 600 million liter annual quota to protect local producers as imports spiked.

• Thursday, January 18th 2018 - 09:28 UTC

  Lula followers anticipate “killings” if the ex president is banned from running

  

  Brazilian Senator and president of the Workers Party, PT, Gleisi Hoffmann said that jailing ex president Lula da Silva, indicted on corruption charges, once the final ruling is known will mean “killing many people”.

• Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:29 UTC

  Brazilian stocks at an all time high, as optimism grows recession is over

  

  Brazilian stocks on Tuesday edged up to an all-time high as optimism over the nation's economic prospects kept an early-year rally alive. The benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 0.3% to 79,951, nearing the 80,000 milestone for the first-time ever.

• Tuesday, January 16th 2018 - 09:52 UTC

  Support for Lula's presidential bid despite his corruption conviction

  

  Four South American ex-presidents are among more than 170,000 people who signed a petition supporting former president Lula da Silva bid for another term as Brazil's president, despite his corruption conviction. US film-maker Oliver Stone also signed the online petition supporting Lula, whose electoral aspirations are at risk of being blocked.

• Tuesday, January 16th 2018 - 09:48 UTC

  Petrobras and Total confirm completion of Strategic Alliance involving US$ 1.9bn

  

  Petrobras has completed the previously announced sale of shares in several Brazilian fields to France’s Total for US$1.95 billion it was confirmed. The deal was announced as part of the two companies’ Strategic Alliance, signed in March 2017.