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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, July 7th 2025 - 09:19 UTC

Brazil

  • Friday, May 20th 2016 - 11:05 UTC

    Petrobras new CEO is a former energy minister and chief of staff

    Parente served in a number of positions under President Cardoso. He was chief of staff from 1999 to 2003 and also minister of planning and of mines and energy.

    Former Brazilian energy minister Pedro Parente has been named by acting President Michel Temer as the new CEO of state-run oil giant Petrobras. Parente was picked Thursday to replace Aldemir Bendine, an appointee of now suspended President Dilma Rousseff. The new Petrobras CEO was working as chairman of Sao Paulo-based financial bourse BM&FBovespa.

  • Friday, May 20th 2016 - 10:57 UTC

    Temer promises to appoint women to the government “a little further ahead”

    “I told Temer that in the decision-making table of the ministries it is necessary to have a woman,” said lawmaker Josi Nunes

    Acting President Michel Temer promised on Thursday that he will at some point have women in his currently all white-male Cabinet. Federal lawmaker Josi Nunes told journalists in Brasilia that Temer pledged at a meeting with congresswomen that he would be bringing females into his government “a little further ahead.”

  • Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 12:07 UTC

    Brazilian Justice gives Rousseff ten days to reply the claims of “a coup”

    Justice Rosa Weber follows a presentation by a group of lawmakers from the current wide ranging coalition that supports acting president Temer

    Brazils Supreme Tribunal (STF) Justice Rosa Weber has given suspended president Dilma Rousseff ten days to explain her repeated statements that the impeachment process started against her is a “coup”. Rousseff is not obliged to respond. The STF decision follows a request from a group of lawmakers via the House's prosecution office.

  • Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 11:57 UTC

    Meirelles unveils a dark picture of Brazil's finances and insists of pensions reform

    Meirelles said that he will have the final estimate of the primary deficit by Friday. On that date government has to issue a bimonthly report of state finances.

    Brazil's fiscal deficit prior to debt interest payments could reach 150 billion Reais (US$42.10 billion) this year as revenues collapse amid a crippling recession economy, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles warned on Wednesday. The deficit includes eventual losses from state electricity holding Eletrobras.

  • Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 08:02 UTC

    Lula's most trusted and closest political advisor sentenced to 23 years in prison

    Dirceu was former President Lula da Silva's chief of staff from 2003 to 2005 before being forced to step down over a congressional vote-buying scheme.

    A Brazilian federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Jose Dirceu, a former presidential chief of staff, to 23 years and three months in prison for his role in a massive corruption scheme centered on state-controlled oil company Petrobras. Judge Sergio Moro, who is spearheading the bribes-for-inflated contracts probe, found Dirceu guilty of accepting and paying bribes and money laundering.

  • Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 07:49 UTC

    Rousseff's party preparing a large national rally “Out with Temer”, for June first

    Falcao referred to acting president Temer as a “coup leader”, “illegal” and a “usurper”.

    Brazils' Worker's Party, PT, to which suspended President Dilma Rousseff belongs, insisted that the country is experiencing a “coup” and announced a campaign to “remove” acting President Michel Temer. PT president Rui Falcao said after a meeting of the national party directorate in Brasilia, that party members will continue “fighting the coup” and will undertake actions to raise society's awareness of the need to “get rid of Temer.”

  • Wednesday, May 18th 2016 - 12:21 UTC

    Petrobras: Temer pledges judicial independence and respect for prosecutors nomination process

    Temer told Globo TV he would maintain the tradition of nominating the candidate chosen by the corps of prosecutors

    Brazil's interim president, Michel Temer said he would continue a tradition of nominating a prosecutor general who comes recommended by peers, allaying concerns about judicial independence. Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes, sworn in last week as part of Temer's new government, told the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper in an interview that the prosecutor general of Brazil could be selected at will by the president.

  • Wednesday, May 18th 2016 - 06:01 UTC

    Orthodox economist Goldfajn confirmed as Brazil's central bank governor

    Ilan Goldfajn, chief economist of Itau Unibanco Holding, will replace Alexandre Tombini as central bank governor. Senate must ratify Goldfajn's appointment.

    Brazil's interim government on Tuesday confirmed the lead economist of the country's largest private bank to head the central bank, in a further shift away from the interventionist policies that many blame for deep recession and near double-digit inflation.

  • Tuesday, May 17th 2016 - 11:00 UTC

    Brazil's economy contracts for fifteenth consecutive month

    Private economists consulted in the Central Bank's latest weekly survey expects Brazil's GDP to shrink by a further 3.86% this year.

    Brazil's economic activity contracted by 1.44% in the first quarter relative to October-December 2015 and 6.27% compared to the same three-month period of 2015, the Central Bank said Friday. The figures come from the Central Bank's Index of Economic Activity, or IBC-Br, an indicator used as a preview of the gross domestic product (GDP) number.

  • Tuesday, May 17th 2016 - 10:50 UTC

    Temer meets Brazilian unions to draft a blueprint for pension system reform

    “Temer took no position at the meeting,” said Antonio Neto, head of the CSB union. “Temer just said he is in a hurry and wants a plan in 30 days.”

    Brazilian interim President Michel Temer agreed with union leaders on Monday to draft a blueprint for overhauling the creaking pension system within a month, as he seeks to restore confidence in Latin America's largest economy. Temer has vowed to plug a fiscal gap equivalent to more than 11% of GDP last year.