Brazil

• Saturday, March 26th 2016 - 07:15 UTC

  Mercosur prepares to celebrate 25th anniversary hoping it can be 'reborn' under Argentine leadership

  

  On Saturday 26 March the Asuncion Treaty, which gave birth to Mercosur, the Common Market of the South, will be 25, and even with celebration plans the mood of its members is not enthusiastic following years of “too much ideology” and “too little trade and business”, distant from the original idea and purpose.

• Saturday, March 26th 2016 - 07:03 UTC

  Mercosur and Unasur can't agree on a statement of support for Dilma Rousseff

  

  The attempt by Uruguay to draft a strong Mercosur and Unasur resolution in support of embattled Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has foundered. Argentina is only prepared to express support for Brazil's institutions while Chile and Paraguay have balked at the idea of personalizing the issue in Rousseff and her Workers Party.

• Friday, March 25th 2016 - 05:26 UTC

  Unemployment in Brazil reaches 9.5%, the highest level since 2012

  

  Unemployment in Latin America's largest country is at its highest level since 2012, the Brazilian government said on Thursday. Brazil's IBGE statistics bureau said that the jobless rate in the three months through January was 9.5%, compared to the 6.8% in the same period one year ago.

• Thursday, March 24th 2016 - 02:03 UTC

  Brazilian Supreme Court emerges with a decisive role in the institutional crisis

  

  The Brazilian government's efforts to have former president Lula da Silva into the cabinet of president Dilma Rousseff will have to wait until next 30 March when the Supreme Court is scheduled to hold its next full meeting. The political upheaval and simultaneous legal back-and forth has reached such a pitch that it inspired a bleakly funny website, lulaeministro.com, or “Is Lula a minister?” The site shows only the former president’s face and the words, “At this moment, No.” (Or yes, depending).

• Thursday, March 24th 2016 - 01:16 UTC

  Time bomb in Brazil: list of 200 names of politicians from 18 parties who received illegal funds for elections

  

  Odebrecht, the engineering firm at the heart of Brazil's biggest ever graft probe, on Tuesday agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, in a move likely to send shockwaves across political parties that for years illegally siphoned money from state contracts. Federal police found an office to pay bribes and it surfaced that since February it has a list of 200 politicians who benefited from siphoned funds for election campaigns.

• Thursday, March 24th 2016 - 01:10 UTC

  Brazil's chief of staff warns about the “dangerous precedent” of ousting an unpopular government

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff on Wednesday said ousting her would set a “dangerous” precedent for unpopular governments to be toppled in the future. On Tuesday Rousseff said that ongoing impeachment proceedings against her in Congress constituted a “plot” against Brazil's institutions and the nation's stability.

• Tuesday, March 22nd 2016 - 06:25 UTC

  Petrobras losses in 4Q climb to US$ 10bn; more staff cuts expected

  

  Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras, reported a record quarterly loss of $10.2 billion on Monday due to a large reduction in the value of some assets amid lower oil prices. Petrobras has been at the center of a sprawling corruption scandal that has ensnared some of Brazil's most powerful lawmakers and business executives.

• Saturday, March 19th 2016 - 09:13 UTC

  Brazilian situation shows division among Unasur members

  

  Unasur, the Union of South American Nations is divided on how to address the Brazilian situation: while Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia have agreed on a strong statement in support of president Dilma Rousseff, Argentina expressed 'institutional support' and Chile abstained.

• Saturday, March 19th 2016 - 08:58 UTC

  Brazilian lawmakers make an exception and begin impeachment procedure against Rousseff on Friday

  

  The Brazilian opposition parties, meeting in the Lower House of Congress sped up the impeachment process against president Dilma Rousseff by holding a session on Friday, a day that lawmakers are normally away from Brasilia.

• Saturday, March 19th 2016 - 06:54 UTC

  Lula calls for justice, claims he is a victim of “unjustified acts of violence”

  

  Embattled former Brazilian president Lula da Silva on Friday released an open letter calling for “justice” as he affirmed he is the victim of “unjustified acts of violence.”“Justice, it is only justice what I expect for me and everybody within the framework of in-force democratic rule of law,” Lula said a day after he was sworn-in as the chief of staff of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and a judge in that country issued an injunction blocking his appointment.