Brazil

• Friday, June 3rd 2016 - 08:41 UTC

  Brazil wants Venezuela out of the Mercosur rotating chair

  

  Brazilian government would like to block Venezuela from taking the rotating presidency of Mercosur later this month, a move to further debilitate Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's power, according to Planalto sources close to interim president Michel Temer, who admitted the proposal has yet to be discussed with other members.

• Thursday, June 2nd 2016 - 09:11 UTC

  Temer's home in Sao Paulo is fenced off to keep protestors away

  

  Brazil's acting president, Michel Temer, put a fence around his home in Sao Paulo to prevent protesters gathered in the vicinity from harassing his family. The measure, authorities said, was taken to “strengthen” the security surrounding the family of the interim president after on May 22 riot police dispersed a demonstration before his house.

• Thursday, June 2nd 2016 - 07:31 UTC

  Brazil's economy plunges 5.4% in the first quarter compared to a year ago

  

  Brazil's economy sank further into recession in the first quarter, contracting 5.4% relative to the same three-month period of last year, the government said Wednesday. Compared with the final quarter of 2015, the economy shrank by 0.3%, according to the state-run Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, or IBGE.

• Wednesday, June 1st 2016 - 06:28 UTC

  Brazilians disenchanted with their elected officials and a majority believes “nothing will change”

  

  Brazilians have become increasingly disappointed with politics and their elected politicians, according to an Ibope Intelligence opinion poll collecting reactions to the current political situations, which has a suspended president, Dilma Rousseff; an interim leader Michel Temer, and a divided Congress.

• Tuesday, May 31st 2016 - 07:21 UTC

  Brazil's posts a primary budget surplus in April, because of annual income tax collection

  

  The Brazilian government posted a primary budget surplus in April well above market expectations due to a seasonal increase in tax revenues and a drop in subsidies, a senior official said on Monday. The government, which is struggling to lift the economy out of a deep recession, posted a primary budget surplus of 9.751 billion reais (US$2.72 billion) in April.

• Tuesday, May 31st 2016 - 07:07 UTC

  Brazil's acting president 7-year old son already has an estate of US$ 570.000

  

  Little Michel, the 7-year-old son of Brazil’s Acting President Michel Temer, has already proven he is far more mature than his years might suggest. A few weeks ago, he was responsible for choosing the new government's logo – when he saw it, he said “pretty.” Now, we know that the wunderkind has a few investments of his own.

• Tuesday, May 31st 2016 - 07:00 UTC

  Second cabinet knock out in Brazil: this time the Transparency minister

  

  Brazilian interim president Michel Temer's government has suffered a new blow when his anti-corruption minster resigned on Monday after leaked recordings showed him trying to squash a massive corruption scandal that has ensnarled the country's political and business elite.

• Monday, May 30th 2016 - 09:36 UTC

  Suspended Rousseff claims tapes reveal her impeachment is meant to stop the Petrobras corruption probe

  

  Suspended President Dilma Rousseff said in an interview published Sunday that leaked audio recordings of men backing her impeachment show the effort to oust her is meant to stop a wide-ranging corruption probe that has implicated numerous leading Brazilian politicians and businessmen.

• Monday, May 30th 2016 - 09:25 UTC

  Lula regrets having elected Dilma as his successor, according to taped conversation

  

  Ex Brazilian president Lula da Silva regrets having handpicked suspended president Dilma Rousseff as his political heiress, according to a taped conversation leaked to the media. In the audio between former president Jose Sarney and Sergio Machado, a former head of Transpetro, a state-run natural gas company, who is believed to have entered a plea bargain with the prosecution, the two men comment on Lula's confession.

• Monday, May 30th 2016 - 06:49 UTC

  Petrobras faces “tens of billions of dollars” in claims in US court; trial opens in September

  

  Petrobras will finally get its day in a U.S. court on Sept. 19 in a trial that pits 18 former executives and 13 investment banks, including J.P. Morgan Securities, against U.S. and U.K. investors. Claimants are seeking “tens of billions of dollars” in losses from the Brazilian oil and gas giant.