Brazilian President Lula da Silva's chosen candidate to succeed him next year came out on top in Sunday’s vote but fell short of an outright win needed to avoid a runoff at the end of October. The big surprise was the Green Party’s Marina Silva and her 19%, which turns her into king-maker.
Spearheaded by Brazil Foundation President Leona Forman, and the event’s Chair, advertising executive Nizan Guanaes, a stellar gathering of over 500 Brazilian leaders in banking, fashion and infrastructure industries reached into their purses and donated over US$2.4 million dollars for Brazil Foundation’s efforts to support nonprofit organizations that provide opportunities for poor and marginalized communities across Brazil.
Though less than a week has passed since the crucial Venezuelan National Assembly elections, all eyes have already turned to Brazil, as it heads into general elections on October 3rd.
President Lula da Silva called on fellow Brazilians to vote for his successor Dilma Rousseff next Sunday, during the closing program of the electoral campaign free television time.
Opinion polls indicate that the candidate from the ruling Workers Party Dilma Rousseff, hand picked by Lula da Silva, will win Brazil’s presidency next Sunday. A run off is scheduled for a month later if no candidate gets 50% of the ballot, but in any of the two options Ms Rousseff is forecasted to take office next January first .
Brazil’s broadest measure of inflation rose the fastest since May in September. Construction, consumer and wholesale prices, as measured by the IGP-M index, rose 1.15% this month.
Brazilian and Argentine international relations experts anticipate that if as all opinion polls indicate Dilma Rousseff will be elected next Sunday as the first woman president in the history of Brazil, the country’s foreign policy will continue the model implemented by President Lula da Silva.
Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega claimed that an “international currency war” has broken out but the government will buy all “excess dollars” in the market to curb the appreciation of the local currency Real.
One of Brazil’s leading and influential newspapers, O Estado de Sao Paulo announced its support for opposition presidential candidate Jose Serra for the coming Sunday election and described current president Lula da Silva as a “bad example” for Brazilian politics.
Brazil's government managed oil and gas company raised 70 billion US in the world's biggest-ever share offering Thursday. The success of Petrobras issue showed the extent of investor interest in Brazil's massive offshore oil reserves, one of the world's fastest-growing regions for energy production.