One of the main unions behind a crippling truckers' strike in Latin America's largest nation on Tuesday called on its members to return to work, warning that failing to do so would erode hard-won gains.
A truckers protest over diesel prices that has crippled key sectors of Latin America's biggest economy dragged into Friday night, putting drivers in a standoff with Brazilian President Michel Temer who authorized military force to clear highways. The protest will stretch into its sixth day on Saturday.
Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA's will use part of a 2.6 billion reais (US$709.96 million) bank loan to repay a loan in arrears with state-controlled bank Banco do Brasil SA, according to sources quoted by Reuters. Under the terms of an agreement announced on Friday, the engineering group, at the center of a corruption scandal, will repay a 100 million reais debt to Banco do Brasil.
BYD, China’s biggest electric vehicle maker by sales, signed a 2.5 billion Brazilian real (US$ 689 million) deal this week to build a monorail system in Brazil’s Salvador city, the firm said. It’s the company’s biggest overseas monorail investment yet, according to a company spokesperson. Construction will start on the 20-kilometer route this year, and it’s expected to begin operations in 2021.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) declared Brazil free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) with vaccination on Thursday, opening new export prospects for the world’s largest beef exporter. The OIE already considered most of Brazil to be free of foot-and-mouth with vaccination. The declaration, which the government had been expecting since the start of the year, extends certification to the whole country.
The trade dispute between the United States and China has benefited Brazil so far but could prove harmful long term as higher grain prices will make the country’s exports less competitive, Brazil’s farm minister said. Brazil is the world's leading poultry exporter.
Brazil's government said late Thursday that a deal had been reached with truckers to suspend a four-day-old strike that caused fuel shortages, cut into food deliveries, backed up exports and threatened airline flights.
Petrobras on Wednesday temporarily cut diesel prices by 10% in order to help the Brazilian government and truck drivers resolve a protest crippling highways.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has denied a request by Brazil's ex-president Lula da Silva seeking emergency action against his imprisonment, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Lula, currently serving a 12-year sentence over corruption, asked the committee to impose so-called interim measures -- a step the UN panel only takes when there is evidence an accused person is facing grave, irreparable harm.
Brazilian President Michel Temer scrapped plans to run for re-election on Tuesday and said he supported his former finance minister, Henrique Meirelles, to stand as the presidential candidate of the ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB).