Petrobras announced it plans to sell voting control of Petrobras Distribuidora SA after a bidding round for a minority stake in the fuels retailer failed to attract bids that met the state-controlled oil company's needs.
Brazil's Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles has warned that if Congress does not approve a ceiling for public spending, the country will have chosen a most cumbersome path with new rounds of tax increases and higher interest rates which will further delay sustainable growth.
Next month's summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will take place under watchful eyes of 10,000 Brazilian soldiers and police officers and all have been highly trained for the job by Israelis, according to a report on the Israel NonStop website, based on details broadcast by Israeli Channel 2 television news reporter Nir Dvori.
Paraguay announced officially that it will not be attending the Common Market Council of Mercosur in Montevideo next 30 July, if the agenda includes the transfer of the group's presidency to Venezuela.
Brazil's interim president, Michel Temer emphasized the role of agro-industry in the country's development and called for national reunification to guarantee jobs in the sector.
Brazil’s federal police served five arrest warrants and conducted search and seizure operations in three states on Monday, in the latest round of a sweeping corruption probe around state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA. Police said contractors paid at least 39 million reais (US$ 12m) in bribes to executives of Petrobras, and rigged public auctions at Petrobras’ research centre Cenpes.
Brazil's jobless rate remained stuck at a record 11.2% at the end of May, the government statistics office reported. The rate for March through May was unchanged from the previous quarter, with 11.4 million people officially out of work, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said. A year ago, the jobless rate was 8.1%.
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor lashed out Sunday at an opinion piece in The New York Times which warned of “catastrophe” at next month’s Olympic Games.
Mercosur is again split over Venezuela because Paraguay, and apparently Brazil, have not been consulted regarding the decision to hand the pro tempore presidency of the block to Venezuela in July, as was agreed in Montevideo by Uruguay and Argentina.
Brazilian interim president Michel Temer will be absent from the next Mercosur summit scheduled to take place in Montevideo, and this decision is considered a strong message to the Venezuelan government of president Nicolas Maduro that will be taking the group's chair for the next six months.