
Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva vowed to de-politicize regulatory agencies that she says do more to win favor with government allies than ensure fair and efficient markets in Latin America's biggest economy.

Former Environment Minister Marina Silva, one of the two main contenders in Brazil's Oct. 5 presidential election, said on Thursday that, if elected, she will not embark on any adventure in economic policies.

President Dilma Rousseff's main foreign affairs' advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia denied Brazil has any “imperial intentions” in reply to claims relative to Cuba from presidential opposition candidate Marina Silva.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff effective television campaign has started to erode Marina Silva's lead in the polls that the opposition candidate enjoyed two weeks ago and turned the race into a dead heat. The ads remind tens of millions of voters who have been lifted from poverty by social welfare programs that they could still slip backward.

Finance Minister Guido Mantega presented on Monday a package of tax measures aimed at stimulating Brazil's economy less than a month ahead of the presidential election.

The original Mercosur is over; it has been reduced to a political block with a three member board, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, according to Demetrio Magnoli a renowned Folha de Sao Paulo columnist who added that the 'political' Mercosur has helped the Alliance of the Pacific to advance.

President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff has affirmed that current Finance minister Guido Mantega will not carry on in his post should the Workers' Party (PT) candidate win a second term as head of state in October's presidential elections.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has hinted that if re-elected next month, she would not reappoint Finance Minister Guido Mantega. When reporters in Fortaleza asked Rousseff about Mantega’s role if she were re-elected, she responded that, “A new election means a new government, a new team.”

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has adopted a more combative re-election campaign strategy after opinion polls showed her trailing popular environmentalist candidate Marina Silva. Two election surveys this week showed Rousseff was the frontrunner in the first round ballot scheduled for October 5, but would lose to Silva, a former environment minister, in a likely runoff.

Brazil has fallen into recession, further weakening President Dilma Rousseff, just weeks before voting in what will be a tough re-election battle. Brazil's national statistics institute said Friday GDP shrank 0.6% in the second quarter and revised an initially positive first quarter growth estimate down to -0.2 percent.