Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff appointed on Friday new ministers for agriculture, civil aviation and labour, the presidential office said, in a Cabinet shuffle that left her economic team intact.
By leaving Venezuela before Friday’s funeral ceremony for leader Hugo Chávez, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was once again trying to chart out a more moderate signal to investors and diplomats, plus probably avoiding Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom contrary to her predecessor Lula da Silva, she has strongly criticized.
As world leaders were arriving at Caracas late Thursday for Friday’s funeral ceremony of President Hugo Chavez, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez and her delegation were back in Buenos Aires. The Argentine president visited the Military Hospital’s chapel Thursday noon for a final goodbye to the Venezuelan leader and then ordered the flight back to Buenos Aires.
Brazil advanced toward its target of joining the small club of nations that have nuclear-powered submarines with the opening of a naval shipyard installation that will build French-designed submarines.
President Dilma Rousseff said on Wednesday that Brazil must cut its high business costs to become more competitive and vowed to keep inflation in check. The leader anticipated that 2013 will be a year of major infrastructure investments in roads, railways, ports and airports to try to stop bottlenecks from holding the economy back.
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff met with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Saturday to discuss boosting trade and investment between the two countries, particularly in the energy sector and cooperation in several other fields. The brief visit was sufficient for the two presidents to sign an ambitious memorandum of understanding.
Brazil's 2014 election season got off last week with the unofficial launch of President Dilma Rousseff's re-election campaign by her mentor and predecessor Lula da Silva during the celebration of the ruling Workers Party tenth year in power.
Brazil and Russia signed several agreements in different fields geared to increase trade and to advance in defense, energy and agriculture cooperation, including the purchase of Russian anti aircraft missile batteries on condition that Moscow agrees to transfer technology.
Brazil failed to reach its primary budget surplus goal last year posting a primary surplus of 104.951 billion Reais (53 billion dollars), the equivalent of 2.38% of GDP, according to central bank data released this week, which was below the annual target of 139.8 billion Reais, approx 3.1% of GDP.
North-east Brazil is suffering its worst drought in decades, threatening hydro-power supplies in an area prone to blackouts and potentially slowing economic growth in one of the country's emerging agricultural frontiers.