
TELAM - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro made former president Fernando Collor de Mello (1990-1992), who resigned from office in the midst of an impeachment trial for corruption, his advisor and political negotiator. Also, Bolsonaro admitted his estrangement with Vice President Hamilton Mourao.

Brazil is preparing a fresh round of emergency cash transfers to millions of poor, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday. I think there will be an extension, Bolsonaro said in an interview with the TV program Brasil Urgente.

OECD’s environmental policy committee canceled a planned discussion this week about upgrading Brazil’s status in the group, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported, citing a document.

Argentine ambassador in Brazil, Daniel Scioli, has confirmed what was advanced by Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou during this week's meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, a meeting of Mercosur heads of state, sometime at the end of March. The summit will coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the trade block, which also includes Argentina and Paraguay.

The President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, traveled overseas for the first time to meet with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in a meeting in which they discussed the idea of making Mercosur more flexible and the possibility of a face-to-face summit with the leaders of Argentina and Paraguay at the end of March.

Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou will be flying to Brasilia on Wednesday to share an informal lunch with his peer Jair Bolsonaro, his first overseas trip since taking office, but also a clear balancing act of the country's foreign policy regarding its two huge neighbors.

Only a week ago, President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil was “broke” and the latest Treasury numbers have come close to backing the statement. Last year the country reported a record primary budget deficit of 743.1 billion reais (US$138 billion), a record 10% of GDP.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been s skeptical of the coronavirus pandemic and the effectiveness of different vaccines to contain it, arguing that the economy, jobs and activity, were the priority above sanitary recommendations. As a result of this approach, his administration's federal spending jumped almost 40% between January and November, according to the Institute of International Finance. And Bolsonaro had even admitted the country is “broke.”

Brazilians took the streets over the weekend calling for the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under fire for his government's handling of COVID-19, which has raged through the country claiming more than 216,000 lives and 8,9 million contagions.

Striking a conciliatory tone, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro made public a three-page letter congratulating president Joe Biden and calling for the two nations to deepen ties, including a free trade agreement.