The Brazilian corruption probe known as Operation Carwash (Lava Jato) has placed three out of five living former presidents of Brazil as defendants. Michel Temer, the current president, and José Sarney so far have been only arraigned.
Brazil's jailed ex-president Lula da Silva's legal troubles mounted on Monday as he was accused by the Sao Paulo public prosecutor's office of money laundering in his dealings with Equatorial Guinea.
Brazil has opened criminal proceedings against former leaders Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff for allegedly receiving bribes with money diverted from state-owned oil giant Petrobras. The Workers Party (PT) of the two ex-presidents has strongly denied the charges, calling them a “scandalous maneuver” with partisan motives.
Brazil's incoming justice and security minister Sergio Moro announced on Tuesday he was recruiting part of his team from the massive “Car Wash” anti-corruption probe that snared former president Lula da Silva. Moro said he would be a “fool” not to work again with people he had worked with on the Car Wash investigation as they “have already proven their integrity and efficiency.”
Ex Brazilian president Lula da Silva has challenged his corruption conviction, arguing that the judge behind his conviction has “proven his bias” by accepting a cabinet post under a political rival. The petition filed on Monday with Brazil's highest court asks Lula, who is currently serving a 12-year sentence, to be freed and his conviction overturned.
Brazilian far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has convinced crusading anti-graft Judge Sergio Moro to become his justice minister, the two said on Thursday, delighting supporters and enraging critics “by hiring the jurist who jailed Bolsonaro's chief political rival”.
Finally on Monday the Uruguayan government sent an official message congratulating the Brazilian people for their civic display on Sunday which elected president Jair Bolsonaro. Likewise the Uruguayan government confirmed its willingness to continue working and developing the bilateral relation with its large neighbor and strongest economy in Latin America.
Jair Bolsonaro, a nostalgic of the Brazilian military dictatorship, has been chosen as the new president of the largest economy in Latin America after one of the most divided and tense campaigns in the history of the country obtaining 55% of the votes after the scrutiny of more than 99% of the polls.
One in Sao Paulo and the other in Rio de Janeiro; the candidates Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad cast their votes this morning with the confidence that the surveys give to Bolsonaro, and the hope of the latter to reverse this advantage, warning Bolsonaro's threat to Brazil's democracy in the most polarized presidential elections in the recent history of the country.
Jailed ex-president Lula da Silva called on “democrats” on Wednesday to put aside their differences and unite in a bid to defeat a “fascist adventure” in Sunday's presidential election run-off. Right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro is favorite to defeat Lula's Workers Party (PT) colleague Fernando Haddad in the weekend's two-horse race.