Joaquim Barbosa, a former chief justice on Brazil's Supreme Court with anti-corruption credentials, said on Tuesday he would not run for the presidency in October, despite a growing clamor for his candidacy. Barbosa, the first and only black member of the high court, had in recent weeks positioned himself as a potential center-left candidate. He was attractive to many because of his clean image and background as a judge who battled corruption.
Brazil's highest court voted on Thursday to restrict a legal protection afforded to federal lawmakers that critics say has resulted in impunity, as the country grapples with massive official corruption. The protection known as “privileged standing” allows tens of thousands of politicians to have cases against them tried in higher courts than a normal citizen would.
Brazilian former president Dilma Rousseff will be joining May first Labor Day activities in Argentina, and participate of a special ceremony at the Argentine unions federation umbrella organization, CGT.
Imprisoned former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, along with the current leader of the Workers Party he founded, was hit on Monday with fresh corruption charges by federal prosecutors.
A man was seriously wounded early on Saturday when a gunman opened fire on a vigil in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, where former president Lula da Silva is serving time for corruption, his party said.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) is to vote on a motion starting May 4 that could potentially release ex-president Lula da Silva from prison, the court said. Lula's defense team hopes to overturn a decision by Sergio Moro, a federal judge and head of a key corruption investigation that determined he had to begin serving a 12-year sentence for accepting bribes.
Former Brazilian Finance Minister Antonio Palocci has struck a plea deal with federal investigators, according to news advance from the Rio based O'Globo on Thursday, raising the stakes in a corruption scandal engulfing high-ranking politicians and prominent businessmen.
Brazil's ex-president Lula, who is imprisoned for corruption, on Tuesday gave his Workers' Party (PT) the green light to find a new candidate for the October presidential election in which he remains the frontrunner. “I want you to feel totally free to take whatever decision you need because 2018 is an important year for the PT, for the left and for democracy,” wrote Lula da Silva in a letter to the party leadership.
At least 15 of the 20 candidates who might run for president of Brazil in the October elections are targeted in more than 160 cases in courts throughout the country. Cases range from investigations in the Lava Jato operation to traffic offenses, and while in some cases would-be candidates are still only under investigation, in others they are either accused, or defendants, or have been sentenced – one of them was even arrested: former president Lula da Silva (PT), who is currently leading the poles.
Half of the nations belonging to Unasur, a South American bloc set up a decade ago to counter U.S. sway in the region, have decided to suspend their membership, a Brazilian official announced on Friday.