Brazil’s Workers Party suffered its worst-ever result at the polls as voters used Sunday’s local elections to punish it for a deep recession and a series of corruption scandals. After 13 years in power the party saw its vote collapse across Brazil in a dramatic confirmation that it is now fighting to retain a seat at the top table of Brazilian politics following the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff in August and the decision last month to try party founder and former president Lula da Silva for corruption.
Brazilian president Michel Temer addressing business leaders and foreign policy experts in New York earlier this week revealed another twist to the recent political events in the country which led to the impeachment and removal of his elected predecessor Dilma Rousseff.
Former President Dilma Rousseff called the prosecution of her predecessor on corruption charges another attack on Brazil's democracy, speaking just weeks after the Senate removed her from office in an impeachment trial.
Brazilian police on Thursday arrested Guido Mantega, a former finance minister under presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, as part of the investigation into the vast Petrobras corruption scheme, media reported.However Brazilian Judge Sergio Moro later in the day revoked the temporary detention order citing Mantega's cooperation with a search of his home and his wife's surgery in a Sao Paulo hospital.
The Brazilian judge overseeing the investigation of a US$2 billion corruption scheme centered on state oil company Petrobras ruled Tuesday that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must stand trial on charges arising from the probe.
Brazil's former president Lula da Silva defended himself against corruption charges Thursday, saying the case against him was an attempt to destroy him politically ahead of elections in 2018.Speaking a day after prosecutors accused him of masterminding a massive corruption scheme at state oil company Petrobras, the popular leader launched a wide-ranging defense of his career and legacy.
Brazilian Federal Supreme Court justice has authorized the opening of an investigation into President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Lula da Silva for allegedly working to obstruct the course of a sweeping corruption probe, GloboNews news channel said on Tuesday.
Lawyers for Brazil's former President Lula da Silva petitioned the United Nations on Thursday with allegations that his human rights had been violated in a corruption investigation.
Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor and left-wing ally Lula da Silva will boycott the opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics, officials have said. Their absence at the 5 August ceremony highlights the political crisis in Brazil, with Rousseff facing possible removal from office in an impeachment trial shortly after the Games end.
A top ex-minister of Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff became the latest official to get arrested in a sprawling corruption probe on Thursday, authorities said. Police also searched the headquarters of Rousseff's Workers Party in Sao Paulo in one of a series of raids across five states in the country.