Three ex Brazilian presidents are holding talks on the future of the country following what seems the inevitable outcome of the current political situation with deep differences between the political system and the Judiciary.
President Michel Temer faced new pressure to resign Friday, after Brazil’s supreme court said prosecutors are investigating him for obstruction of justice and corruption, and a government witness claimed his company paid US$1.5 million to Temer in bribes. A day after the release of surreptitious audio recordings in which Temer seemed to condone a criminal cover up in the “Car Wash” investigation, the court released testimony accusing him of soliciting illegal payments from meatpacking firm JBS.
Brazil's President Michel Temer faced calls for his removal Wednesday after a newspaper reported that he had been recorded discussing payments of hush money to a corrupt politician. Temer immediately denied the report in O Globo newspaper.
Ex Brazilian President Lula da Silva's combative testimony before a federal judge this week did little to dismantle the graft case against him and improve his chances of securing a new term in office. Lula, a founder of the leftist Workers Party (PT) that controlled Brazil's presidency from 2003 until last year, can only run in next year's presidential election if he avoids a conviction that is upheld on appeal.
Brazil's former president Lula da Silva called the corruption trial threatening to end his storied career a “farce” during almost five hours of testimony on Wednesday. Lula is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a kickback from the OAS construction company, and if found guilty could be barred from running for office and even jailed, destroying his hopes of coming back to power in the 2018 presidential elections.
When Brazil's former President Lula da Silva and Judge Sergio Moro meet for the first time in a courtroom on Wednesday, contrasts and stakes could hardly be greater. One is the country's most popular president ever and the front-runner in next year's election - a former union leader who still whips up crowds with his fiery and folksy oratory.
Lula da Silva, Brazil's hugely influential leftist president between 2003-2010, faces no fewer than five court cases, each of which could thwart his dream of a comeback in 2018. On Wednesday he is due to appear before Brazil's top anti-corruption judge, Sergio Moro, to face charges that he was given a luxury apartment as a bribe.
Paraguay has stated it is time to put an end to the ideological bias of the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, and recover its integration profile which was the main purpose of its creation. A foreign ministers summit of the region will address and advance the issue.
The Brazilian engineering group Odebrecht kept a secret communications system to discuss and arrange the payments of bribes. A detailed spreadsheet mapped out who got what, all veiled under a system of codenames, and overseeing it all, there was an entire department at Odebrecht whose only purpose was to ensure the graft ran smoothly.
An institutional and political earthquake is shaking Brazil: the Supreme Court has opened corruption investigations into nine ministers, three governors, 24 senators, 39 members of the Lower House and other elected officials totaling at least 108 politicians, according to a report published on Tuesday by O Estado de Sao Paulo.