Brazilian police arrested a former Petrobras executive on Monday, in a broad kickback and money laundering investigation that has rattled some of the nation's biggest companies and political parties.
Pro-government labor unions, student organizations and social activists staged demonstrations across Brazil on Friday in support of President Dilma Rousseff, two days before mass protests planned against her administration.
A former Petrobras executive told a congressional hearing in Brazil on Tuesday that the ruling political party received up to 200 million dollars skimmed from contracts with the state-run oil company, reiterating claims made in plea bargain testimony.
Brazil’s congressional heads denied involvement in the country’s largest graft scandal after being named among dozens of politicians for investigation. Renan Calheiros and Eduardo Cunha, the heads of the Senate and Lower House respectively, and Rio de Janeiro Senator Lindbergh Farias all rejected allegations of graft in the Petrobras kickback scheme dubbed “Carwash.”
President Dilma Rousseff appealed to Brazilians on Sunday to back fiscal austerity policies, while saying that the belt-tightening will last as long as needed and results will only start showing at the end of this year.
Brazil's Supreme Court late Friday approved an investigation of dozens of top politicians, including a former president and leaders of congress, for alleged connections to what they call the biggest graft scheme ever uncovered in the country which has the largest economy in Latin America.