Brazil's imprisoned former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on Tuesday ended his legal battle to run for the top office in next month's election. Senator Gleisi Hoffmann, head of the leftist Workers Party (PT) that Lula founded, made the announcement in the southern city of Curitiba, where the popular Lula has been jailed on corruption charges since April.
Brazil's imprisoned former president Lula da Silva will not yet bow out of next month's presidential race, waiting first to hear a Supreme Court decision on an appeal of his ban from running, his legal team said. His decision takes his leftist Workers' Party (PT) close to the limit on registering a candidate for the October 7 election, with a court having set Tuesday as the deadline for the PT to name a replacement nominee.
The Brazilian currency Real fell to a 31-month low versus the U.S. dollar on Thursday on jitters ahead of the country’s October election. Jitters across emerging markets caused by a stronger U.S. dollar and exacerbated by the unfolding currency crisis in Turkey already took a toll on the Brazilian unit before this week.
A Brazilian court ordered on Tuesday the provisional liberation of former minister Jose Dirceu, who was one of the most important figures in the government of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the state-owned Agencia Brasil said.
President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff has affirmed that current Finance minister Guido Mantega will not carry on in his post should the Workers' Party (PT) candidate win a second term as head of state in October's presidential elections.