Four Brazilian political party leaders in the lower house demanded that House President Severino Cavalcanti step aside until Congress and the police finish investigating allegations that he took kickbacks. Cavalcanti has released three statements in the last week denying reports he received $4,300 in illegal monthly payments to let a restaurant operate in the Congress building in 2003. Some legislators say they’ll ask the ethics committee to oust Cavalcanti should he decline to leave voluntarily.
Category: Brazil
Posted inDaily Brief
Brazil’s Lower House Expels Jefferson
The ethics committee of Brazil’s lower chamber of deputies voted 14-0 to expel Roberto Jefferson, the deputy who first revealed a complex bribes-for-votes scandal that has paralyzed the government for three months. The committee stripped Jefferson of his congressional status, after finding he too was involved in the scheme. Its vote still needs final approval on the floor of the house. Seventeen other members may also be expelled, including José Dirceu, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s former chief of staff.
Posted inMagazine
A Bridge to Nowhere
Latin America’s notoriously poor infrastructure is reaching the breaking point. Brazil faces the biggest challenges, but it also offers the greatest rewards.
Posted inMagazine
Birth of the A-Bond
Brazil exchanged its benchmark Brady C-bond with a new, improved bond called the A-bond, thanks to some clever liability management.
Posted inMagazine
Brazil’s Big Oilman
José Sérgio Gabrielli, the new president of Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, says what will remain the same and what will change under his command.
Posted inMagazine
Cashing In
Brazilian businesses complain about banks’ high lending rates and record profits. But banks say their reward should be commensurate with the risks they are taking.
Posted inMagazine
Domestic Bliss
Brazil’s equity and bond markets are recovering at an impressive rate, but growth can’t continue much longer without some serious reforms.
Posted inMagazine
Lonely Lula
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has crashed to earth from a great height, which makes his fall from grace all the more astonishing. It is three years since […]
Posted inMagazine
Return of the Big Boys
Wall Street’s bulge-bracket firms stampeded out of Brazil three years ago. Now they are fighting to get back into the game again.
Posted inDaily Brief
Banco Rural Downsizes
Brazil’s Banco Rural, whose loans to the governing Workers’ Party are under investigation by congress, said it will close branches and cut staff to help stem an outflow of deposits. Rural’s announcement was the first time the bank said its finances were hurt by almost three months of congressional investigations into an alleged scheme by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party to pay bribes to lawmakers. The bank is Brazil’s 24th-largest.