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An ongoing political and economic crisis once more threatens to fell the tallest tree in Brazil's political landscape: former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. His once-sterling legacy, previously tarnished by a Congressional vote-buying scandal, is being sullied further by economic and political turmoil that has driven approval ratings for his hand-picked successor into single... Continue Reading →
The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, the nation's largest, is preparing to leave President Dilma Rousseff's administration after disagreements over handling an ongoing political crisis, Valor Econômico newspaper said on Friday. The newspaper, which did not say how it obtained the information, said the party known as PMDB would take a first step in that direction... Continue Reading →
Brazilian public prosecutors pressed corruption charges against Chamber of Deputies chief Eduardo Cunha before the Supreme Court. Cunha is accused of having received $5 million in a scheme of kickbacks at state-owned oil company Petrobras, according to a statement by the prosecutor-general’s office. Cunha previously denied the charges. The formal accusations against Cunha weaken one... Continue Reading →
As U.S. oil fell to a new six-year low below $41 a barrel on Wednesday, an increasing number of analysts and traders are saying prepare for crude dipping into the $30s, and soon. The move to a price last seen at the height of the financial crisis, in February 2009, could come amid a seasonal... Continue Reading →
The Opinion Pages | EDITORIAL Brazil’s Rising Turbulence By THE EDITORIAL BOARD AUG. 17, 2015 Brazil is in tatters. The economy is in a deepening recession: Last Tuesday, Moody’s downgraded Brazil’s credit rating to just about junk. A massive corruption scandal involving the national oil company Petrobras has ensnared scores of politicians and businessmen. The legislature is in revolt.... Continue Reading →
Brazilian business leaders may have ideological differences with struggling leftist President Dilma Rousseff, but calls for her impeachment make many of them nervous, effectively giving her support from an unexpected quarter. The business community worries that a traumatic ouster would pile a period of deep political uncertainty onto a downturn that economists say could translate... Continue Reading →
On the lush savanna in the upper reaches of South America looms a $1.2 billion monument to the deepening troubles of Brazil. Spanning the mighty Orinoco River in Venezuela, the Orinoquia Bridge stands as a rusting reminder of a not-long-ago time when a prosperous Brazil sometimes channeled taxpayer money to ambitious projects across the continent... Continue Reading →
An investor in state-controlled Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras SA has filed a lawsuit that accuses Brazil's largest power holding company and three of its executives of involvement in a graft scandal that artificially inflated stock prices, according to a court document. The plaintiff, the City of Providence, Rhode Island, is seeking class action status for the... Continue Reading →
Despite protests by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians against President Dilma Rousseff and ongoing calls for her impeachment, little suggests radical change in Brazil anytime soon. With the country hobbled by legislative gridlock, a lack of viable alternatives to the established political parties and an economic reversal so complete that its currency is trading at... Continue Reading →
The Brazilian real is trading at or near fair value after losing one quarter of its worth since Jan. 1, economists said, suggesting a possible respite for one of the year's most battered currencies. Emerging market currencies in general have been sliding, and unexpected domestic and international events could still cause the real to overshoot... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 