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Presidential corruption crisis eases slightly for Brazil's Temer

Brasília (AFP) - Brazilian President Michel Temer warned opponents Monday he will not go without a fight as he won more breathing space in a corruption crisis sparking calls for his resignation.

"If they want to, then they have to force me out, because if I resign, that is an admission of guilt," he said in an interview with Folha newspaper.

Temer, who faces multiple impeachment demands, told Folha he had been "naive" in stumbling into the crisis that could bring him down just over a year since he replaced impeached president Dilma Rousseff. But he again insisted he had done nothing wrong .... https://www.yahoo.com

Brazil's Temer: "I Will Not Resign, I Have Nothing To Hide"

In a press conference held moments ago by Brazil's embattled president Michel Temer, unable to scapegoat the latest political scandal rocking Brazil on Russia, he said that contrary to what some were expecting, he would not resign as he has "nothing to hide", and that he "never bought anyone's silence", meaning that once again Brazil is faced with the daunting prospect of having a painfully unpopular president who will most likely be impeached, yet who refuses to step down voluntarily, or quietly .... http://www.zerohedge.com

Brazilian says Venezuela's Maduro made illegal payments in 2012 Chavez campaign

A Brazilian strategist was paid $20 million under-the-table for the 2012 re-election campaign of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, much of it handed over in cash by the man who now leads Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro, according to a plea bargain statement made public on Thursday.

Strategist Joao Santana, nicknamed the "maker of presidents" for helping Brazil's leftist leaders hold power for 13 years, was arrested last year with his wife Monica Moura and they now are serving 8-year prison sentences for million-dollar payments from bribe money in the sprawling Car Wash graft investigation.

In a deposition to Brazilian prosecutors in March, Moura detailed similar illegal, under-the-table payments totaling $53.9 million, mostly paid by Brazilian engineering companies, for their work abroad advising election campaigns in Panama, El Salvador, Angola and Venezuela .... http://www.reuters.com

Former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces court for corruption trial

Curitiba (Brazil) (AFP) - Brazil's former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faced the country's top anti-corruption judge Wednesday in a trial that could doom his bid to return to power in 2018.

Lula, 71, was being grilled by Judge Sergio Moro on charges that he received a bribe in the form of a seaside apartment near Sao Paulo.

He arrived at the courthouse in the southern city of Curitiba at 2:00 pm (1700 GMT) for the hearing, which was barred to the public and media.

Security was exceptionally tight by Brazilian standards .... https://www.yahoo.com

Source tells WSJ Marcelo Odebrecht told judge his company paid off Lula. He denies but prosecutors getting closer

SÃO PAULO—Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered investigations into one-third of the country’s sitting ministers and scores of top politicians for alleged corruption, delivering a major blow to President Michel Temer as he struggles to revive Latin America’s biggest economy.

Justice Edson Fachin, who is overseeing cases in Brazil’s high court related to the country’s sprawling Operation Car Wash probe, has given permission for prosecutors to open investigations into at least eight ministers, the leaders of both houses of Congress, and more than 50 senators and federal deputies, according to a document from the court released Tuesday.

The Car Wash investigation, which centers on bid-rigging at the state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, has led to more than 100 convictions over the past three years and implicated some of the country’s most influential businessmen and politicians of all major parties .... https://www.wsj.com

Judge in Brazil's Petrobras probe dies in plane crash

(AFP) - A judge involved in the probe of Brazil's huge pay-to-play corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras died in a plane crash Thursday.

Teori Zavascki, 68, died when the light plane in which he was flying went down off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state.

His death was confirmed in a Facebook posting by his son Francisco and by Attorney General Rodrigo Janot.

Zavascki served as a rapporteur at the Supreme Court in the Petrobras case, which has ensnared much of Brazil's business and political elite.

The plane crashed near the resort town of Paraty, 250 kilometers (160 kilometers) south of the city of Rio, the navy said .... https://www.yahoo.com

Greek ambassador to Brazil Kyriakos Amiridis missing after he mysteriously VANISHED without trace on Boxing Day

GREECE’S ambassador to Brazil has not been seen since mysteriously vanishing without a trace three days ago.

Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, has been missing since Boxing Day night, Civil Police confirmed.

Officials from the Floor Discovery Branch of the Homicide Police are hunting for the ambassador.

Greek authorities in Rio have not provided any information on the diplomat’s whereabouts.

The Greek Embassy has not officially commented on the mystery .... https://www.thesun.co.uk

Brazil’s former President Lula indicted for 5th time on corruption charges

BRASILIA – A federal judge in Brazil on Monday accepted new corruption charges against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had already been indicted in four other graft cases.

In the latest case, prosecutors accused Lula of receiving bribes in exchange for helping Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht secure contracts with state oil company Petrobras.

Some of the alleged bribes were used to acquire land for the headquarters of the former head of state's institute and an apartment near his private residence in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo .... http://www.foxnews.com

Brazil prosecutors hit ex-president Lula with more corruption charges

Prosecutors on Thursday charged former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his wife and a former finance minister with more corruption charges in the investigation of graft at state-run oil company Petrobras.

It is now up to federal judge Sergio Moro to decide if the new charges will result in another trial for Lula, who is already accused in Moro's court in southern Brazil with separate corruption charges, with a ruling not expected before late January or early February.

Lula, an extremely popular two-term president who left office in January 2011, faces another trial on graft charges in a Brasilia court, but a start date has not been set .... http://www.reuters.com

Brazil Opens Oil Fields to Foreign Firms in Major Policy Shift

Brazil’s Congress voted on Wednesday night to open up its pre-salt oil fields to foreign investors by scrapping Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s obligation to be the area’s sole operator.

The legislation was approved by a 292-to-101 vote, following a bad-tempered debate during which opponents, many dressed in the orange jumpsuits of the state-controlled oil company, repeatedly attempted to delay proceedings. Various amendments to the legislation will be debated next week before President Michel Temer signs it into law.

In a significant change to Brazil’s offshore oil industry regulations, companies other than Petrobras can now operate blocks in the largest deep-water deposits discovered this century.

“The change will allow new investments,” Itau Unibanco Holding SA analysts Diego Mendes and Andre Hachem said in a research report .... http://www.bloomberg.com

Brazil's Lula to stand trial for corruption

Brasília (AFP) - A Brazilian judge accepted corruption charges Tuesday against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after prosecutors accused the popular leftist of masterminding a massive embezzlement ring at state oil company Petrobras.

Lula, 70, will now face trial for his role in a scandal that has pitched Brazilian politics into chaos, with some of the country's most powerful leaders and parties accused of plundering the coffers of Brazil's largest company.

"Given that there is sufficient evidence of (Lula's) responsibility... I accept the charges," Judge Sergio Moro, the head of a sweeping probe into the Petrobras case, said in his decision .... https://www.yahoo.com

Brazil prosecutors file corruption charges against Lula: media

Brasília (AFP) - Federal prosecutors in Brazil filed corruption and money-laundering charges Wednesday against former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife, local media reported.

Prosecutors allege that the couple received "undue advantages" in the remodeling of a beachside apartment built by a construction company involved in a huge kickback scandal at the state oil giant Petrobras, the state-run Agencia Brasil and other media reported .... https://www.yahoo.com

Huge Brazil police raid targets $2.5-bn pension fraud

BRASÍLIA (AFP) - Brazilian police staged a massive raid Monday to crack down on what they described as rampant fraud in the pension system, one of the world's most generous -- and most over-stretched.

In the latest graft sting for corruption-weary Brazil, more than 500 officers across eight states seized 90 buildings, impounded more than 100 cars and froze a total of eight billion reals ($2.5 billion) in assets allegedly linked to fraudulent schemes at the country's largest public pension funds.

"The operation was based on 10 cases that we uncovered in examining the reason for the pension funds' multi-million-real deficits. Of the 10 cases, eight are linked to reckless or fraudulent investments," police said in a statement .... http://www.france24.com

Venezuela freezes Brazil ties after Rousseff removal

Venezuela announced Wednesday it was withdrawing its ambassador from Brazil and freezing ties with its neighbor in response to the removal from office of president Dilma Rousseff.

The foreign ministry condemned Rousseff's being stripped of office after an impeachment trial in the Brazilian Senate as a "parliamentary coup d'etat."

Venezuela "has decided to definitively withdraw its ambassador in the Federal Republic of Brazil, and to freeze political and diplomatic relations with the government that emerged from this parliamentary coup," it said in a statement .... https://sg.news.yahoo.com

Rousseff removed: Brazil senate votes to dismiss president after 9-month impeachment

After a nine-month impeachment process, Dilma Rousseff has been dismissed as president by the Brazilian senate. The lawmakers convicted her of breaking budget laws.

The vote that finalized Rousseff’s dismissal from Brazil’s highest office came on Wednesday, two days after she delivered an emotional speech to defend herself before legislators.

Sixty-one senators of the 81-strong body voted against the now-former president. Twenty senators voted against the impeachment .... https://www.rt.com

Venezuela has nearly 90 athletes in Rio. Some told us they're buying medicine & other goods they can't get at home

Most Venezuelan athletes have kept a low profile in Rio, preferring to focus on performance rather than politics. The nation has won three medals so far: one silver and two bronze.

In interviews with about a dozen of the athletes, several confessed to have something else on their minds, however: stocking up on food, medicines and other basic goods to take back home.

Beach volleyball player Norisbeth Agudo said family and friends had asked her for medicine and cosmetics while sailor Jose Gutierrez said he wanted to take home medicines.

"That's not the reason I'm here," said Gutierrez, who lives in the capital, Caracas.

"I'm here to think about the competition ... but of course I use the opportunity to bring home things that we need." .... http://www.reuters.com

USA TODAY Sports investigation raises questions about Rio cops, Lochte incident

A USA TODAY Sports videographer who visited the bathroom Thursday found no damage to soap dispensers and mirrors and said none of those items appeared to be new. Some media accounts suggested the men had broken down a door, which USA TODAY Sports also did not observe.

Bentz said in his statement that he believes there are surveillance videos shot from different angles that have not been released. He also said he did not see anyone damage the bathroom or even enter it.

Of the videos available, including footage from a camera trained on the restroom doors, a review by USA TODAY Sports does not find any showing the swimmers going near the bathrooms. They are not seen entering or coming out of them on those recordings .... http://www.usatoday.com