Brazil’s political establishment was shaken on Friday by the news that federal prosecutors had opened an inquiry into the business activities of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who presided over Brazil’s emergence this century as a leading power in the developing world.
Da Silva, 69, was among the founders of Brazil’s governing Workers Party.
The inquiry by a special anticorruption unit of the Brazilian Public Ministry, a body of independent prosecutors, is reportedly delving into Da Silva’s ties to Odebrecht, one of Brazil’s largest construction companies. That the inquiry, a preliminary step before deciding whether to open a broader investigation, had opened was first reported by Brazilian magazine Epoca.
Photo: AFP
The prosecutors are examining whether Da Silva improperly used his influence as a former president and one of Brazil’s most powerful political figures to obtain loans from Brazil’s National Development Bank, a state-controlled financial institution with a lending portfolio larger than that of the World Bank, for Odebrecht’s dealings in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
After eight years as president, from 2003 to 2010, when Brazil enjoyed robust economic growth and expanded its antipoverty projects, Da Silva leveraged his prominence to attract lucrative speaking engagements outside Brazil. He often traveled abroad on one of Odebrecht’s private jets, Epoca reported.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Odebrecht denied any wrongdoing in connection to the questions raised in the inquiry.
Speaking before supporters in Sao Paulo on Friday during a commemoration of International Workers’ Day, Da Silva did not specifically address news of the inquiry.
However, in a speech, he lashed out at some in the media, referring specifically to Epoca and Veja, another magazine that has reported critically on him.
“I see in these Brazilian magazines, which are trash, the insinuations,” Da Silva said. “They’re out to get Lula, but that’s what I like if they want a fight.”
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: Two of the men were shot by a male relative of the victims, whose families turned down the opportunity to offer them amnesty, the Supreme Court said Four men were yesterday publicly executed in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power. The executions in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most of them carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the center
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is leaning into his banking background as his country fights a trade war with the US, but his financial ties have also made him a target for conspiracy theories. Incorporating tropes familiar to followers of the far-right QAnon movement, conspiratorial social media posts about the Liberal leader have surged ahead of the country’s April 28 election. Posts range from false claims he recited a “satanic chant” at a campaign event to artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images of him in a pool with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “He’s the ideal person to be targeted here, for sure, due to
DISPUTE: Beijing seeks global support against Trump’s tariffs, but many governments remain hesitant to align, including India, ASEAN countries and Australia China is reaching out to other nations as the US layers on more tariffs, in what appears to be an attempt by Beijing to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat. Days into the effort, it is meeting only partial success from countries unwilling to ally with the main target of US President Donald Trump’s trade war. Facing the cratering of global markets, Trump on Wednesday backed off his tariffs on most nations for 90 days, saying countries were lining up to negotiate more favorable conditions. China has refused to seek talks, saying the US was insincere and that it
As Elon Musk called one of US President Donald Trump’s top economic aides a “moron,” the White House on Tuesday declared that “boys will be boys.” Musk and long-time Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro have been squabbling publicly over Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on most of its trading partners. The move has triggered a market sell-off and prompted analysts to wonder if the US is headed into a recession. “Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Boys will be boys, and we
RSS