Back To The Vortex The Petrobras graft probe took a new turn, most surprising even for Brazilian standards. On November 25th the federal police arrested Senator Delcidio do Amaral, the leader of the government in the Upper House and a prominent member of the ruling Workers’ Party (PT). Along with him went Andre Esteves, founder, CEO and controlling shareholder of BTG-Pactual, Brazil’s biggest independent investment bank. The charges are of malicious obstruction of Justice. Based on taped conversations, prosecutors allege that Amaral and Esteves schemed to convince a former Petrobras director convicted of corruption not to sign a plea bargain agreement in exchange for money and facilities to spirit him out of the country should he be given …show more content…
For President Rousseff, however, there is little to celebrate. Her political party, her administration and her reputation are again in the eye of the political storm. Until now, her main line of defense against impeachment has been to argue that the wrongdoings are individual transgressions entirely unknown to her and not attributable to party directives. The leader of the government in the Senate and a top-rank PT member behind bars does not add credibility to her claims. Risk aversion escalated and volatility in asset prices resumed (Charts I & II). It comes at no surprise that vote of bills that address the country’s troubled public finances came to a halt in the Congress. The governing coalition has to pass a revised budgetary law for 2015 to accommodate a deficit of up to R$120 billion and thus comply with Brazil’s Fiscal Responsibility Law. Lawmakers have also to approve the 2016 federal budget and the enabling legislation, notably the DRU mechanism to withhold federal earmarked revenues and reduce primary