Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 5 January 2017
Tone deaf decisions deepen challenges for Brazil’s president

PETER PRENGAMAN from current and former
MAURICIO SAVARESE executives of construc-
Associated Press tor Odebrecht, one of the
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — His main companies involved
country mired in recession, in the scheme, are expect-
Brazilian President Michel ed to become public with-
Temer’s government or- in the next couple months.
dered $400,000 worth of Key ministers and even the
food, including 500 cartons president himself could be
of Haagen-Dazs ice cream implicated.
and 1.5 tons of chocolate “The corruption probe at
cake, for his official plane Petrobras could bring down
trips in 2017 only to cancel the very people that put
the order hours later amid Temer in office and also im-
public outrage. plicate him,” said Claudio
The ostentatious shop- Couto, a political science
ping list published Dec. 27 professor at Fundacao
was the latest in a series of Getulio Vargas university in
seemingly tone deaf deci- Sao Paulo. “And the elec-
sions that have put his al- toral court will be watching
ready wobbly government all that when they decide”
on the defensive, raising on the campaign finance
questions about whether it allegations.
can survive the new year. In this Dec. 5, 2016, file photo, Brazil’s President Michel Temer arrives for a pension plan proposal Temer’s hope is for an eco-
The food flap came a to National Congress leaders, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil. nomic recovery based on
Associated Press
month after Temer, rather cutting inflation and restor-
than rush to comfort griev- in the country,” said Car- to Temer’s presidency elections, former President ing business confidence.
ing families, spent days de- los Manhanelli, chairman comes from a trial in Bra- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is And he’s had some vic-
bating whether even to at- of the Brazilian Association zil’s top electoral court, himself facing corruption tories, though even those
tend the memorial for the of Political Consultants. which is looking at alleged charges. will likely sting low-income
victims of a plane crash in “Somebody should have illegal campaign financ- Temer has said he would Brazilians by squeezing sub-
Colombia that killed nearly seen that (shopping) list be- ing in the 2014 presidential be ready to “appeal, ap- sidies.
an entire Brazilian soccer fore it went out.” election, which featured peal and appeal again” to Congress approved legisla-
team. Temer’s struggles come as Rousseff and Temer as run- stay on. However, analysts tion to limit spending in line
The missteps have pushed Brazil faces myriad chal- ning mates. If the Rousseff- say his hand would likely be with inflation and his ad-
approval ratings for the lenges. The economy has Temer ticket is annulled, forced. His approval ratings ministration appears close
75-year-old career politi- contracted the last two it could lead to new elec- are so low his administra- to lowering interest rates,
cian down to around 10 years and is not expected tions. Rousseff and Temer tion could not survive an- some of the highest in the
percent, weakening his to grow in 2017. Unem- deny wrongdoing. other blow. world, which have choked
hand as he fights corrup- ployment is at 12 percent A Temer resignation or Also looming is the so- new investment amid the
tion allegations that could and inflation over 10 per- ouster would create new called Car Wash investi- crisis.
force him from power less cent, numbers that trans- turmoil for a country still re- gation into a sweeping The general economic cli-
than a year after taking of- late into daily announce- covering from the tumultu- kickback scheme at state mate is so bad that ana-
fice following the impeach- ments of job cuts and pal- ous ouster of Rousseff. oil company Petrobras. lysts say the urgency to find
ment and ouster of his pre- pable angst on the streets Congress could pick a new Several top politicians and solutions could help push
decessor, Dilma Rousseff. — things that made his president to finish the term businessmen have already through Temer’s proposed
“Temer’s team needs to sweets-laden food order through 2018, or new elec- been jailed over the last reform of the pension sys-
get out of its comfort zone particularly galling. tions could be called. The two years. tem, long untouchable in
and see what is happening The most immediate risk poll leader for the 2018 Details of plea bargains Brazilian politics.q
Report: Food stocks low in

southern Haiti in wake of storm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) subsistence farming to sur- hardest-hit parts of a region
— Hundreds of thousands vive, Oxfam said in a report considered the breadbas-
of people in southern Haiti calling for more support for ket of the impoverished
are facing food shortages a U.N. assistance fund. The Caribbean country. The
three months after Hurri- U.N. announced it would Haitian government put
cane Matthew destroyed provide $139 million in as- the death toll at 546.
crops and livestock in the sistance to the region, but “Hurricane Matthew swept
region, an international aid that program is underfund- through Haiti in a matter
organization said Wednes- ed by 38 percent, the aid of hours but has created a
day. group said. Hurricane Mat- long-term catastrophe that
A “very poor” harvest is ex- thew made landfall near will take the country years In this Oct. 10, 2016 file photo, banana and coconut trees are
pected over the next two Les Anglais on Oct. 4 as a to recover from,” Damien bent and broken along a southern coast road near the town
of Roche-a-Bateau, Haiti, left behind by Hurricane Matthew.
months in the South and Category 4 storm, causing Berrendorf, country direc- Associated Press
Grand Anse departments widespread damage. The tor of Oxfam in Haiti, said in
of the southern Haitian storm destroyed 80 per- the report. of food insecurity,” and an ing to the U.N. Office for the
peninsula, an area where cent of crops and much of More than 800,000 people estimated 750,000 do not Coordination of Humanitar-
most people depend on the livestock in some of the are at an “extreme level have safe water, accord- ian Affairs.q