Tremulous Temer: Brazil
The country’s embattled president faces a crucial vote in Congress today. Legislators in the lower house must decide whether to support or to block corruption charges brought against Michel Temer by Brazil’s chief prosecutor. The president is alleged to have accepted bribes from JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker. If two-thirds of legislators vote against him, the case will pass to the Supreme Court, which could suspend him from office for six months. With the stakes so high, Mr Temer has been rolling out the pork barrels: according to Contas Abertas, a local watchdog, the savvy septuagenarian has freed up more than $1bn for lawmakers’ districts since June. As a result, he is expected to survive today’s vote. But either way the story doesn’t end there. Two more sets of charges are expected in the coming weeks. He denies all the allegations, and will need all his powers of persuasion to survive.
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