Brazil’s President Rejects Calls to Quit Amid New Corruption Claims
"The president of the republic is no longer in any condition to govern Brazil." Calls for Mr. Temer to step down multiplied on Thursday across Brazil’s political establishment, after a report by Globo, the
country’s most powerful media group, of a secret recording in which the president endorsed bribes paid to silence Eduardo Cunha, an imprisoned politician who helped orchestrate Ms. Rousseff’s ouster.
Critics of the beleaguered president have been organizing street protests calling for direct elections, a prospect feared by some allies of Mr. Temer over the potential for figures like Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist
and former president, to capitalize on the political tumult.
By SIMON ROMEROMAY 18, 2017
RIO DE JANEIRO — President Michel Temer of Brazil defied calls to resign on Thursday as an exploding scandal over claims
that he authorized the payment of hush money to a jailed ally engulfed Latin America’s largest country.
Mr. Neves, a top ally of Mr. Temer, was a key figure in the latest revelations, with Globo
describing how Mr. Neves asked for around $600,000 in bribes to pay for legal fees.
At the same time, some of Brazil’s most powerful men are fighting for their political survival in the newest scandal hitting Mr. Temer.
