Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Brazil speaker in corruption scandal won’t resign

-

The speaker of Brazil's lower house of congress defiantly vowed not to resign Friday, a day after being charged in a massive corruption scandal.

"Resignation is not a word that is part of my vocabulary and it won't be, you can be sure of that. Nor is cowardice," Eduardo Cunha said in Brazil's biggest city Sao Paulo, declaring himself innocent of any wrongdoing.

"There is no chance of me not continuing... until the end of my mandate," he said.

Cunha, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, was alleged Thursday to have taken at least $5 million in bribes as part of a sprawling kickbacks scheme centered on state oil company Petrobras.

Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot filed charges that Cunha received payoffs relating to contracts to build two drilling vessels for Petrobras. He is accused of corruption and money laundering.

The Supreme Court, which considers charges against federal politicians, will decide whether the case should go to trial.

Cunha has risen to prominence as a key player in threats to impeach embattled leftist President Dilma Rousseff.

The charges against him are expected to weaken his hand but also possibly set the stage for a new round of political intrigue as he tries to hold on to his post.

The speaker of Brazil’s lower house of congress defiantly vowed not to resign Friday, a day after being charged in a massive corruption scandal.

“Resignation is not a word that is part of my vocabulary and it won’t be, you can be sure of that. Nor is cowardice,” Eduardo Cunha said in Brazil’s biggest city Sao Paulo, declaring himself innocent of any wrongdoing.

“There is no chance of me not continuing… until the end of my mandate,” he said.

Cunha, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, was alleged Thursday to have taken at least $5 million in bribes as part of a sprawling kickbacks scheme centered on state oil company Petrobras.

Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot filed charges that Cunha received payoffs relating to contracts to build two drilling vessels for Petrobras. He is accused of corruption and money laundering.

The Supreme Court, which considers charges against federal politicians, will decide whether the case should go to trial.

Cunha has risen to prominence as a key player in threats to impeach embattled leftist President Dilma Rousseff.

The charges against him are expected to weaken his hand but also possibly set the stage for a new round of political intrigue as he tries to hold on to his post.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.