CORRUPTION TRIALS AND REFORM
Brazil president faces month that could make or break him
Temer has vowed to suspend ministers who were charged and to dismiss them if indicted
Two landmark corruption trials and the first hurdle for a crucial pension reform mean April could make or break the presidency of Brazil’s Michel Temer. A judge is due to lift the seal on plea-bargain testimony that could lead to the dismissal of five ministers. Reform of Brazil’s social security system — key to Temer’s plans to restore fiscal discipline — faces a first vote in committee by mid-April. But it is a case before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, opening on Tuesday, that could do most damage by annulling the 2014 election of impeached former president Dilma Rousseff — and her running mate Temer — for illegal campaign funding. It is the first time the court will rule on a sitting president. A decision to annul the ticket would end Temer’s presidency and require Congress to elect a successor within 30 days. The judge studying the case, Herman Benjamin, is expected to recommend in a 1,086-page report submitted last week that the court invalidate the election. If a majority of...
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