Could it be a turning point for Covid-stricken Brazil and its populist president? Investors are taking fright after Jair Bolsonaro's reversal on fuel hikes and the ouster of the market-friendly boss of state oil giant Petrobras. Roberto Castello Branco has been replaced with a more pliant reserve army general, much to the delight of the truckers' union which backs Bolsonaro.
Up to now, the president had been resisting calls to loosen the purse strings for lower income families left reeling by the pandemic. Will the shakeup signal a U-turn in a nation that's damned if it spends – it is already bleeding red ink – and damned if it does not?
Whatever way our panel sees it, once again we are back to talking about Petrobras, a cash cow during the BRICS economic surge-turned-symbol of the corruption that brought down the left and led to the election of a Trump admiring far-right leader. Which way now for Brazil?
Produced by Freddie Gower, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
