Brazilian SC chief urges calm ahead of Lula ruling

Vizcarra names Peru Cabinet

BRASILIA, April 3, (Agencies): The chief justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court urged calm and warned against violence Monday ahead of a ruling that could send former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to prison — or give him a getout-of-jail card.

“This is a time when we have to ask for calm,” said Carmen Lucia, president of the court. “Calm so that ideological differences don’t become the source of social disorder, calm to break with the picture of violence.”

Lula, 72, easily leads in the polls ahead of Oct 7 presidential elections.

But the leftist former two-term president is fighting to avoid having to start serving a 12-year sentence for accepting a luxury apartment as a kickback from a big construction company — and his fate is now in the Supreme Court’s hands.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will rule on his petition that he be allowed to remain free while he exhausts all available appeals.

That would likely keep him out of jail for the near future and maybe even let him get on the presidential ballot.

Lula

Vizcarra names Cabinet:

New President Martin Vizcarra swore in a Cabinet on Monday that aims to continue the pro-business policies of his disgraced predecessor while seeking to ease political tensions.

Vizcarra’s key political operator will be Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva, a former governor and lawmaker who promised a government focused on resolving social problems in Peru’s longneglected interior.

David Tuesta, an economist with a regional development bank, was named finance minister, a sign Vizcarra intends to pursue a conservative, pro-business agenda.

P. Rico gov defies board:

The powers of a federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances could soon be tested as the US territory’s governor on Monday defied its calls to implement more austerity measures amid an 11-year recession.

Gov Ricardo Rossello rejected demands that his administration submit a revised fiscal plan to include a labor reform and a 10 percent cut to a pension system facing nearly $50 billion in liabilities. He said the plan he will submit Thursday also will not contain any layoffs.

The board has not responded publicly yet to Rossello’s comments, which came just hours after he sent the board a seven-page letter Sunday night outlining why he will not implement those and other changes.

6.8 quake strikes Bolivia:

A strong but deep earthquake measuring 6.8 struck in Bolivia on Monday but there were no reports of damage or injuries, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake struck in the southeast of the country at a depth of 562 kilometers (348 miles), about 200 kilometers from Tarija, and near the border with Paraguay, the USGS said.

Bolivia’s private San Calixto Observatory gave the quake’s strength at 6.6 magnitude and said it was felt in various regions of the country including La Paz, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca as well as Tarija.

Further north, the Central American country of El Salvador was hit later Monday by a quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, the Ministry of the Environment said.