Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress, is suspended in the latest scandal to strike the country.
ADVERTISEMENTProblems continue to mount in scandal-struck Brazil. The latest controversy: the suspension by the Supreme Court of Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress.
Cunha, an influential rival of President Dilma Rousseff, is accused of trying to intimidate congressmen and obstruct investigations against him, according to a court spokeswoman.
He is alleged to have received bribes in a huge corruption scheme at state-run oil company, Petrobras.
Brazil’s constitution places him third in line to the presidency.
Rousseff is expected to be suspended next week in a move her supporters are calling a coup d‘état. Cunha was at the forefront of the push to impeach her.
Following months of speculation and a vote in the lower house of Congress, the senate is to decide whether or not to put the president on trial on charges of doctoring Brazil’s fiscal accounts to hide a massive budget deficit ahead of her 2014 re-election.
If the ballot goes against Rousseff, she will be replaced by Vice President Michel Temer.