Brazil: Imprisonment Of A Close Associate Of President Michel Temer

A close adviser and friend of the Brazilian president Michel Temer was arrested in connection with the investigation for corruption that targets the head of state.

In Brazil, a close adviser to the president was incarcerated. The position of Rodrigo Rocha Loures, accused of corruption is nicknamed "the man with the suitcase" because he had been filmed receiving a bag of tickets. With his incarceration, the position of President Michel Temer, very unpopular and suspected of corruption, has become increasingly fragile.

With our correspondent in Rio de Janeiro,  François Cardona

The corruption scandal is getting closer and closer to the presidency.
Rodrigo Rocha Loures was until recently special adviser of Michel Temer, one of his intimate friends.

The deputy, now deprived of parliamentary immunity, was filmed last March, when he received more than 150,000 euros in cash, in a suitcase. Money that would have been used to pay bribes.

The deposed deputy was placed in detention and his lawyer stated that he did not intend to collaborate with the judiciary to obtain remission. It was this denunciation system which enabled investigating judges of the "lava-jato" operation to progressively dismantle in recent years the vast network of corruption, at the heart of which were the Brazilian oil giants, And the agribusiness and which in exchange for millionaire bribes obtained public procurement and political favors.

With the incarceration of Rodrigo Rocha Loures, accused of corruption and belonging to a criminal organization, the scandal directly affects President Michel Temer, already under investigation, with the Supreme Court.