TheEconomist

Denise Abreu, the strong young woman who was seen smoking cigars after the Air Bus explosion (photo) in Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport, Brazil.

Now the new Defense minister, Nelson Jobim, will appoint to Congress new names for the agency, one of the responsible for the disaster that killed 199 people recently.

Famosa nos últimos dias por opor resistência a todos e tudo na autônoma Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (Anac), Denise Abreu finalmente pediu demissão.

Diretora com mandato aprovado pelo Congresso, Denise irritou parlamentares nas CPIs do Apagão Aéreo na Câmara e no Senado, pela arrogância que não foi desfeita por pedidos formais de desculpa.

Nomeado pelo presidente Lula para resolver a crise aérea brasileira, o maior problema deste segundo mandato, o novo ministro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, perdeu a paciência ontem com a Anac e pediu de público que a diretoria toda renunciasse para facilitar a solução dos problemas.

No Congresso, ela tentou ao longo da semana enrolar senadores e deputados com a estória de um documento que foi parar na internet (sobre normas para não serem permitidas aterrisagens em Congonhas de Air Buses com reverso travado sob chuvas).

Nem o digitalizado e experiente deputado verde Fernando Gabeira (PV-RJ) conseguiu que Denise entregasse o jogo na CPI do Apagão Aéreo, pois ela dizia que o documento não era oficial, não sabia porque foi para a rede de computadores e, finalmente, de que não valeria de qualquer forma para aviões do tipo que explodiu em Congonhas (foto).

Para os deputados, Denise e a Anac devem ser co-indiciadas pelo acidente com 199 mortos com o Air Bus da TAM no aeroporto de Congonhas - pelo menos.

A ex-diretora é acusada também de ter feito gestões para beneficiar amigos empresários com a transferÊncia da área de cargas da capital paulista para aeroportos no interior do estado.

(detalhes nas agencias)

Next Sunday President Lula and his brand-new Defense minister, Nelson Jobim, will get together to play some third-age soccer and decide how much money the federal budget can afford in order to solve the national air crisis.

And pave the road to an eventual solution for Lula´s succession.

They were looking for and perhaps had found a name,  acceptable by left and right wings, to try to keep power within the coalition between Lula´s Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores-PT) and Jobim´s PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party).

A fast train between two points… humm, there will be a lot of money going around that.

Sao Paulo governor Jose Serra presented Jobim yesterday a plan to build in three years a fast light train between International Guarulhos Airport and domestic Congonhas airport inside Sao Paulo city, at the cost of R$ 3,4 billion (US$ 1,7 billion).

Not that bad, as Federal Government  would have to put only R$ 580 million, while Sao Paulo state would invest R$ 1,5 bi and private companies R$ 1,2 billion.

It now depends on telling Guido, the Finance minister, the whole story about the plan to solve an air crisis he himself thought was just an expression of economic healthness.

An expensive one, indeed. 

If you´re doing business (or have any other link) with Brazil, watch at least two points when upgrading your information on this country:

# 1. Do not fly to or from Brazil: stay where you are, use phone lines and internet, instead of personal contact if you need to meet your business partners, staff, relatives and so on.

We´ll let you know when we ourselves start flying again inside our country, ok?

We´ve being using jeeps - because roads also are in very bad situation for the same reason jets falls over Amazonia and Sao Paulo: no investment in the last 2 decades and a ready-to-go US$ 1 trillion GNP emerging economy in a political wetern-type mass democracy for 22 years now.

# 2. Interest rates paid by  Brazilian federal bonds - one of the most really interesting investment options in the world - will probably stop its way down,  since there´s now an orange light on the world economic outlook after the overfinancing bubble disclosing in the US economy, reflecting on Asia and Europe markets this Friday, 27.

In case of US problems impact on Asia and emerging markets, Brazilian exports like raw materials for China, Korea and Japan will suffer from price lowering,  coming from lower imports from asian economies. 

In the political front, Lula´s government started to draw its future this week, following the national crisis over the TAM Air Bus exploding in Congonhas, Sao Paulo downtown airport: the new Defense minister is not jut a tall gaucho from the South pampas, but also a former head of the Supreme Court, Fernando Henrique Cardoso´s minister of Justice and now the manager in charge of solving Brazilian air crisis.

If minister Nelson Jobim succeeds, Lula, his party PT and allied PMDB will have got the ideal solution for a candidate to run for President in October 2010.

Lula is the only leader that could unite PT and PMDB but Constitution doesn´t accept third terms.

SP Stock Exchange opened in good shape reflecting the US GNP disclosure. Dollar is a little bit lower again - it´s about 1,85 reals for each US dollar (yesterday it was 1,92).

The problem is the country risk, which went up again: from 185 points last week to 220 points yesterday and 230 points  this Friday.