Thursday, March 10, 2016

LatAm in Focus: Grupo Estado's Ricardo Gandour on Brazil in Crisis Mode

By Luisa Leme

The director of one of the largest Brazilian media groups says the country needs a new constitution.

</p> <div class="wrapper" style="width: 100%;"> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 30%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><b style="font-size: 20px;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/gandour_30_podcast.jpg" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></b></em></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p>Brazil’s economic plunge is shaping one of its most difficult years in the last two decades. Not only did unemployment reach 9 percent in March, but inflation is rising and the country’s GDP shrank 3.7 percent in 2015. The negative numbers come at the same time as a major corruption scandal linked to state oil firm Petrobras and a political battle that could leave President Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment. </p> <div class="wrapper" style="width: 100%;"> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 40%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><b style="font-size: 20px;">"</b></em><em><b style="font-size: 20px;">We all know that the current constitution is unfeasible</b></em><em><b style="font-size: 20px;">.</b></em><em><b style="font-size: 20px;">"</b></em></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p>“It’s a perfect storm,” says Ricardo Gandour, director of Estado Group, one of Brazil's largest media groups. Currently based in New York as a visiting scholar at Columbia University, he spoke with AS/COA Online’s Luisa Leme about recent events, such as former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s detention for questioning, a political leadership void, and why this could be a good moment for investment in Brazil. Ultimately, Gandour says the next president should propose a new constitution.</p>

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LatAm in Focus: Grupo Estado's Ricardo Gandour on Brazil in Crisis Mode

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