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AFP
BRASILIA
PRESIDENT Michel Temer insists that a growing corruption scandal in his government will not paralyze Brazil as it struggles to emerge from its deepest recession in history.
"Brazil doesn't stop,"he said in an interview ahead of a visit Monday by Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy."So it won't be corrupt acts that paralyze the country."
Temer -- who is alleged to have chaired a meeting where the corruption-riddled engineering giant Odebrecht agreed to pay a huge bribe to his PMDB party -- said the accusations were unfortunate.
However, he took pains to voice support for the investigative judge, Sergio Moro, who is leading the massive probe known as"Car Wash."
Moro is"fulfilling"his role, Temer said, adding that he would avoid criticizing a wave of new investigations because it"could be construed as wanting to shut down Car Wash."
Eight of Temer's ministers were placed under investigation last week for alleged participation in a sprawling embezzlement and bribery network in which Odebrecht and other companies paid politicians to get them contracts with the state oil company Petrobras.
