On the Road to Find Out

Very little is being written about this story in the mainstream media, which seems odd is this is a huge story of corruption in Latin America, and one that involves one of the major names in the Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) scandal that was a big factor in Dilma’s recent impeachment as Brazilian president.

Following an investigation by Peruvian prosecutors the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht have admitted to paying US$29 million in bribes between 2005 and 2014 to gain lucrative contracts. These bribes were paid during the governments of Alejandro Toledo, Alan Garcia and Ollanta Humala, which goes to show how widespread the problem is. The last of these, former President Humala and the former first lady Nadine Heredia are currently under investigation for the bribes and are banned from leaving the country.

According to the Comptroller General’s Office, public work contracts signed with Odebrecht between 1988 and 2015 led to an astonishing alleged US$283-million economic loss for Peru.

You can read more about the story at teleSUR.

Last year I wrote an article for American Express on where to find good music in Rio de Janeiro. As well as talking about where to see samba, the article mentions the best places to dance samba, to hear tropicalia and bossa nova, as well as the best spots for dance music and alternative rock and indie. It’s a pretty good primer for getting your head around the Rio nightlife.

You can read the article at travel.americanexpress.co.uk

Was just looking through some photos and found this one of my stay at the Slow Hostel in João Pessoa, a hostel I would thoroughly recommend!