Flamengo Goalkeeper Bruno Souza
The police said Friday that they had charged the goalie of Brazil‘s most popular soccer club, Flamengo, with murder in the disappearance of a former lover who claimed to have had his child.
In a case that has dominated news coverage for weeks in this soccer-obsessed nation, the police said they had concluded their investigation and were charging the goalie, Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza, 25, and eight friends and family members in the killing of Eliza Samudio, 25, who disappeared in early June.
Since the police first said they had discovered the blood of Ms. Samudio in Mr. Souza’s car in early June, Brazilians have been exposed to a barrage of soap opera-like revelations and gruesome details. The investigation intensified during the last few days of the World Cup, when the police took Mr. Souza into custody, where he has remained since.
The relationship began last year when the soccer player, who was not on the Brazilian World Cup team, and Ms. Samudio met at a party in Rio de Janeiro. Soon after, the police said, she discovered she was pregnant and told him he was the father. Mr. Souza, who is married, apparently did not take the news well. Last October, she filed a complaint with the police in Rio saying he had kidnapped her and tried to threaten her into having an abortion. (more…)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva (L) and his Uruguayan counterpart Jose Mujica
The presidents of Brazil and Uruguay Friday signed a package of cooperation agreements aimed at accelerating political and economic integration between the two neighbors and the region.
“We undertake a strong commitment to strengthen bilateral and regional integration, highlighting the importance of Mercosur and Unasur (regional trading blocs) as the foremost vehicles for political, social, economic and commercial integration of the region,” Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Jose Mujica said in a joint statement.
Brazil’s Lula and Uruguay’s Mujica held their fourth meeting since the Uruguayan leader took office in March, in this Brazilian city on the border with Uruguay.
After the meeting, the pair signed cooperation agreements on defense, science, technology, energy, river transportation and fishing, and pledged to establish a common currency for the two nations to facilitate and boost commercial and social exchanges.
Brazil is Uruguay’s chief trading partner. Bilateral trade between the neighbors reached 1.3 billion dollars in the first six months of the year, a 23 percent increase from the same period last year.
Copyright © 2010 AFP
