New leader named for Brazil Mining giant

Brazil’s mining giant Vale was privatized in 1997 but that hasn’t stopped Brazil’s president from reportedly forcing out the company’s CEO, and working to install someone who will hew closer to the government’s wishes. Brazilian media are reporting the candidate nominated to take over as CEO, Murilo Ferreira, is Dilma Rousseff’s first choice. The board of Vale is expected approve Ferreira’s nomination on Thursday. The government’s principal beef with the old CEO, Roger Agnelli, was his reported reluctance to invest extensively in steel production in Brazil. The government wants the phenomenally-profitable company to focus on investments to boost industrial production in Brazil, not abroad. Ferreira appears to have a good reputation, but many local and foreign analysts, the Financial Times and the Economist among them, say that the government’s interference is worrying.