Lula's campaign coordinator resigns

The campaign coordinator for the re-election of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ricardo Berzoini, has resigned to his post following allegation he might have been involved in a scheme trying to damage the president's opponents. The Brazilian Election Court has informed it will investigate allegations that the president's Workers Party was involved in an operation to collect documents that could harm the image of opposition candidates in the upcoming October 1 election. Berzoini said he was not involved in the alleged scheme, and asked the court officials to pursue the investigation to its fullest. The new campaign coordinator for Lula will be Marco Aurelio Garcia, who was the chief campaign adviser.

Two men were arrested last week with R$ 800,000 in cash, money that would be used to buy documents linking opposition candidates to corruption scandals, according to the police. The men arrested were linked to the Workers' Party, and officials will try to determine if the president was in any way directly involved with the operation.