Brazilian prosecutors said Friday they were considering a request to exhume an ousted president's remains to determine if he was killed in the 1970s under a plan by rightwing rulers to suppress dissent. Joao Goulart served as president from 1961-1964, and was ousted in a military coup. He took refuge in Uruguay and Argentina, where he died in 1976. The official account says it was a heart attack. The military went on to rule in Brazil from 1964-1985.

Brazilian police said Friday they have launched an investigation into whether popular ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had a role in a congressional vote-buying scandal. "A police investigation was opened at the request of the prosecutor's office in Brasilia. It will be carried out by the financial crime unit," a police spokesman told AFP. The probe is expected to last 30 days. Federal prosecutors want to know whether Lula was aware of the vote-buying scheme put in place by his Workers Party (PT) from 2003 to 2005 during his first term in office.

Brasilia, Apr 1 (EFE).- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday named civil engineer Cesar Borges to be her new transportation minister, continuing with a mini-reform of her Cabinet that she began two weeks ago, authorities said. Borges, 64, will replace Paulo Sergio Passos, who according to a statement released by the president's press office "is leaving the post after making a great contribution to the government and to the country."

By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian economy is hardly growing and inflation is rearing its head, but President Dilma Rousseff's popularity continues to climb to new highs. The personal approval rating of Brazil's first woman president rose to 79 percent in March from 78 percent in December, according to a CNI/Ibope opinion poll released on Tuesday.