Mr Mendonca de Barros claimed that the officials were the victims of political backstabbing and industrial espionage.

ECONOMIST: Crossed lines in Brazil

Mr Mendonca adds that there are two main factors that need to be considered in a succession process.

BBC: Brazilian family firms reveal tips for success

Whatever his faults, Mr Mendonca de Barros had the sheer force of will needed to beat back vested interests opposing privatisations.

ECONOMIST: Crossed lines in Brazil

And we will also have a live report from Susana Mendonca who will be talking to MPs and delegates gathering in Liverpool.

BBC: Labour activists want a clear lead in Liverpool

Indeed Mr Mendonca de Barros's swift departure was welcomed by markets as the removal of a distraction from the legislative task at hand.

ECONOMIST: Crossed lines in Brazil

"All the pomegranate you see today in home products started as a popular ingredient at gourmet food fairs, " says Ana Paula Mendonca, creative director of the "olfactive design studio" at IFF.

WSJ: Does This Smell Clean to You?

But neither that, nor Mr Cardoso's public support, was enough to save Mr Mendonca de Barros in the face of criticism from prominent political leaders in the government coalition and from the press.

ECONOMIST: Crossed lines in Brazil

Throughout glittering careers in which they alternated high-profile government jobs with profitable stints in banking, the Mendonca de Barros brothers and Mr Lara Resende broke no rules, but attracted the envy of less talented mortals.

ECONOMIST: Crossed lines in Brazil

Companies are becoming more efficient, and not just by sacking workers and buying in their needs instead: a study to be released soon shows the overall productivity of capital and labour together rising at 5% a year, says Jose Roberto Mendonca de Barros, the economic-policy secretary.

ECONOMIST: Can Brazil hold the line?