La devaluación de Franco.

• Author: Bustos, Sergio R.
• Position: Itamar Franco, gobernador Brasile

Itamar Franco, the Feisty Minas Gerais governor and former Brazilian president, is at it again.

Franco sparked Brazil's economic slide earlier this year when he threatened to default on state bond payments, panicking investors.

Now Franco threatens to divert the rivers that supply the Furnas Cetrais Eletricas hydroelectric plant in a bid to keep the utility from being privatized. "We will never hand over our rivers," Franco said.

The sell off of federally owned Furnas is a part of a massive privatization schedule that, if it actually happens, should recharge investor interest in the...