Brazil’s political and economic landscape was sharply re-contoured today by a series of high-stakes decisions, led by an abrupt European Union ban on Brazilian meat and an expanding corruption scandal that is destabilizing the country's Supreme Court. The EU officially suspended all imports of Brazilian meat, poultry, eggs, honey, and animal casings, a measure that threatens up to $2 billion in exports from the world’s largest beef exporter. The ban, which took effect today, stems from Brazil’s failure to provide sufficient guarantees that its livestock production complies with the bloc's rules against the use of antimicrobials to promote animal growth, a key European standard aimed at combating antibiotic resistance in humans.