More than a million Brazilians protest against ‘horror’ government
(BRAZIL) More than a million Brazilians have joined anti-government rallies across the country, ramping up the pressure on embattled president Dilma Rousseff.
Already struggling with an impeachment challenge, the worst recession in a century and the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history, the Workers party leader was given another reason to doubt she will complete her four-year term.
The demonstrations on Sunday – which reached all 26 states and the federal district – were expected to be bigger than similar rallies last year. The largest took place in São Paulo, where the polling company Datafolha estimated the crowd at 450,000, more than double the number it registered last year.
Organisers, police and local media calculated far greater numbers. According to police sources cited by Globo, 3.5 million people took part nationwide in 326 cites, including 100,000 in Brasilia and 70,000 in Curitiba. The exact figures are contested, but undeniably huge.
In Rio de Janeiro, dense crowds stretched along the beachfront from Copacabana to Leme, and organisers estimated there were as many as a million participants. Police had yet to provide figures, but it looked likely to exceed 100,000.
Many protesters wore the canary yellow shirts of the national football team, or draped themselves in the national flag. Others carried banners expressing anger at bribery scandals and economic woes.
Parents brought children, and some families wore matching “impeachment now” T-shirts. Neighbours travelled on public buses, chanting anti-Rousseff slogans.
“She’s a horror,” said Paulo Rodriguez, a 53-year-old businessman who came with his wife and daughter. “The Workers party is a horror. They’re a criminal organisation that is robbing state resources. They are destroying our country.”
Rodriguez’s primary frustration was with the economy. Sales at his crepe business were down 30% to 40% compared to last year, he said. Even though he believed opposition politicians were as crooked as those in government, he felt a change was needed.
“If Dilma goes, the currency will get stronger and confidence will return and people will start spending again,” he said.
Worryingly for Rousseff, some of the major protests were in former Workers Party strongholds in the north-east.
In Rio, the crowd was predominantly white, middle class and predisposed to supporting the opposition. Several of the more prominent figures who spoke from sound trucks had rightwing backgrounds.
Among them was Marcelo Itagiba, the city’s former state security secretary and ex-federal police superintendent, who has been investigated for ties with militias and was one of the inspirations for the gritty film Elite Squad 2.
Now a congressman with the opposition Brazilian Social Democratic party, he led chants of “Fora Dilma!” (“Dilma Out!”) from the top of a sound truck, and tried to shout down a critic by labeling him “Petista” (a Workers party supporter).
But compared to last year, the extreme right was less in evidence in Copacabana. The crowd also appeared more diverse.
“It’s not just the rich. Everyone is suffering,” said house cleaner Claudia Brasilina, who had travelled almost an hour to get to the protest from her home in the poor suburb of São Cristovão. “Dilma is ruining the country. She has to go.”
Like many of the demonstrators, she put her hopes not in the opposition but in the judiciary, particularly judge Sergio Moro, who has presided over the Lava Jato investigation into the kickbacks and bribes associated with Petrobras, the state-run oil company.
That case has spread to involve dozens of other companies and senior politicians from almost all of the major parties. A popular chant on Sunday was “Viva o Sérgio Moro! Viva a Lava Jato!”
Rousseff has not been implicated, but several close aides are either in prison or under investigation. For the protesters, she is tainted by association.
“At the very least, she is guilty of incompetence and arrogance,” read one placard. “Dilma: Institutionalising Corruption 2010-2016” said another. Many others called for her to be impeached.
Congress is debating whether the president should be removed on a separate allegation, of window-dressing government accounts ahead of the election in 2014. The legal basis for this challenge is weak, however, and the man leading the charge, speaker Eduardo Cunha, is himself under investigation for bribery.
But the political winds are blowing hard against the president. The biggest party in her coalition has said it will decide within 30 days whether to quit the government coalition.
Later this week, Rousseff supporters will stage a rally against what they see as a judicial coup, but allies are becoming harder to find.
Several protesters on Sunday said they had previously voted for the Workers Party, which came to power in 2002 with a promise to clean up Brazilian politics. The economic downturn and corruption scandals have turned many former supporters away.
“I voted for Lula, but now I think he is a thief,” said systems analyst Barbara Santos, referring to an ongoing investigation into claims that the former president received illicit benefits from construction companies.
Oil Industry On Edge As Political Turmoil In Brazil Rages On
By Nick Cunningham Posted on Thu, 17 March 2016 23:26 | 0
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff looks more vulnerable than ever, and her exit from power no longer looks unlikely.
More than 3 million people protested in the streets of major cities across Brazil on March 13, numbers that may have exceeded even the massive rallies that took place at the end of the country’s military dictatorship in the mid-1980s. The population is fed up with corruption, fed up with the ruling party, and are seeking the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff.
The list of problems facing President Rousseff runs long. The scandal plaguing the state-owned oil company Petrobras continues to spread. Brazil is facing the worst economic recession in about a century, in large part due to the crash in prices for oil and other commodities. GDP shrank by 3.8 percent in 2015 and could contract by almost as much this year. And President Rousseff herself is facing impeachment proceedings for cooking the budgetary books.
She isn’t the only one to blame. The Petrobras scandal and the ongoing investigation, known as Lava Jato, have implicated politicians from several political parties, not just her own. Also, the impeachment proceedings are being led by an opponent of President, Eduardo Cunha, who himself is under investigation for corruption as part of the Petrobras scandal. Still, the pressure on Rousseff is growing by the day. One of her major coalition partners, the PMDB party, could abandon her in the coming weeks.
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In a bizarre turn of events, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was charged with money laundering last week, but as of March 16, agreed to become President Rousseff’s Chief of Staff. (At the time of this writing, it appears that a Brazilian court suspended the appointment, so his admittance into the cabinet is unclear).
The move offers him some legal protections against the corruption investigation – ministers of government can only be tried by the Supreme Court, so investigators will now have a tougher time going after him. Lula has been ensnared in the Petrobras kickback scandal, a scheme in which Petrobras was overcharged by contractors whom then turned around and kicked back billions in payments to high level figures in both the oil company and the ruling party. Much of the graft apparently took place during Lula’s presidency.
The fact that Rousseff would turn to Lula – a once popular figure who is now much diminished – illustrates the extent of her predicament.
In fact, analysts are now debating when she might be forced from office, not if. The Eurasia Group, a political risk outfit, put odds on Rousseff not finishing her term at 65 percent. “The climate in Congress has changed,” said Ricardo Caldas, a Brasilia-based political scientist, according to The Wall Street Journal. “If they don’t vote for impeachment, it will be hard to explain to voters.”
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This is a complicated political backdrop that the oil industry must navigate. One of the major international oil companies operating in Brazil is Royal Dutch Shell, who announced on March 14 that it had started oil production at the third and final phase of its Parque das Conchas project, an offshore field in Brazil’s Campos Basin. The latest development will add 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at peak production. The project includes a subsea production system and ties back to a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
Shell also recently completed the takeover of BG Group, which granted the oil major significant offshore positions in Brazil.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Congress is weighing legislation that could liberalize the country’s offshore “pre-salt” deposits, vast oil fields located in deep water underneath a thick layer of salt. Petrobras is legally required to operate Brazil’s pre-salt fields, and take a substantial stake in any project. Shell’s CEO has advocated for a removal of such requirements, arguing that oil companies such as his could move forward with development much faster.
Related: Oil Won’t Stage A Serious Rebound Until This Happens
Speaking on the possibility that the Brazilian Congress might ease Petrobras’ control, Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden said the move was only logical. “It’s up to congress to decide. But I think it makes sense to call on other companies who have the technology, who have the money,” van Beurden said. “I don’t see how this is not beneficial for Brazil,” he added.
There are a lot of moving pieces. Former President Lula is reportedly going to be tasked with getting the economy back on track. The Brazilian stock market and the country’s currency have reacted negatively, expecting growth policies that could worsen the fiscal outlook.
From the oil industry’s perspective, opening up the offshore sector to private companies, some assert, would help attract much needed foreign investment. As a result, privatizing pre-salt assets could be pushed forward in part because of the political turmoil, and it is a testament to Brazil’s current problems that such a massive piece of legislation would probably be a mere sideshow to the political upheaval taking place in the country right now.
None of these articles really tell me a lot about Brazil. My mother used to live there but it's changed a lot since. Greenwald talking about oligarch media made me chuckle. What do "we" call an oligarch we like? A philanthropist?
None of these articles really tell me a lot about Brazil. My mother used to live there but it's changed a lot since. Greenwald talking about oligarch media made me chuckle. What do "we" call an oligarch we like? A philanthropist?
This Brazil thing is not getting much press because there are so many different signals in the stream. Typically this would be higher priority news but not much is trickling into the mainstream about it because of all the noise. For our day and time this is simply like an "acquisition" of one company buying another, but they do it with force and coercion, bombs if ya need it. When this much conflict is going in this many countries at the same time only the most heinous atrocities make the news list and then they fade quickly to the next most dastardly atrocity.
There is a lot going on right now. Decisions are being made about what to do with Syria. There is a ton of big money moves being made right now under the cover of the Clown Car U.S. election. Venezuaela and Brazil are slowly being absorbed. They put up a hell of a fight, especially Chavez, but the Leviathan juggernaut has slowly worn that ass out and its all over but the crying from what I see right now.
While we are watching The Donald comb his hair, many things will be done and arranged.
"A mind stretched by a new idea can never return to it's original dimensions." Oliver Wendell Holmes
You can't expose too much right now. The Olympics are tantamount to the country. So much money is riding on that shit. Networks, sponsors etc.
Highly likely the Olympics are to blame for anything that happens or has happened there.
There is no me. There is no you. There is all. There is no you. There is no me. And that is all. A profound acceptance of an enormous pageantry. A haunting certainty that the unifying principle of this universe is love. -- Propagandhi
Transcript: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, journalists. Good morning, here’s Congressmen, Ministers, Good morning everyone here. I will make a statement to the press, so it’s not an interview, it is a statement. I wanted first to tell you, and say also, to all Brazilians, that the impeachment process was opened by the Senate, and ordered the suspension of my term of office for a maximum period of 180 days. I was elected president by 54 million Brazilian citizens, and it is in this condition, the condition of a President elected by 54 million, that I address you at this decisive moment for Brazilian democracy and our future as a nation. What is at stake in the impeachment process is not only my mandate, what is at stake is the respect to the polls, the sovereign will of the Brazilian people and the Constitution. What is at stake are the achievements of the last thirteen years, the gains of the poorest people, as well as the gains of the middle class. The protection of children, young people access to Universities and to Technical Schools. The value of the minimum wage, doctors attending to the population. The realization of the dream of home ownership with “Minha Casa, Minha Vida”. What is at stake is also the great finding of Brazil, the pre-salt. What is at stake is the future of the country, the opportunity and hope to move forward forever more. Before the Senate decision, I want once again to clarify the facts and report the risks to the country of a fraudulent impeachment: a real coup. Since I was elected, the opposition, dissatisfied, called recount, tried to nullify the elections and then went on to openly conspiring for my impeachment. They plunged the country in a permanent state of political instability, preventing the recovery of the economy, with the sole purpose of taking by force what they did not win at the polls. My government has been the target of intense and incessant sabotage. The clear objective has been preventing me to rule and thus forge the environment conducive to the coup. When an elected president is revoked on charges of a crime he did not commit, the name given to it in the democratic world is not impeachment: it is a coup. I have not committed a crime of responsibility, there is no reason for impeachment proceedings, I do not have accounts abroad, I never received bribes, I never condoned corruption. This process is a fragile process, legally inconsistent, an unfair process, initiated against an honest and innocent person. It is the largest of the brutalities that can be committed to any human being: to punish him for a crime he did not commit. There is no more devastating injustice than to condemn the innocent. Injustice is irreparable evil. This legal farce, that I am facing, is due to the fact that, as president, I never accepted blackmail of any kind. I may have made mistakes but have not committed crimes. I am being judged unfairly by having done all that the law authorizes me to do. The acts I practiced were legal acts, correct, necessary acts, acts of government. Similar acts were performed by the previous Brazilian presidents, before me. It was not a crime in their time, and also is not a crime now. They accuse me of having published six supplementation Decrees, six additional credit Decrees and, in so doing, have committed crime against the Budget Law – LOA. It is false because the Decrees followed authorizations provided by law. They treat as a crime an everyday management act. They accuse me of delaying payments of “Plano Safra”, it is false. I have not determined anything about it. The law does not require my participation in the implementation of this Plan (“Plano Safra”). My accusers can not even say which unlawful act I have practiced. What act? Which act? Moreover, nothing was left to be paid, or any debt remained. Never in a democracy, the legitimate mandate of an elected president can be stopped because of legitimate acts of budget management. Brazil can not be the first to do this. I would also like to address the entire population of my country saying that the coup aims not only to revoke me, to remove a president elected by the vote of millions of Brazilians – direct vote in a fair election. To dismiss my government, they want actually prevent the execution of the program that was chosen by the majoritarian votes of the 54 million Brazilians. The coup d’état threatens to ravage not only democracy, but also the achievements that the population reached in recent decades. All this time, I have been also a zealous guarantor of the democratic rule of law. My government has not committed any repressive act against social movements, against collective protests, against protesters of any political position. The risk, the greatest risk to the country at this time is to be directed by a government without any votes. A government that was not elected by direct vote of the population, a government that will have the legitimacy to propose and implement solutions to the challenges of Brazil. A government may be tempted to crack down on protesting against him. A government that is born of a coup. A fraudulent impeachment. Born of a kind of indirect election. A government that is, himself, a big reason for the continuing political crisis in our country. So, I tell you, all of you, I’m proud to be the first woman elected president of Brazil. I am proud to be the first woman elected president of Brazil. In those years, I have exercised my mandate in a dignified and honest way, honoring the votes I received. On behalf of those votes, and on behalf of all the people of my country, I will fight with all legal instruments available to me to exercise my mandate until the end of my presidencial term, 31st December, 2018. Destiny always got me many challenges, many great challenges, some appeared to me insuperable, but I managed to overcome them. I have suffered the unspeakable pain of torture. The agonizing pain of the disease. And now I suffer again, the equally unspeakable pain of injustice. What hurts the most right now is injustice. What hurts most is to realize that I am the victim of a legal farce and politics. But I do not subside, I look back and see everything we did. I look forward and see everything we still need and can do. The most important is that I can look at myself and see the face of someone who, even marked by time, have the strength to defend ideas and rights. I fought my whole life for democracy. I learned to trust the capacity of struggle of our people. I have lived many defeats, and lived big wins. I confess that I never imagined it would be necessary to fight back against a coup in my country. Our young democracy, made of struggles, made of sacrifices, even deaths, does not deserve it. In recent months, our people took to the streets. It took to the streets in defense of more rights, more advances. That’s why I’m sure that people will know to say no to the coup. Our people are wise, and has historical experience. Brazilians who are contrary to the coup, regardless of party positions, to all of them I make a call: remain mobilized, united and at peace. The struggle for democracy has no end date. It is permanent struggle, which requires us constant dedication. The fight for democracy, I repeat, has no end date. The fight against the coup is long, it is a fight that can be won, and we will win. This victory depends on us all. Let’s show the world that there are millions of supporters of democracy in our country. I know, and many here know, especially our people know that history is made through fighting. And it is always worth fighting for democracy. Democracy is the right side of history. We will never give up, I will never give up fighting. Thank you all very much.
Damn. It sure sounds hella chaotic for Brazil. This, Zika "virus" and the infernal Olympics.
There is no me. There is no you. There is all. There is no you. There is no me. And that is all. A profound acceptance of an enormous pageantry. A haunting certainty that the unifying principle of this universe is love. -- Propagandhi
Published on May 12, 2016 In a significant blow to democracy, the leader of Brazil has been impeached. There was an intense corporate media propaganda campaign against her, and now she’s being replaced by neoliberals brought in to impose austerity. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
"Brazil's interim President Michel Temer called on his country to rally behind his government of "national salvation," hours after the Senate voted to suspend and put on trial his leftist predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, for breaking budget laws.
Temer, a 75-year-old centrist, told Brazilians to have "confidence" that Latin America's biggest country would overcome an ongoing crisis marked by a deep economic recession, political volatility and a sprawling corruption scandal.
"It is urgent we calm the nation and unite Brazil," said Temer, after a signing ceremony for his incoming cabinet. "Political parties, leaders, organizations and the Brazilian people will cooperate to pull the country from this grave crisis."
He charged his new ministers with enacting business-friendly policies while maintaining the popular social programs that were the hallmark of the 13-year administration of the leftist Workers Party.
The change in government marks a dramatic political shift in Brazil, where Rousseff, who has been in office since 2011 and was heading the fourth consecutive term for the Workers Party, was hobbled by the downturn, the corruption scandal and a political opposition determined to oust her.”*
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started. They could still get him out of office. But instead, they want mass death. Don’t forget that.
According to official government documents published by Wikileaks, Temer has been an informant for the U.S. Embassy in Brazil since 2006,[13]. Temer is described as an asset for US business interests in several declassified US diplomacy documents.[14] The report has the status "sensitive but unclassified" and describes the uneasy feeling the U.S. had over the upcoming elections which Dilma Rouseff ended winning. Describing fear that Brazil might "be led away from the orthodox macro-economic policies that have dominated"[15] this report explains the biggest concern the US has in regards Brazil is its "drifting left".
He's even more corrupt than Rousseff and even less popular (2% of Brazilians support him as president, almost 60% thinks he should be impeached). He's also stacking his cabinet with former Goldman Sachs and IMF people. Looks more like a corporate takeover than anything else. https://theintercept.com/2016/05/11/bra ... installed/
"I only read American. I want my fantasy pure." - Dave
India - China - Russia aren't going to happen. Russia would be the likeliest, and we're talking highly unlikely.
We'll see how it goes at the Olympics - which if this new regime can hang on will doubtless produce a climax, either their fall or an open militarization of their dictatorship.
We meet at the borders of our being, we dream something of each others reality. - Harvey of R.I.
To Justice my maker from on high did incline: I am by virtue of its might divine, The highest Wisdom and the first Love.
