After a coup, a judgment: Brazil's "interim president" barred from holding office for 8 years

It sounds like Brazil is getting a little bit more like Brazil every day.


This scene in particular comes to mind.

2 Likes

Iā€™m going to come at this, not from a Brazilian point of view, (Iā€™m not in Brazil, Iā€™m in Mexico), but from a generalized Latin American politics point of view. Feel free to dismiss this if you wish.

I donā€™t doubt that what you say about Rousseff is true, or even that she does not deserve it. The problem, it seems to me, is that if Brazilian politics are free of corruption then you can accept this as simply democracy in action. But what happens when everybodyā€™s dirty? Then a move like this can only be a political move, and a corrupt political move at that. And while I believe you that people want her out. If the people who can actually remove her from power are also implicated in the same corruption, then I canā€™t believe that the reason to remove her from power isnā€™t to remove one person from power but to benefit a lot of other corrupt people.

Yes, what Iā€™m saying is that using corruption to remove corrupt people doesnā€™t get rid of corruption, it can only weaken democracy.

10 Likes

Hi Cory! I wonā€™t tackle the political aspects of things but just offer a minor correction: Temer was deemed ineligible before Dilma was impeached AND came into office despite being ineligible, which helps to empower the feeling of illegitimacy.

He committed fraud and still gets to sit in the presidentā€™s chair.

So yeah, we Brazilians knew that he was ineligible at least a month before the impeachment. Looks like a minor change but compounds on the outrage.

17 Likes

I think he thinks Cory Doctorow is affiliated with the Brazilian Workersā€™ Party and this amuses me to no end :joy:

9 Likes

Bear with me: are you using Google Translate?

1 Like

Iā€™m originally raised and born in Rio. It breaks my heart remembering how the city was until circa 90ā€¦ And how it decayed since then. The city and the State are already totally in disrepair from money hemorrhaging to corrupted people, this last exploit will only further it.

Some things that are happening are crimes against the cultural heritage of the world, like the terrible state the National Library is, with infiltrations and totally inadequate conditions to preserve extremely rare and centuries old books with few copies if any in the world :frowning:

If I was galactic imperatrix of the world I would move the Olympics to Greece. It makes sense.

Anyway, Rio knows how to put up a show. Itā€™s proud and unable to say no. It will procrastinate a lot, whitewash a lot and sweep all the undesirable to the other side of the bridge while the games happen. Then comes the bill its citizens will have to pay for the show.

13 Likes

On the one hand, the modern ā€œOlympicsā€ run by a nepotistic cabal of kleptomaniacal oligarchs have jack-all to do with the ancient traditional pan-Hellenic games. On the other hand, that same class of oligarchs have left Greece with so little that thereā€™s nothing left they could loot there.

I think the official title of the IOC President should be changed to Galactic Imperatrix.

6 Likes

How we say on Brazil, my english level is ā€œbook on the tableā€.

2 Likes

That is one ridiculous misrepresentation, but it makes sense that a country that believes itā€™s gonna be saved with neoliberalism would see it that way. Just start with, oh I donā€™t know, looking at the actual measures his government has been favouring and/or implementing. Privatisation isnā€™t left-wing. Having a woman secretary being against abortion in the case of rape isnā€™t left-wing. Austerity isnā€™t left-wing. Words have meanings.

And whatever her flaws and misdeeds, Dilmaā€™s pedaladas were not fiscal fraud and were commonly practiced by every government preceding her.

5 Likes

I will say though, itā€™s unlikely those senators are changing their minds because they are waking up to the truth of the matter. Itā€™s quite possible this is nothing but opportunism. Sorry, Iā€™m just very skeptical of Brazilian politicians.

Essentially what you are saying is that everyone is corrupt so let it be.
No! Enough!
Politicians have to be held accountable.
Maybe the sides they play are just part of a theater while they rob us blind. More the reason to prosecute them one at a time. If the one replacing Dilma is corrupt he should be held accountable at his own turn.
Temer has ejected from his cabinet both ministers caught on tape against the car wash investigation.
Dilma kept them close at heart (Berzoini was also caught on tape against the car wash investigations and he stayed a minister until the last day) Lula had a solicitation of his arrest for his illegal apartment at the beach and Dilma made him a ministerā€¦ Not all things are the same.

Iā€™m not sure that abortion, historically outside of a particular nation, necessarily identifies with a right or left wing ethos.

I get why you think Iā€™m saying that, but no, thatā€™s not what Iā€™m saying.

My point is that it looks like the outrage against her looks like itā€™s been manufactured by other corrupt politicians.
If you are stuck between a rock and a hard place then you should still be able to decide which of the outcomes is worse, if not best. But donā€™t be fooled, there is no justice to be found here.

2 Likes

Whoever wrote this lives in Disneyland. Thereā€™s NO coup in Brazil. For the first time in decades we are just following the law.

1 Like

Also: Well hello, newbie!!

7 Likes

On Brazil politics, left ou rigths is a vague definitions. The coalition politic make the convenience drives the politicianā€™s acts. Right-wing saying more state on private lifes and left-wing defensing privatization (those made by Rousseff).

But only on Rousseff administration the government make the debt of social programs on high levels and long time. Others administration make some difference and just a few days. There a budget to respect. Rousseff disrespect this budget and the law that ensures.

This graphic show the debt of Government with state banks to pay social programs. The Rousseffā€™s defense donā€™t denies the ā€œpedaladasā€, only just what change the law to stop making this illegal.

Sometimes it doesnā€™t matter the motivation, and even so, good things can come out of it. This is essentialy the law of unintended consequences. Dan Carlin talks a lot about this in his podcast hard core history.

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.