Brazil In Turmoil: Jailed for corruption, ex-President Lula registered for presidency bid again

[barillas]

Thank goodness! The dummy president and her party needed to go! We're having festivities now.

 

[barillas]

Hard to look at this as anythinh short of a coup when literaly everyone trying to impeach her is as guilty or worse in the very scandal they want her impeached for!

You know nothing, it's not a coup.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

ha, bumping cause she's out, its over. and it's over for the leftists here in the thread

next is lula, and herself, cause she's most likely going to jail too. may the left dies in pain

Aaaaand this is basically the motivation behind this. Rabid, fanatic anti-PT and anti-left sentiments.

Cut off your nose to spite your face types. Who cares if the country goes to hell, at least the PT is out. Yaaaaay!

 

[whougonnacall]

You know nothing, it's not a coup.

So ur in favour of all the right wing guys involved also being removed from office ?

 

[Toco]

Aaaaand this is basically the motivation behind this. Rabid, fanatic anti-PT and anti-left sentiments.

Cut off your nose to spite your face types. Who cares if the country goes to hell, at least the PT is out. Yaaaaay!

oh your av. tells everything

the motivation is the destruction of a country. for 13 years, they were the government. and at the end, what happened? worst case of corruption in the history of the country and one of the biggest crisis brazil ever faced. thats exactly what made the country "go to hell". and now the disease is being removed from the country, it will get better. pretty hard to get worse, to be honest

You think so? see how quickly they will defang Lava Jato once they are in power.

They are all corrupt, they simply use polarizing tactics to convice the ignorant mob that the other side is the source of all wicked things.

well, they all want to end the investigation, behind the scenes, that's obvious. let's see what happens

and at least the party now in power is going to cut spending and free the economy a bit, it will get better. but what exactly will happen at the end of the day, i can't know. but things will get better

 

[Rod1]

and at least the party now in power is going to cut spending and free the economy a bit, it will get better. but what exactly will happen at the end of the day, i can't know. but things will get better

What part of Brazilian economy is being held back? and cutting spending is going to scare more investors away, Brazil is an stagflation hole.

They need to fix corruption, not cut spending.

 

[Arkain2K]

Brazil's Rousseff vows she would fight to prove her innocence
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Alonso Soto
Thu May 12, 2016

Supporters applaud as suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff addresses the audience after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach her for breaking budget laws, at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 12, 2016.​

Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed on Thursday she would fight to prove her innocence after the Senate voted to put her on trial for breaking budget laws, its historic decision fueled by deep recession and a sprawling corruption scandal.

In a dramatic changing of the guard that signaled a political shift in Brazil, Rousseff, a leftist who has been in office since 2011, departed Brasilia's Planalto presidential palace just hours after the vote.

Centrist Vice President Michel Temer took over as interim president for the duration of a Senate trial that could take up to six months.

Temer, a constitutional scholar who spent decades in Brazil's Congress and who had a bitter falling out with Rousseff last year, faces the daunting task of hauling the world's No. 9 economy out its worst downturn since the Great Depression and cutting bloated public spending.

Temer, 75, quickly named respected former central bank governor Henrique Meirelles as his finance minister, as part of a scaled-back cabinet, with a mandate to overhaul the costly pension system.

In a defiant address before she left, Rousseff reiterated what she has maintained since impeachment proceedings were launched against her last December by the lower house of Congress, calling the impeachment "fraudulent" and "a coup."

"I may have made mistakes but I did not commit any crime," she said. Rousseff's mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who now faces corruption charges, stood behind her and looked on dejectedly as 13 years of rule by their Workers Party came to an abrupt end.

Rousseff, 68, was flanked by dozens of outgoing ministers. Even as many wept, Rousseff remained stolid.

"I never imagined that it would be necessary to fight once again against a coup in this country," Rousseff said, in a reference to her youth fighting Brazil's military dictatorship.

Shortly afterward, she addressed hundreds of supporters outside, many of them dressed in Workers Party red, and already shouting "Temer out!"

"This is a tragic hour for our country," Rousseff said, calling her suspension an effort by conservatives to roll back the social and economic gains made by the Workers Party.

The party rose from Brazil's labor movement and in the heady days of Lula's presidency from 2003 helped pull millions of people out of poverty before running into recession and scandal, with many of its leaders tainted by corruption investigations and Rousseff herself increasingly unpopular.

The Senate deliberated for 20 hours before voting 55-22 early on Thursday to put Rousseff on trial over charges that she disguised the size of the budget deficit to make the economy look healthier in the runup to her 2014 re-election.

Rousseff, an economist and former Marxist guerrilla who became Brazil's first woman president, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and has called the charges politically motivated.

Despite her vows to fight, she is unlikely to be acquitted in her trial. The size of the vote to try her showed the opposition already has the support it will need to reach the two-thirds majority required to convict Rousseff and remove her definitively from office.

"It is a bitter though necessary medicine," opposition Senator Jose Serra, named on Thursday as the new foreign minister under Temer, said during the marathon Senate debate. "Having the Rousseff government continue would be a bigger tragedy."

Temer aides said the incoming government would soon announce a series of austerity measures to help reduce a massive budget deficit. An immediate goal is a reform of Brazil's costly pension system, possibly setting a minimum age for retirement, said one advisor.

Brazilian markets, which for weeks have rallied because of expectations for a business-friendly Temer administration, remained calm. The benchmark Bovespa index and the real, Brazil's currency BRBY, traded similarly to a day earlier.

Upon being notified of her suspension early Thursday, Rousseff dismissed her cabinet, including the sports minister, who is in final preparations for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August. The central bank governor, who has ministerial rank, was the only minister to remain.

As suspended head of state, Rousseff can continue to live in her official residence, and is entitled to a staff and use of an Air Force plane.

Fireworks erupted in cities across Brazil after the Senate vote. Police briefly clashed with pro-Rousseff demonstrators in Brasilia late Wednesday, but the country was calm Thursday, with scattered celebrants in São Paulo and other cities draping themselves in Brazil's green, yellow and blue flag.

Temer must stabilize the economy and restore calm at a time when Brazilians, increasingly polarized, are questioning whether their institutions can deliver on his promise of stability.

In addition to the gaping deficit, equal to more than 10 percent of its annual economic output, Brazil is suffering from rising unemployment, plummeting investment and a projected economic contraction of more than 3 percent this year.

"Only major reforms can keep Brazil from moving from crisis to crisis," says Eduardo Giannetti da Fonseca, an economist and author in São Paulo who has written extensively about the country's socioeconomic problems.

But those changes, including the pension effort, overhauls of tax and labor laws and a political reform to streamline fragmented parties in a mercenary Congress, could remain elusive at a time of turmoil.

In a statement on Thursday, Moody's Investors Service said continued political tension was likely to make reforms difficult. "Brazil still faces significant credit challenges including the need to reverse the ongoing economic contraction and to achieve meaningful fiscal consolidation," the ratings agency said.

Wild cards remain for Temer himself, including still-pending investigations by an electoral court into financing for his and Rousseff’s 2014 campaign.

Then there is the far-reaching kickback probe around state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), which has ensnared dozens of corporate and political chieftains, and helped set the scene for the discontent that hobbled Rousseff.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics-idUSKCN0Y206H

 

[Arkain2K]

Outgoing Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaks after the Brazilian Senate vote to impeach her for breaking budget laws at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 12, 2016.

Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gestures to supporters as she speaks after the Brazilian Senate vote to impeach her for breaking budget laws at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 12, 2016.

Supporters of suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (not pictured) show signs reading "Coup" and "(Network) Globo supported the dictatorship and wants a new coup in Brazil," after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach Rousseff for breaking budget laws

Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff greets supporters after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach her for breaking budget laws

 

[Arkain2K]

Politicians applaud after Brazil's Vice President Michel Temer (C) signed a document notifying him of becoming the interim president after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, at his Jaburu Palace official residence in Brasilia, Brasil, May 12, 2016.

 

[Toco]

What part of Brazilian economy is being held back? and cutting spending is going to scare more investors away, Brazil is an stagflation hole.

They need to fix corruption, not cut spending.

the part we're in one of the biggest recessions that the country has seen. the workers' party getting dumped is the beginning of a new start for brazil, thats for sure, and a decent minister of finance (not sure if thats the name in english) that can decide in a smart way what to do with independence. you will see that the stock market will react positively when the new government starts to open up the market and cut spending
corruption is just a symptom of this huge state, and that is something that can only go down too, i believe

 

[Toco]

Supporters of suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (not pictured) show signs reading "Coup" and "(Network) Globo supported the dictatorship and wants a new coup in Brazil," after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach Rousseff for breaking budget laws

Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff greets supporters after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach her for breaking budget laws

you see how like theres only a hundred people. not only that but they will cut the money that the former party used to distribute to "social movements" and to all the blogs that defended them

 

[Arkain2K]

Members of Brazil's Senate react after a vote to impeach President Dilma Rousseff for breaking budget laws in Brasilia, Brazil, May 12, 2016

Demonstrators who support Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment react in Brasilia, Brazil, May 12, 2016

 

[Arkain2K]

Women protest against the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff at Paulista avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 11, 2016.

Police officers use pepper spray on demonstrators against the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, May 11, 2016

 

[Possum Jenkins]

oh your av. tells everything

the motivation is the destruction of a country. for 13 years, they were the government. and at the end, what happened? worst case of corruption in the history of the country and one of the biggest crisis brazil ever faced. thats exactly what made the country "go to hell". and now the disease is being removed from the country, it will get better. pretty hard to get worse, to be honest

So does yours. But admiration for Fascists is pretty standard among the far-right.

And here's what happened in those 13 years:

They took advantage of high commodity prices to ease poverty. But who cares about that, right? Those people are lazy bums.

Oh, but it's all about reducing corruption, right? Which is why most of the ones leading the impeachment have corruption cases of their own. Makes sense.

 

[ovbious]

What part of Brazilian economy is being held back? and cutting spending is going to scare more investors away, Brazil is an stagflation hole.

They need to fix corruption, not cut spending.

Yeah, we're in stagflation, so we definitely need to curb public spending to stabilize prices. There's no other way. Investors want to see if we are willing to fix our imbalances instead of sticking to the latin-style populism in place for at least the past 6 years.

 

[ovbious]

So does yours. But admiration for Fascists is pretty standard among the far-right.

And here's what happened in those 13 years:

They took advantage of high commodity prices to ease poverty. But who cares about that, right? Those people are lazy bums.

Oh, but it's all about reducing corruption, right? Which is why most of the ones leading the impeachment have corruption cases of their own. Makes sense.

A lot of the people of the charts are already impoverished again due to the disastrous economic policies of Dilma.

It has already been 4 years (half a decade) we are in stagflation. Unemployment has doubled since your last piece of data (2013).

 

[Brazilian HKD]

oh your av. tells everything

the motivation is the destruction of a country. for 13 years, they were the government. and at the end, what happened? worst case of corruption in the history of the country and one of the biggest crisis brazil ever faced. thats exactly what made the country "go to hell". and now the disease is being removed from the country, it will get better. pretty hard to get worse, to be honest



well, they all want to end the investigation, behind the scenes, that's obvious. let's see what happens

and at least the party now in power is going to cut spending and free the economy a bit, it will get better. but what exactly will happen at the end of the day, i can't know. but things will get better

Dude you are arguing with a guy who literally thinks this is an american conspiracy, no kidding...

 

[Toco]

Dude you are arguing with a guy who literally thinks this is an american conspiracy, no kidding...

oh, nice to know it, then

So does yours. But admiration for Fascists is pretty standard among the far-right.

And here's what happened in those 13 years:

They took advantage of high commodity prices to ease poverty. But who cares about that, right? Those people are lazy bums.

Oh, but it's all about reducing corruption, right? Which is why most of the ones leading the impeachment have corruption cases of their own. Makes sense.

still they managed to destroy the economy. and most of these gains are due to follow a somewhat strict policy in the beginning of lula's reign and the overall positive economy of the world on the last decade

but it seems like you believe that this is an american conspiracy, so yeah, it seems you're the lunatic now

and if you're not brazilian or don't follow it pretty close you can't see how not only they're destroying the country but they're spreading disgusting lies about what the new president will do, that he would cut these social benefits, that they are giving raises on these programs right before getting impeached just to fuck up the next president. just showing how they can't give a fuck about the country, but just about they're reign of power

 

[Possum Jenkins]

oh, nice to know it, then



still they managed to destroy the economy. and most of these gains are due to follow a somewhat strict policy in the beginning of lula's reign and the overall positive economy of the world on the last decade

but it seems like you believe that this is an american conspiracy, so yeah, it seems you're the lunatic now

and if you're not brazilian or don't follow it pretty close you can't see how not only they're destroying the country but they're spreading disgusting lies about what the new president will do, that he would cut these social benefits, that they are giving raises on these programs right before getting impeached just to fuck up the next president. just showing how they can't give a fuck about the country, but just about they're reign of power

Not "an American conspiracy" but that ties between the opposition and the US exist. Here's the evidence for that-

https://theintercept.com/2016/04/18...position-figure-holds-meetings-in-washington/

But pointing this fact out is outlandish. That the US has a centuries' long history of supporting right-wing, undemocratic movements in the region (and therefore shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt) is also outlandish.

And yeah, Brazil's economy slowed because commodity prices lowered and because of mismanagement. Not being able to keep an astoundingly low level of poverty-reduction is an impeachable crime now? Of course it's not.

This is about making the left die "a slow death" like you very honestly stated.

 

[Arkain2K]

In Brazil, Rousseff’s suspension looks like end of an era
By Dom Phillips and Nick Miroff
May 12 at 6:00 PM​

BRASILIA — Brazil’s once-lauded model of leftist government appeared to come to an abrupt end Thursday, when lawmakers suspended President Dilma Rousseff in an extraordinary repudiation of her administration and the Workers’ Party that has ruled the country for 13 years.

Vice President Michel Temer quickly assumed control of Latin America’s largest country, signaling that he will take Brazil in a more free-market-friendly direction in an attempt to shore up its sagging economy and win over a skeptical public. A member of the centrist PMDB party, Temer introduced a conservative-leaning, all-male cabinet Thursday that swings Brazil toward the right.

He called on Brazilians to trust in the country’s values and in the recovery of its economy, which is suffering its worst crisis in 80 years. “It is urgent to pacify our nation and unify Brazil,” he said.

Rousseff’s removal sent shock waves throughout Latin America, where Brazil was once viewed as an emerging economic power and the model for a new form of leftist rule, matching support for big business with muscular social-welfare programs to alleviate poverty and nurture a new middle class. That project has come crashing down, and Rousseff paid the price Thursday. She faces impeachment proceedings that could last six months. An overwhelming vote against her in Brazil’s Senate indicated that she had little chance of being acquitted.

Rousseff, 68, is accused of improperly using billions of dollars in loans from government banks to fill budget shortfalls and pay for social programs. But the impeachment vote became a broader referendum on her leadership amid a painful recession and corruption scandals that have swept up much of the country’s political elite.

The country’s first female president vowed to fight the charges against her — raising the possibility of further political instability as Brazil stumbles toward the Aug. 5 opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Rousseff’s supporters called for strikes and demonstrations blocking roadways, but the sympathizers who gathered at the presidential palace Thursday appeared to number only in the hundreds.

A former leftist militant who was jailed and beaten as a young woman during Brazil’s military dictatorship, Rousseff called her suspension “an injustice more painful” than torture, blasting the impeachment vote as “fraudulent” and a “coup.”

Her defiant remarks came after a 20-hour debate that ended with 55 of Brazil’s 81 senators voting to put her on trial, far more than the simple majority needed.

Her accusers say Rousseff systematically obscured the precarious state of the country’s finances from lawmakers and the public to boost her reelection prospects in 2014 and conceal her mismanagement. The impeachment allegations cover only her present term, however.

Just hours after the vote, she insisted again that her predecessors had used the same bookkeeping tactics. “It was not a crime in their time. It’s not a crime in mine,” she said in a brief televised speech.

But her accusers say her accounting methods involved far greater sums.

Temer takes office with a weak government and mandate; recent polls showed that only 2 percent of Brazilians wanted him to be president.

All of the 21 ministers Temer announced Thursday are men, a fact that will fan accusations of gender bias in the push to oust Rousseff, especially from backers of the Workers’ Party, which championed greater diversity in government.

In his first comments after the impeachment vote, Temer said he would focus on reviving the economy and would maintain popular social programs. His new finance minister is a respected former banker, Henrique Meirelles, who was central bank chief under Rousseff’s predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Temer also sought to give assurances that the Olympic Games will go off well, saying that billions of people would be watching and that Brazil could show itself at its best. “We will never get another opportunity like this,” he said.

According to Marcos Troyjo, a former Brazilian diplomat who is a professor of international affairs at Columbia University in New York, Temer’s arrival is likely to bring a shift in trade policy that will make Brazil more attractive for U.S. investors. Temer named Sen. José Serra, who ran against Rousseff in the 2010 presidential election and voted Thursday to remove her, as foreign minister.

“Serra will bring Brazil closer to the West, not only in ideological terms, but practical terms, in terms of market access,” Troyjo said. Rousseff had cordial, although not close, relations with the Obama administration.

Rousseff’s departure was part of a broader political shift in Latin America, Troyjo said, away from the center-left populist model that dominated the region for most of the past decade.

“It puts Brazil in line with a trend being felt around Latin America,” he said.

Temer assumes the presidency on an interim basis, but he would serve out the rest of Rousseff’s term if she were found guilty. In Brazil’s multiparty system, it is not uncommon for a presidential candidate to run with a vice-presidential candidate from a different party.

A career politician, Temer’s reputation is that of a skilled negotiator and smooth behind-the-scenes operator. But he is hardly colorless.

Temer, 75, is a legal scholar and sometime poet who is famous for dapper suits, slicked-back silver hair and young wife Marcela, who will turn 33 on Monday.

Temer is the author of a book of sensual verses inspired by his spouse, a former beauty pageant contestant who became his third wife in 2003.

Temer is one of the many Brazilian politicians who have been implicated in the “Car Wash” bribery scandal at state oil company Petrobras, but he has not been charged. On Thursday, he said would protect the long-running judicial investigation from any possible attempts to weaken it. Rousseff is not under suspicion of graft in relation to that scandal.

Those who know Temer, the son of Lebanese Christian immigrants, say he has the political skills to quickly win over a skeptical public.

“I have never seen someone as prepared for this emotionally as Michel Temer,” said Jacob Goldberg, one of Brazil’s most celebrated psychoanalysts. Goldberg said he has had a close relationship with Temer for decades, calling him “a cordial man, a man of dialogue” and “not a man of confrontation.”

He declined to confirm whether Temer had been his patient, citing confidentiality.

The early-morning vote on Rousseff was the equivalent of impeachment in most democracies. But legal experts say that, in the Brazilian context, a politician is considered “impeached” only if found guilty.

Rousseff’s removal is a once-unthinkable revolt against her Workers’ Party, co-founded by her mentor Lula, who left office in 2010 with an 87 percent approval rating and an economy growing at an annual rate of 7.5 percent. Lula was among the aides who embraced Rousseff in an emotional scene Thursday morning as she left her office for perhaps the last time.

Lula, too, is under investigation on allegations of corruption and obstruction of justice but says he is innocent.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...e27e4c-13c8-11e6-a9b5-bf703a5a7191_story.html