A tense calm. That is how the political panorama in Brazil at the moment could be described following the beginning of an impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff. At various events the head of state has reiterated that she has a clear conscience as she has not committed any of the crimes she is accused of.
Last week a group of opposition Congress members, led by Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha, gave the green light to the request for an impeachment process against the President, based on alleged violation of the Law of Fiscal Responsibility, on having “made up” the 2014 public accounts.
On Tuesday, December 8, Rousseff herself called for the process against her to be sped up, in order to clarify and stabilize the situation in the country; meanwhile, Cunha postponed the creation of a commission in Congress to study the request for impeachment.
The news sparked diverse reactions within the political spectrum of the country. Former president Luiz Inácio Lula, and even renowned opposition leaders such as former presidential candidate Marina Silva, voiced their objections to the move against Dilma.
For Lula, Cunha’s decision lacks any legal basis; it is just another demonstration of hatred, and proof that he has put his personal interests above those of the country.
Meanwhile, the former president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Joaquim Barbosa, called into question the possibility of impeaching Rousseff.
“Neither the Federal Accounts Court (TCU) or the Superior Electoral Court possess the mechanisms to initiate a process of such magnitude,” Barbosa stated, during the 7th International Financial and Capital Markets Conference, which was held recently in Sao Paulo.
“Impeachment is a very serious thing which, if it were to happen, we know how it would begin, but nobody knows how it would end. It is a seismic shock to institutions. It has to be well-founded, with clear proof that the President of the Republic is directly involved. Without this, we end up losing out and the institutions become bankrupt,” Barbosa, who is responsible for investigating the corruption case on what has become known as the “mensalao” corruption scheme, concluded.
On the other hand, a letter from Vice President Michel Temer to Dilma Rousseff was recently made public, in which he asserts that she has never trusted him and that he consider himself a merely “decorative Vice President.”
Temer leads the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) - to which Cunha also belongs - but his letter was roundly mocked on social media, and did not have the desired political effect.
Political analyst Katu Arkonada commented, along the same lines as many others, “The initiative proposed by Deputy Cunha, who is a political cadaver, has absolutely no legal foundation: it is a political excuse based on an administrative mistake (the violation of the Fiscal Responsibility Law). It is a desperate move by a desperate person, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, who has not felt supported by the government in dealing with the numerous corruption trials he is going to be obliged to face.”
Arkonada, also a member of the In Defense of Humanity Network, told Granma that the “soft parliamentary coup” being attempted in Brazil comes at a time when Latin America faces “a reflex reaction to the change of era, a stage of deceleration of the progressive cycle, and even some retreats, such as the defeats of Kirchnerismo in Argentina and Chavista forces in recent legislative elections in Venezuela.”
Given this regional scenario, Arkonada continues, “We must, more than ever, be alert to coup attempts against progressive governments,” recalling, “When left wing governments cannot be removed via the electoral route, the Latin American right conspires to remove them in an undemocratic manner, and this is what is happening in Brazil.”
At this point, Arkonada proposes establishing as a priority “defending Dilma’s government against this parliamentary coup, and later supporting the re-composition of the PT to win the 2018 elections with Lula as the candidate.”
The specialist commented that the attacks on Dilma are intended to reach Lula as well, to discredit him, and prevent his possible return to the Presidency, likewise noting that the role of the press must be emphasized, citing O ‘Globo as an example of the destructive power of the corporate media which opposes the Rousseff administration.
Every day this television network broadcasts at least five minutes of anti-government propaganda (at peak viewing times between soap operas) with opposition deputies explaining why the President must be prosecuted, thus very effectively playing its role within the destabilization plan.
