
Brazil Oligarchs and Finance Magnates Are Taking Over Brazil Government - lucasnemeth
https://theintercept.com/2016/04/22/to-see-the-real-story-in-brazil-look-at-who-is-being-installed-as-president-and-finance-chiefs/
======
malandrew
I really like Glenn Greenwald, but he's really jumped the shark on reporting
on Brazil. The amount of corruption surrounding Dilma, Lula and the PT in
general is crazy out of control. Greenwald likes to wash over and not mention
or barely mention the petrolão scandal like it's a mere footnote.

Dilma was chairperson of the board of Petrobras during the entirety of the
scandal. Given the magnitude of the corruption, either she was involved or was
incompetent. Furthermore, her administration has cooked the books in terms of
reporting on the economic health of the country and her administration is
responsible for the biggest economic decline in years. Furthermore, we can't
really investigate wrongdoing because without things getting political because
the constitution in Brazil makes it so only the STF, the equivalent of SCOTUS,
is allowed to investigate and bring to trial the president and congresspeople.
This bottle neck and the politics of bringing a trial mean that almost no one
can be investigated. Dilma even used this fact to shield the former president
from investigation by appointing him to a cabinet position just as he was
about to be deposed.

I'm not saying those other side of this (politicians and media) are without
wrongdoing. He does a good job of pointing out why they are scum too, but to
gloss over many details in order to make Dilma out to be some sort of
blameless victim of injustice is laughable.

No one on either side of the aisle is innocent in all this. It's positively
shameful.

------
mhkool
The article does not mention the process of the vote for impeachment. At the
impeachment vote, all politicians had 1 minute to declare their opinion and
the ones who voted for impeachment did 2 things:

1) they voted for impeachment in the name of their sons, their city and their
country and showed hate against the president. 2) none of them accused the
president of wrongdoing. None stated that the president should be impeached
because she broke the law.

This shows very clearly what the motives of the politicians are: we want to
get rid of this president becuase we do not like her and we use any illegal
excuse to do it. I feel embarrassed living in Brazil.

~~~
holografix
They used their 60 seconds to be as demagogue as humanly possible. A
reflection of the functional illiteracy of the majority of the Brazilian
population.

Lula is a master demagogue.

Imagine what the $2B dollars stolen from Petrobras, while Dilma was minister
for Energy and Mines, would do to the education levels in Brazil.

I'm ashamed that all of PT is not already in jail.

------
tmcz26
> So to summarize: Brazilian financial and media elites are pretending that
> corruption is the reason for removing the twice-elected president of the
> country as they conspire to install and empower the country’s most corrupted
> political figures. Brazilian oligarchs will have succeeded in removing from
> power a moderately left-wing government that won four straight elections in
> the name of representing the country’s poor, and are literally handing
> control over the Brazilian economy (the world’s seventh largest) to Goldman
> Sachs and bank industry lobbyists.

Contrary to what we see in the US, where each network favors a specific side
(Fox, MSNBC), in BR the main print and TV media are all in one side of the
aisle. While the internet helps, most people in BR don't read anything that
isn't posted on Facebook. This, IMO, is the biggest problem with the way
things are being debated and decided here.

~~~
RicardoR
>in BR the main print and TV media are all in one side of the aisle.

I'm Brazilian and that is not true. Leftist love to talk about the how media
is always against his side.

~~~
mhkool
Only informed people share your thoughts. Unfortunately, the vast majority in
Brazil is not very well educated and misinformed since they have no other
source of news than Globo.

------
felipebrnd
A lot of unusual stuff has been going on with the government, from a VP been
distant from the president to the president offering positions for receiving
support. I believe this president government fall a part by lack of political
support, and the opposition received it with open arms.

Then this government actually had some irregularities which have been ignored
in other situations, but this time they are using it to process the president,
which are going to be judged or not if Senate understand that she didn't
commit any crime.

Media here always supported one side only, I don't remember seeing it divided.

The process she is going through is not about corruption, is about fiscal
responsibility, some money had to be passed to public banks and the government
delayed it to close the balance without showing some financial problems.

~~~
felipebrnd
And the post says that only 2% would vote for Temer, but forget to tell that
the president has a rejection of 70% and Temer is only there because of the
president party. I don't believe this is going to be so well, but its
complicated to she keep going because the other politicians doesn't support
her anymore.

~~~
mhkool
The facts are that the media are opposed to the president and that they are an
important factor when we consider the opinion of the people.

It is not a matter of believing, but looking at the facts. Dilma is right when
she says that since the beginning of the second term, congress has not done
anything good.

And you should know that there is no evidence whatsoever that the president
committed the crime that she is accused of. Nothing! not even a single shred
of proof that she did anything against the law.

Presidents may not be impeached because other politicians do not like her. A
president is choosen by the people to serve the country and the other
politicians must respect the wishes of the people.

~~~
RicardoR
> And you should know that there is no evidence whatsoever that the president
> committed the crime that she is accused of. Nothing! not even a single shred
> of proof that she did anything against the law.

People who defend Dilma want to bring Petrobras and Lava-Jato operation to
tell that there is nothing against Dilma. But the impeachment is not about
that. Is about fiscal fraud and there is proof about that.

> A president is choosen by the people to serve the country and the other
> politicians must respect the wishes of the people.

What about the 70% of rejection ? 70% doesn't approve her, that's is the
people you are talking about.

------
jkrioca
This is so clear. Their excuses are for the "whole" government, not for what
the process is really about. They say "She knew about everything", but they do
not have anything else other than that.

They also say that what is in the process is a crime. But she just moved money
from one place to another, in order to keep social programs running. Did she
delay banks payments for this money? Yes, but also paying all interest rates
later on as well. So it is not about getting some illegal loan, it was all
about delaying payments. Same acts are and were done by other governments,
including state and presidential up to today. Will they also be removed? Sure
not.

Unfortunately, the reality is these people want to open up the country to
external investments by means of allowing the use of natural resources by
international companies. This is what being planned with, for eg., Pre-Salt
layer. The new ministries which are going to take over the current ones, in
case of victory, were all-in for such a bill just approved in Senate.

They are trading six of one for half a dozen of the other, playing with
Constitutional mechanisms which are there to protect the country, not to be
used as in a Parliamentarism system. The real problem is in the old thinking
people of the lower house and Senate, owners of big amounts of lands,
supporters of current great media and stealers. Just look at who started this
whole process, a guy accused at the Panama Papers of laundering money in
Switzerland. Who is he? The President of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha. The
guy who is leading this take over. That's just stupidity to support..

~~~
RicardoR
> They also say that what is in the process is a crime. But she just moved
> money from one place to another, in order to keep social programs running.

That is just the lie that she and her party are saying to justify. What put
social programs in danger was the incompetency of her government in economy.

> it was all about delaying payments.

No, it was about fiscal fraud. There is law against it.

>Unfortunately, the reality is these people want to open up the country to
external investments by means of allowing the use of natural resources by
international companies. This is what being planned with, for eg., Pre-Salt
layer...

This and the rest are just leftist bullshit.

YES, Cunha is a thieve and a corrupt. But he was was not the sole responsible
for the impeachment, 367 lower house members vote for the impeachment. Senate
will vote for it too. And the supreme court is overviewing the whole process.
So why don't stop this BS about the whole process being invalid because of
cunha.

~~~
mhkool
Did you see the vote where the 367 lower house members declared their opinion?
They all were angry, hateful and voted in the names of their sons, grandsons,
wife and their hometowns, and even the country. None of them stated that Dilma
broke a law. A few mentioned that Dilma was "bad for the country" without
being specific.

So it all boils downs to differences of opinion. That may not be a reason to
impeach a president! The president was chosen by the people and the other
politicians must respect the opinion of the people.

Yes, nobody is perfect and I also do not think that Dilma is very competent.
But I think that Dilma does not take bribes from nobody. Temer and Cunha do.

Brazil is degrading itself from a third world country to a lawless fourth
world country with the impeachment of Dilma.

We are here debating and this is really of little importance. What is
important is what happens with the economy in Brazil. Do you really think that
Temer and his friends will do something good for Brazil. Have you heard from
them what they will do to stimulate the economy? Because cost cutting seems
easy but is not. The best way out is to stimulate the economy. People must
have trust to invest, to start a new business and to expand. Do you think that
Temer and his friends give this trust to Brazil?

Do not forget that foreign investors are allergic for political instability.
Impeaching a chosen president without a good reason is the best way to keep
foreign investors away.

~~~
malandrew
I used to be an investment analyst at Itaú in Brazil writing reports and
modeling companies in Brazil. I spent time working in the NYC branch through
which many American investors invested in Brazil. I can tell you without any
reservation that while foreign investors are allergic to political
instability, they are far far far more allergic to the PT, Dilma and Lula.
Absolutely none of those actors have been good for getting foreign investors
interested in Brazil.

Brazil's great economic fortune from the 90s through around 2008 were pretty
much entirely due to the Plano Real creating a stable economic environment
(ending hyperinflation) and allowing growth to take place.

Dilma's administration and economic shenanigan's directly and negatively
contributed to Standard & Poor's, Fitch's and then Moody's downgrading of the
country, such that many foreign investors can't even invest in Brazil any more
because it's junk status. Fortunately, most debt is domestic so the threat of
default is low, but it's still possible to finances to worsen and threaten
that.

The only way to get out of this mess and get back on the path where the rating
agencies upgrade us begins with her impeachment. No one, and I mean no one,
who actually knows these foreign investors and wants them to invest in Brazil
is in favor of Dilma sticking around.

------
holografix
She had to go, regardless of the immediate consequences. Yes Temer, Cunha and
the others are thieves. THIEVES. However so is Lula and also, Dilma. Unless
she is chronically, grossly, impossibly negligent and incompetent, she knew
what went on in Petrobras regardless of what the kangaroo inquiry who
condemned no one of matter said. $2B dollars went down the drain. She had to
go.

~~~
verganileonardo
Is there any proof of what you just said?

~~~
malandrew
Given the way the president would be investigated and tried, it's almost
impossible to even begin collecting evidence or following any leads. The only
reason Operation Lava-Jato was able to start investigating Lula is because he
was no longer president, but he gained immunity when Lula was appointed
Dilma's chief of staff.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_In%C3%A1cio_Lula_da_Silva...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_In%C3%A1cio_Lula_da_Silva#Corruption_investigation)

There is at least enough proof that Dilma went out of her way to end a lead in
investigations that would have led to her if she is/was involved.

