Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Paraguay says “No” to Dilma

Unasur and Mercosur are asking their member countries to sign a petition supporting Dilma Rousseff against the current investigation on charges of corruption.

As you may recall, Evo Morales enthusiastically said he’ll send “his army” to Brazil, a statement that caused much hilarity (and was later officially deemed unacceptable by Brazil’s opposition).

Paraguay, on the other hand, has officially rejected the petition,

“No intervendremos en los asuntos internos de los países”, [“We will not intervene in a country’s internal affairs.”]

Mercosur member countries are Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela; those countries are also members of Unasur, plus Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Bolivia, Peru and Surinam.

Good for Paraguay.



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Brazil: Lula on tape, judge suspends Chief of Staff appointment

As you may recall, Dilma appointed Lula as her new chief of staff.

This did not go down well.

Their phone lines were bugged, and tapes were released supporting claims that ex-leader’s inauguration as chief of staff is designed to help him avoid money-laundering charges

In the tapes, which emerged ahead of Mr Lula’s inauguration in Brasilia on Thursday, Ms Rousseff can be heard telling him that she will send over the papers for his appointment before the ceremony “in case of necessity”.

The leak comes as Ms Rousseff herself faces impeachment proceedings over alleged illegalities in the government budget.

Critics argued that the recording was evidence that the manoeuvre was a tactic to help Mr Lula, Ms Rousseff’s political mentor, evade prosecution.

As a government minister, he will have special privileges that mean he can only be tried in Brazil’s Supreme Court, staving off the current charges against him that were recently filed at a São Paulo court.

People took to the streets in protest.

More importantly, an hour after Dilma swore in Lula as her chief of staff. a judge suspended his appointment,  saying it indicates an attempt to hide evidence.

UPDATE:
El Pais:

In his ruling, which responds to a popular petition, the judge argued that if Lula da Silva took up the role of Civil House minister – a post he accepted before President Rousseff on Thursday – he would have the power to carry out “wrongful and hateful intervention” in the police force, public prosecution service and judiciary.

The Democrats and the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the latter a former ally of the government, have also said they will appeal the appointment in the courts.

The judge added that Rousseff may herself have committed a crime of “liability” in appointing Lula da Silva, given that the law prevents the president from carrying out acts against the “honesty” of the public administration. A liability crime is one of the offenses stated in the Constitution that provides grounds for a political trial with the aim of dismissing a head of state. The Chamber of Deputies is on Thursday due to renew its discussion of Rousseff’s possible impeachment.

[end of update]

Lula’s party claims the judge’s decision is political, since the judge took part in a demonstration calling for Dilma’s resignation.

The Senate is furiously debating how to proceed, in an atmosphere O Globo describes of “squabbles, insults and even threats of physical confrontation.”

The bottom line:
Brazil, South America’s largest country in land mass, population and economy, is at a decisive moment in its history. This is a test to all of Brazil’s institutions. How Brazil’s institutions handle this situation will not only determine the country’s destiny for the remaining of the 21st century, but will also influence greatly the future of its neighbors.

UPDATE 2:
Senator urges Dilma to resign in order to avoid a military coup (link in Spanish).

Whether this is in the works, or whether it’s a form of turning the screws on Dilma, it’s not happy news.



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Brazil: Meet Dilma’s new chief of staff

Dilma’s message to protesters? “In-you-face, suckers!”

Lula Joins Brazilian Cabinet as Rousseff’s Chief of Staff

Rousseff came under pressure to name Lula to her administration after federal police briefly detained him for questioning March 4 and state prosecutors days later charged him with money laundering and hiding assets as part of a separate probe. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Now that Lula is a member of her Cabinet, under Brazilian law only the Supreme Court can authorize his imprisonment and trial.

Dilma’s putting no light between her fate and Lula’s. The question may come down to, how will Brazil’s institutions hold up?



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Brazil: Will Dilma be impeached?

The prospect of impeachment grows after Lula was raided, detained, questioned and released last week – even when the prosecutors

reiterated Friday that Ms. Rousseff isn’t under investigation in the Petrobras case.

The WSJ reports,
Prospect of Ouster Grows for Brazil. President Dilma RousseffLast week’s questioning of her mentor, Lula de Silva, in corruption probe could mark tipping point, some observers say. IT’s not over Petrobras, it’s over Car Wash,

Impeachment proceedings against Ms. Rousseff have nothing to do with Petrobras. She is accused of using loans from state banks to mask a budget shortfall, allegations she has denied. Ms. Rousseff hasn’t been implicated in the so-called Operation Car Wash investigation, for which she has repeatedly expressed support.

Dilma stopped by Lula’s house for a photo-op,

She appeared with Lula on the balcony of his apartment and waved to hundreds of people who had gathered below.

It’s unlikely they’ll share prison cells, though.



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Brazil: Lula raided, detained, questioned, released

Lula is spittin’ mad,

His house was raided, and he was detained:

In an operation that began at 6 a.m., officers from the Federal Police swarmed Mr. da Silva’s home in São Paulo. He was taken to a federal police station, but he was not arrested or charged. He was released after about three hours of questioning, which he later derided as a “media show.”

Brazilian Police Question Ex-President Lula da Silva in Petrobras Probe. After his release, former leader says he is ‘indignant’ about prosecutors’ actions

Authorities suspect that Mr. da Silva benefited from renovations made to a beachside penthouse and a sprawling country estate by two construction companies implicated in the investigation.

But the allegations go beyond claims that Mr. da Silva received personal perks and payoffs. Prosecutors on Friday described the former president as spearheading a yearslong scheme to divert money from Petrobras to fund election campaigns for his leftist Workers’ Party and its allies.

Go to the article for a full timeline of the investigation.

Is Dilma next? Contrary to the general rumors,

Prosecutors reiterated Friday that Ms. Rousseff isn’t under investigation in the Petrobras case. But the widening scandal has savaged her popularity and weakened her ability to govern as the investigation has ensnared key figures in the ruling Workers’ Party, including Mr. da Silva, her political mentor.

I’m actually surprised the investigators have gone as far as they have, detaining Lula.

UPDATE,
Spain’s El País bemoans that Lula’s detention is a huge blow to the country’s image (link in Spanish), because,

While these are very serious allegations, the prosecutors cannot question the fact that Lula is the politician who embodies Brazil’s definitive takeoff, the success of the fight against poverty, the integration of 30 million poor to the middle class, and economic growth unmatched in the country’s history.

El Pais’s editorial board can’t get itself to ask why and at what price must politicians be paid off, and do the temporary gains (now being lost) under Lula justify his corrupt deals. Hence, they are displeased with the investigation?

Sing it, Ella,

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Brazil opens impeachment proceedings against Dilma

While the country’s economy heads to a depression, Brazil decides to open impeachment proceedings against the president.

Dom Phillips reports,

Eduardo Cunha, speaker of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, approved the launching of the impeachment proceedings. The process will examine Rousseff’s possible connection to a huge corruption scandal at the state-controlled oil company Petrobras and the decision by Petrobras to buy an overpriced oil refinery in Pasadena, Tex., in 2006 when Rousseff was the company’s board chairwoman, officials said. More seriously, the proceedings will focus on allegations that she broke the law through irregularities in the government’s accounting and spending.

. . .

Cunha is one of dozens of lawmakers being investigated in connection with the Petrobras scandal and faces an impeachment process by a chamber ethics committee. Analysts saw his decision Wednesday as part of a tough game of political poker. They note it came after three key Workers’ Party deputies on the ethics committee voted for the investigation into his activities to continue.

. . .

Under Brazil’s impeachment procedures, a committee is formed to consider the allegations, which are then voted on by the Chamber of Deputies. If two-thirds of the chamber, or 342 deputies, vote in favor of impeachment, Rousseff is temporarily suspended awaiting a final vote by the Senate. There, a two-thirds vote is needed to remove her from office.

Just last October I was asking, who will get impeached first, Dilma or Cunha?

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Brazil: Which will get impeached first, Dilma or Cunha?

On the one hand,
Brazil Watchdog Rules Against Rousseff, Fueling Impeachment Talk. Brazil’s Court of Accounts finds administration overstated tax receipts and hid expenses, while Brazil’s ex-president Lula to be questioned about Petrobras corruption.Efforts to impeach Dilma Rousseff overshadowed by supreme court decision

On the other hand, the first in line to succeed the president [SEE CORRECTION BELOW], is also in hot water,
Brazil Lawmakers Move to Oust House Speaker Eduardo Cunha. Powerful figure sees his clout fading amid new allegations that he took millions of dollars in bribes,

Despite his legal woes, Mr. Cunha still wields the legislative machinery that could level impeachment charges against his embattled nemesis, President Dilma Rousseff, with whom he has been feuding openly for months.

Ms. Rousseff has been accused of manipulating Brazil’s accounts to cover a ballooning deficit, allegations she denies. Some Brazilian news reports suggest that Mr. Cunha’s critics will let him keep his job as long as he allows impeachment to move forward against their real target, Ms. Rousseff.

A Eurasia Group analysis underscored that scenario, predicting that “with pressure on him to resign rising, Cunha will…push the impeachment proceedings forward to deflect attention away from his difficulties.”

Mr. Cunha also holds the power to make or break austerity measures that many economists believe are critical to get Brazil’s fast deteriorating fiscal accounts in order.

Which one will get impeached first? I don’t know enough of Brazil’s internal politics to venture a guess.

CORRECTION
Rodrigo Veleda clarifies,

As a matter of fact, Cunha ranks third in succession line right after Michel Temer, the vice-president. Cunha would only become Acting President if the Electoral Justice revoked Dilma Rousseff candidature, something that would boot Michel Temer out of Vice-Presidency as well

My apologies for my mistake.

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