Sounds like a fun time was had by all.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/dilma-rousseff-congress-impeach-brazilian-president
Quote
Brazilian congress votes to impeach president Dilma Rousseff
Government concedes after lower house overwhelmingly backs move to remove Rousseff, who now faces vote in senate
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday as a hostile and corruption-tainted congress voted to impeach her.
In a rowdy session of the lower house presided over by the president's nemesis, house speaker Eduardo Cunha, and with voting continuing late into Sunday evening, 344 of the 513 deputies backed impeachment – beyond the two-thirds majority (342) needed to advance the case to the upper house.
As the outcome became clear, Jose Guimarães, the leader of the Workers party in the lower house, conceded defeat with more than 80 votes still to be counted. "The fight is now in the courts, the street and the senate," he said.
As the crucial 342nd vote was cast for impeachment, the chamber erupted into cheers and Eu sou Brasileiro, the football chant that has become the anthem of the anti-government protest. Opposition cries of "coup, coup,coup" were drowned out. In the midst of the raucous scenes the most impassive figure in the chamber was the architect of the political demolition, Cunha.
Watched by tens of millions at home and in the streets, the vote – which was announced deputy by deputy – saw the conservative opposition comfortably secure its motion to remove the elected head of state less than halfway through her mandate. Just 127 deputies had voted against the move at the time the two-thirds majority was reached.
Once the senate agrees to consider the motion, which is likely within weeks, Rousseff will have to step aside for 180 days and the Workers party government, which has ruled Brazil since 2002, will be at least temporarily replaced by a centre-right administration led by vice-president Michel Temer.
On a dark night, arguably the lowest point was when Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right deputy from Rio de Janeiro, dedicated his yes vote to Carlos Brilhante Ustra, the colonel who headed the Doi-Codi torture unit during the dictatorship era. Rousseff, a former guerrilla, was among those tortured. Bolsonaro's move prompted left-wing deputy Jean Wyllys to spit towards him.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, his son and also a deputy, used his time at the microphone to honour the general responsible for the military coup in 1964.
Deputies were called one by one to the microphone by the instigator of the impeachment process, Cunha – an evangelical conservative who is himself accused of perjury and corruption – and one by one they condemned the president.
Yes, voted Paulo Maluf, who is on Interpol's red list for conspiracy. Yes, voted Nilton Capixiba, who is accused of money laundering. "For the love of God, yes!" declared Silas Camara, who is under investigation for forging documents and misappropriating public funds.
And yes, voted the vast majority of the more than 150 deputies who are implicated in crimes but protected by their status as parliamentarians.
At times the session exposed the farcical side of Brazil's democracy, such as the Women's party that has only male deputies, or the Progressive Socialist party that is one of the most right-wing groups in congress.
Brazil's presidential chief of staff Jaques Wagner said the government was confident the senate would dismiss the impeachment, insisting the vote was a setback for democracy and was "orchestrated" by Rousseff's opponents who never accepted her re-election victory in 2014.
But Rousseff's chances of survival look slim. Brazil has turned dramatically against the country's first female president. Once one of the most popular leaders in the world, with approval ratings of 92%, Rousseff has since seen her support plunge as a result of economic recession, political turmoil and the Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras, which has implicated almost all of the major parties.
Polls suggest only 10% of the public think she is doing a good job and 60% support her removal.
But many are uneasy about the dubious grounds for impeachment. Rousseff is accused of window-dressing government accounts with a temporary transfer of money from state banks ahead of the last election. Supporters says this minor and common infraction is being used as a pretext for a "coup" to seize power by a political class that is notorious for far more serious crimes. About a third of the lower house deputies are either under investigation or charged with crimes.
On Sunday night, Brazilian television channels showed streets full of pro-impeachment protesters dancing in celebration. Many draped themselves in the national flag and at one point they burst into a chorus of the national anthem. With each declaration from congress, the crowds cheered and booed as if in a pantomime or a football match. One even released a confetti cannon, briefly filling the air above him in a glittering cloud of colour.
On the streets, the crowds that had rallied to show support for or against impeachment were more civil than their elected representatives. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across more than a dozen cities, the vast majority of them opposed to the government.
Outside the congress building in Brasilia, the two sides were divided by a steel barrier. By mid afternoon, police estimated the pro-impeachment rally at 18,000, compared with 7,000 for those opposed.
The anti-government side was jubilant at the prospect of change. "Dilma has robbed the people with corruption and inflation. We must get rid of her," said Raquel Rosas, a school teacher who sat on a Brazilian flag waiting for the result with her 17-month old daughter and other families members. "But getting rid of her should only be the start. Temer and Cunha must go too."
On the other side of the fence, the crowd was smaller and more muted. Some bore banners saying "Defend Democracy" and "Respect My Vote", in reference to tens of millions of ballots cast for Rousseff in the last election that impeachment threatens to negate.
Fabio Moura, a lawyer from São Paulo, said he was disgusted by the opposition because many of them have been implicated in the Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras. "They are just trying to impeach Dilma so they can stop the investigation," he said.
"It is not bad for us to lose today. It means the opposition will have to make unpopular spending cuts and that will help us in the next election," he said. "But this looks like being a bad day for democracy."
Quotecorruption-tainted congress voted to impeach her.
Deputies were called one by one to the microphone by the instigator of the impeachment process, Cunha – an evangelical conservative who is himself accused of perjury and corruption – and one by one they condemned the president.
Yes, voted Paulo Maluf, who is on Interpol's red list for conspiracy. Yes, voted Nilton Capixiba, who is accused of money laundering. "For the love of God, yes!" declared Silas Camara, who is under investigation for forging documents and misappropriating public funds.[/b]
And yes, voted the vast majority of the more than 150 deputies who are implicated in crimes but protected by their status as parliamentarians.
Fabio Moura, a lawyer from São Paulo, said he was disgusted by the opposition because many of them have been implicated in the Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras. "They are just trying to impeach Dilma so they can stop the investigation," he said.
I wonder how the writer feels about the vote. :hmm:
"Brazil is the country of the future........and always will be" as de Gaulle remarked.
Let's hope things don't get too bad there.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 17, 2016, 09:44:21 PM
Quotecorruption-tainted congress voted to impeach her.
Deputies were called one by one to the microphone by the instigator of the impeachment process, Cunha – an evangelical conservative who is himself accused of perjury and corruption – and one by one they condemned the president.
Yes, voted Paulo Maluf, who is on Interpol's red list for conspiracy. Yes, voted Nilton Capixiba, who is accused of money laundering. "For the love of God, yes!" declared Silas Camara, who is under investigation for forging documents and misappropriating public funds.[/b]
And yes, voted the vast majority of the more than 150 deputies who are implicated in crimes but protected by their status as parliamentarians.
Fabio Moura, a lawyer from São Paulo, said he was disgusted by the opposition because many of them have been implicated in the Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras. "They are just trying to impeach Dilma so they can stop the investigation," he said.
I wonder how the writer feels about the vote. :hmm:
Not sure - he shows remarkable restraint and objectivity.
Seems that Congress firmly belongs in the "nuke it from orbit" category. Poor Brazil.
The problem with Latin American democracy is that they see "the street" as part of the political arena.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 17, 2016, 09:38:28 PM
Sounds like a fun time was had by all.
Indeed. :)
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Bye Sweetie!
I've tried to follow Brazil's politics from afar.
Number one, all Brazilians say, is to assume everyone is corrupt. And of course the socialists are too. Dilma has been a horrible president. Weak and not fit to lace Lula's boots.
While Lula presided over some real change in Brazilian society, Dilma's presidency has mostly been stagnant. Growth has sort of petered out, and you have some right scandals with both the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics.
My Brazilian ex said that after having lived in the UK and Norway, she'd seen societies that actually worked. She was from Rio de Janeiro. It's beautiful, she said, but like all things beautiful, also very dangerous. A life in Brazil costs nothing.
Brazil has a huge wealth gap, and endemic corruption from even the lowest levels to the top. The police force is among the worst in that respect. The numbers on violent crime in the cities are staggering. And the cities are HUGE. Sao Paolo has about 15 million people alone.
I've never felt really unsafe anywhere when I've travelled, but I bet I would in Rio or Sao Paulo.
Brazilians vote. But most are basically illiterates and get their news from TV. And TV in Brazil is hardly very sane or neutral. But they have interesting soaps. With big titties.
Quote from: Norgy on April 18, 2016, 04:50:03 AM
And TV in Brazil is hardly very sane or neutral. But they have interesting soaps. With big titties.
Very interesting? :bleeding:
Only mexican or venezuelan telenovelas are worse. :x
I was offered a job to consult on a Brazilian telenovela once. I don't know why I didn't accept.
Has Lula really been that good for Brazil though? He has been a capable populist, I'll give you that...
At the very least he reduced inequality (which still remains very high). It seems he wasn't above filling his own pockets while doing it, though.
Is inequality a bad thing, though? It keeps people competitive. :P
The commodities boom meant that Brazil was bound to have some good years; with Lula in charge at least some of the loot would go to the lower orders as well as the usual elites.
I think that what is happening now is the realisation that not much has really changed in Brazil, still a middle income country dependent on commodity prices.
Quote from: celedhring on April 18, 2016, 05:26:24 AM
I was offered a job to consult on a Brazilian telenovela once. I don't know why I didn't accept.
Pre-silicon boobs era of Brazilian telenovelas?
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on April 18, 2016, 05:43:40 AM
Quote from: celedhring on April 18, 2016, 05:26:24 AM
I was offered a job to consult on a Brazilian telenovela once. I don't know why I didn't accept.
Pre-silicon boobs era of Brazilian telenovelas?
It was 4 years ago. Dunno how that fits in the Brazilian telenovela historical record :P
Quote from: Martinus on April 18, 2016, 05:27:18 AM
Has Lula really been that good for Brazil though? He has been a capable populist, I'll give you that...
Everyone has a price in Brazil.
I guess Lula's biggest achievement was being a socialist and raising millions out of dirt-poor conditions. And like others say, lining his own pockets on the way.
Brazil's history is a rather sad one except for football. One of their greats, Garrincha, was illiterate, and just plain stupid. He also had a bad limp. That didn't stop him from being the player that won the 1962 World Cup. Pelé was injured, yet this little alcoholic retard scored and scored. He died from liver failure, I think. And never remembered the name of the opposing side. It was just "them" to him.
A friend of mine when I was studying English went to Brazil for the carneval in Rio. He and his friends tried to score some drugs. It ended up being a very rapey experience near the Christo Redentor statue from the local police. Another friend of mine made movies about trout fishing in Tiera de la Fuego. After having been robbed badly and beaten up in Buenos Aires. The air didn't quite agree with him.
South America is lovely at its best, and has probably the best looking people in the world, but it's also madly corrupt from north to south and incredibly violent.
In spite of all that, I'd actually consider retiring there. I am blond and white-skinned, so I could probably live in some rural village with the nazis.
Quote from: celedhring on April 18, 2016, 05:44:45 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on April 18, 2016, 05:43:40 AM
Quote from: celedhring on April 18, 2016, 05:26:24 AM
I was offered a job to consult on a Brazilian telenovela once. I don't know why I didn't accept.
Pre-silicon boobs era of Brazilian telenovelas?
It was 4 years ago. Dunno how that fits in the Brazilian telenovela historical record :P
Silicon boobs era then. Caliga is weeping. :(
Quote from: Norgy on April 18, 2016, 05:56:16 AM
I'd actually consider retiring there. I am blond and white-skinned, so I could probably live in some rural village with the nazis.
You can also hang out with the un-reconstructed Confederates.
Though we seem to have stopped caring about Brazil now that the Olympics are over...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/31/dilma-rousseff-impeached-president-brazilian-senate-michel-temer
QuoteBrazil's Dilma Rousseff impeached by senate in crushing defeat
Brazil's first female president Dilma Rousseff has been thrown out of office by the country's corruption-tainted senate after a gruelling impeachment trial that ends 13 years of Workers' party rule.
Following a crushing 61 to 20 defeat in the upper house, she will be replaced for the remaining two years and four months of her term by Michel Temer, a centre-right patrician who was among the leaders of the campaign against his former running mate.
In a separate vote, the senate voted 42 to 36 not to bar Rousseff from public office for eight years.
In his first address to the nation after being sworn in by Congress last night, Temer said it was time to unite the country, vowing to work to rescue an economy mired in recession and guarantee political stability for foreign investors.
Rousseff was defiant after being ousted. "They think they've defeated us, but they're wrong," she said from her official residency, her voice cracking and eyes moist with emotion. "I know we will all fight."
Despite never losing an election, Rousseff – who first won power in 2010 – had seen her support among the public and in congress diminish as a result of a sharp economic decline, government paralysis and a massive bribery scandal that has implicated almost all the major parties.
For more than 10 months, the leftist leader fought efforts to impeach her for frontloading funds for government social programmes and issuing spending budget decrees without congressional approval ahead of her reelection in 2014. The opposition claimed that these constituted a "crime of responsibility". Rousseff denies this and claims the charges – which were never levelled at previous administrations who did the same thing – have been trumped up by opponents who were unable to accept the Workers' party's victory.
Speaking to her supporters from the presidential palace after the vote, Rousseff pledged to appeal her impeachment, which she called a parliamentary coup. The ousted president also called on her supporters to fight the conservative agenda now bolstered by her removal from office.
"Right now, I will not say goodbye to you. I am certain I can say, 'See you soon,'" she told supporters in Brasilia.
In keeping with her pledge to fight until the end for the 54 million voters who put her in office, Rousseff – a former Marxist guerrilla – ended her presidency this week with a gritty 14-hour defence of her government's achievements and a sharply worded attack on the "usurpers" and "coup-mongers" who ejected her from power without an election.
Her lawyer, José Eduardo Cardozo, said the charges were trumped up to punish the president's support for a huge corruption investigation that has snared many of Brazil's elite. This follows secret recordings of Romero Jucá, the majority leader of the senate and a key Temer ally, plotting to remove the president to halt the Lava Jato (car wash) investigation into kickbacks at state oil company Petrobras.
While Rousseff was in the upper chamber, her critics heard her in respectful silence. But in a final session in her absence on Tuesday, they lined up to condemn her. As in an earlier lower house impeachment debate, the senators – many of whom are accused of far greater crimes – clearly revelled in the spotlight of their ten-minute declarations. Reflecting the growing power of rightwing evangelism, many invoked the name of God. One cited Winston Churchill. Another sang. Another appeared to be in tears.
"I apologise to the president, not for having done what did, because I could not have done anything else, but because I know her situation is not easy," claimed a sobbing Janaína Paschoal, one of the original co-authors of the impeachment petition. "I think she understands I did all this in consideration of her grandchildren."
The result was never in doubt, though Workers' party figurehead and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – who also faces a trial of his own – had lobbied hard until the last moment to try to swing enough senators to avoid impeachment.
At the end of the marathon 16-hour session of speeches, the final nail was hammered in by the former Brazilian footballer Romário, who had been rumoured to be among the few senators who might change their minds and save the president. Instead, he wound up the debate by confirming that he would once again vote for impeachment. "It's a sad moment when you decide to remove a president," he told the chamber. However he said he was convinced that Rousseff had committed a crime of responsibility.
Ahead of the verdict, senator Vanessa Grazziotin, of the Communist Party of Brazil, arrived with a sense of resignation. "I've worn a mixture of red [for the Workers' party] and black because today is a day of mourning," she said. "I'm going to cry." However, she and other Rousseff allies hoped they could minimise Rousseff's punishment.
Workers' party senator Lindbergh Farias said the president's accusers were cowards. "It's amazing how everyone who didn't have the gall to look Dilma in the eyes, spoke so bravely today in her absence," he tweeted.
The final result was comfortably more than the two-thirds (54 seats) needed to finalise the president's removal from office.
Shortly after 1.30pm, suspense filled the floor as senators watched as the upper house reached a quorum. Among the last to vote was the Workers Party's Jorge Viana as a hush fell across the packed room. There were cheers of "Brazil!" from the pro-impeachment camp as the numbers flashed up on the screen before a group of senators burst into a rendition of the national anthem.
There were modest exchanges of "congratulations" and backslapping between impeachment supporters as Jucá, who was drawn into the Lava Jato corruption scandal, said he was "relieved" by the result.
Edison Lobao, of the PMDB, who voted for Rousseff's ouster, said: "I couldn't have voted differently regardless of who was the president. I would have voted for the impeachment of any president who acted outside the law."
The musician and democracy activist Chico Buarque, who was among Rousseff's supporters in the gallery, said the debate was rigged against her. "If the game were clean, she would have won," he told local media.
Others noted that Rousseff's removal from office less than halfway through her mandate reinforced the impression that the country's political class remains uncomfortable with democracy although more than 30 years have passed since the end of Brazil's military dictatorship. Only two of the last eight directly-elected presidents have completed their terms. Two have been impeached, one removed in a military coup, one killed himself, one died before taking power and another resigned.
It also marks a dramatic downfall of a woman who was once one of the world's most popular politicians with approval ratings of 85%. But she had struggled with a hostile congress and a dire financial climate. When Rousseff took office in January 2011, the economy was growing at a quarterly clip of 4.9%. It has been downhill ever since and she leaves the presidency with output shrinking by 4.6% though this is partly because the price of Brazil's oil exports is now below half of its peak in 2011.
Rousseff's achievements in office were mainly an expansion of equality policies put in place by her predecessors, particularly the bolsa familia poverty relief program, which now reaches almost 14 million households.
Thanks to affirmative action and wider access to higher education, university enrolments jumped 18% during her first term. Since 2009, 2.6 million homes have been delivered by the government housing program – Minha Casa Minha Vida. But her record in other key areas is mixed. After falling in her first two years in power, deforestation of the Amazon has started to rise again. Her replacement has a lot to do.
Temer – who was widely criticised for appointing an all-male, all-white cabinet when he took power on an interim basis in May – was sworn in again on Wednesday afternoon and is set to continue until the next presidential election in 2018, when he has promised he will not stand.
After being sworn in, Temer promised a "new era" for Brazil during a televised cabinet meeting.
"From today on, the expectations are much higher for the government. I hope that in these two years and four months, we do what we have declared – put Brazil back on track," he said. Regarding his upcoming trip to China, he said it was important to show that stability had returned. "We are traveling precisely to reveal to the world that we have political and legal stability," he said. "We have to show that there is hope in the country."
Temer received support from the United States, which implicitly rejected claims that Rousseff had been removed in a coup. US State Department spokesman, John Kirby said, "We are confident we will continue our strong bilateral relationship. This was a decision made by the Brazilian people and obviously we respect that ... Brazilian democratic institutions have acted within its constitutional framework."
Shortly after the ceremony, he is due to fly to China to attend the G20 summit in Hangzhou, where he will hope to restore some of the credibility of an administration that has been battered by accusations of treachery and three ministerial resignations due to corruption scandals.
He has promised to introduce austerity measures that will restore Brazil's credit ratings, which under Rousseff fell to junk levels. This is popular with investors, but not with the public. His approval ratings are only a fraction above those of his predecessor and he was roundly booed during the Olympic opening ceremony.
During the final stages of the senate trial, there was no repeat of the mass rallies in Brasilia that marked earlier stages of the process. However, a small group of Rousseff supporters staged a candlelit vigil in the main esplanade. Bigger protests have been seen in other cities this week. In São Paulo anti-impeachment protesters and riot police clashed on Monday night. Demonstrators claim the security forces made excessive use of tear gas and percussion grenades in what they fear will be a precursor of more clampdowns on opposition. Police claimed the protesters – many from the Landless Workers' Movement – blocked roads and detonated a home-made bomb.
The fact that Temer looks like a cross between Monty Burns and a cardboard cutout villain from an 80s action flick doesn't help things.
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Excelente...
I don't really care what happens in Brazil one way or the other.
Quote from: Hamilcar on September 01, 2016, 11:37:55 AM
I don't really care what happens in Brazil one way or the other.
I do. Only one country in South America is allowed to completely melt down at any one time.
But seriously though. Brazil is one of the most important countries in this hemisphere.
Quote from: The Larch on September 01, 2016, 05:49:04 AM
The fact that Temer looks like a cross between Monty Burns and a cardboard cutout villain from an 80s action flick doesn't help things.
Plus his name is-- Temer :ph34r: :lol:
He married well, however....
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Quote from: Tonitrus on September 01, 2016, 08:18:02 PM
He married well, however....
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Third time is the charm, they say. :P