#Protesters Storm Brazil
SOURCE/LINK: http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/08/01/thousands-brazilians-protest/
In Rio de Janeiro, set to host the Summer Olympics beginning August 6, protesters held up signs in English, hoping to attract the attention of international media beginning to settle in to cover the Olympics. “The world’s eyes are on Rio, demonstrations are taking place across the country… With the signs in English here we say to the world that there is no coup happening. We want an end to corruption,” a protester told the newspaper O Globo (in Portuguese), referring to Rousseff’s repeated claims that her impeachment was a “coup.”
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SOURCE/LINK: http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/08/01/thousands-brazilians-protest/
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Tens of thousands of protesters in at least fifty municipalities across Brazil took to the streets Sunday to protest the corruption of the Workers’ Party and its leader, impeached president Dilma Rousseff. Aware of mounting international attention as the Olympics begin next week, protesters made signs in English accusing socialist leaders of corruption.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reports
that police estimated a total of 43,000 protesters took the streets in
every city except the two largest in the nation: Sao Paulo and Rio de
Janeiro. Police did not release crowd size estimates for those two
cities, but noted that those in attendance believe these two cities
boasted the largest crowds.
Protests in various cities both called for the Senate to oust
Rousseff – she has only been temporarily removed until her Senate trial
takes place in late August – and called for acting president Michel
Temer, himself accused of various transgressions, to step down.
Anti-Rousseff protesters also demanded that former president Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva, Rousseff’s Workers’ Party (PT) predecessor, be sent to
prison. Da Silva has been implicated
in a corruption conspiracy known as “Operation Lava Jato [Car Wash].”
The operation involved da Silva’s ministers overcharging for projects
run by the state-run oil company Petrobras and pocketing millions;
investigators found evidence da Silva also benefitted from the scheme.
In Rio de Janeiro, set to host the Summer Olympics beginning August 6, protesters held up signs in English, hoping to attract the attention of international media beginning to settle in to cover the Olympics. “The world’s eyes are on Rio, demonstrations are taking place across the country… With the signs in English here we say to the world that there is no coup happening. We want an end to corruption,” a protester told the newspaper O Globo (in Portuguese), referring to Rousseff’s repeated claims that her impeachment was a “coup.”
“We no longer tolerate corruption in this country… UN, Lula is a
criminal,” another protester on Copacabana beach – the venue for Olympic
beach volleyball – said in English.
Protesters held up replicas of the Olympic torch with words of
protest on them. They cheered Sergio Moro, the judge in charge of
Operation Lava Jato, who became a folk hero for releasing the audio of a
conversation in which Rousseff offered da Silva a cabinet position –
and the accompanying legal immunity – if investigators got too close to
finding him guilty of corruption.
Photos: NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images
The American news agency McClatchy found protesters eager to engage international media and tourists alike.
“We welcome all of you and wish you a nice stay in our country.
Enjoy the Olympic games, because we are paying a high price for it!”
Case Carvalho, a Rio politician, said during the parade. Expenses to
cover Olympics infrastructure have been so astronomical, the city has
been unable to pay police or government medical staff. Police stations
have resorted to asking locals to donate toilet paper, as they cannot
afford to buy it with government funds.
Last month, Rio police protested in the city’s international
airport, holding up an English-language sign to incoming tourists
reading “Welcome to Hell – police and firefighters don’t get paid.”
“It’s a lot of spending for uncompleted works that will serve for
nothing after the games,” protester William Dalvo told McClatchy. “What
people want is security, education, health care… we usually just want
Carnival and soccer, but for the first time people are waking up!”
Another protester, Lianne Pinheiro, accused the PT of “destroy[ing]
Brazilian democracy with this story that they are going to make things
better for the poor. It was a lie.”
The Olympics Opening Ceremonies are scheduled to occur on Friday, August 5.
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Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, drew thousands of
anti-government demonstrators protesting a corruption scandal that
threatens to mar the Olympic Games. Especially colorful were the
protesters' references to President Dilma Rousseff, who's been suspended
from office pending an impeachment trial, and to Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva, the bearded former president who now faces obstruction of justice
charges. Video taken on July 31, 2016.
RIO DE JANEIRO
Just days before the start of the 2016 Olympic games, Brazilians
took to the streets of the country’s two largest cities Sunday for
protests amid the deepest political crisis the country has faced in
decades.
Demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro, the Olympic host city,
gathered by the thousands along Copacabana beach to demand the
impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and prosecution of her
predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, one of Brazil’s most powerful
figures.
Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo, the megalopolis business capital
of Latin America’s largest and most populous nation, protesters rallied
in support of Rousseff, Lula and their left-leaning Workers Party.
The
anti-government crowd in Rio stretched nearly as far as the eye could
see along the beach. They chanted, sang and wore the nation’s colors of
yellow and green.
Aware of the large presence of international media, some of the protest was even conducted in English.
Enjoy the Olympic Games, because we are paying a high price for it! Case Carvalho, Brazilian politician
“We
welcome all of you and wish you a nice stay in our country,” Case
Carvalho, a politician in the state of Rio de Janeiro, said through a
microphone atop a parade car like those used during Carnival. “Enjoy the
Olympic games, because we are paying a high price for it!”
Many of the protesters supported conservative pro-business parties.
While they said they hoped for a successful Olympic Games, they blamed
the Workers Party, now embroiled in multiple corruption probes, for
putting Brazil in an untenable position.
“It’s a lot of spending
for uncompleted works that will serve for nothing after the games,” said
William Dalvo, waving banners with his wife, Roseangela. “What people
want is security, education, health care. That’s what’s important . . .
we usually just want Carnival and soccer, but for the first time people
are waking up!”
Much of the ire was reserved for President
Rousseff, the handpicked successor of populist Lula – who still leads
national polls for 2018 elections but on Friday was ordered to stand
trial on obstruction of justice charges. The case against him was
brought by crusading judge Sergio Moro, whose name was chanted
repeatedly by the throngs.
A former trade union leader who helped
end Brazil’s military dictatorship 30 years ago, Lula was the face of
modern left-wing politics in Latin America for the first decade of the
21st century. He embraced open trade, was friendly to business but
focused government resources on the poor.
That was then. Today,
Brazil is mired in a two-year recession, and Lula’s image has taken a
beating, as has that of the Workers Party.
Lula faces multiple
investigations for alleged obstruction of justice into a probe of
corruption at the state oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro , or Petrobras.
He’s also being probed for illicit enrichment, a catchall when a
politician grows wealthy in office. People close to him who share his
same seaside condo building appeared in the now infamous Panama Papers, the pirated internal documents of a Panamanian law firm that set up offshore companies for wealthy clients.
Rousseff
has been temporarily removed from the presidency pending an impeachment
trial in the senate for mismanagement of public funds. That trial is
expected in late August after the games conclude. If she is formally
removed, the vice president who is now filling in for her, Michel Temer,
would take over. He, too, faces accusations of corruption.
The Panama Papers, a massive leak of secret offshore documents from the law firm Mossack Fonseca, has had huge impact in Brazil because
it revealed politicians of all stripes with secret offshore accounts.
Brazilians are fed up, especially with the ruling party.
“The PT
destroyed Brazilian democracy with this story that they are going to
make things better for the poor. It was a lie. They have their pockets
full of money,” said protester Lianne Pinheiro, referring to the Workers
Party by its Portuguese initials. “We want democracy to return with
responsibility, ethics and patriotism. We are a rich country. What is
happening shouldn’t be happening. We have to end this corruption.”
Kevin G. Hall: 202-383-6038, @KevinGHall
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