Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
Thu May 26, 2016, 09:15 PM May 2016

Dilma Rousseff’s suspension is an insult to democracy in Brazil

Dilma Rousseff’s suspension is an insult to democracy in Brazil
Thursday 26 May 2016 13.53 EDT

We condemn the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. It is thoroughly wrong that a few parliamentarians trample upon the political will expressed at the ballot box by 54 million Brazilians. The new government has shown its true colours by appointing a non-representative, all-male, cabinet and launching neoliberal policies that will hurt millions of working and poorer people. The interim government has no mandate to implement policies that reverse the social programmes that took 40 million people out of poverty. We join Brazil’s progressive political and social movements, and groups from across global civil society including the trade union movement, in condemning this attempt to overthrow democracy in Brazil.

Richard Burgon MP (Labour)
Ruth Cadbury MP (Labour)
Jim Cunningham MP (Labour)
Andrew Gwynne MP (Labour)
Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour)
Ian Lavery MP (Labour)
Clive Lewis MP (Labour)
Rachael Maskell MP (Labour)
Angus MacNeil MP (SNP)
Grahame Morris MP (Labour)
John Nicolson MP (SNP)
Liz Saville Roberts MP (Plaid Cymu)
Tommy Sheppard MP (SNP)
Lord Jeremy Beecham (Labour)
Lord Martin John O’Neill (Labour)
Jenny Rathbone AM (Welsh Assembly, Labour)
Claudia Beamish MSP (Labour)
Neil Findlay MSP (Labour)
Iain Gray MSP (Labour)
Elaine Smith MSP (Labour)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/26/dilma-rousseffs-suspension-is-an-insult-to-democracy-in-brazil

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Dilma Rousseff’s suspension is an insult to democracy in Brazil (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2016 OP
The Brazilian Coup and Washington’s “Rollback” in Latin America eridani May 2016 #1

eridani

(51,907 posts)
1. The Brazilian Coup and Washington’s “Rollback” in Latin America
Fri May 27, 2016, 11:35 PM
May 2016
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/27/brazilian-coup-and-washingtons-rollback-latin-america

In his 2010 presidential campaign, Serra went to unusual lengths to demonstrate his loyalty to Washington. He accused the Bolivian government of Evo Morales of being an accomplice to drug traffickers and attacked Lula’s government for its attempts to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran. He also criticized them for joining the rest of the region in refusing to recognize the post-coup Honduran government, and campaigned against Venezuela as well.

This is the kind of guy that Washington wants, very badly, in charge of Brazil’s foreign policy. Although corporations are obviously a big player in U.S. foreign policy, and they literally do much of the writing of commercial agreements like NAFTA and the TPP, the number one guiding principle in Washington’s foreign policy apparatus is not short-term profit but power. The biggest decision-makers, all the way up to the White House, care first and foremost about getting other countries to line up with U.S. foreign policy. They did not support the consolidation of the Honduran military coup because Honduran President Mel Zelaya raised the minimum wage, but because he headed a vulnerable left government that was part of the same broad alliance that included Brazil under the PT. These governments all supported each other, and they changed the norms of the region so that even non-left governments like Colombia under Juan Manuel Santos mostly went along with the others.

That is what Washington wants to change right now, and there is much excitement in This Town about the prospects for “a new regional order,” which is really the old regional order of the 20th century. It won’t succeed – even by their own measures of success -- any more than George W. Bush succeeded in his vision of reshaping the Middle East by invading Iraq. But they could help facilitate a lot of damage trying.
Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Latin America»Dilma Rousseff’s suspensi...