Riots in Brazil...Anti-Government Sentiment High

upside-down cake · Sep 25, 2013

Just when I thought Brazil (part of the BRIC alliance) was one of the new nations appearing with a fresh new economy and a fresh new take on what the relationship of a government and her people should be. Before this, I was hearing about who nice it is in Brazil and how lax it was compared to the United States and then I read this and once again get slammed with life's re-occuring mantra, "don't believe everything you hear".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/brazil-protests-truce_n_3535724.html

Brazil Protests Reach Tenuous Truce With Dilma Rousseff As Demonstrators Seek Dialogue With Government
By BRADLEY BROOKS 07/02/13 02:55 PM ET EDT

SAO PAULO Cristiano Gulias took a deep drag from his mini-cigar and did the unthinkable he started a political discussion in a coffee shop the morning after Brazil's national soccer team won a major championship, rather than a debate on the team's performance.

He's part of a post-protest phenomenon, the rapid politicization of a nation whose people have finally "awakened," as millions of Brazilians chanted during hundreds of demonstrations during the past two weeks.

Mass movements that sent more than 1 million people into the streets on a single night recently have tapered off. But they've left behind a widespread and persistent political debate in a country where apathy toward government was endemic just a few weeks back. People like Gulias are talking political reform in cafes, elevators and homes, with an energy Brazil hasn't seen in decades.

Political observers say that President Dilma Rousseff, following a perplexing week of silence after massive protests broke out on June 17, now better understands this powerful political wave sweeping Brazil and is responding to it. Her actions have helped temporarily take the fire out of the street movement but voters' attention squarely rests on leaders and their proposals to improve poor public services and fight corruption.

"Now is the time for the people to sit and bargain with our leaders," said Gulias, 84, who strongly supports the protests, as a fellow coffee shop regular nodded his head in agreement. "We're fighting for the fulfillment of a million broken promises politicians have given us. We've demanded that our voices be heard."

Despite a poll showing a plunge in her popularity, some argue Rousseff has started to rebound by showing Gulias and other citizens that she wants them to be heard within a political system most Brazilians complain has long since stopped listening to them.

On Tuesday, the president delivered to Congress her recommendations on what topics should be included in a national plebiscite on political reform, including: how campaigns should be financed; how Congressmen should be elected; whether to end secret votes in Congress; if the party coalition system in voting for deputies and city councilmen should be nixed; and if there should be an end to allowing temporary replacements for senators when they take other posts. It's now up to Congress to convene the plebiscite.

That's helped end the massive size of the protests, though they are still seen each day in a smaller and scattered fashion. Truckers continued to protest against highway tolls and blocked roads in eight states, crippling traffic in some areas.

Also helping Rousseff is the end of the high-profile Confederations Cup soccer tournament this past weekend, which Brazil won, and the beginning of the South American nation's winter school vacation. The tournament angered citizens upset with the billions of dollars spent on stadiums while they endure underfunded schools and hospitals, and the protests were originally organized by university students.

"She took her time, but since first responding Dilma is giving answers and putting forward proposals that address protesters' concerns," said Helena Singer, a sociologist and professor at the University of Sao Paulo. "Her strong backing of political reform was bold. She's made proposals on health care and education that were on the demonstrators' agenda. The worst thing she did was to delay, but she's responding to the protesters now."

In addition to pushing Congress to approve a plebiscite giving Brazilians the chance to vote on what sort of political reform they want to see, Rousseff also says she wants oil royalties used to fund education, announced $23 billion in new spending on urban transportation, and she said she'll import thousands of foreign doctors to work in underserved, poor areas.

She has ordered her Cabinet to focus on and devise solutions for five priority areas: fiscal responsibility and controlling inflation, political reform, health care, public transport and education.

All those moves helped calm the waters. While not offering immediate solutions to the problem of Brazil's poor public services, they at least gave protesters the sense that she was listening to them and starting to work on their demands.

The biggest danger facing Rousseff and the tenuous truce protesters seem to have given her is an area where her government has garnered the most criticism: its economic policy, which many say gives the state too big of a role, scaring away international investors in the short term and ultimately hobbling the nation's ability to economically evolve and become more competitive.

"None of Dilma's proposals address the underlying problem that the economic policy of her government seems lost, it's not effective," said Alexandre Barros, with the Early Warning political risk group in Brasilia. "The economy isn't growing and prices are rising. People can no longer consume as much as they want, creating anger and fear in the middle class."

A new poll from the respected Datafolha published Sunday in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper backs that up. It shows that 38 percent of Brazilians think their spending power is on the decline, up from 25 percent a year ago. It also showed 44 percent think unemployment will rise, 13 percentage points higher than a year back.

The same poll found that 30 percent of respondents rated Rousseff's government as "great/good," a sharp fall from the 57 percent who gave it that rating three weeks ago before the demonstrations began.

Datafolha interviewed 4,717 people on June 27 and 28. The poll had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

The U.S.-based political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group said in a Monday research note that the poll numbers mark "the end of a cycle of politics in which incumbents held absurdly high approval ratings, but it doesn't mean Rousseff is politically dead."

For now, Brazilians largely seem to be digesting the upheaval seen and anger vented on the streets during the protests. They appear willing to give Rousseff the chance to respond, though the patience will not be long-lived.

"I don't think there is any consensus among the people of what all of this yet means," said Marcia Shimabukoro, a 22-year-old university student in Sao Paulo. "Before, we all felt alone and unable to provoke change. Now, we've shown we can become a powerful mass that must be heard. It's a cultural shift for my generation."
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waltky · May 10, 2016

Rousseff's impeachment put on hold...

Dilma Rousseff impeachment uncertain after vote annulled
May 9, 2016 -- Brazil's house speaker on Monday annulled an impeachment vote creating doubt about whether proceedings against President Dilm Rousseff will continue.

Waldir Maranhao, the acting speaker in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, annulled the April 17 vote that sent the impeachment process up to the Senate. The upper chamber is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on whether an impeachment trial should continue. Maranhao said he annulled the vote because Chamber of Deputies members should not have announced their position prior to the vote, also adding that party leaders should not have instructed members on how to vote.

The lower house leader has called for a new vote to be cast. It is unclear if the Senate will continue with Wednesday's vote. Maranhao last week was appointed as acting speaker after Eduardo Cuhna, the Brazilian political leader who began the impeachment process against Rousseff, was suspended by the Supreme Court. Cunha faces corruption allegations related to the $3.9 billion Petrobras scandal. Maranhao is also under investigation in the corruption scandal.

The Petrobras scandal, which has shaken both the government and the oil company, and contributed to Brazil's recession, has led to dozens of arrests of former and current Petrobras executives, as well as investigators of numerous government officials. A simple majority vote in the Senate that would have initiated an impeachment trial would have suspended Rousseff for 180 days. Vice President Michel Temer would have served as interim president.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...er-vote-annulled/8831462809595/?spt=sec&or=tn
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waltky · May 29, 2016

Mass rape in Brazil videotaped...

Brazil fuming over mass rape video on social media, police hunting down suspects
Saturday 28th May, 2016 Police are reportedly searching for over 30 men allegedly responsible for the gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl and the posting of the incidents video on social media.

According to some reports, the girl was allegedly assaulted by armed men on May 21 in a shantytown in western Rio de Janeiro, whereas some hold that the girl was visiting her boyfriends house in the area, was drugged and woke up in a strange house surrounded by men. A police report said the girl reported that she woke up on May 22, naked and wounded, and went home alone.

It was added that a 40-second video of the rape was first seen on social media on May 24, and, after an influx of misogynistic comments, user profiles were suspended. Further, the police have reportedly issued arrest warrants for the accused men, and one for the girls boyfriend. United Nations UN Women reportedly issued a statement urging officials to launch an investigation into the case but also warned that the girl not be victimised further by invasion of her privacy.

Reports state that the incident threw Brazil into a frenzy and social media overflowed with reactions against what they call the culture of rape, complete with the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais (Rape never again). Further, the teenager's grandmother and family reportedly watched the video online and, amidst tears, said that the teenager "is not well. She is very confused. This was very serious."

http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/...-on-social-media-police-hunting-down-suspects
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See also:

First Arrest Made in Gang Rape Case in Brazil
MAY 28, 2016 - The police in Brazil said on Saturday that they had made the first arrest in the search for more than 30 possible attackers in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl, a case that has prompted widespread outrage and vows by the federal government to combat crimes against women, news agencies reported.

Brazilians reacted with shock after the May 21 assault came to light last week. Graphic photos and videos of the unconscious, naked teenager were posted on Twitter, and several men joked online about the attack. The authorities said the teenager had been raped in the São João shantytown on the west side of Rio de Janeiro as she was visiting her boyfriend, The Associated Press reported. The girl told the police that she was briefly alone with him but remembered nothing until she woke up naked the next day in another building among dozens of men who had guns. The first arrest came after the military police fanned out in search of four suspects who had been identified, the news organization Agence France-Presse reported. The police said they did not know if the boyfriend was one of the attackers, though he was being sought.

The case has rocked Brazil, Latin Americas largest nation, and highlighted its deep-rooted problem of violence against women. President Michel Temer promised to create a federal police unit to address crimes against women, The Associated Press reported. Its absurd that in the 21st century we have to live with barbarous crimes like this, said Mr. Temer, who also called an emergency meeting of the security ministers for each of Brazils states to consider gender-related crimes. Demonstrators gathered in downtown Rio on Friday night with signs that said Machismo kills and No means no, Agence France-Presse reported. In São Paulo, protesters made a mural with messages that included I like to wear necklines, thats not an invitation to rape me.

The girl, in brief comments to the O Globo newspaper, said: Its the stigma that hurts me the most. It is as if people are saying: Its her fault. She was using scanty clothes. I want people to know that it is not the womans fault. You cant blame a robbery victim for being robbed. At a news conference on Friday, the police said the girl had reported being raped by 33 men; officials said they had been unable to confirm how many men might have taken part. Rios police chief, Fernando Veloso, said that if images had not been posted online, the authorities might not have learned of the attack. The Brazilian Center for Latin American Studies found that more than 92,000 women were killed in gender-related crimes, including rape and domestic abuse, from 1980 to 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/w...st-made-in-gang-rape-case-in-brazil.html?_r=0
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Riots in Brazil...Anti-Government Sentiment High

upside-down cake Well-Known Member

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