The draining agenda of Brazil’s pathetic pro-coup opposition

Daily analysis of the political scenario – October 21

by Miguel do Rosario, editor of Cafezinho

(Translation by Eduardo Pagnoncelli)

Brazil’s opposition forces have become so pathetic that they are now trying a coup based on supposed “fiscal maneuvers” done by the government in the current year, which hasn’t even come to an end yet. 

It’s like that: even though the pro-coup forces are aware that the Lower House and the Federal Account Courts (TCU) have spent decades without analyzing and judging the central government’s accounts, they are currently trying to unseat a president who was elected in a country that has 143 million voters, simply based on an “online” analysis of public accounts.

The Lower House website informs the public that opposition parties have submitted a new petition for president Dilma’s impeachment. The deputies are willing to challenge a Supreme Court (STF) decision that ruled against the possibility of the impeachment being voted by the deputies in the Lower House plenary. By doing that they are jeopardizing their own initiative and behaving like true political bandits.

As Marina Silva used to say, they search for power just for the sake of it. They don’t even care if Brazil’s judicial elite considers that strategy a form of coup. Also, it doesn’t seem important for them that the international media has criticized their antidemocratic truculence. They are just not bothered about submitting Brazilian democracy to an institutional demoralization, in case this impeachment coup actually passes.

They have no plans for Brazil.

What kind of projects do they have to offer? Who would be the leader to assume power?

The coup enthusiasts are completely mad. So mad that they don’t even see the basic mistakes that they are making. An eventual impeachment would not only affect the Worker’s Party (PT) and president Dilma’s government. It would also affect the millions of voters who took part in the electoral process. Thousands of political deals are closed when building candidacies, and they all depend on the elections results.

Elections always produce a very complex and delicate system of political alliances, which cannot be destroyed by a radical maneuver against democracy.

We are facing a threat that would hurt the political freedom of individuals very deeply. And unlike what they think, we choose the people who will govern us after doing a very particular, moral and political judgment. Our votes haven’t been bought by campaign money and we are aware of our candidate’s and its government mistakes. And taking all of that in consideration, we then choose them or reject them. It is a free and subjective judgment that corresponds to what should be political liberty, which is the nerve centre of democracy.

Do they want to throw all of it away?

How much longer will they test our patience?

President Dilma has been facing the mediatic-judicial conspiracy with a second to none resignation and sweet attitude.

Meanwhile, Federal judge Sergio Moro is still on his own crusade against some important businessmen, whom he wants to keep in prison for a longer period.

But his tactics are starting to wear off. Whistleblowers have already blown all the whistles that they seemed to have. Marcelo Odebrecht, head of Odebrecht, didn’t sign any whistle blowing deal and has stated that he won’t do it, despite the media’s push.

One day or another the tortures [made to encourage businessmen to accept whistle blowing agreements]* will come to a stop.

The attorneys involved in the Operation Lava-Jato keep pressuring Mr. Odebrecht into becoming a whistleblower, by illegally leaking to the media some of the company’s private emails, which configures a deliberate attempt to damage the Odebrecht’s businesses and image.

The recent scandals involving Lower House president Eduardo Cunha have helped demoralizing Operation Lava Jato, as all the evidences against Mr. Cunha didn’t come from whistleblowers, but from documents sent by Swiss authorities containing his signature.

What people seem to be ignoring, though – and the media will certainly refuse to admit – is that the moral degeneration encouraged by the opposition is giving DIlma Rousseff some political strength.

At first Dilma seemed like a tentative and weak president who has a notorious political problem. However, as she passes through the ring of fire of successive coup attempts she seems to be getting stronger.

And that is a great irony, which is something very common in politics.

In its overeagerness to take Dilma down, the opposition ends up making her stronger.

When this whole process stops – and it will, eventually – Brazilian media will also end up with scars, as they have once again played the sad role of not raising their voices against the attempts to circumvent the sovereignty of universal suffrage.