"It's All F**ked": Brazil Descends Into Chaos As Rousseff, Lula Wiretaps Trigger Mass Protests
Just yesterday, we said the following about Brazil: It seems as though this country can’t get through a single day without some piece of political news or economic data creating confusion and turmoil.
We said that on the way to noting that central bank chief Alexandre Tombini looked set to resign for fear that former President Lula’s new cabinet position and attendant promise to "turn the economy around" would lead invariably to government interference in monetary and FX policy.
As regular readers and Brazil watchers alike are no doubt aware, the BRL has been on a veritable rollercoaster ride of late and it’s all thanks, one way or another, to Lula. The currency rallied on his arrest, sold off when he was offered a position in Rousseff’s cabinet, and now, is headed sharply higher after a court injunction blocked his nomination as chief of staff.
The injunction appears to stem from some 50 audio recordings released to the media on Wednesday by Judge Sergio Moro, the lead prosecutor in the car wash probe. At least one of the recordings seems to suggest that Rousseff did indeed offer Lula the ministry post in order to shield him from prosecution.
The most damning call was recorded on Wednesday afternoon, when Rousseff can be heard telling Lula that she is sending him his ministerial papers “in case of necessity.” Obviously, that sounds a lot like an attempt to make sure Lula has proof of his new position in case authorities come to arrest him before he’s sworn in. In Brazil, ministers can only be tried in the Supreme Court which, as you might imagine, could take virtually forever compared to lower courts.
Lula was questioned earlier this month in connection with the possibility that he received luxury properties in exchange for favors tied to the Petrobras scandal.
On other calls recorded Wednesday Lula can be heard cursing the court, telling Rousseff the following: “...we have a totally cowardly supreme court, a totally cowardly high court, a totally cowardly parliament … a speaker of the house who is fucked, a president of the senate who is fucked, I don’t know how many legislators under threat, and everyone thinking that some kind of miracle is going to happen.”
Well, he’s got one thing right: everyone is “fucked,” and Moro doesn’t care. “Democracy in a free society requires that the governed know what their governors are doing, even when they try to act in the dark,” he said.
“Moro also said he believes Lula had advance warning of the raid on 4 March and may have known his phone was tapped,” The Guardian notes, adding that “by midnight on Wednesday there were reports of demonstrations against the government in at least 17 of Brazil’s 26 states. In the southern city of Curitiba, where Moro is based, hundreds gathered in front of the court to show support for the judge and his investigation.”
(protests on Wednesday night in Sao Paulo)
(demonstrations in Brasilia)
Rousseff says the court and the media's interpretation is incorrect. She claims that she was trying to tell Lula that she was sending him his papers early in case he was unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Put simply: no one was buying that excuse.
"Military police fired tear gas at demonstrators outside government buildings in Brasília, while groups set fire to a doll resembling the ex-president and waved banners calling for his imprisonment," FT recounts, "[While] thousands of protesters filled São Paulo’s main avenue, Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach and cities in at least 15 other states."
Rousseff now intends to take legal action against Moro for "breaking the constitution. Here's a summary of Rousseff's comments, some of which are outright hilarious in light of the circumstances:
- Says justice system should be focused on proof
- There’s no justification for selective leaks in probes
- There’s no justice when constitutional guarantees are violated
- We want to know who authorized phone taps between her and Lula
- This is a serious act
- Says she has always defended the search for truth
- Convulsing society based on lies is serious, coups can start that way
- Says she won’t retreat from what happened yesterday
- Brazil fights corruption, respects individual rights
- Brazil counts on my work and determination
- Says she counts on Lula’s experience, his ability to understand the people
- Whoever bet on my separation from Lula was wrong
- Brazil confronting economic, political difficulties
- At this moment, we have to be together for Brazil
- We have to leave political paralysis behind us
- We want to reduce inflation, are acting to recover employment
- We extend an open hand to all who want best for Brazil
- People wanting coup won’t pull us off our path, won’t bring people to their knees
A lawyer for Lula called Moro's release of the tapes "arbitrary."
Right. "Arbitrary." In fact, there was nothing "arbitrary" about it. Moro was due to decide on whether to arrest Lula this week and effectively, he and Rousseff were about to circumvent the entire investigation by using ministerial immunity to keep the car wash probe from reaching any higher up in the government than it already has. In other words, it was now or never for Moro and as you might have noticed, he isn't one to let things go.
The release of the tapes led to a raucous session in Congress where some lawmakers chanted for Rousseff's head, figuratively speaking... we think. Here are some clips from the protests that swept the country on Wednesday:
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what's called chaos. Just ask Delcídio do Amaral, the senator whose testimony has only added to Rousseff's troubles. "I am a prophet of chaos," he told reporters after the court accepted his plea deal.
According to Eurasia, the leaked phone calls put Rousseff on the brink of impeachment, with odds of her ouster now rising to 75%. A vote, Eurasia says, could come as early as May.
“We’re in the hands of leaders who are bandits,” said Arivaldo Gomes, 54, a deliveryman. “I’m ashamed of this country," he told The New York Times. But perhaps Josias de Souza, a political commentator put it best: "Brazil is being governed by a joke. It's turned into an aspiring banana republic."
(15 votes)
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don't worry their stock market is skyrocketing!
Let me know when the chicks are free
That's the way ya do it
BULLISH !
Maidan is always bullish. Let's see how it plays out.
IF only i knew in advance ... then i could bet the farm
The NSA wiretaps both Rousseff and Lula, passing selected information about each on to the other. Gotta stir the color revolution pot.
coming to a country very near and dear to you and i.
Iceland?
i here you, but in that context going, as in get out of dodge.
OhMyPhuckenGawd things are going to hell in Brazil. The time to buy developing markets is when no one else wants them.
Bought CIG a few months ago at $1.40, now $2.10. Bought BAK at $9, now at $15. Hurt me some more Brazil.
Peru+Venezuela+Argentina+Brazil = WOW!
Its all hanging out and connected at the hip.
Will they all come to America ?
Not if they want a real job.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Read and weep kid.
Your list is like playing "which of these doesn't belong." Answer: Peru
But... but... but... isn't Brazil in the BRICS? I thought they were the islands of fiscal solvitude in a sea of financial insanity that were gonna save us all from ourselves!
http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/archive/archive-pdfs/brics-drea...
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/osgdp20141_en.pdf
Oh, wait...
Brazilian government is idiotic, but I think a colour revolution will not help Brazilians either!
As for BRICS, it would be unfortunate to loose Brazil, but the Eurasian giants Russia, China and India are strong enough to take on NWO. For example Indian government is now daring enough that it has started ordering Monsanto around:-) This is not to say that India or China are perfect in any way, but they at least stand against NWO. As for Russia, it is the only sane country in the world right now! I love them more and more. And RIC are cementing their ties every day now. India has been buying more and more weapons from Russia, but (to compete with China), it has also started to invest in Russia, so Russia will have enough investors and trading partners from Asia. The West can go to hell. Besides, the Russian state oil company will buy almost half of shares of an Indian oil company and this secures Russia's place as an oil supplier to India. Russia is now bigger supplier of oil to China than Saudis. It seems India and China are now competing in courting Russia:-)
There were also fears that Russia will not be able to find money, because USA State Dept. threatens US and EU banks not to buy Russian bonds. But when Gazprom issued bonds in Swiss francs, people almost fought to get them! Investors are now flocking to Russia simply because it seem hopeless anywhere else in the world:-) It is kind of hilarious.
And that is not all, among all the sanctions, low oil prices, war in Syria, Russia still wants to keep her place in the new space race. "A nuclear power propulsion system could propel a spacecraft to Mars in just over a month, a huge step forward from the current 18 months required. Russia might test a nuclear engine as early as 2018, the head of the state Russian Rosatom nuclear corporation revealed." And that is still not all! Russia is reopening military bases in the Arctic, developing its Northern Sea Route and building new nuclear icebreakers, which makes Obama and Canada mad, because they think the Artic belongs only to them. However, neither Canada nor USA really has enough icebreakers to compete with Russia there!
Russia has also started exporting cars to Vietnam and hopes to include more Asian countries soon. The Russian aviation industry is also slowly getting on track. And the most successful reforms have been achieved in the Russian agriculture (which is quite a feat, because Russia had historically problems with bad agriculture and famines, tzars had huge troubles with it and Stalin caused a terrible famine, when he wanted to reform agriculture in the socialist way.) It seems it was waiting for Putin to get it done well:-)
It will all still take time, but Russia is obviously positioning herself very sweetly. Now, do you still wonder, why Russians love Putin? Recently, a driver in Siberia caused a stir, when he was driving around with a sticker covering the rear windshield of a car featuring the likenesses of Tsar Alexander III, Stalin and Putin holding an orange ribbon - symbol of Russian patriots, and a quote from the Book of Psalms: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory!” Now, of course, the West is already shouting about glorifying Stalin etc. as usual. But I understand the Russian message. "We like strong leaders. We are proud of our past, our present and our future. It may bring a lot more shocks to the hysterical West in future, but no matter what you do, no matter how much you want to change us to your liking, we will simply always be...Russians. And we are happy to be so."
This is I think the lesson and example. It does not mean that Americans should be like Russians or take Russia as their example! Russia is a different civilization. But I think what more and more people admire is that simple fact of people, who are happy just being themselves, no matter what the West thinks of them, damned be the political correctness, democracy talks and such crap. Now, if only Americans could find out, who they really are or what they want to be....this will be the biggest problem for USA now. Only people, who do not know, who they are, are vulnerable to ethnic hatred, brainwashing, divisions in the society and "democracy revolutions" brought to you by Soros. Russians already know, who they are, and this is why they now have a huge advantage over the West.
Have you ever driven a Russian car? Quite the "Ultimate Driving Experience". They are pretty shitty examples of automotive design and construction. Much worse than American. Like a 10 year old Fiat.
have you? Not accounting the old soviet stock cars, but the Volgas of the past were great and the new Lada Granta's are great and the Vesta's are apparently good too. UAZ Patriot is also a pretty solid vehicle but petrol guzzler.
Yeah Russian commercial aviation and auto exports (from Russian-owned firms) are booming. Just look at those impressive export numbers which are essentially nonexistent. Automotive FDI from European automakers has notably declined too in Russia.
This is some serious propagandist BS.
Playing the misery index?
What, is the war racket not bloody enough?
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are going to be exciting in a Nation embroiled in a Civil War.
Fun...fun...fun.
Maybe the Marathon will be super fast as they try and outrun hot flying lead.
There are certainly going to be some records broken in Track.
Get your tickets today.
@cossack55, if you got game the chicks are always free. Just sayin'.
And @newgame, speak for yourself... near and dear to you.
Just imagine what would happen if the redacted pages of the 9/11 report and the contents of Hillary's missing/Top Secret emails were made public...
Her supporters would circle the wagon. They're true believers. The contents shouldn't matter; the custodial issues are the crimes. Nothing matters; she's their woman. She holds the hope for all those women in the palm of her hands.
Now the 9-11 pages? Contains embarrassing things about the Saudis and Bin Laden family. But probably no real smoking gun or accusations. Just embarrassment. The real culprits - Israel - are no where to be found in the document. Neither is there any mention of Bldg 7. None. Like it never happened.
So fuck that report. Israeli citizen owner guy Siverstein admits on YouTube the planning for new buildings took place a year in advance of 9-11. He's brags about how the new rebuild was free - paid for by the USG and insurance from 9-11.
I think WTFRLY or something was posting the link.
We're still on for the Olympics though, right?
Just avoid the shitty water and hyperinflation. And the zika virus.
You forgot to add, avoid the slums and the gangs.
Yep- Olympic Kidnapping and Ransom should be a pretty busy event- medals AND blindfolds......
World Cup there went OK. And that of course was much more important than the Olympics.
And AIDS - 'cause you know "everybody has AIDS....AIDS, AIDS, AIDS!"
Dissentary and currency devaluation are real concerns. Cases of shrunken baby head being erroneously linked to a virus that's been around since the 40s (and probably longer) in order to sell scared Westerners shots, not so much.
Don't eat the vegetables, though. Do a bit of digging on Brazilian use of pesticides - the highest in the world and with chemical concoctions banned in most nations, even the United States of GMOrica. But hey, why look at substances that are proven to cause significant birth defects, the WHO is telling me to shit myself and get vaccinated!
As for me, I'm still waiting for ebola to kill us all. Or was it swine flu? Bird flu? Mad cow? Or swine flu again? Fuck it. Kids, we're going to McDonald's.
Just say thanks to Monsanto.
Some research shows the massive amounts of tetracycline antibiotic given to Brazilian cattle has negated the "controls" of the sterile mosquitos released to combat zika, causing disease spikes in those geographic areas where they were trying to limit the disease, real Homer Simpson doh!-moment.
Congratulations! Your Gold Medal comes with a complemetary 10-day supply of ciprofloxacin to ward off the cholera and funky skin ailments. Best of luck with the E. coli O157:H7!
By the way, hope the Cipro doesn't kill you.
Yes, but with some new Events added to these Olympics Games.
Which may or may not become part of future 'Games'.
;-)
That reminds me of the 'Street Rules' (dirty, violent, throwing elbows, cheating, etc.) sports we used to play around the neighborhood as kids. Good times!
Hunger games?
Wait, that is Venezuela...
Baby Ruth bobbing marathon.
Diarrhea Hurling?
"3.45 meters folks...This is a new worlds record."
(duplicate)
What's that? Brazilian noises.
Oh that's not working, That's the way you do it, bangin' on the bongos like a chim-pan-zee
Oh that ain't workin', that's the way you do it, get your money for nothin', get your checks for free.
Look at that Mama, she got it sticking in the camera, Man, we could have some fun.
how is this different from any other night in Brasilia?
Looks like USA in about 4 months time.
all depends on the neighborhood.
They are only catching up to Ferguson.
something tells me, all the protests in every country will be blamed on China, NOT one country has a surplus with China. China is taking everyone's jobs!
Golly a Latin American country turning into shit.
It because they're such hard workers.
Hey! Corruption is hard work.