We may be about to see a major upheaval in Brazil. It looks like the president is going to be impeached. If not, there will likely be chaos (or as Donald Trump might say, riots in the streets.)
The previous president of Brazil has been under criminal investigation in connection with a scandal concerning the state oil company Petrobras. According to the allegations, construction firms overbilled Petrobras by roughly two billion dollars and smoothed the way to payment of these huge sums by making payoffs to various government officials including the then president. Within the last few days, President Rousseff appointed the prior president as her "chief of staff" supposedly to help her deal with a major recession in the country and all sorts of corruption inquiries that were threatening her hold on power. Now, a court has ordered release of a telephone call between Rousseff and her predecessor (his phone was wiretapped as part of the investigation) in which Rousseff tells him that she is appointing him to his position so that he can avoid prosecution. Under Brazilian law, a cabinet minister (like the chief of staff) is immune from criminal prosecution. The result of the release of the call has been huge demonstrations in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and renewed calls for the impeachment of Rousseff.
Chaos in Brazil is not good for South America or the world. Brazil is the dominant economy on that continent and it is an important player in world markets as well. Mineral, grain and other agricultural exports from Brazil supply many world markets. Indeed, it was the profit from these exports that the socialist government was using to fund the state, but those profits have fallen to nearly nothing as lack of world demand has dropped prices. When the corruption of the leaders is placed on top of the economic chaos, Brazil is left teetering on the edge of the abyss.
If Rousseff falls, it will likely be another big move back towards free market economics in South America. Argentina recently installed a new president who is busy restoring Argentina's economy. Venezuela is likely to see the Maduro government collapse as the low price of oil has removed the last support for that government. If Brazil ousts Rousseff, none of the large countries on the continent will have left wing governments.
The previous president of Brazil has been under criminal investigation in connection with a scandal concerning the state oil company Petrobras. According to the allegations, construction firms overbilled Petrobras by roughly two billion dollars and smoothed the way to payment of these huge sums by making payoffs to various government officials including the then president. Within the last few days, President Rousseff appointed the prior president as her "chief of staff" supposedly to help her deal with a major recession in the country and all sorts of corruption inquiries that were threatening her hold on power. Now, a court has ordered release of a telephone call between Rousseff and her predecessor (his phone was wiretapped as part of the investigation) in which Rousseff tells him that she is appointing him to his position so that he can avoid prosecution. Under Brazilian law, a cabinet minister (like the chief of staff) is immune from criminal prosecution. The result of the release of the call has been huge demonstrations in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and renewed calls for the impeachment of Rousseff.
Chaos in Brazil is not good for South America or the world. Brazil is the dominant economy on that continent and it is an important player in world markets as well. Mineral, grain and other agricultural exports from Brazil supply many world markets. Indeed, it was the profit from these exports that the socialist government was using to fund the state, but those profits have fallen to nearly nothing as lack of world demand has dropped prices. When the corruption of the leaders is placed on top of the economic chaos, Brazil is left teetering on the edge of the abyss.
If Rousseff falls, it will likely be another big move back towards free market economics in South America. Argentina recently installed a new president who is busy restoring Argentina's economy. Venezuela is likely to see the Maduro government collapse as the low price of oil has removed the last support for that government. If Brazil ousts Rousseff, none of the large countries on the continent will have left wing governments.
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