As the Brazilian real depreciated and corruption scandals linked high level government officials – many of which have been arrested – to massive bribery cases at state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) (NYSE: PBR) (NYSE: PBR-A), Brazil’s crisis seemed to be hitting a bottom. However, the base was never hit, and things got worse instead.
As the corruption scandal unraveled, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was brought in by the police for questioning. In a daring move, current President Dilma Rouseff appointed Lula da Silva as her Chief of Staff, leading many of her critics to accuse her of wanting to shield the former president from prosecution.
Reacting to this appointment, Judge Sergio Moro, who was in charge of the Operation Car Wash ("Operação Lava Jato") investigation, released to the public roughly four dozen tapes featuring phone conversations between Lula da Silva and several high-ranking politicians, government officials, judges and business executives. The tapes led many Brazilians to take the streets. Massive protests against Rouseff crashed with equally massive demonstrations against Moro.
While Rouseff has not been implicated in the Operation Car Wash, Congress has started an impeachment process – approved at a plenary session, arguing that she had manipulated government data to conceal the actual dimension of the economic crisis in Brazil. Furthermore, on Tuesday, Rouseff’s own party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), left the ruling coalition, making an impeachment more likely as support in the Congress is central to this decision.
Rouseff has denied all charges, and characterized the impeachment process as a coup attempt (please see footnote on military interventions in Latin America). While fears of a military intervention take over the Brazilian society, how are young people living the situation?
Benzinga spoke with several Millennials in Brazil. While they shared their thoughts and interpretations, they all asked not to be identified, assuring that the political situation was so heated that anything one said could be used against him/her.
Benzinga: Could you explain briefly what’s going on?
A graduate student explained how she understood the issue. “The society is very divided, politically and ideologically. There are constant demonstrations, and it is very common that conflicts between different positions take place at the expense of the real problems that the country is undergoing.”
A government-funded artist shared his view. “The political crisis has made the economic crisis much larger. In the end, we can say there’s a culture of maintaining the crisis to put an end to Dilma’s government.”
“The most ridiculous thing is that Dilma is not being investigated for ...
/www.benzinga.com/news/16/04/7791200/brazil-from-the-ground-part-2-what-millennials-think-of-the-crisis alt=Brazil From The Ground, Part 2: What Millennials Think Of The Crisis>Full story available on Benzinga.com
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