- 27 Oct 2014 17:53
#14481289
I greet this news with a sigh of relief but it was still far too close for comfort. I'm shocked not to see any mention or discussion about it generated here. Rousseff is a definite compromise candidate for populists in Brazil whose policies and lack thereof in certain areas has been massively disappointing, but the young Cara Almeida de Souza sums it up accurately in one line at the bottom of the article with the statement "I don't know why we would need to go back to the economic model we had before"
We know what we're getting in Brazil and South America generally with a regression back to the politics of individuals of low character like Neves. Brazil is the largest prize in South America, a country whose own political development will naturally influence smaller powers around it depending upon which model is perceived as having succeeded or failed, and as a large country which is expected to become more and more of a player on the international stage, it would be far too dangerous and destructive to have it back under the heel of neoliberal bandits and thieves-in-suits. With the clout its large population and economic growth has brought, it also would be a negative development for Brasilia's foreign policy which would undoubtedly become more anti-Caracas and more anti-Moscow, reversing the country's relatively non-aligned yet anti-interventionist stance now.
The world doesn't need it and Brazilians don't need a switch from a government hopelessly restrained and limited in its capacity to effect change by the unfortunate political model the nation and most of the world is saddled with for the moment to a regime of open crooks who revel in this state of affairs and seek to further entrench and exacerbate the problems.
Today many can breathe easy. Happy to see a positive resolution. I imagine Soulflytribe amongst others may be especially ornery today.
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff narrowly reelected
Incumbent President Dilma Rousseff narrowly defeated center-right challenger Aecio Neves in a runoff election on Sunday as Brazilian voters gave her center-left Workers’ Party a fourth term in the presidency.
Rousseff, who took over from popular predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won by far fewer votes than she did in 2010, and will need to build a coalition with a reduced number of party members in Congress.
With nearly all votes counted, Rousseff had 52% to Neves’ 48%.
Lula oversaw an economic boom and the expansion of social programs that lifted tens of millions out of poverty, but growth has buckled under Rousseff, and accusations of corruption have surfaced against her party recently.
The Workers’ Party, however, campaigned energetically in the final weeks of one of the most turbulent elections in recent Brazilian history, telling its base of low-income voters that social gains would be best preserved if Rousseff stayed in power.
“She was reelected because the public policies implemented under Lula and Dilma really did improve the lives of the poorest Brazilians,” said Francisco Fonseca, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation business school in Sao Paulo. “But the election was so close because the rising middle classes just above them are now more conservative.”
He added that Rousseff may turn further to the left in her second term, given her base of support. That appeared to be in the minds of some voters.
“I think Dilma will continue to put more focus on opportunities for the poor,” said Nathalia Pino Lopes, 23, a bank teller who voted Sunday on the lower middle class outskirts of Sao Paulo. “Things are far from perfect and Aecio seems fine, but I just trust her more to maintain social programs and benefits.”
The presidential campaign was upended in August when Socialist Party candidate Eduardo Campos was killed in a plane crash. His environmentalist running mate, Marina Silva, took over and surged to the head of the polls, only to fall back just as quickly after suffering attacks from Rousseff's team, and was beaten out by Neves in first-round polling Oct. 5.
Then, in the final days of the campaign, Brazil's highest circulation magazine, the right-wing Veja, published a special issue with a cover story that accused Lula and Rousseff of knowing about an alleged kickback scheme at state-owned oil company Petrobras, still being investigated by authorities. Rousseff accused the magazine of “electoral terrorism” and took the issue to electoral authorities, who agreed Veja had tried to “disrupt” voting without proof and forced the magazine to print a response from Rousseff's team on its website Sunday.
Neves was more strongly favored by investors and Brazil's educated middle class, whose members often complain of corruption, fears of stagnation and Rousseff's version of economic intervention.
“We need to get the corruption rooted out of government, and we need to get back to growth,” said Leonardi Alberti, a 27-year-old civil engineer in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s business capital and a bastion of support for Neves. “I would never vote for the left-wing Workers’ Party, but I admit Lula's government was good. With Dilma, we took a step back.”
Neves was born into political royalty, the grandson of Tancredo Neves, who was elected president but died before taking office. His Social Democracy Party led the country before Lula took over.
Rousseff, a former left-wing guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured by Brazil's military dictatorship, enjoyed high approval ratings for her first years in office, but saw them drop after more than a million protesters took to the streets demanding better transportation, schools and hospitals last year.
Economists expect the country to barely grow in 2014, though Rousseff often points out that unemployment is still low and wages have continued to rise.
“The changes to our lives since Lula took over were huge,” said Cara Almeida de Souza, 34, an accountant and Rousseff voter in Recife, a large city in the poorer northeastern region that overwhelmingly supported Rousseff. “I don't know why we would need to go back to the economic model we had before.”
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-ff-dilma-rousseff-election-brazil-20141026-story.html
I greet this news with a sigh of relief but it was still far too close for comfort. I'm shocked not to see any mention or discussion about it generated here. Rousseff is a definite compromise candidate for populists in Brazil whose policies and lack thereof in certain areas has been massively disappointing, but the young Cara Almeida de Souza sums it up accurately in one line at the bottom of the article with the statement "I don't know why we would need to go back to the economic model we had before"
We know what we're getting in Brazil and South America generally with a regression back to the politics of individuals of low character like Neves. Brazil is the largest prize in South America, a country whose own political development will naturally influence smaller powers around it depending upon which model is perceived as having succeeded or failed, and as a large country which is expected to become more and more of a player on the international stage, it would be far too dangerous and destructive to have it back under the heel of neoliberal bandits and thieves-in-suits. With the clout its large population and economic growth has brought, it also would be a negative development for Brasilia's foreign policy which would undoubtedly become more anti-Caracas and more anti-Moscow, reversing the country's relatively non-aligned yet anti-interventionist stance now.
The world doesn't need it and Brazilians don't need a switch from a government hopelessly restrained and limited in its capacity to effect change by the unfortunate political model the nation and most of the world is saddled with for the moment to a regime of open crooks who revel in this state of affairs and seek to further entrench and exacerbate the problems.
Today many can breathe easy. Happy to see a positive resolution. I imagine Soulflytribe amongst others may be especially ornery today.
"I am never guided by a possible assessment of my work" - President Vladimir Putin
"Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin." - Muammar Qaddafi
"Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin." - Muammar Qaddafi
. Not to mention that previous deceptions and economic/political 'liberalizations' by these men's predecessors is well documented.
- By annatar1914
- By Tainari88