A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers Party, although free of personal corruption, is being hounded out of executive power by yelping packs of thoroughly corrupt political hyenas.” This “soft coup” is led by former partners in the national legislature, where the Workers Party holds less than one-sixth of the seats. But the debacle is a lesson for those leftists that think they can finesse and bargain their way to a social revolution.
“Soft Coup” Finds Soft Target in Brazil A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford “ The scandal exposed the entire system as pervasively corrupt – but only Rousseff and her party are in the crosshairs.”
If the Brazilian politicians that are clamoring to impeach President Dilma Rousseff were opposed to corruption, they would impeach themselves, since 60 percent of them are facing some kind kind of corruption charges. Rousseff is personally squeaky clean. Her nominal offense was manipulating budget numbers so that her government could continue programs to help the poor after the bottom fell out of economy because of the global economic slowdown. But, the actual charge against Rousseff almost never came up when the lower house of the Brazilian legislature voted to impeach her, which is why the Speaker of the lower house briefly ruled the impeachment null and void – and then reversed himself less than a day later, clearing the way for the Senate to put Rousseff on trial and remove her from office.
Dilma Rousseff’s Workers Party and its allies on the left like MST , the Landless Workers Movement, call the impeachment drive a “soft coup,” and see the long arm of the United States at work. In 2013 Rousseff stood at the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, to denounce the Obama administration for spying on her. The U.S. spymasters didn’t get anything on Rousseff, who is clean, but they dug up plenty on the giant Brazilian state oil company, Petrobas, which is at the center of a web of corruption involving billions of dollars in bribery and payoffs to politicians and businessmen affiliated with a whole range of Brazilian political parties, including, of course, Rousseff’s Workers Party. The scandal exposed the entire system as pervasively corrupt – but only Rousseff and her party are in the crosshairs.
Disintegrating Alliances of Convenience
The Brazilian Left says it will take the battle “to the streets” and mobilize internationally to defeat the “soft” legislative coup. But, sympathizers outside of Brazil must wonder, How did it come to this? How did a party that, since 2002, has won majorities of the national vote even after the economy turned sour find itself being hounded out of executive power by yelping packs of thoroughly corrupt political hyenas?
The Workers Party had a huge national following, but it makes up only about 15 percent of the country’s legislature. Early on, its charismatic leader, “Lula” da Silva, made alliances with parties to his right, at the state and national level. The more the Workers Party became enmeshed with its capitalist partners-of-convenience, the further it moved from its grassroots support. The Workers Party embraced neoliberal austerity when times got rough, and shared cabinet positions and campaign funds with its erstwhile rightwing friends. This relationship was apparently reflected in the realm of corruption, as well, with a host of parties sharing in the feast. All the while, the deeply reactionary and vicious Brazilian ruling class, which controls the monopoly media, awaited its chance to destroy the Workers Party, even at the risk of economic and social chaos. This “soft coup” could turn very, very hard, very quickly.
The Left hangs by a thread in Brazil, has been ousted in Argentina , and is halfway out the door in Venezuela , because the power of the capitalists in those countries remained intact. Capitalism is the ultimate corruption, that never quits until it is stamped out.
For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.
Who knew him five days ago? Today, he’s Play Dough— President— in handlers oily hands… Brazen 1% switcheroo, another king nobody knew— rosy World Bank worldview
Now that Trump’s sleazy associates are facing prison, lots of Democrats that never gave a damn about mass Black incarceration are self-righteously blasting the criminal injustice system.
The world’s most ambitious predators -- candidates for US president, like Clinton and Biden -- are also the most likely to condemn young Black men as “predators,” and to wreak mass death, worldwide
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning is jailed for refusing to testify against Julian Assange, whose confinement in Ecuador's London embassy puts the lie to much of the Russiagate fantasy.
This week readers engaged with the question of reparations for slavery and Black America’s stake in environmentalism. Strong responses came for
