Brazilian Protests Spill into the Streets
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities throughout Brazil on March 13 as longstanding ire over a high-level government corruption scandal broke out anew. The protests give new weight to impeachment trials raised against President Dilma Rousseff and have driven her even closer to removal. Protesters also called for the imprisonment of former President Lula da Silva, who faces investigation charges for corruption, and for the removal of his Worker’s Party (PT) from power.
According to the statistical analysis firm Datafolha, the protest which erupted on Avenida Paulista, the main boulevard in Brazil’s largest city of São Paulo, involved 500,000 participants, the largest showing the boulevard has ever seen. As reported by A Folha de São Paulo, the demonstration surpassed Avenida Paulista’s previous largest gathering, a protest in 1984 for Diretas Já, the movement to bring down the military regime. The number of participants this time is also double that of the previous largest demonstration against Ms. Rousseff when 210,000 people took to the avenue on March 11th of last year. Officials estimate that 1.4 million demonstrators participated throughout the city, joined by thousands in state capitals throughout the country. Organizers of the protest in Rio de Janeiro claim that an additional 1.5 million demonstrated against the Ms. Rousseff there.
Their grievances largely stem from the Petrobras corruption scandal, which has tied countless government officials to a money-laundering scheme involving the country’s state-run oil company. While investigators have not yet linked Ms. Rousseff directly to the scandal, she faces criticism for alleged mismanagement of government funds and for using Petrobras money to fund her 2014 political campaign.
Public outcry strengthened when Ms. Rousseff appointed Mr. da Silva as her Chief of Staff on March 17, a move seen by many as an attempt to shield him from his own corruption charges. According to Brazilian law, the Supreme Federal Court can only try cabinet ministers and other high-level government officials, which results in a cumbersome process with little success. Leaked phone calls between the two leaders suggest the appointment functioned as a means to stop the investigation, therefore amounting to an obstruction of justice. In response, many thousands more took to the streets.
The scandal particularly damages da Silva’s reputation, who has openly stated that he plans to run for the presidency again in 2018. Da Silva represents Brazil’s most popular president, having led the movement against the military regime to establish democracy in Brazil. He left office in 2010 with the highest approval rating of any modern Brazilian president, after having revived the Brazilian economy with social programs which raised millions out of poverty.
A Folha also reports that congressional leaders have called new sessions to discuss the ongoing impeachment proceedings and an important vote that will decide the fate of Rousseff’s case will take place in May. With opposition against Rousseff reaching a fever pitch and da Silva’s widespread adoration quickly evaporating, the future of the PT remains uncertain, except for the fact that it rests firmly in the hands of the people.