Editor's Сhoice
May 15, 2016
TeleSur
Ousted Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday called on Brazilians to defend their country’s democracy and mobilize against the coup that saw her suspended from office.
“I call for the people to remain mobilized, together, in peace… It is a fight we are going to win, it depends on all of us, let’s show the world the millions of people who defend democracy in our country,” said Rousseff in her first comments from the presidential palace since the country’s Senate voted to proceed with impeachment proceedings.
Rousseff, who as a young activist was arrested and tortured for her efforts to organize against the military dictatorship that previously ruled Brazil, said she “never thought I would have to fight against another coup in our country.”
The ousted president walked out of the presidential palace to a crowd of thousands of anti-coup and pro-democracy demonstrators.
“I am ready to resist through all legal means,” Rousseff told the crowd who answered with chants pledging to resist as well.
“Over the course of my life, like all women, I confronted many challenges, now what hurts most is this situation that I’m living now, the pain of injustice,” said Rousseff.
She thanked all those who had been marching to denounce the coup in the lead up to the Senate’s vote on Wednesday.
“I am certain that together we are going to remain united, mobilized, and in peace,” concluded Rousseff.
Rousseff Dissolves Government
The ousted president dissolved her government after the Senate voted to proceed with an impeachment trial, requiring her to relinquish power for a period of 180 days, teleSUR’s correspondent in Brazil Andre Vieira reported.
Rousseff condemned the actions of the Congress, which she called a “coup” against her government, she also said she would “fight with every legal instrument at my disposal to ensure I complete my mandate on Dec. 31, 2018.”
Her vice president, Michel Temer, became the interim president once he received notification from the Senate that the impeachment trial would proceed.
Social movement leaders have pledged to remain in a state of permanent mobilization, according to Guilherme Boulos, national coordinator of the Homeless Workers Movement.
Widespread protests are expected on Thursday calling for the arrest of Eduardo Cunha, the former speaker of the lower house of Congress who spearheaded the impeachment process against the president, and for the ouster of government of Michel Temer, which assumed power after Rousseff’s ouster.
“There are two main ideas: first, to denounce the institutional coup… and demand the departure of Temer: he was elected to be vice president, not president. Second, ask for the arrest of Eduardo Cunha, whose corruption is proven,” said Laryssa Sampaio from the Popular Youth Uprising, which is organizing protests.
Russia Blames ‘Foreign Interference’ for Brazil Coup
“For Russia, Brazil is an important foreign partner in Latin America and the world,” added foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spoke out Wednesday against the efforts to oust Rousseff, pinning the move on “foreign interference.”
“For Russia, Brazil is an important foreign partner in Latin America and the world,” added foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
Russia and Brazil have an important relationship and are members of the influencial BRICS group.
In 2015 a document reported in various Russian news agencies addrssed the possibility of U.S. intelligence agency involvement in the parliamentary coup against President Dilma Rousseff. “It is quite possible that the CIA is involved in the plan to stage riots in Brazil nationwide,” the Russian news outlets said in a 2015 report.
One article by Pravda explains that over the past few years, the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have become a significant geopolitical threat to the interests of the United States.
The report added that one of Washington’s biggest worries is Rousseff’s support for creating a new world reserve currency, as well as the threat to the U.S. dollar posed by the BRICS.
“The reasons, for which Washington wants to get rid of Dilma Rousseff, are easy to understand,” Sputnik wrote. “She signed the agreement about the establishment of the (BRICS) New Development Bank with the initial registered capital worth US$100 billion reserve fund, as well as additional US$100 billion.”
The United States government was also concerned by the construction of a 5,600 kilometer-long (about 3,200 miles) fiber-optic telecommunications system across the Atlantic to Europe initiated by Rousseff in October 2014. The new communication system would guarantee protection against foreign espionage, and would undermine the U.S.-backed communications monopolies. Telebras president told the local media that the project would be developed and implemented without the participation of any U.S. company.
Rousseff has also angered Washington by blocking the return to Brazil of major U.S. oil and mining companies, looking to China for investment instead. The United States has been looking to shore up its stakes in natural resources in Latin America, as indicated by the WikiLeaks revelation that Hillary Clinton pressured Mexico to privatize its oil industry when she was U.S. Secretary of State.
Sputnik noted that the May 2013 visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met Brazil to try to persuade Rousseff to allow U.S. companies to access oil fields – a proposal denied by the Brazilian president. In the period after Biden’s visit, protests erupted across the South American country and her rating dropped from 70 percent to 30 percent.
“During this period, the Americans were consistently destroying Rousseff’s regime through other protests. They included large-scale protests against excessive costs on the World Cup and insufficient funding of social welfare programs and health care,” Sputnik noted.
Also immediately after Biden’s visit, reports attempted to link Rousseff in the so-called “Car Wash” scandal involving the state-run oil company, Petrobras.
“All of a sudden, the Brazilians forgot that the Workers’ Party had taken around 30 percent of the population out of poverty with the help of public support programs. Hunger and illiteracy became history. Was it became of short memory? No, as the CIA knows very well how to brainwash people through subordinate media,” Sputnik stated.
In an interview with teleSUR however, Rousseff denied U.S. involvement in her country’s political crisis. “The U.S. has stayed away from the Brazilian process,” maintained the Brazilian leader, despite reports that opposition figures recently met in Washington.
Recently, Venezuelan journalist Jose Vicente Rangel alleged U.S. intelligence agencies had sent about 500 agents to Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba, with the sole purpose to destabilizing their governments.
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necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation.
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