BRASILIA — It was called the “Brazil model,” or simply “the Lula model,” back when this country’s economy was roaring and its president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was a superstar of the developing world.
By balancing support for big business with big social-welfare programs, the union boss turned statesman presided over an era of growth that lifted tens of millions of Brazilians out of poverty. Lula’s presidency cut a new template for a Latin American left that had long insisted class struggle and revolution were the only road to fairness. The coronation came when Brazil was chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, confirming its rise as a global power.
Now Brazil is limping to the Games. Its economy is facing its worst crisis since the 1930s. A Zika virus epidemic rages. And on Sunday, lawmakers will vote on whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s hand-picked successor. Impeachment appears increasingly likely.
“We are in an extraordinary situation,” said Otaviano Canuto, the top International Monetary Fund official for Brazil, in an interview. “And it is even more extraordinary because the political dynamic overshadows everything else.”
If two-thirds of the lower house votes to remove Rousseff, and a similar measure clears the upper chamber, Rousseff will be suspended. Senators will then have 180 days to conduct hearings, raising the possibility that while the world’s athletes are jumping, diving and racing for Olympic glory, lawmakers will be conducting impeachment proceedings against the president on live television.
A woman steps on a poster showing Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, left, and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with, in Portuguese, the phrase “They knew everything. Impeachment Now” in Brasilia on April 14, 2016. (Eraldo Peres/AP)
The plunge that Rousseff and the country have taken has laid bare the frailty of Brazil’s commodity-driven growth. Big parts of the Brazil model, it turns out, were glued together with kickbacks, dirty money and lies.
Rousseff herself is not accused of illegal personal enrichment but of improperly using money from government banks to cover budget gaps. A separate inquiry is examining whether her Workers’ Party benefited from an illegal campaign-finance scheme, which could lead to an annulment of her victory and force new elections.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ee9356-fab4-11e5-813a-90ab563f0dde_story.html
By balancing support for big business with big social-welfare programs, the union boss turned statesman presided over an era of growth that lifted tens of millions of Brazilians out of poverty. Lula’s presidency cut a new template for a Latin American left that had long insisted class struggle and revolution were the only road to fairness. The coronation came when Brazil was chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, confirming its rise as a global power.
Now Brazil is limping to the Games. Its economy is facing its worst crisis since the 1930s. A Zika virus epidemic rages. And on Sunday, lawmakers will vote on whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s hand-picked successor. Impeachment appears increasingly likely.
“We are in an extraordinary situation,” said Otaviano Canuto, the top International Monetary Fund official for Brazil, in an interview. “And it is even more extraordinary because the political dynamic overshadows everything else.”
If two-thirds of the lower house votes to remove Rousseff, and a similar measure clears the upper chamber, Rousseff will be suspended. Senators will then have 180 days to conduct hearings, raising the possibility that while the world’s athletes are jumping, diving and racing for Olympic glory, lawmakers will be conducting impeachment proceedings against the president on live television.
A woman steps on a poster showing Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, left, and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with, in Portuguese, the phrase “They knew everything. Impeachment Now” in Brasilia on April 14, 2016. (Eraldo Peres/AP)
The plunge that Rousseff and the country have taken has laid bare the frailty of Brazil’s commodity-driven growth. Big parts of the Brazil model, it turns out, were glued together with kickbacks, dirty money and lies.
Rousseff herself is not accused of illegal personal enrichment but of improperly using money from government banks to cover budget gaps. A separate inquiry is examining whether her Workers’ Party benefited from an illegal campaign-finance scheme, which could lead to an annulment of her victory and force new elections.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ee9356-fab4-11e5-813a-90ab563f0dde_story.html
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