Brazil minister ousted after secret tape reveals plot to topple President Rousseff

[L. Coyote]

Brazil minister ousted after secret tape reveals plot to topple President Rousseff

Planning minister Romero Jucá was recorded saying ‘We have to change the government’ as the only means to stop a sweeping corruption investigation

The credibility of Brazil’s interim government was rocked on Monday when a senior minister was forced to step aside amid further revelations about the machiavellian plot to impeach president Dilma Rousseff.

Just 10 days after taking office, the planning minister, Romero Jucá, announced that he would “go on leave” following the release of a secretly taped telephone conversation in which he said Rousseff needed to be removed to quash a vast corruption investigation that implicated him and other members of the country’s political elite.

It is unlikely to be the last blow for the interim president, Michel Temer, whose centre-right cabinet includes seven ministers implicated by the Lava Jato (Car Wash) investigation into kickbacks and money laundering at the state-run oil company Petrobras.

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The TRUTH is out! It was a coup to put criminals in power!

[orwell]

1. I'm Shocked!

Shocked I tell you!

[Judi Lynn]

2. They spared the people of Brazil no expense as they overthrew their Presidential election, too. n/t

[L. Coyote]

9. Imagine the repercussion which surely follow now. A lot more participants need to be ousted.

This will reform the Brazilian government, if not lead to an actual coup or people's movement to get rid of these corrupt bastards.

[Peace Patriot]

3. O Lordy, are those guys in trouble! And I'm clapping with glee!

This is a great article! Lays it all out. Thieving, fascist, racist, sexist jerks!

I so hope this is the last gasp of the Coup Party in Latin America! And, if Sanders beats Clinton for the nomination**, and demolishes Trump (which he will surely do), I hope Honduras is the last gasp of U.S.-engineered regime change in that region.

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**(Everybody's got to see this, a vid of MSNBC's political analyst, apparently taken down at MSNBC's web site but found on Facebook, in which he establishes, beyond question, that Clinton CANNOT win the nomination before the convention. "The math" won't allow it. It's a very clear and convincing explanation.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512046916
https://www.facebook.com/susan.sanders.35325/videos/636912853123585/ )

[malaise]

6. Then pay close attention to Venezuela

These Parliamentary coups are all unconstitutional.
The 1% know that people in the hemisphere won't tolerate the military we're seeing new attempts to remove reformists who are hated by the 1%.

[malaise]

4. +1,000

and every rational human being knows this but the 1% everywhere are quite happy

[bemildred]

5. Guffaw. nt

[hatrack]

7. K&R - This is a big fucking deal!

.

[socialist_n_TN]

8. Yes it was. I hope that the people of Brazil will not stand for it........

nm

[L. Coyote]

10. Dilma Rousseff claims her downfall in Brazil is 'clearly' a 'coup' ...

Dilma Rousseff claims her downfall in Brazil is 'clearly' a 'coup' after leaked tape ensnares her critics
Donna Bowater, Rio de Janeiro 24 May 2016 • 5:10pm

Brazil’s suspended president has described the impeachment campaign as "more clearly than ever" a "coup" after leaked tapes suggested that her opponents were trying to remove her simply to halt a corruption probe.

In only her second public appearance since being removed from office pending a trial, Dilma Rousseff responded to new evidence suggesting that the aim of the impeachment process is stifle a massive corruption inquiry, known as the “Car Wash” probe.

“Now more than ever, the coup-mongering character of this impeachment process is clear," said Ms Rousseff.

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[L. Coyote]

11. Glenn Greenwald: Is It A Coup? What Is Happening in Brazil is Much Worse Than Donald Trump

Glenn Greenwald: Is It A Coup? What Is Happening in Brazil is Much Worse Than Donald Trump

Brazil is facing its worst political crisis in over two decades as opponents of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff attempt to impeach her on corruption charges. But Rousseff is refusing calls to resign, saying the impeachment proceedings against her amount to undemocratic attempts by the right-wing opposition to oust her from power. On Wednesday, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called the impeachment proceedings against Rousseff an attempted "coup d’état." We speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald. His piece, "Brazil Is Engulfed by Ruling Class Corruption—and a Dangerous Subversion of Democracy," recently was published by The Intercept.

======================
Greenwald:

Brazil is the world’s fifth most populous country and eighth-largest economy; its second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro, is the host of this year’s Summer Olympics. But much of this Western media coverage mimics the propaganda coming from Brazil’s homogenized, oligarch-owned, anti-democracy media outlets and, as such, is misleading, inaccurate, and incomplete, particularly when coming from those with little familiarity with the country (there are numerous Brazil-based Western reporters doing outstanding work).

It is difficult to overstate the severity of Brazil’s multi-level distress. This short paragraph yesterday from the New York Times’s Brazil bureau chief, Simon Romero, conveys how dire it is:

Brazil is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades. An enormous graft scheme has hobbled the national oil company. The Zika epidemic is causing despair across the northeast. And just before the world heads to Brazil for the Summer Olympics, the government is fighting for survival, with almost every corner of the political system under the cloud of scandal.

Brazil’s extraordinary political upheaval shares some similarities with the Trump-led political chaos in the U.S.: a sui generis, out-of-control circus unleashing instability and some rather dark forces, with a positive ending almost impossible to imagine. The once-remote prospect of President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment now seems likely.

But one significant difference with the U.S. is that Brazil’s turmoil is not confined to one politician. The opposite is true, as Romero notes: “almost every corner of the political system (is) under the cloud of scandal.”

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[lagomorph777]

12. I never thought it would fall apart so quickly

But I am delighted.

[L. Coyote]

13. News Release: New Brazil Minister Out After Revelations of Coup Plotting

What a dark day for the People of Brazil.

News Release
New Brazil Minister Out After Revelations of Coup Plotting

BBC is reporting: “Planning Minister Romero Jucá was caught on tape allegedly conspiring to obstruct the country’s biggest-ever corruption investigation.

“In the tapes, leaked by a newspaper, he appears to talk of stopping the probe at oil giant Petrobras by impeaching suspended President Dilma Rousseff.”

See also from the Guardian: “Brazil minister ousted after secret tape reveals plot to topple President Rousseff,” which states: “The credibility of Brazil’s interim government was rocked on Monday when a senior minister was forced to step aside amid further revelations about the Machiavellian plot to impeach president Dilma Rousseff.

“Just 10 days after taking office, the planning minister, Romero Jucá, announced that he would ‘go on leave’ following the release of a secretly taped telephone conversation in which he said Rousseff needed to be removed to quash a vast corruption investigation that implicated him and other members of the country’s political elite. … Romero Jucá, the recently appointed planning minister, was recorded saying: ‘We have to stop this shit. We have to change the government to be able to stop this bleeding.’”

MARIA LUISA MENDONÇA, marialuisam222 at gmail.com
Currently in the U.S., Mendonça is director of Brazil’s Network for Social Justice and Human Rights. She is also a professor in the international relations department at the University of Rio De Janeiro.

She was on “Democracy Now!” this morning and stated: “This new information confirms what we’ve been saying: This is a coup.”

She recently wrote the piece “Brazil’s Parliamentary Vote Is a Coup” for The Progressive. The piece states: “Mainstream media in Brazil has created the illusion that Rousseff’s removal from office was needed to solve corruption and an economic crisis. For more than a year, the main television networks called for demonstrations against the government and dedicated day after day of live coverage to them. At the same time, these media ignored large demonstrations in defense of the democratic process that re-elected Rousseff in 2014 with 51 percent of the vote. A key player is Globo TV, which is known for supporting the military dictatorship that lasted more than 20 years in Brazil. …

“More than half of the members of Brazil’s Congress face serious investigations of corruption. Former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who orchestrated and conducted the impeachment vote on April 17, has since been forced to step down by the Supreme Court on charges of corruption and maintaining illegal Swiss bank accounts. The interim president, Michel Temer, along with seven ministers all appointed by him, are also under investigation for corruption charges.

“Worse, only five hours after taking power, Temer eliminated the Controladoria Geral da Uniāo, a federal agency responsible for monitoring governmental contracts with private businesses, which was key to investigating corruption. That same day, he also eliminated the Ministers of Culture, of Communications, of Human Rights and Racial Equality, of Women, of Agriculture Development, and the Secretary of Control of Ports and Airports.”