2015–16 protests in Brazil

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2015–16 protests in Brazil
275px
Top to bottom:
Demonstration in Brasília outside of the National Congress Building.
Thousands protesting on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Demonstration on Paulista Avenue in downtown São Paulo.
Date 13 March 2015 – present
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2015
15 March 2015, 12 April 2015,
16 August 2015, 13 December 2015
2016
13 March 2016, 16 March 2016,
18 March 2016
Location
 Brazil — 160 cities of 26 states and Federal District[1]
Worldwide — 6 cities[2][3]
Caused by
Goals
Resulted in
Parties to the civil conflict

Rousseff opponents

  • Outraged Online[11]
  • Come to Street[12]
  • Movement Straighten Brazil[13]
  • Opposition politicians[16]
Lead figures
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Free Brazil Movement

Outraged Online

Come to Street

  • Rogério Chequer[12]

Movement Straighten Brazil

  • Ricardo Salles[13]

Order of Attorneys of Brazil

Supporting parties
Change Brazil:

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB)
Units involved
Number

15 March 2015
~ 1,000,000[20] – 3,000,000[21]

12 April 2015
~ 696,000 – 1,500,000[22]

16 August 2015
~ 900,000[23]

13 December 2015
~ 83,000 – 407,000[23]

13 March 2016
~ 1,400,000 – 6,900,000[24] [25]

16 March 2016

+10,000[26]

13 March 2015
33,000 – 175,000[10]

16 December 2015
98,000 – 292,000[27]

18 March 2016

275,000 – 1,300,000[28]
Casualties and losses
Casualties
Injuries 3[29][30]
Arrested 20[31]

In 2015 and 2016, a series of protests in Brazil were held against corruption, denouncing the government of President Dilma Rousseff.[31] The protests were triggered by revelations that numerous politicians, mostly from Brazil's Workers' Party, were being investigated for accepting bribes from the state-owned energy company Petrobras from 2003 to 2010, while Rousseff was on the company's board of directors. The initial protests occurred on 15 March 2015, with protesters generally estimated to number from one to nearly 3 million,[21] taking to the streets to protest the scandal, as well as the country's poor economic situation. In response, the government introduced anti-corruption legislation. A second day of major protesting occurred on 12 April, with the estimated turnout of protesters, according to Globo News of Grupo Globo, ranging from 696,000 to 1,500,000.[22] On 16 August, protests were staged in all 26 of Brazil’s states.[32][33] in 200 cities.[34]

In March 2016, following allegations that Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, participated in money laundering and a prosecutor's order for his arrest, record numbers of Brazilians protested against the Rousseff government on 13 March 2016, with nearly 7 million citizens demonstrating.[24][25]

On 12 May 2016, the Senate of Brazil temporarily suspended Rousseff until the Senate reaches a verdict and replaced her with Vice President Michel Temer.[35]

Background

In 2015, approval ratings for President Dilma Rousseff dropped to record lows due to a slowing economy, increasing unemployment, a weakening currency and rising inflation.[31] Upper-class Brazilians stated that Rousseff could not manage the Brazilian economy. They also said that she used class tensions to benefit her political campaign by stating that her political opponents were "enemies of the poor," when, in fact, the poor felt betrayed because she had passed policies to avoid an investment-grade downgrade, which ended up supposedly hurting lower-class Brazilians.[31]

Corruption

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Main article: Corruption in Brazil

Operation Car Wash

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Main article: Petrobras scandal

In February 2014, an investigation by Brazilian Federal Police called "Operation Car Wash" placed the state-owned energy company Petrobras at the center of what became the largest corruption scandal in Brazil's history.[36][37] On 14 November 2014, police raids spanned six states and netted prominent Brazilian politicians and businessmen— including some Petrobras directors— who were placed under investigation in regards to "suspicious" contracts worth $22 billion.[36][37] When allegations that graft occurred while President Rousseff was part of the board of directors of Petrobras between 2003 to 2010; Brazilians became upset with the government and called for Rousseff's impeachment.[11] No evidence that Rousseff herself was involved in the scheme has been found, and she denies having any prior knowledge of it.[38] Further investigation found that there were various offshore accounts and collections of art that were held by those involved in the scandal.[39]

In March 2015, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors could investigate about 50 individuals, most belonging to the Workers' Party, for possible bribery and other crimes focused around Petrobras which allegedly allowed Brazilian lawmakers to secure millions of dollars for themselves and for political campaigns.[31] On 16 March 2015, prosecutors charged 27 people in the Petrobras scandal, including Workers Party treasurer João Vaccari Neto and Renato Duque, former head of services of Petrobras.[40] Neto was charged with corruption and money laundering that was possibly related to allegedly illegal campaign donations that was supposedly solicited from Duque.[11] Duque was arrested and denied "having money abroad or moving money abroad," while Neto's lawyer also denied allegations against him.[11] On 15 April 2015, Neto was arrested at his São Paulo home.[41] The Workers' Party charged that Neto's arrest was politically motivated.[41]

Lula da Silva allegations

File:Dilma reeleita com Lula.jpg
Millions of Brazilians continued protests against Rousseff (left) into 2016 following allegations that her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (right), was involved in money laundering.[24]

On 4 March 2016, Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had his home raided by the Federal Police after charges of corruption were made against him.[24][39][42] In the subsequent indictment, Lula was accused of money laundering and misrepresentation, with much of the allegations surrounding a luxury beachfront home with recent, costly additions that he never announced that he owned.[39] He faces ten years in prison if convicted. Investigators believed that this and another country house were possibly involved in the Petrobras funds, while further investigations were made to see if donations were made to his Lula Foundation.[42] Shortly thereafter, protests against Rousseff, who is Lula's protegee, were renewed on 14 March 2016 due to the tensions surrounding the investigation.[24][39]

On 15 March 2016, in testimony by the former leader of the Workers' Party, it was stated that Lula and Rousseff had been trying to block the Petrobras investigation while also alleging that Aécio Neves, the head of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (BSDP) and member of the Brazilian Federal Senate, may have been involved. The next day, Rousseff appointed Lula as her chief of staff in what "was widely seen as an attempt to protect him from the investigation because ministers and lawmakers can only be tried by Brazil’s Supreme Court". Later, a phone call between Rousseff and Lula was leaked, in which Rousseff called Lula's "terms of office" a "necessity"; prosecutors stated that this wiretap on Lula showed his attempts to impede investigations[26]

The phone call between Rousseff and Lula da Silva went as follows:[43]

Rousseff: Hello.

Lula da Silva: Hello.

Rousseff: Lula, let me tell you something.

Lula da Silva: Tell me, my dear.

Rousseff: It’s this, I am sending Messias round with the papers, so that we have them, just in case of necessity, that is the terms of office, right?

Lula da Silva: Uh-huh. Ok, ok.

Rousseff: That’s all, wait there, he is heading there.

Lula da Silva: OK, I’m here. I’ll wait.

Rousseff: Right?

Lula da Silva: OK.

Rousseff: Bye.

Lula da Silva: Bye, my dear.

Tens of thousands of Brazilians then began to protest nationwide that night after the recorded call was released, with some instances of violence recorded.[26]

Allegations of PMDB involvement

File:Presidência do Senado (17316399604).jpg
Eduardo Cunha (left) at a press conference with fellow PMDB member Renan Calheiros (middle) on 21 May 2015.

As investigations grew, allegations that members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) began to arise. Vice President Michel Temer faced impeachment proceedings in December 2015 but his fellow party member, President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, defended Temer and blocked the motion. Cunha, however, did grant impeachment proceedings against President Rousseff at the time. Months later in April 2016, a Supreme Court judge, Judge Mello, ruled Cunha's actions wrong and that Temer should face impeachment proceedings as well. Cunha, who would be third in line for the presidency, has also faced scrutiny for alleged money laundering through the Petrobras scandal. Fourth in line, the President of the Senate of Brazil and fellow party member of PMDB, Renan Calheiros, is also under investigation for his alleged involvement in the scandal as well.[44]

On 5 May 2016, Cunha was suspended as speaker of the lower house by Brazil's Supreme Court due to allegations that he attempted to intimidate members of Congress, and obstructed investigations into his alleged receipt of bribes.[45][46]

Economy

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Main article: Economy of Brazil

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, "[t]he real strengthened 0.6 percent to 3.2304 per dollar and has fallen 17.7 percent this year" and was the largest drop in value among "major currencies" that were observed by Bloomberg.[47] Bloomberg Businessweek also noted that Rousseff’s government raised taxes and slowed spending to avoid a credit rating downgrade "after years of ballooning spending and subsidized lending", that economic growth had stalled and that "inflation exceeds the ceiling of the target range".[47] The Petrobras scandal had also hurt the economy by causing a slowing of investments in both the industries of energy and construction.[48]

Demonstrations

2015

March

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File:Protestos de 15 de março de 2015 em Brasília.jpg
A demonstration in Brasília outside of the Cathedral of Brasília.
File:Protestos de 15 de março de 2015 em São Paulo-3.jpg
Protesters in São Paulo with a large Brazilian flag.

On 13 March, thousands of individuals related to the Workers' Party gathered in support of Rousseff and Petrobras in cities around Brazil.[10] Police stated that about 33,000 participated in the protests while the pro-government organizers[who?] said about 175,000 supporters demonstrated.[10] On 15 March, mass protests occurred across Brazil. Although crowd size estimates differ, most calculations put the number at roughly one million nationwide.[20]

Police estimated the number at 2.4 million and organizers[who?] at three million, with hundreds of thousands to over a million demonstrators in São Paulo, about 50,000 in Brasília and thousands in other cities,[21] with many protesters wearing yellow and green clothing similar to the Brazil football team and Brazilian flag.[10][31] In São Paulo, police stated that at the start of the protest, there were approximately 580,000 demonstrators originally participating but the numbers grew quickly by about 4,000 people every two minutes.[10] Datafolha estimated a different number of protesters, stating that 210,000 demonstrators protested at some point and that 188,000 did so at the same time.[49] On Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, thousands protested and collected signatures directed at impeaching President Rousseff.[10] The protest occurred on the 30th anniversary when Brazil's democracy was reinstated after a military dictatorship. Meanwhile, it was possible to see some demonstrators at the protest asking for a military intervention against Rouseff.[31][50] Many of the protesters on 15 March demanded the impeachment of Rousseff while demonstrating.[10]

April

File:Atos pró e contra o impeachment na Esplanada.jpg
Anti-impeachment (left) and pro-impeachment (right) camps protest on the 17th of April.

Brazilians protested again on 12 April, with police saying there were about 696,000 people involved while protest organizers[who?] stated there were about 1,500,000 demonstrators.[22] In São Paulo, protesters were numbered between 275,000 by police and 1,000,000 by organizers[who?].[22] In Rio de Janeiro on Copacabana Beach, there were less demonstrators than 15 March protests but several thousands protesters still demonstrated.[22] Those participating in the demonstrations sang rock songs that dated back to the protests against the Brazilian military dictatorship.[38] The protesters still believed that President Rousseff knew about the scandal beforehand and demanded her to step down or called for her impeachment.[22][38] Analysts stated that the smaller turnout could show that the protests would eventually come to a halt and the movement would end.[51] Protest organizers[who?] combated such statements saying that the movement had spread to smaller cities in Brazil compared to 15 March protests.[52]

On 15 April, labor organizations protested against a law that permitted companies to treat workers as independent contractors, with the protests spreading through 19 Brazilian states with demonstrators blocking roads.[41]

Fieldwork using quantitative methods conducted in the 12 April protests by researchers based at the University of São Paulo in the city of São Paulo,[53] and by Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais professors in Belo Horizonte[54] showed that several features of the specific profile of protesters out in the streets. In São Paulo, they were composed by a large majority of very high income groups, mostly white, with a large degree of mistrust of political parties, especially those on the left (but with a strong belief in Aécio Neves, the defeated candidate in the 2014 national elections), revealing a preference for ultraconservative political journalism, and with the belief that the Workers' Party has a project for implementing a communist regime in Brazil. In Belo Horizonte, the majority of protesters identified themselves mostly as connected to centrist or right-wing political beliefs; supporting the idea that the federal government's distributive policies and proposing as a desired outcome for the president's legitimacy problem, in first place her resignation, followed by her impeachment, and with a call for military intervention as the third most frequent response, with a majority of protesters agreeing with the need for military intervention (when asked that specific question in a yes or no format).

Other protests

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Subsequent protests occurred on 16 August and on 13 December.

2016

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File:Brazil protest 2016 March.jpg
Thousands of protesters march en route to the National Congress building in Brasilia on 13 March 2016.
File:Manifestação (25509017660).jpg
Demonstration in front of the National Congress.
File:Brazil protest 16 March 2016.jpg
Thousands of Brazilians protesting outside Palácio do Planalto, the presidential palace, on 16 March 2016.

March

In what was described as "record Brazil protests", between 3.6 to 6.9 million Brazilians protested against the Rousseff government nationwide on 13 March 2016 following the call for her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's arrest due to money laundering charges. Protests roamed through over 337 cities, from the jungle town of Manaus to the capital city of Brasilia, with demonstrators demanding Rousseff to resign. In São Paulo alone, approximately 1,4 million protested in Brazil's yellow and green apparel according to police officials, the largest demonstration in the history of the city. Though the protests were mainly attended by the middle class, it was reported that support of Rousseff among the poor has dropped due to the country's economic difficulties.[24] Balloons of Lula da Silva in a striped prison outfit named Pixuleco were also seen during the protests.[39]

On 16 March 2016, sudden protests occurred after further allegations were made against Rousseff and Lula da Silva. After Rousseff appointed Lula da Silva as her chief of staff, a move that was seen as defending him from investigation, leaked audio of a call between the two regarding Lula da Silva's appointment was released to the public. With Rousseff describing his appointment as a "necessity", the public grew outraged, with Brazilians suddenly protesting nationwide. In Brasilia, 5,000 people demonstrated outside of the president's palace and were dispersed with pepper spray and stun grenades when they approached the National Congress Palace. In São Paulo, thousands more protested while in another 5,000 protested in Porto Alegre with protests reaching throughout 18 states.[26]

In 18 March 2016, the Order of Attorneys of Brazil, by 26 votes to 2, decided to support the impeachment of Rousseff based on the opinion of the federal advisor Erick Venâncio.[14][15]

Reactions

Government response

President Rousseff expressed that she defended the right to protest but characterized them as a move against her by opposition politicians and business elites.[31] During the week following 15 March protest, President Rousseff stated that she was also open to dialogue while also mentioning that she may have made mistakes with her economic policies.[48]

Anti-corruption measures

File:Dilma Rousseff comenta os protestos de 15 de março de 2015.jpg
President Rousseff commenting on 15 March 2015 protests.

Following 15 March protests, the Brazilian government announced that "a package of anti-corruption measures" was on its way to being presented according to Secretary General Miguel Rossetto and Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo.[47] Cardozo also stated that the government would participate in dialogue and that there should be "a ban on corporate finance of electoral campaigns".[47] On 18 March, President Rousseff introduced the anti-corruption package which had included measures that would result in up to 10 years in prison corrupt individuals and fines from 5 to 10 times the amount of money involved with any action.[55] The package would also subject more individuals in all branches of the Brazilian government to the 2010 Ficha Limpa act, a law that makes an individual ineligible to participate in the government for eight years if they had been impeached, had resigned to avoid impeachment or are convicted of a wrongful action by a judiciary panel.[55]

Public opinion

In February 2015, month before protests began, Rouseff's approval rating dropped 19 points to 23% with 44% disapproving of her in Datafolha polls.[10][48] Following 15 March protests, Rouseff's approval rating fell even further to only 13% with a 62% disapproval rating, one of the highest disapproval ratings in the past 20 years of any president.[48] Other polls by Datafolha performed on 9 and show of 10 April showed that 63% believed President Rousseff "should face impeachment proceedings" while less than 15% knew that the vice president, Michel Temer, would become president if Rousseff was impeached.[52]

In CNT/MDA polls performed in March 2015, 10.8% of Brazilians approved of Rouseff's government and 59.7 wanted her impeached.[56] In July 2015, the CNT/MDA showed a lower approval rating of 7.7% and 62.8% of Brazilians wanting her impeachment.[56]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  49. ↑ Data Folha 15/02/2015
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