Photo
As an investigation continues into a bribery scandal at Petrobras, protesters gathered on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Credit
Felipe Dana/Associated President.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across
Brazil on Sunday to express their ire at President
Dilma Rousseff ,
raising pressure on her as she grapples with an onslaught of challenges
including an economy mired in stagnation, a sweeping bribery scandal
and a revolt by some of the most powerful figures in her governing
coalition.
The
protests, organized to coincide with commemorations of the
re-establishment of democracy 30 years ago after a long military
dictatorship, reflect rising disenchantment with Ms. Rousseff after
former executives at Petrobras, the national oil company, revealed an
elaborate
scheme in
which they said they channeled huge bribes from contractors to Ms.
Rousseff’s 2010 election campaign, in addition to enriching themselves
and legislators supporting her.
The
payoff racket coincided roughly with the period that Ms. Rousseff led
the company’s board of directors. While no testimony has surfaced
claiming that she personally profited from the scheme, calls for her
impeachment have been growing louder. Political analysts and even some
of Ms. Rousseff’s chief political opponents view impeachment as a
distant possibility. Yet with her approval ratings falling sharply, Ms.
Rousseff has seen her maneuvering room grow more limited to deal with a
range of urgent problems.
Photo
Approval ratings for President Dilma Rousseff, in São Paulo last week, have plummeted.
Credit
Paulo Whitaker/Reuters
Concerns
are growing over a sluggish economy expected to contract this year as
the boom of the previous decade recedes into memory. Brazil’s
once-strong currency, the real, has plunged 23 percent against the
dollar this year as investors cut their exposure to the economy.
Inflation has
climbed to
its highest level in nearly a decade as job losses mount, partly as a
result of the Petrobras scandal rippling through the Brazilian
oil industry , which has also been shaken by the worldwide plunge in petroleum prices.
“If
there was thievery all around her and they were looting Petrobras,
then, yes, the president is responsible,” said Joana Simões Lopes, 40, a
fashion designer who was among the protesters in Rio de Janeiro’s
seaside Copacabana district. “She should resign simply out of shame.”
Pointing
to rising polarization, some prominent supporters of Ms. Rousseff have
begun calling supporters of her ouster “golpistas,” or putschists,
claiming the movement reflects dissatisfaction among privileged
Brazilians rather than broad-based discontent.
But
in contrast to leaders elsewhere in the region who have responded to
rising dissent by spewing insults at their critics or cracking down with
security forces, Ms. Rousseff has taken a relatively nonconfrontational
approach. While she has acknowledged the corruption at Petrobras, she
contends there is no basis for impeachment.
“In this country, we all have the right to protest,” Ms. Rousseff, 67, said in a video posted over the weekend on her
Facebook page in which she alluded to her
past as
a guerrilla who opp
e reading the
0 comments:
Post a Comment