President Dilma Rousseff's Government Surprisingly Accepting of Protesters
In her formal statement
concerning the protests, President Dilma Rousseff reminded the public, both
domestic and foreign, that the violence did not “detract from the peaceful
spirit of those who are out in the street.” She promptly met with leaders of
the rebellion, and from there developed a “national pact.” This pact included
five main points: continued assembly to consider political reform; making
corruption a felony, rather than a misdemeanor; a promise to invest 50 billion
reais ($23 billion) in city transport; more spending on health and education;
and a reiteration of the importance of fiscal policy.
It seems, however, that this solution is a
little too good to be true. A quick fix in this situation is as impossible as
in any other situation between a government and its people. Shortly after the
proposal, it was discovered that the promised continued assembly was in fact
unconstitutional. At the same time, Rousseff seemed to make little attempt at
cutting the government “bloat” that would allow her to pay for the better
services she had promised.
Of course such a turn
must be expected. After all, the entire reason the people were protesting was
to call attention to the corrupt politicians and misrepresentation. These high ranking
officials, profiting from the subversion of the lower class, would hardly want
to promote any change that would jeopardize their political, social, or
economic standing, no matter what the views of the president may be.
Yet despite the
seemingly gloomy prospects, some hope did come on June 25. On this date, the
Brazilian Congress overwhelmingly rejected a very controversial amendment that
would have lessened prosecutors’ powers to investigate the corruption of politicians.
Defeating this amendment was a common grievance to protesters, so this
rejection was a very significant move in their favor.
Overall small steps have
been made by the government to concede to the protesters, but significant
change is yet to come. With tensions still high, it will be interesting to see
how the Brazilian officials continue to deal with this situation. One thing, however,
is for certain and that is that the entire approach definitely does not match
the typical approach of a government in such a situation.
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