Brazil Protests: Vice President Says Government is Paying Attention to Demostrators Asking for Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff
According to Brazilian Vice President Michel Temerto, the government is "paying attention" to recent demonstrations calling for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.
Dissatisfied and furious over a corruption kickback scandal at the state-run oil company Petrobras, as well the nation’s falling currency coupled with a spiraling inflation rate, Brazilians voiced their frustration with the current administration this past Sunday in streets across the country.
Rousseff is a former chairwoman at Petrobras. She has in no way been implicated in the kickback scandal.
As reported by The Associated Press, Temer addressed the concerns of the protesters saying the government "needs to identify what the demands (of the demonstrations) are and attend to those demands."
President Rousseff has yet to respond directly about Sunday's protests, which were smaller than the protests held last month.
Beyond her impeachment, what the protesters, who have gotten together mostly via social media, are demanding are a loosening of current gun control laws as well as the initiation of a military coup.
Jeff Lesser, a Brazilian history expert at Emory University, wrote about the perception of the multiple demands saying: "There is little indication that the opposition forces have plans other than being 'against' the current president."
Carlos Melo, who hails from of the Sao Paulo-based Insper business school, said that the smaller number of protests appears to have lessened the immediate pressure on the government, stipulating that "If things worsen, the pressure will increase."
Since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985, there has been one presidential impeachment. Fernando Collor de Mello, the 32nd President of Brazil, was impeached in 1992.
As bad as things are in Brazil, there are some advantages to be had in the weak economy.
Traveling by air for instance has become considerably more affordable.
In the worst economic year since 1992, domestic flights are coming down in price.
As reported in Skift, the country’s three biggest carriers (Azul SA, Gol, and Tam) are discounting tickets in order to keep their planes as full as possible.
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