Fascism comes to Brazil (but there's still hope)

[luiz]

People here surely remember the thread I started on the Brazilian Presidential elections; on how all polling institues predicted a first round victort of the government candidate but she received less than 47% of the valid votes, falling outside the margin of error of all pollsters.

I stated then that I believed the government had a 70% chance of victory, but unlike their propagandists, I believed the opposition had a real shot at winning. I was proven right: just a week after the second round polls were pointing to a tie between the two candidates. This has however led to absolue desperation by the government, who now have real reasons to fear they would have to answer for the (literally) billions of dollars they stole from the State. So they have employed the dirtiest, most fascistic tactics possible. They have used all state institutions for that. The President doesn't even step in his office; he keeps campaigning every day, using taxpayer money for that.

But now they have crossed two lined. Their stormtroopers have attacked the opposition candidate; and if that is not enough the President himself went on live TV to ridicule the victim and deny there was any attack. The President even attacked the credibility of the doctor that treated the opposition candidate.
It was last night proven by forensic experts that he was indeed attacked, and so had real reason to go to the doctor as he did.

Perhaps even worse, the government used the Federal Police to try to blame the opposition for a grotesque crime they commited. Yesterday it was proven that the government version was a lie.

I'll post the Portuguese version and an English translation by me of an article published in todays's papers by Merval Pereira, in my opinion the finest political analyst in Brazil. I demand that my fellow Brazilian Argawaen, who had defended the government in my other thread even though he recognised this government is hopelessly corrupt, comes forward and answers if he is indeed a fascist. FredLC said he would give his fulll opinion later on; I ask him to do it here and now. Brazilians cannot stand quiet while the President himself throws the Constitution on the garbage and behaves like a drunken, uneducated Mussolini.

Here's the original article:

Spoiler :

Sobre farsas

Não satisfeito de ter transgredido todas as normas legais relativas à campanha eleitoral no afã de eleger a candidata que tirou da cartola, o presidente Lula na reta final da eleição perdeu qualquer vislumbre de constrangimento que porventura ainda tivesse e passou a fazer campanha política 24 horas por dia, antes, durante e depois do expediente oficial de presidente da República, em todas as dependências oficiais do governo.

E participou diretamente nos dois últimos dias de duas das mais vergonhosas tentativas de farsas políticas da história recente do país.

Ontem, ele se despiu dos rigores do cargo e assumiu o papel do cabo eleitoral mais energúmeno que possa haver.

(Antes que algum petista desavisado ache que estou xingando Sua Excelência, devo esclarecer que utilizo o termo energúmeno no sentido de "fanático". A palavra parece um palavrão, mas não é.

Na coluna de ontem, escrevi que Serra fora atingido por um "artefato" e houve petistas exaltados que vissem no termo um sentido alarmante que ele não tem. Usa-se a palavra para definir "qualquer objeto manufaturado". Como não sabia o que havia atingido o candidato tucano, usei a palavra. E acertei, como veremos).

Voltando ao caso, o cabo eleitoral Lula da Silva disse que a agressão sofrida por Serra era uma "mentira descarada".

Segundo ele, depois de ver imagens das redes Record e SBT, ficou convencido de que Serra fora atingido por uma bolinha de papel e seguiu caminhando por mais 20 minutos, quando recebeu um telefonema "de algum assessor da publicidade da campanha que sugeriu parar de caminhar e pôr a mão na cabeça para criar um factoide".

Para encerrar o festival de irresponsabilidades, Lula comparou o caso ao do goleiro chileno Rojas, que fingiu ter sido atingido por um rojão num jogo contra o Brasil.

Ontem, o Jornal Nacional demonstrou, com o auxílio de um perito, que quem criou um factoide com claros objetivos políticos foram as reportagens que montaram dois momentos diferentes como se fossem uma sequência, tentando desqualificar o que foi uma atitude política digna dos regimes fascistas.

Serra foi atingido, sim, por uma bobina de papel crepe (o tal "artefato") que, arremessado com força, pode provocar danos graves na pessoa atingida.

A agressividade dos cabos eleitorais petistas em si mesma já era motivo para preocupação, pois em democracias não é aceitável que grupos tentem impedir outros de se manifestar.

Desse ponto de vista, é lamentável o que ocorreu ontem em Curitiba, quando a candidata oficial foi recebida com bolas de água jogadas de cima de prédios. Se atingissem alguém, elas seriam tão perigosas quanto o "artefato" que atingiu Serra.

O que não é comparável é a origem dos dois fatos. O primeiro foi uma ação política orquestrada com a intenção de agredir o candidato oposicionista. A outra é uma irresponsabilidade.

Na quarta-feira, Lula havia anunciado para os jornalistas a conclusão de um inquérito que a Polícia Federal realizou sobre a quebra de sigilo fiscal de parentes e pessoas ligadas ao candidato da oposição José Serra.

O próprio presidente, depois de ter tentado desqualificar as denúncias sugerindo que se tratava de uma ação eleitoreira de Serra, viu-se obrigado a convocar a Polícia Federal para investigar o caso.

Soube em primeira mão o resultado do inquérito e pareceu satisfeito, tanto que anunciou aos jornalistas, sem que fosse perguntado, que a Polícia Federal iria revelar "a verdade dos fatos", que nada tinha a ver com "as versões".

De fato, a Polícia Federal retirou todo caráter político da investigação, e anunciou que o responsável pela compra dos sigilos quebrados era o jornalista Amaury Ribeiro Junior quando ainda trabalhava no jornal "Estado de Minas".

O PT passou então a espalhar a versão de que se tratava de uma briga interna dos tucanos, e que o serviço sujo fora feito para ajudar Aécio Neves na disputa interna com Serra pela indicação a candidato do partido a presidente.

A suposição era de que o jornal "Estado de Minas" mantinha estreita ligação com Aécio e designara seu repórter investigativo para devassar a vida de seu adversário.

O próprio Amaury Ribeiro Junior disse que fizera os levantamentos "para proteger Aécio", mas em nenhum momento afirmou que fora designado pelo jornal para tal tarefa, apenas insinuava o vínculo.

Não bastou que o jornal e Aécio desmentissem essa hipótese, a rede de intrigas petista passou a anunciar como verdade o "fogo amigo" tucano como gerador da quebra dos sigilos fiscais.

Pois ontem a verdade veio à tona: o jornalista não estava mais trabalhando para o "Estado de Minas" quando encomendou a quebra de sigilo dos parentes de Serra e de pessoas ligadas a ele no PSDB, e agora acusa o petista Rui Falcão, coordenador da campanha de Dilma, de ter roubado os dados de seu computador.

Esses dados, juntamente com a informação de que havia sido criado um grupo de espionagem dentro da campanha, foram vazados para a imprensa em decorrência de uma disputa de poder entre Fernando Pimentel, responsável pela contratação dessa equipe de "jornalistas investigativos" para trabalhar no "setor de inteligência" da campanha, e Rui Falcão.

Agora a Polícia Federal tem a obrigação de prosseguir nas investigações para saber quem financiou o jornalista Amaury Ribeiro Junior desde a compra dos sigilos até que surgisse oficialmente como membro da campanha dilmista no tal "setor de inteligência".

Do jeito que as coisas ficaram, a sensação é de que a Polícia Federal foi usada pelo governo para revelar, às vésperas do segundo turno da eleição, apenas informações que prejudicassem o campo oposicionista.

A nota indignada do diretor-geral da Polícia Federal, Luiz Fernando Corrêa, repudiando o uso político das investigações, só pode ser considerada se a atitude da Polícia Federal corresponder a ela, o que não aconteceu até agora.

And my translation:

On farses

Not content to have violated all legal norms concerning the election campaign in his eagerness to elect the candidate who he invented from nowhere, President Lula in the election's final moments lost any hint of embarrassment he might still have had and is now occupied with political campaigning 24 hours a day - before, during and after the hours he was supposed to be working as president, in all the premises of the government.

And he directly participated in the last two days in two of the most shameful and farcical political attempts in the recent history of the country.

Yesterday, he stripped the rigors of office and assumed the role of the most fanatical campaigner possible.

In yesterday's column, I wrote that Serra had been hit by an "artifact" and there were members of the Workers' Party who got angry at me for using the term. I used the word to define "any manufactured object." Not knowing what had hit the PSDB candidate, I used the word. And got it right, as we shall see.

Returning to the case, the canvasser Lula da Silva said that the assault on Serra was a "blatant lie".

According to him, after seeing images of the TV networks Record and SBT, he became convinced that Serra had been hit by a ball of paper and walked for another 20 minutes when he received a phone call "from someone of the advertising campaign who suggested stop walking and put his hand on the head to create a factoid. "

To add to this festival of irresponsibility, Lula compared the case to the Chilean goalkeeper Rojas, who pretended to have been hit by a firecracker in a game against Brazil.

Yesterday, the Jornal Nacional [Brazil's most watched TV news] has shown, with the aid of an expert, that those who created that factoid with clear political goals were the stories that set up two different episodes as if it were a sequel, trying to discredite the adversary in a political attitude worthy of fascist regimes.

Serra was indeed hit, by a coil of tape (the so-called "artifact") that, hurled with force, can cause severe damage to the affected person.

The aggressiveness of canvassers of the Workers' Party itself was already a cause for concern, since in democracies it is not acceptable that groups seek to prevent others from speaking up.

From this point of view, it is unfortunate what happened yesterday in Curitiba, where the official candidate was greeted with water balls thrown off of apartment buildings. If they had reached someone, they could be as dangerous as the "artifact" that hit Sierra.

What is not comparable is the origin of two facts. The first was a political action orchestrated with the intention of attacking the opposition candidate. The other is irresponsility of private actors.

On Wednesday, Lula announced to reporters the conclusion of an investigation that the Federal Police carried out regarding the breaking of tax secrecy of relatives and people linked to opposition candidate José Serra.

The president himself, after he attempted to discredit the allegations suggesting that it was an action of electioneering by Serra, was forced to call the Federal Police to investigate.

He heard firsthand the result of the investigation and seemed satisfied, so much so that told journalists, without being asked, that the Federal Police would reveal "the true facts" that had nothing to do with "versions".

In fact, the Federal Police withdrew all political character of the investigation, and announced that behind the illegal purchase of the secret information was journalist Amaury Ribeiro Junior while he was working in the newspaper "Estado de Minas."

The Workers' Party then spread the story that it was an internal fight of toucans [symbol of the opposition party], and that the dirty work had been done to help Aecio Neves in a domestic dispute with Serra regarding the indication of the party's candidate for president.

The assumption was that the newspaper "Minas" maintained close liaison with Aecio and appointed their investigative reporter to penetrate the life of his internal opponent.

Amaury Ribeiro Junior himself said he had made withdrawals "to protect Aecio," but at no time said that the newspaper had been appointed for this task, only hinted at the link.

It wasn't enough that the newspaper and Aecio denied this assumption, the web of intrigue of the Workers' Party went on to announce as truth the toucan "friendly fire" as the generator of the breach of tax secrecy.

Yesterday however the truth came out: the journalist was no longer working for the "Estado de Minas" when ordered to break the secrecy of the relatives of Serra and persons linked to him in the PSDB, and now he accuses the member of the Workers' Party Rui Falcão, who is also the coordinator of Dilma presidential campaign, of having stolen the data from his computer.

These informations, together with the fact they had created an espionage group within the government campaign group, were leaked to the press due to a power struggle between Fernando Pimentel, responsible for hiring this team of "investigative journalists" to work on the "intelligence sector" of the campaign, and Rui Falcão.

Now the Federal Police has an obligation to pursue the investigation to know who funded the journalist Amaury Ribeiro Junior from the purchase of secrets until he officially became a member of Dilma's campaign [which he did!] in this so-called "intelligence sector".

The way things were, the feeling is that the Federal Police was used by the government to leak, on the eve of the runoff election, only information that might harm the opposing camp.

The outraged statement of the general director of the Federal Police, Luiz Fernando Corrêa, repudiating the political use of such investigations can only be considered if the attitude of the Federal Police matches it, which has not happened so far.

CFC, if this fascist monster wins (and I still believe she has a 70% chance of winning) I intend to emmigrate and renounce my brazilian citizenship.

I'll probably try to be transferred to the US or the UK by the company I work at, since that's where they have most business anyway. But if that fails I'll leave this place by myself while I still can. Any suggestions of countries or states within countries that have good career opportunities for an Industrial Engineer with a good understanding of the steel sector and corporate finance? I seriously appreciate all help.

 

[W|M]

If you have a 70% popularity rating, and your not in America, it means you're good.

 

[Tee Kay]

I stopped reading this thread at "fascism".

 

[Riffraff]

So the question is whether or not the guy dived after being hit by a coil of tape? The political equivalent to this maybe...

 

[W|M]

Merval Pereira isn't exactly unbiased. When comparing Dilma to Mussolini, remember that Serra is closer to Mussolini on a political scale. Brazil is the 8th biggest economy in the world, and predicted to be 5th, soon. That wasn't the case before Lula came onto the scene.

 

[Camikaze]

The OP is written as if Dilma personally took a baseball bat to the opposition candidate's head, and then used her secret police to cover it up. IMO, simply from your own translation, you've turned a story about misbehaved party members, a dodgy staffer and politicians being political into a seeming conspiracy to take away everyone's freedom led by a criminal syndicate.

 

[Arwon]

Hang on. I haven't actually seen a straight-up description of what happened. Someone threw a thing at the dude?

 

[classical_hero]

I stopped reading this thread at "fascism".

Well it is an accurate description of what happened. Would you not say that attacking opposition politicians as being something that a fascist would do.

 

[Arwon]

I seem to recall one of Wyatt Roy's supporters assaulted a Labor supporter during the last Australian electoral campaign. What a fascist.

Incidentally, here's an actual news report from an actual news source..

 

[amadeus]

Typical of the "urban guerrillas," is it not?

 

[Arwon]

Throwing rolls of tape? Maybe at the Rot Armee Fraktion comedy players slapstick night.

 

[Bill3000]

Well it is an accurate description of what happened. Would you not say that attacking opposition politicians as being something that a fascist would do.

nope, southern

 

[Agent327]

Fascism came to Brazil in the 20th century. I don´t see any mention of it here.

Well it is an accurate description of what happened. Would you not say that attacking opposition politicians as being something that a fascist would do.

That´s hardly relevant; calling all violent incidents "fascist" would mean rewriting the whole of parliamentary history. It´s simply misuse of a term under which millions suffered.

 

[luiz]

If you have a 70% popularity rating, and your not in America, it means you're good.

There is no 70% popularity. That's a lie. The goverment candidate has at most 50% of the total votes. Where is that popularity?

I stopped reading this thread at "fascism".

I stop reading your posts after "taillesskangaru".

Moderator Action: If you don't like what another member posts, then just ignore it; don't announce it to the whole forum.

Merval Pereira isn't exactly unbiased. When comparing Dilma to Mussolini, remember that Serra is closer to Mussolini on a political scale. Brazil is the 8th biggest economy in the world, and predicted to be 5th, soon. That wasn't the case before Lula came onto the scene.

Merval Pereira is entitles to his opinions. He is a political analyst, not a reporter.

The fact that the Brazilian economy is the 8th os the world (that's debatable) is irrelevant. Is the Chinese government good?

The OP is written as if Dilma personally took a baseball bat to the opposition candidate's head, and then used her secret police to cover it up. IMO, simply from your own translation, you've turned a story about misbehaved party members, a dodgy staffer and politicians being political into a seeming conspiracy to take away everyone's freedom led by a criminal syndicate.

Read everything.

If the President of the Republic had condemned his party members that did the attacking, the issue would be minor. But instead of that he went on live TV and lied about what happened, and tried to accuse the opposition candidate of lying.

Also, don't ignore the part of the story about the illegal espionage scheme created by the Workers' Party and how they tried to blame the opposition for it.

Hang on. I haven't actually seen a straight-up description of what happened. Someone threw a thing at the dude?

The headline of the biggest Brazilian newspaper today was: "new video proves Lula was wrong"

Also, don't ignore the part of the story about the illegal espionage scheme created by the Workers' Party and how they tried to blame the opposition for it.

------------------

Guys, read the whole thing before writing your automatic "must defend everything left" BS. The fascism accusation is not being made just because of the aggression, but because of the reaction of the frekin' President, trying to blame the victim. And also because of the espionage scheme that was uncovered and they tried unsuccesfully to blame at the opposition.

I, and many others Brazilians (just read any newspaper today), are calling that fascism.

 

[Tee Kay]

I stop reading your posts after "taillesskangaru".

Good choice.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I have a free room to rent.

 

[Arwon]

Guys, read the whole thing before writing your automatic "must defend everything left" BS.

It's actually more "must mock luiz's paranoid class warrior hyperbole" but I can see how in your earnestness you'd get confused.

I mean dude, you've said yourself they're all lefty parties... why would we evil lefty scum play favourites?

 

[Azale]

Wow, fascism has really let itself go in the last 70 years.

 

[Camikaze]

Read everything.

My response was to everything in your post.

If the President of the Republic had condemned his party members that did the attacking, the issue would be minor. But instead of that he went on live TV and lied about what happened, and tried to accuse the opposition candidate of lying.

That's why I said 'politicians being political'.

Also, don't ignore the part of the story about the illegal espionage scheme created by the Workers' Party and how they tried to blame the opposition for it.

'A dodgy staffer'.

 

[amadeus]

I have a free room to rent.

Typical of the landed class (you) to exploit the poor third worlder (luiz.)