{"id":32602,"date":"2016-09-07T12:58:17","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T15:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=32602"},"modified":"2016-09-08T10:48:04","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T13:48:04","slug":"what-does-dilmas-impeachment-mean-for-favela-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=32602","title":{"rendered":"What Does Dilma’s Impeachment Mean for Favela Residents?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For the original article by Miriane Peregrino\u00a0in Portuguese\u00a0published by Jornal O Cidad\u00e3o click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Wednesday August 31, the senate approved the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff<\/a> of the Workers Party (PT) with 61 votes for and 20 votes against, despite\u00a0the fact that there was no crime of\u00a0fiscal responsibility. The majority of senators that voted for Dilma’s exit are answering their own charges of corruption\u00a0for involvement\u00a0in Operation Car Wash<\/a>. The interim president, Michel Temer of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), is also one of those accused in the operation and was formerly an ally of the PT government.<\/p>\n

Recognizing that Dilma\u2019s impeachment is a parliamentary coup that removes a democratically elected president\u00a0with a majority vote in the 2014 elections (there were 54.5 million votes for Dilma and 51 million for A\u00e9cio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, PSDB) and a clean record, thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country to shout: \u201cOut with Temer!\u201d<\/p>\n

In Rio, demonstrators gathered at 5pm in Cinel\u00e2ndia<\/a> and marched through the streets of\u00a0Centro<\/a>\u00a0until they reached the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly (Alerj). Some demanded “direct elections now” and called for a “general strike.” Since May 12 when Dilma was removed from office,\u00a0interim President\u00a0Michel Temer has announced a series of unpopular measures such as cutting certain labor rights (Christmas bonuses, holidays, pensions, maternity leave, child care and many others) which directly affect workers’\u00a0lives.<\/p>\n

\"Protest<\/a><\/p>\n

Resident of the Acari<\/a> favela, Esteban Crescente, spoke during the protest. He observed that despite the new\u00a0measures affecting workers,\u00a0the protest had little participation from favela residents and raising awareness of\u00a0these issues is needed so that a proposed general strike would work out.<\/p>\n

For Mario Cavalcante de Abreu, 30, resident of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>, some issues\u00a0that emerged on Wednesday in Rio were pointless: “I hoped that the protest would be more radical but as it was during the whole process of the coup, the left faltered and downgraded to protesting losing issues. Yesterday, some of that was shown asking for a ‘referendum\u2019 and \u2018a new constituency.\u2019”<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that a “general election” and “direct elections now” were also among the demands of the protesters. However, how can you effectively demand new elections when results of the 2014 elections aren\u2019t respected and a president who has committed no crime has been removed?<\/p>\n

Mario remembers that the PT government \u201cbroke with the best aspects of their party’s history, policy and discourse and frustrated the expectations of their popular support base.\u201d This\u00a0increased the demobilization of workers and meant there was much less participation from residents of Rio\u2019s periphery\u00a0in the demonstrations to defend Dilma\u2019s mandate: \u201cThe poorer, black and\/or favela population doesn\u2019t come out in the streets to defend democracy, legality and the abstract idea of the State because it is not our reality. In Rio de Janeiro, more than 50% of people live in the periphery of the city and there exists a state of exception<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\""Direct<\/a><\/p>\n

Residents from the Cerro Cor\u00e1<\/a> favela, twins Janderson and Jeferson Dias, 26, participated in the demonstration against the impeachment: \u201cThe impeachment was a guarantee of privilege for various conservative sectors of the population and the right wing of society. Over the course of the last 13 years, they couldn’t stand and didn’t\u00a0want to see the inclusion of favelas in policy and we are a\u00a0large part of the working class,\u201d affirmed Jeferson.<\/p>\n

Janderson commented on one of Temer\u2019s pronouncements and its consequence for favelas: \u201cYesterday I saw an announcement from the coup\u2019s president which caught my attention because it said he was going to pacify Brazil. I recalled the pacification model in Rio’s favelas<\/a> which only ended up bringing police<\/a> while\u00a0basic services such as health<\/a>, housing<\/a>\u00a0and education<\/a> remain lacking. He is already implementing unpopular measures which will directly affect us favela residents. We know that this government wants to reduce the public health system<\/a>. The majority\u00a0of the people who use this service is us. This government wasn\u2019t chosen by popular vote, it has no reason to provide for\u00a0us. We will have to keep resisting as we have always done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mar\u00e9 residents also position themselves against the impeachment<\/h3>\n

Gizele Martins<\/a>, 31, a community journalist from Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> says:<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t believe in any government. I don’t think they’ll ever guarantee any kind of rights for all of the population. I believe they’ll only govern for themselves and a rich minority. But if the people stopped to assess the PT government of Lula or Dilma, it was an era which at least guaranteed basic rights to the poor, although\u00a0not\u00a0for all poor people and it didn\u2019t guarantee a total move to social equality. The Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/a>\u00a0program, affirmative action in university placements<\/a>, Bolsa Fam\u00edlia<\/a>, scholarships and other social programs made a difference to poorer people\u00a0during these years. It was the first time we went to university, the first time many\u00a0got a\u00a0house, the first time many were able to pay for university, or to have a scholarship\u00a0so your kids could keep going to school. Remembering these small changes in our rights is a huge thing for those who never had anything. On top of that they were only guaranteed to the poorer population after\u00a0decades of struggle.<\/p>\n

With the impeachment, it looks like these rights are at risk. The PT government at least pretended to act for the masses and gave us the guarantee of basic rights. But now? This new government, \u2018guaranteed\u2019 by a coup, and made up of rich men who will never think about the poor, black, favela, or Northeastern people. I think we favela residents\u00a0will suffer a decline in the\u00a0basic rights that we fought so hard to obtain. It\u2019s the public universities, public health care, public education and affordable housing that we stand a great risk to lose out on.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alan Felix, 29,\u00a0is a worker, attended university entrance exam classes at night and is now studying geography at Rio’s Federal University (UFRJ). He says:<\/p>\n

“The working class will suffer most from this setback, and especially those who live in favelas. The PMDB doesn\u2019t govern for the poor, it governs for the elite. I have many criticisms of the PT, I don\u2019t agree with many bad alliances they made.\u00a0They paid for this with the impeachment. I always liked the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), but I cannot ignore the fact that the PT did so much for the poor. Bolsa Fam\u00edlia is a really important example of this, as is the fact that I, a favela resident from Mar\u00e9, study at UFRJ thanks to the quotas introduced during Dilma’s presidency. And if I can\u00a0travel by airplane<\/a> it\u2019s really thanks to the PT. Who knows what will happen now in the country or if I will be able to fly in a plane again. I\u2019m the son of a semi-illiterate father and my mother will finish first grade now at almost 60 years of age. The increase in affirmative action by President Dilma allowed the son of a Northeastern worker to get into one of the best universities in the country. In my opinion, this impeachment was already being articulated a long time ago. It was their plan B if A\u00e9cio didn\u2019t win the elections. PMDB had almost a hegemony in parliament, they just needed the presidency to rule and therefore staged this intervention.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\""Out<\/a><\/p>\n

“Out with Temer” demonstrations happening on September 7<\/h3>\n

Today,\u00a0Wednesday September 7, Brazil’s Independence Day, the Grito dos Exclu\u00eddos<\/a> (Cry of the Excluded) protests are being\u00a0marked by “Out with Temer!” Various social movements<\/a> and left wing parties have come together to demonstrate\u00a0on this day\u00a0throughout Brazil ever since 1995.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Grito dos Exclu\u00eddos is an anual movement in Brazil’s\u00a0protest calendar. In Rio de Janeiro, it represents a resistance<\/a> movement of the poorest members of society against injustices of the State,\u201d says Mario Cavalcante.<\/p>\n

Gizele Martins also asserts the importance of today’s\u00a0action<\/a>\u00a0after an official parade on Avenida Presidente Vargas in downtown Rio: \u201cOn September\u00a07 we need the people to occupy the streets, raise their voice and cry out against the coup, against the lack of rights, against all the threats we are suffering from with this change in government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The streets were, are, and always will be the main arena where the people can express their dissatisfaction, put pressure on the government and demand change. Throughout history, workers\u2019 rights have always been won through hard fights. Nothing was given as a gift from the masters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original article by Miriane Peregrino\u00a0in Portuguese\u00a0published by Jornal O Cidad\u00e3o click here. On Wednesday August 31, the senate approved the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":32603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1294,1668,1288,1328,1290,1333,1330],"tags":[555,400,697,1261,168,1098,517,280,32,698,25,2012,2039,2010,157,37,374,671,18,2040,130],"writer":[1532],"translator":[1344],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communitymedia","8":"category-participationwatch","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-by-community-contributors","11":"category-civilsociety","12":"category-event-reports","13":"category-translation","14":"tag-acari","15":"tag-affirmative-action","16":"tag-bolsa-familia","17":"tag-central-rio","18":"tag-centro","19":"tag-cerro-cora","20":"tag-cinelandia","21":"tag-complexo-da-mare","22":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","23":"tag-federal-government","24":"tag-human-rights","25":"tag-impeachment","26":"tag-pmdb","27":"tag-michel-temer","28":"tag-minha-casa-minha-vida","29":"tag-north-zone","30":"tag-politics","31":"tag-president-dilma-rousseff","32":"tag-protest","33":"tag-pt","34":"tag-social-movements","35":"writer-miriane-peregrino","36":"translator-cara-pears"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32602"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=32602"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=32602"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=32602"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=32602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}