Violence expected in Brazil: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Shobhan Saxena, a journalist and political commentator, about the future of Brazil amid an impeachment trial for President Dilma Rousseff.

An approximate transcription of the interview follows.

Press TV: I’m wondering how do you react to this move?

Saxena: Yeah, I think it’s a very difficult moment for Brazilian democracy, which is not very old democracy. It’s a new democracy, a young democracy. It’s a nascent democracy and I think it’s facing a very big crisis.

President Dilma Rousseff, in her first statement after she was asked to leave office, said it’s a coup against her. And I think she is absolutely right, because we have a situation today in Brazil where a democratically-elected president who won the election with 54 million votes and faces no corruption charge has been asked to leave office. And she’s being replaced by two political parties, one of which has lost four consecutive presidential election; and the second party is so corrupt and so disorganized that they haven’t even put a presidential candidate in the past four elections.

So, there’s a situation now, the Vice President Michel Temer, who hasn’t won any election in his all political life is going to become president. He’s not directly elected. He’s going to become president of the country. He’s going to take charge of the country in a very crucial time. And democratically-elected president is being asked to leave. So, it’s a coup in the absolute sense of the term.

Press TV: So, then who does this coup benefit? Because as we’ve spoken before as well, in the previous conversation, certainly all parties involved are corrupt. So, who does this benefit really?

Saxena: See, basically, the benefit goes to two political parties, one is called PMDB and another is called as PSDB. PSDB [is] a bogus party like rightwing, neo-liberal parties which have a very very different agenda from the agenda of the Workers’ Party, which is kind of left-leaning central-left party.

This party to which President Lula, who was the former president of Brazil, and the current President Dilma Rousseff who has been suspended now belong, they have done a lot of social programs in the country. They have brought prosperity and social justice.

But the old Brazilian elite, mostly right and upper class, they did never accept these social changes in the country and they’re trying to bring back the old order back into power without elections.

And they’ve been supported very very strongly from outside forces, which is mainly the United States of America, because American companies have been eyeing the oil resources of Brazil. Brazil has huge pre-salt deposits of oil, the second biggest in the world and Brazilian companies have been operating those resources. And American companies have been very frustrated for not being able to access, for not being able to exploit those resources.

So, if you put all these just together, the old corrupt elite of Brazil, political parties, which are not able to win elections and outside forces have come together to conspire and topple a president who was doing a decent job and who has no charges against her.

Press TV: And finally, how do you think the Brazilians will react to this, because certainly Dilma Rousseff had her large number of supporters?

Saxena: Yeah, I think we’re already seeing, we already have some indication of what’s going to happen. People have come out on the streets, there have been clashes, there have been clashes with police. And we can’t forget a simple fact, that she won the election just 18 months ago with 54 million people voting for her. And those 54 million people, not all of them, but a large number of them are not going to accept this coup and people are going to go on streets.

The social movements, the unions have already declared that they’re not going to accept Michel Temer as president of Brazil.

So, we can expect a lot of trouble in Brazil in coming days and especially during the summer Olympics, which are going to be held here in the month of August... I don’t know what will happen, but we can expect violence, we can expect demonstrations and we can also expect a very heavy crackdown on people protesting against the new government.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk