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Brazilians angry with government's austerity plans: Analyst

Tuesday, 25 October 2016 2:23 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 25 October 2016 2:35 PM ]

Demonstrators release fire distinguishers during a protest against President Michel Temer's constitutional amendments, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 17, 2016. (AFP photo)

Thousands of Brazilian people have held rallies in the capital, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro to show their opposition against reforms proposed by President Michel Temer. Protesters have accused Temer of “imposing his fascist and cruel capitalism” through reform plans, which are on course to cut spending in particular on health and education.

Lajos Szaszdi, a political analyst from San Juan, told Press TV that the Brazilian people have taken to the streets because they are “tired of austerity measures.”

Szaszdi said the Brazilian government’s plans for reducing “public jobs, salaries and pensions” as well as cuts in “education sector” have put more pressure on people.

The opposition against cuts in education funds in Brazil is part of a bigger picture, which includes protest against corruption and plans for austerity measures, he noted.

The ordinary people witness that “members of Temer’s government are becoming richer and wealthier at the expense of the state funds” and at the same time the poor are suffering from repercussions of the austerity measures, Szaszdi argued.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the analyst pointed to the Brazilian president’s corruption scandal, adding, “Michel Temer was working for the National Security Council of the United States, for the US military Southern Command, a military base in Miami, and for the US secretary of state.”

The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks revealed on May 13, 2016 that President Temer gave political briefings to US diplomats ahead of elections in 2006. Two cables, dated January 11 and June 21, 2006, said Temer briefed the then US consul general in Sao Paulo, Christopher McMullen, along with another unidentified political official.

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