Bra$il, Republic of$Finance$
"The bizarre decision by the Supreme Court plenary, keeping Renan in the presidency of the Senate but removing him from the line of succession to the Presidency of the Republic, reflects the absolute hegemony of financial capital over democracy and the Constitution of Brazil," says 247 columnist Jeferson Miola; he argues that the Supreme Court, considered the "guardian of the Constitution," could have obeyed the Magna Carta and removed Renan Calheiros; "The reason this didn't happen is easily understood: the vice-president of the Senate, Jorge Viana, from the PT party, would assume command of the Senate, and the voting schedule for PEC 55/16 could be compromised," he states; "The coup plotters and rent-seekers are in a hurry; they don't want to waste time on the criminal adventure of transforming Brazil into the biggest usury haven on the planet."
The Supreme Court has surrendered to the power of the financial system, and Brazil can officially be considered a Republic of Finance.
Banks can do anything. They rent parliamentary seats, buy court rulings, hinder economic development, and rob workers by charging the highest interest rates in the world.
Why should their interests be thwarted, especially at this moment when their coup-plotting agents are constitutionalizing financial tyranny and removing social and economic rights from the 1988 Constitution with PEC 55/16?
The bizarre decision by the full Supreme Court, keeping Renan as president of the Senate but removing him from the line of succession to the Presidency of the Republic, reflects the absolute hegemony of financial capital over democracy and the Constitution of Brazil.
Could the Supreme Court have decided otherwise? Obviously, yes. Once the decision-making body was restored – in the full Supreme Court and not by a single judge's decision – on such a sensitive issue as the removal of the head of a branch of government, the Supreme Court should have obeyed the Constitution and removed Renan from the presidency of the Senate.
The reason this wouldn't happen is easily understood: the Vice-President of the Senate, Jorge Viana, from the PT party, would assume command of the Senate, and the voting schedule for PEC 55/16 could be compromised.
This has driven the PSDB – the most notorious representative of international finance in the country – and its coup-plotting partners to despair, as they act with genuine subservience to financial speculation.
The coup plotters and rent-seekers are in a hurry; they don't want to waste time on the criminal adventure of turning Brazil into the biggest moneylender's haven on the planet.
The crime doesn't end there. The attack on social security rights deepens the massacre of the Brazilian people. It is urgent to end this coup government and enable direct elections immediately, to prevent Brazil from collapsing even further.
* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.