Brazil Update #3
Zika and the Olympics
In Copenhagen in 2009, Brazil won the privilege
of hosting the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. The games will begin on
the 5th of august, but have been facing some serious threats, like
not being able to be on schedule and waters in the Guanabara bay being
polluted. Most severe of all though is the threat of the Zika virus, that has
been plaguing the country for quite some time now. Despite only show mild
symptoms such as fever or a rash, the virus has been linked to microcephaly, a
birth abnormality that causes an underdeveloped head and brain of the child.
The Zika virus therefore poses the real threat to pregnant women.
The World Health Organization received an open
letter, signed by 150 health experts, that warns against the risk of
transmission related to an event like the Olympics where thousands of people
from all over the globe will gather and potentially carry the virus to their
domestic countries. However, WHO doesn’t feel that the Olympics have to be
postponed or relocated. This too goes for UN, from which a spokesperson said
that stopping the games would not prevent the spread of the virus.
Political and Economical Situation
The ongoing impeachment process of president
Dilma Rousseff is entering its last phase. On May 12, the senate voted 55 to 22
to begin the actual trial. This has resulted in Rousseff being suspended for up
to six months and in this time vice-president Michel Temer, from PMDB, will act
as commander in chief, while the trial is finishing up. Rousseff herself claims
to have made errors, but denies to have been involved in any criminal activity.
She and her supporters even speak of the impeachment as it being a “coup”. While
Temer’s allies are trying to counter the argument by saying that the
impeachment was constitutional and necessary to address the political paralysis
that has been one of the factors for the financial crisis in Brazil.
This new interim government is already in a
vulnerable state as two ministers have already lost their minister posts as a
consequence of leaked tapes, linking one of them to the corruption scandal and
the other to planning the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff.
For the fifth straight quarter, the Brazilian
economy shrank again, early in 2016, but now Finance Minister Henrique
Meirelles is saying that Brazil could be on its way of the recession. The new
interim government has a long term solution, being a ceiling on public
expenditure and reducing the role of the state, which will leave more room for
private investment.
According to Presidental Chief of Staff Eliseu
Padilha, Brazil might be able to balance its budget by as soon as 2018 without
having to raise taxes. Seen in light of the just revealed deficit of $170
billion reais from last year, many economists believe that without immediate
cuts in expenditure and tax increases, it could take years for Brazil to get
back on track.
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