2015–16 protests in Brazil

2015–16 protests in Brazil
Top to bottom: Demonstration in Brasília outside of the National Congress Building. Thousands protesting on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Demonstration on Paulista Avenue in downtown São Paulo.
Date	2015 15 March 2015, 12 April 2015, 16 August 2015, 13 December 2015 2016 13 March 2016, 16 March 2016, 18 March 2016
Location	Brazil — 160 cities of 26 states and Federal District[1] Worldwide — 6 cities[2][3]
Causes	Presidency of Dilma Rousseff[4] Corruption,[5][6] particularly the Petrobras scandal[7][6] Political reform[8] Economic crisis[7] Negligence of public funds[8]
Goals	Impeachment or resignation of Dilma Rousseff[9]
Result	Impeachment process against Dilma Rousseff
Parties to the civil conflict
Rousseff opponents Free Brazil Movement[10] Outraged Online[11] Come to Street[12] Movement Straighten Brazil[13] Order of Attorneys of Brazil[14][15] Opposition politicians[16] Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) Government of Brazil Workers' Party Communist Party of Brazil CUT Landless Workers' Movement UNE
Lead figures
Free Brazil Movement Fábio Ostermann Renan "Haas" Santos[17] Fernando "Holiday" Kim Kataguiri[12] Outraged Online Marcello Reis[12] Come to Street Rogério Chequer[12] Movement Straighten Brazil Ricardo Salles[13] Order of Attorneys of Brazil Claudio Lamachia[18][19] Supporting parties Change Brazil: PSDB, DEM, PPS and SD[16] Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) Michel Temer Eduardo Cunha Renan Calheiros Government of Brazil Dilma Rousseff Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Michel Temer
Number
15 March 2015 ~ 1,000,000[20] – 3,000,000[21] 12 April 2015 ~ 696,000 – 1,500,000[22] 16 August 2015 ~ 900,000[23] 13 December 2015 ~ 83,000 – 407,000[23] 13 March 2016 ~ 1,400,000 – 6,900,000[24] [25] 16 March 2016 +10,000[26] 13 March 2015 33,000 – 175,000[10] 16 December 2015 98,000 – 292,000[27] 18 March 2016 275,000 – 1,300,000[28]
Casualties
Injuries	3[29][30]
Arrested	20[31]

In early 2015, a series of protests began in Brazil against corruption and to denounce the government of President Dilma Rousseff.^[31] The protests were triggered by revelations that numerous politicians, mostly from Brazil's Workers' Party, were being investigated for accepting bribes from the state-owned energy company Petrobras from 2003 to 2010, while Rousseff was on the company's board of directors.The initial protests occurred on 15 March, with protesters generally estimated to number from one to nearly 3 million,^[21] taking to the streets to protest the scandal, as well as the country's poor economic situation. In response, the government introduced anti-corruption legislation. A second day of major protesting occurred on 12 April, with the estimated turnout of protesters, according to Globo News of Grupo Globo, ranging from 696,000 to 1,500,000.^[22] On 16 August, protests were staged in all 26 of Brazil’s states.^[32][33] in 200 cities.^[34]

In March 2016, following allegations that Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, participated in money laundering and a prosecutor's order for his arrest, record numbers of Brazilians protested against the Rousseff government on 13 March 2016, with nearly 7 million citizens demonstrating.^[24][25]

Background

In 2015, approval ratings for President Rousseff dropped to record lows due to a slowing economy, increasing unemployment, a weaker currency and rising inflation.^[31] Upper-class Brazilians stated that Rousseff could not manage the Brazilian economy. They also said that she used class tensions to benefit her political campaign by stating that her political opponents were "enemies of the poor," when, in fact, the poor felt betrayed because she had passed policies to avoid an investment-grade downgrade, which ended up supposedly hurting lower-class Brazilians.^[31]

Corruption

Operation Car Wash

In February 2014, an investigation by Brazilian Federal Police called "Operation Car Wash" placed Petrobras at the center of what may be the largest corruption scandal in Brazil's history.^[35][36] On 14 November 2014 police raids spanned six Brazilian states and netted prominent Brazilian politicians and businessmen— including some Petrobras directors— who were placed under investigation in regards to "suspicious" contracts worth $22 billion.^[35][36] When the allegations that graft occurred while President Rousseff was part of the board of directors of state-owned energy company, Petrobras, between 2003 to 2010; Brazilians became upset with the government and called for Rousseff's impeachment.^[11] No evidence that Rousseff herself was involved in the scheme has been found, and she denies having any prior knowledge of it.^[37] Further investigation found that there were various offshore accounts and collections of art that were held by those involved in the controversy.^[38]

In March 2015, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors could investigate about 50 individuals, most belonging to the Workers' Party, for possible bribery and other scandals focused around Petrobras which allegedly gave lawmakers in Brazil millions of dollars for themselves and for political campaigns.^[31] On 16 March 2015, prosecutors charged 27 people in the Petrobras scandal including João Vaccari Neto, treasurer of President Rousseff's Workers' Party and Renato Duque, former head of services of Petrobras.^[39] Vaccari was charged with corruption and money laundering that was possibly related to allegedly illegal campaign donations that was supposedly solicited from Renato Duque.^[11] Duque was then arrested and denied "having money abroad or moving money abroad" according to his attorney while Vaccari's lawyer also denied allegations against him.^[11] On 15 April 2015, Vaccari was arrested at his São Paulo home.^[40] The Workers' Party responded to his arrest calling it "a political arrest".^[40]

Lula da Silva allegations

Millions of Brazilians continued protests against Rousseff (left) into 2016 following allegations that her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (right), was involved in money laundering.^[24]

On 4 March 2016, Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had his home raided by federal police after charges of corruption were made against him.^[24][38][41] In an indictment in which Lula da Silva can face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, the former president was accused of money laundering and misrepresentation, with much of the allegations surrounding a luxury beachfront home with recent, costly additions that Lula da Silva never announced that he owned.^[38] Investigators believed that the beachfront home and another country house were possibly involved in the Petrobras funds while further investigations were made to see if donations were made to his Lula Foundation.^[41] Shortly thereafter, protests against Rousseff, who is Lula da Silva's protegee, were renewed on 14 March 2016 due to the tensions surrounding the investigation.^[24][38]

On 15 March 2016, in a testimony by the former leader of Rousseff's Workers' Party, he stated that Lula da Silva and Rousseff had been trying to block investigation while also alleging that Aécio Neves may have been involved. The next day on 16 March 2016, Rousseff appointed Lula da Silva as her chief of staff in what "was widely seen as an attempt to protect him from the investigation because ministers and lawmakers can only be tried by Brazil’s Supreme Court". Later that day, a leaked phone call of Rousseff and Lula da Silva caused public outrage with Rousseff calling Lula da Silva's "terms of office" a "necessity", with prosecutors stating that this wire tap of Lula da Silva among others showed his attempts to impede investigations^[26]

The phone call between Rousseff and Lula da Silva went as follows:^[42]

Rousseff: Hello.

Lula da Silva: Hello.

Rousseff: Lula, let me tell you something.

Lula da Silva: Tell me, my dear.

Rousseff: It’s this, I am sending Messias round with the papers, so that we have them, just in case of necessity, that is the terms of office, right?

Lula da Silva: Uh-huh. Ok, ok.

Rousseff: That’s all, wait there, he is heading there.

Lula da Silva: OK, I’m here. I’ll wait.

Rousseff: Right?

Lula da Silva: OK.

Rousseff: Bye.

Lula da Silva: Bye, my dear.

Tens of thousands of Brazilians then began to protest nationwide that night after the recorded call was released, with some instances of violence recorded.^[26]

Allegations of PMDB involvement

Eduardo Cunha (left) at a press conference with fellow PMDB member Renan Calheiros (middle) on 21 May 2015.

As investigations grew, allegations that members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) began to arise. Vice President of Brazil Michel Temer faced impeachment proceedings in December 2015 but his fellow party member, President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, defended Temer and blocked the motion. Cunha, however, did grant impeachment proceedings against President Rousseff at the time. Months later in April 2016, a Supreme Court judge, Judge Mello, ruled Cunha's actions wrong and that Temer should face impeachment proceedings as well. Cunha, who would be third in line for the presidency, has also faced scrutiny for alleged money laundering through the Petrobras scandal. Fourth in line, the President of the Senate of Brazil and fellow party member of PMDB, Renan Calheiros, is also under investigation for his alleged involvement in the scandal as well.^[43]

Economy

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, "[t]he real strengthened 0.6 percent to 3.2304 per dollar and has fallen 17.7 percent this year" and was the largest drop in value among "major currencies" that were observed by Bloomberg.^[44] Bloomberg Businessweek also noted that Rousseff’s government raised taxes and slowed spending to avoid a credit rating downgrade "after years of ballooning spending and subsidized lending", that economic growth had stalled and that "inflation exceeds the ceiling of the target range".^[44] The Petrobras scandal had also hurt the economy by causing a slowing of investments in both the industries of energy and construction.^[45]

Demonstrations

2015

March

A demonstration in Brasília outside of the Cathedral of Brasília. Protesters in São Paulo with a large Brazilian flag.

On 13 March, thousands of individuals related to the Workers' Party gathered in support of Rousseff and Petrobras in cities around Brazil.^[10] Police stated that about 33,000 participated in the protests while the pro-government organizers said about 175,000 supporters demonstrated.^[10] On 15 March, mass protests occurred across Brazil. Although crowd size estimates differ, most calculations put the number at roughly one million nationwide.^[20]

Police estimated the number at 2.4 million and organizers at three million, with hundreds of thousands to over a million demonstrators in São Paulo, about 50,000 in Brasília and thousands in other cities,^[21] with many protesters wearing yellow and green clothing similar to the Brazil football team and Brazilian flag.^[10][31] In São Paulo, police stated that at the start of the protest, there were approximately 580,000 demonstrators originally participating but the numbers grew quickly by about 4,000 people every two minutes.^[10] Datafolha estimated a different number of protesters, stating that 210,000 demonstrators protested at some point and that 188,000 did so at the same time.^[46] On Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, thousands protested and collected signatures directed at impeaching President Rousseff.^[10] The protest occurred on the 30th anniversary when Brazil's democracy was reinstated after a military dictatorship. Meanwhile, it was possible to see some demonstrators at the protest asking for a military intervention against Rouseff.^[31][47] Many of the protesters on 15 March demanded the impeachment of Rousseff while demonstrating.^[10]

April

Small group of demonstrators gathered on 12 April.

Brazilians protested again on 12 April, with police saying there were about 696,000 people involved while protest organizers stated there were about 1,500,000 demonstrators.^[22] In São Paulo, protesters were numbered between 275,000 by police and 1,000,000 by organizers.^[22] In Rio de Janeiro on Copacabana Beach, there were less demonstrators than 15 March protests but several thousands protesters still demonstrated.^[22] Those participating in the demonstrations sang rock songs that dated back to the protests against the Brazilian military dictatorship.^[37] The protesters still believed that President Rousseff knew about the scandal beforehand and demanded her to step down or called for her impeachment.^[22][37] Analysts stated that the smaller turnout could show that the protests would eventually come to a halt and the movement would end.^[48] Protest organizers combated such statements saying that the movement had spread to smaller cities in Brazil compared to 15 March protests.^[49]

On 15 April, labor organizations protested against a law that permitted companies to treat workers as independent contractors, with the protests spreading through 19 Brazilian states with demonstrators blocking roads.^[40]

Fieldwork using quantitative methods conducted in the 12 April protests by researchers based at the University of São Paulo in the city of São Paulo,^[50] and by Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais professors in Belo Horizonte ^[51] showed that several features of the specific profile of protesters out in the streets. In São Paulo, they were composed by a large majority of very high income groups, mostly white, with a large degree of mistrust of political parties, especially those on the left (but with a strong belief in Aécio Neves, the defeated candidate in the 2014 national elections), revealing a preference for ultraconservative political journalism, and with the belief that the Workers' Party has a project for implementing a communist regime in Brazil. In Belo Horizonte, the majority of protesters identified themselves mostly as connected to centrist or right-wing political beliefs; supporting the idea that the federal government's distributive policies and proposing as a desired outcome for the president's legitimacy problem, in first place her resignation, followed by her impeachment, and with a call for military intervention as the third most frequent response, with a majority of protesters agreeing with the need for military intervention (when asked that specific question in a yes or no format).

Other protests

Subsequent protests occurred on 16 August and on 13 December.

2016

Thousands of protesters march en route to the National Congress Building in Brasilia on 13 March 2016. Thousands of Brazilians protesting outside Palácio do Planalto, the presidential palace, on 16 March 2016.

March

In what was described as "record Brazil protests", between 3.6 to 6.9 million Brazilians protested against the Rousseff government nationwide on 13 March 2016 following the call for her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's arrest due to money laundering charges. Protests roamed through over 337 cities, from the jungle town of Manaus to the capital city of Brasilia, with demonstrators demanding Rousseff to resign. In São Paulo alone, approximately 1,4 million protested in Brazil's yellow and green apparel according to police officials, the largest demonstration in the history of the city. Though the protests were mainly attended by the middle class, it was reported that support of Rousseff among the poor has dropped due to the country's economic difficulties.^[24] Balloons of Lula da Silva in a striped prison outfit named Pixuleco were also seen during the protests.^[38]

On 16 March 2016, sudden protests occurred after further allegations were made against Rousseff and Lula da Silva. After Rousseff appointed Lula da Silva as her chief of staff, a move that was seen as defending him from investigation, leaked audio of a call between the two regarding Lula da Silva's appointment was released to the public. With Rousseff describing his appointment as a "necessity", the public grew outraged, with Brazilians suddenly protesting nationwide. In Brasilia, 5,000 people demonstrated outside of the president's palace and were dispersed with pepper spray and stun grenades when they approached the National Congress Palace. In São Paulo, thousands more protested while in another 5,000 protested in Porto Alegre with protests reaching throughout 18 states.^[26]

In 18 March 2016, the Order of Attorneys of Brazil, by 26 votes to 2, decided to support the impeachment of Rousseff based on the opinion of the federal advisor Erick Venâncio.^[14][15]

Reactions

Government response

President Rousseff expressed that she defended the right to protest but characterized them as a move against her by opposition politicians and business elites.^[31] During the week following 15 March protest, President Rousseff stated that she was also open to dialogue while also mentioning that she may have made mistakes with her economic policies.^[45]

Anti-corruption measures

President Rousseff commenting on 15 March 2015 protests.

Following 15 March protests, the Brazilian government announced that "a package of anti-corruption measures" was on its way to being presented according to Secretary General Miguel Rossetto and Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo.^[44] Cardozo also stated that the government would participate in dialogue and that there should be "a ban on corporate finance of electoral campaigns".^[44] On 18 March, President Rousseff introduced the anti-corruption package which had included measures that would result in up to 10 years in prison corrupt individuals and fines from 5 to 10 times the amount of money involved with any action.^[52] The package would also subject more individuals in all branches of the Brazilian government to the 2010 Ficha Limpa act, a law that makes an individual ineligible to participate in the government for eight years if they had been impeached, had resigned to avoid impeachment or are convicted of a wrongful action by a judiciary panel.^[52]

Public opinion

In February 2015, month before protests began, Rouseff's approval rating dropped 19 points to 23% with 44% disapproving of her in Datafolha polls.^[10][45] Following 15 March protests, Rouseff's approval rating fell even further to only 13% with a 62% disapproval rating, one of the highest disapproval ratings in the past 20 years of any president.^[45] Other polls by Datafolha performed on 9 and show of 10 April showed that 63% believed President Rousseff "should face impeachment proceedings" while less than 15% knew that the vice president, Michel Temer, would become president if Rousseff was impeached.^[49]

In CNT/MDA polls performed in March 2015, 10.8% of Brazilians approved of Rouseff's government and 59.7 wanted her impeached.^[53] In July 2015, the CNT/MDA showed a lower approval rating of 7.7% and 62.8% of Brazilians wanting her impeachment.^[53]

References

1. "Manifestantes protestam contra Dilma em todos os estados, DF e exterior" (in Portuguese). G1. 15 March 2015.
2. Carolina Camargo (15 March 2015). "Brasileiros protestam contra governo no exterior" (in Portuguese). G1.
3. "Brasileiros protestam contra governo em pelo menos seis países" (in Portuguese). UOL Notícias - Política. 15 March 2015.
4. "Manifestantes protestam contra Dilma em 18 estados, no DF e no exterior" (in Portuguese). G1. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
5. Raquel Morais, Mateus Rodrigues and Renan Ramalho (15 March 2015). "Manifestantes lotam Esplanada para protestar contra Dilma e corrupção" (in Portuguese). G1.
6. Nina Ramos (15 March 2015). "Nas ruas, manifestantes pedem desde o fim da corrupção até intervenção militar" (in Portuguese). R7.
7. "Protesto contra governo federal leva 1 milhão de pessoas à avenida Paulista" (in Portuguese). R7. 15 March 2015.
8. Carlos Ismael Moreira (16 March 2015). "Institutos de pesquisa fazem levantamentos sobre o perfil dos manifestantes em Porto Alegre" (in Portuguese). Folha de S.Paulo.
9. "Manifestações pelo impeachment de Dilma estão marcadas em ao menos 25 capitais e no DF" (in Portuguese). R7. 15 March 2015.
10. "Millones de brasileños salieron a la calle para gritar "fuera Dilma" (Fotos)" (in Spanish). La Patilla. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
11. Magalhaes, Luciana; Kiernan, Paul (16 March 2015). "Brazilian President Faces More Heat After Protests; Prosecutors file more charges in widening graft scandal as public anger grows against government". Dow Jones & Company. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
12. "Quais são e como pensam os movimentos que vão para a rua contra Dilma no domingo" (in Portuguese). Veja. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
13. Guilherme Waltenberg (29 March 2015). "Economia em pauta: o que pensam os líderes dos protestos anti-Dilma" (in Portuguese). Fato Online.
14. Gustavo Aguiar (18 March 2016). "OAB decide, por 26 votos a 2, apoiar o pedido de impeachment de Dilma no Congresso" (in Portuguese). Estadão.
15. Carlos Rollsing (18 March 2016). "OAB decide apoiar processo de impeachment de Dilma" (in Portuguese). Zero Hora.
16. "PSDB, DEM, PPS e SD convocam a população para o dia 15" (in Portuguese). Blog do Kardec. 10 March 2015. |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
17. Marcelo Gonzato (13 March 2015). "Quais são e como pensam os movimentos que vão para a rua contra Dilma no domingo" (in Portuguese). Veja.
18. "OAB protocola pedido de impeachment da presidente da República" (in Portuguese). OAB. 28 March 2016.
19. Fernanda Calgaro and Nathalia Passarinho (28 March 2016). "OAB protocola novo pedido de impeachment de Dilma na Câmara" (in Portuguese). O Globo.
20. Prada, Paulo. "Nearly a million protest Brazil's president, economy, corruption". Reuters. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
21. "Mapa das manifestações no Brasil neste domingo, 15" (in Portuguese). Grupo Globo. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
22. "Hundreds of thousands rally against corruption in Brazil". BBC News. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
23. Rosa, Sulleiro (14 December 2015). "Brazil impeachment protests downsized but still determined". Yahoo News. AFP. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
24. Flynn, Daniel; Soto, Alonso (14 March 2016). "Record Brazil protests put Rousseff's future in doubt". Reuters. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
25. "MAPA DAS MANIFESTAÇÕES CONTRA DILMA, 13/03". g1. 13 March 2016.
26. Phillips, Dom (17 March 2016). "Brazilians protest as Lula, under investigation, gets Cabinet position". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
27. "Manifestações a favor de Dilma são registradas em 25 estados e no DF" (in Portuguese). G1. 16 December 2015.
28. "Manifestantes fazem maiores atos a favor de Dilma desde o ano passado" (in Portuguese). G1. 18 March 2016.
29. Pedro Fonseca, Caroline Stauffer and Maria Carolina Marcello (15 March 2015). "Mais de 1 milhão de pessoas protestam contra Dilma pelo país" (in Portuguese). Exame.
30. Leandro Machado (15 March 2015). "Drone contratado pela Folha cai na avenida Paulista e fere duas pessoas" (in Portuguese). Folha de S.Paulo.
31. Magalhaes, Luciana; Jelmayer, Rogerio (15 March 2015). "Protesters Across Brazil Demonstrate Against President on Sunday". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
32. "Anti-Government Protesters Take to Streets Across Brazil". ABC News. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
33. "Protesters Call for Ouster of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff". The Wall Street Journal. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
34. "Brazilian president under fire as tens of thousands protest in 200 cities". The Guardian. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
35. Costas, Ruth (21 November 2014), "Petrobras scandal: Brazil's energy giant under pressure", BBC (Sao Paulo), retrieved 20 March 2015
36. Dwyer, Rob (March 2015), Brazil: Petrobras will be shut out of bond markets until 2016, Euromoney, retrieved 20 March 2015
37. Darlington, Shasta (12 April 2015). "Protesters in Brazil push to impeach President Dilma Rousseff". CNN. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
38. Pugile, Frederic (13 March 2016). "Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's dramatic downfall rattles Brazil". The Washington Times. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
39. "Brazil prosecutors charge ruling-party treasurer with corruption". Reuters. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
40. Bevins, Vincent (15 April 2015). "In Brazil, arrest brings Petrobras scandal closer to President Rousseff". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
41. Shoichet, Catherine E. (9 March 2016). "Ex-Brazilian President Lula da Silva under investigation". CNN. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
42. Douglas, Bruce (16 March 2016). "Release of tapped phone calls between Lula and Rousseff sparks mass protests in Brazil". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
43. "Brazil Vice-President Michel Temer could face impeachment". BBC News. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
44. Biller, David (15 March 2015). "More Than a Million Hit Brazil Streets to Protest Rousseff". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
45. "Rousseff Approval Rating Plummets After Mass Brazil Protest". Newsmax. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
46. Data Folha 15/02/2015
47. "Brazil: hundreds of thousands of protesters call for Rousseff impeachment". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
48. Lehman, Stan; Gomez Licon, Adriana (12 April 2015). "Protests Across Brazil Seek Ouster of President". ABC News. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
49. Romero, Simon (12 April 2015). "Brazilian Protests Return as Scandals Intensify". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
50. http://www.lage.ib.usp.br/manif/
51. http://opiniaopublica.ufmg.br/site/files/artigo/3-Dossie-Abril-2015-Mara-Telles1.pdf
52. Langlois, Jill (18 March 2015). "In face of protests, Brazil's Rousseff offers anti-corruption measures". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
53. "Brazil poll: Rousseff popularity still falling, impeachment favored". Reuters. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.