Washington, DC— On Thursday, March 31, the Latin America & Caribbean Action Network, Brazilian expats living in Washington, DC, movements, and individuals in solidarity will hold a demonstration in front of the Brazilian Embassy in opposition to the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
The current economic recession in Brazil and the activation of latent frustration with endemic political corruption has led the opposition to put Rousseff on the hot-seat of blame, although no evidence has been found implicating Rousseff in the Lava Jato corruption investigations engulfing the nation.
The alleged basis for the impeachment is fiscal mismanagement; however, the legal legitimacy of this claim is thin. Multiple people involved in the impeachment committee are currently under investigation themselves for varying forms of political criminal activity. The call for impeachment is overtly political in nature, led by opposition efforts to undermine and overthrow the standing government.
Brazilian civil society has, in addition, expressed strong concerns for the manifest disregard for due process, for an expressly politicized judiciary, and for the partiality of and manipulation by major media outlets, notoriously unfavorable to the governing party.
The organizers issued the following statement regarding the demonstration:
«A bad economy is not an impeachable offense. Dilma is a democratically elected president, and as such, must be allowed to carry out the remainder of her term in office. We stand in opposition to what is an overtly politicized impeachment process. We condemn this attempt at a coup d’état, the trampling of due process, apologists for a politicized judiciary, and the blatant partiality of and manipulation by traditional media outlets. We additionally condemn the fomenting of extremist, violent, and bigoted sentiment by factions of the opposition movement. We demand that Brazilian democracy be defended, that the Constitution be upheld, that due process be respected, that the judiciary remain impartial, and that the media be objective and balanced.»
WHAT: Brazil–There won’t be a coup!
WHERE: Embassy of Brazil, 3006 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20008
WHEN: Thursday, March 31, @6:30pm
WHO: Latin America & Caribbean Action Network, Brazilian expats for democracy, movements and individuals in solidarity
