Thread: Over a Million Brazilians Protest; Analysts Question Real Agenda

Tuesday, 25 June 2013 12:23 Over a Million Brazilians Protest; Analysts Question Real Agenda

Written by Alex Newman

Estimates suggest over a million Brazilians — outraged about everything from high taxes and government corruption to the wasting of taxpayer money on sports tournaments — participated in massive nationwide protests over the last week. The wave of demonstrations, some of which became violent, were supposedly triggered by a small fare increase for public transportation that boiled over into general unrest about a wide range of other issues related to government. Some well-informed analysts, however, say there is more to the apparent uprising than meets the eye.

News reports said a series of protests on Thursday involving over a million people total, reportedly the largest so far, had taken place in over 100 cities. The efforts have broad support among Brazilians who are not participating, too. According to a recent poll cited by the Associated Press, 75 percent of citizens said they supported the demonstrations. While there are countless grievances being aired in the streets, the common denominator appears to be disillusionment with government.

Most of the protests have reportedly been peaceful so far, though more than a few violent incidents were documented across the country. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, where hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, police reportedly used pepper spray and tear gas to keep unruly protesters in check amid violent clashes. Dozens were injured, according to news reports. Some sporadic looting has also been reported, and protesters reportedly attacked multiple government buildings. At least four people have been killed.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, a former communist terrorist who rose to power with the backing of her predecessor through the statist “Workers’ Party” (PT), praised what she claimed was the “democratic spirit” of the protests. She added, however, that authorities planned to crackdown on the violent minority. Following more than a week of demonstrations, the president also proposed a series of reforms supposedly aimed at satisfying public demands.

Speaking in a meeting of state governors and mayors, Rousseff — a key figure in the shadowy socialist Foro de São Paulo (FSP), or São Paulo Forum, founded by communist dictator Fidel Castro and former Brazilian President Luiz “Lula” da Silva (PT) — even suggested changing the Constitution. "The streets are telling us that the country wants quality public services, more effective measures to combat corruption ... and responsive political representation," she said.

The Brazilian president also made a television appearance, taking the opportunity to express support for the protesters. Rousseff has been meeting with purported leaders of the demonstrations as well in a supposed effort to understand and address their concerns. Already, authorities agreed to scrap the proposed fare increase for public transportation.

Establishment media reports in Brazil and around the world have tried to portray the massive outcry across Brazil as some sort of spontaneous, leaderless uprising. Well-informed analysts, however, see something much more sinister behind the protests. Among the powerful forces that experts say are directing much of the unrest from the shadows: the FSP, an alliance of socialist and communist political movements in Latin America that now rules over most of the nations in the region — including Brazil.

In essence, then, conservative and liberty-minded analysts say the well-funded FSP is organizing protests and unrest against its own crimes. The purpose: to change the Brazilian Constitution in a bid to solidify and extend socialist domination in the nation and the broader region, according to critics. Prof. Olavo de Carvalho, a conservative-leaning author and philosopher who has played a key role in exposing the machinations of the FSP, outlined what he views as the real agenda.

“The rioting movement was launched by the São Paulo Forum, as [senior PT leader] Valter Pomar confessed, to force an ‘upgrade’ in the revolutionary process, moving from the ‘transition’ phase to the ‘breaking point,’” de Carvalho explained on Facebook. “Like always on these occasions, some leaders of the first phase would need to be sacrificed, in case they do not quickly adapt to the rhythm of the changes. President Dilma and even the PT as a whole appeared on the menu as strong candidates for losing their heads.”

According to Carvalho’s analysis, Rousseff is trying desperately to save her own neck by slavish devotion to the FSP in an effort to prove that she can help the socialist cabal achieve its objectives. To succeed, however, will require extending the “transitional” phase of the revolution — and delaying the breaking point — to ensure the political survival of at least part of the first generation of Brazil’s revolutionary leadership.

“The reaction of ‘the right’ that was seen in the streets showed that the ‘breaking point’ was a little too premature, and that, in a certain way, returned the initiative of the process to the government ‘of transition’,” Carvalho concluded. “In any case, the decisive factor is — now, like before — the São Paulo Forum. Dilma is the tail that will never wag the dog.”

Over the years, The New American magazine has spent considerable space exposing the FSP and its machinations as well. The controversial organization brings together more than 100 statist political parties, social movements, narco-terrorist groups like the FARC in Colombia, and other forces dedicated to, as Castro is widely reported to have said, “recovering in Latin America what was lost in Eastern Europe.” Already, FSP members rule more than two thirds of national governments in the region.

Beyond simple domination of national politics, the FSP and its allies are also working toward regional so-called “integration” — an effort to smash national sovereignty while erecting numerous regional, unaccountable governments. There are already multiple “integration” schemes in existence, with the Union of South American Nations (UNASUL or UNASUR), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Mercosur, ALBA, and others among the most prominent.

While Brazil’s current crop of rulers and their allies in the establishment press consistently seek to portray the Brazilian government as a left-leaning “moderate” force, experts say the reality is that Brasilia is at the heart of the so-called “pink tide” sweeping across the region. Of course, the rhetoric of self-styled communists and socialists like Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers may make Rousseff and Lula appear moderate, but behind the scenes in the FSP, the movement is largely unified. The goal: continue spreading socialism throughout the region.

Outside of Latin America, socialist and communist forces are also working with the Brazilian government and the FSP. The so-called BRICS alliance — a bloc uniting the statist regimes ruling Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa — is at the forefront of the effort, recently proposing a global currency and a more powerful global authority to re-distribute wealth and erode national sovereignty under various guises.

For now, protest leaders have vowed to continue organizing demonstrations in Brazil, though the numbers appear to have declined from the peak late last week. A group on Facebook of about 6,000 Brazilians so far, meanwhile, is planning its own protest for July 31 against the FSP. The plan, according to event organizers, is to educate the population about the shadowy group, its role in the unrest, and its broader agenda of seizing complete power in Latin America.

While the supposed “reforms” and constitutional changes being proposed by Rousseff remain vague, the goal will almost certainly be to expand the size and scope of government while ensuring the dominance of statist forces in politics. Among the “five pacts” outlined so far: more federal spending on government “education,” transportation, and healthcare; creating a “Constituent Assembly” to amend the Constitution; and working to “guarantee” economic stability.

The concerns of well-meaning protesters over wild taxes, rampant corruption, and lawless government are without a doubt justified. The question now, however, is: Will the people of Brazil allow themselves to be taken for another ride by their supposed leaders in a bogus bid to address the very real issues? Time will tell, but at this point, liberty-minded forces see little reason for optimism amid the escalating turmoil.

Photo of protestors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 24: AP Images

Alex Newman, a foreign correspondent for The New American, is currently based in Europe after growing up in Latin America, including four years in Brazil. He can be reached at anewman@thenewamerican.com.

Related articles:

Resurgent Communism in Latin America
Amid Federal Land Grab in Brazil, Whole Towns Evicted at Gunpoint
Olavo de Carvalho on Communism in Latin America
Communist Cuban Tyrant Raul Castro to Lead Latin American Bloc
Obama Commits American Support to Brazilian Oil
New Americas Group Includes Cuba, Not U.S; China Cheers
BRICS Regimes Forge New World Bank, Call for Global Currency
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http://thenewamerican.com/world-news/south-america/item/15806-over-a-million-brazilians-protest-analysts-question-real-agenda

Brazil's massive protest is a citizens' revolt against Big Government Thursday, June 27, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes Tags: Brazil protest, citizen revolt, Big Government

(NaturalNews) Liberty and freedom remain under assault in America as the federal leviathan grows ever larger and its appetite for power more voracious, but in Brazil, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets with one simple message for their leaders: We deserve better. Brazilians certainly pay for better government; the underlying message behind the rising number of public protests there is that citizens "are weighed down by high taxes and high prices but get low-quality public services and a system of government infected with corruption," The Associated Press reported. The imbalance between cost and quality of service erupted in the form of mass demonstrations in early June after they were called for by an organization that is upset over the rising costs of the nation's lousy public transportation system, as well as a recent 10-cent increase in subway and bus fares in the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio, among others. 'The politicians must learn to respect us' After the protests began, local governments in at least four of those cities have said they would roll back the increases. Also, local and federal officials have hinted that the fares in Sao Paulo could also be reversed. "It's not clear that will calm the country, though, because the protests have released a seething litany of discontent from Brazilians over life's struggles," AP reported. Brazilians, however, don't have a list of demands, beyond the costs of public services and the poor quality thereof. They're just angry in general - angry about how their ruling class and the governing system have failed them miserably. In fact, reports noted, a common chant among the largely peaceful protests has been, "No [political] parties!" "What I hope comes from these protests is that the governing class comes to understand that we're the ones in charge, not them, and the politicians must learn to respect us," Yasmine Gomes, 22, told the AP in Sao Paulo. The country's president, Dilma Rousseff, is a former left-wing guerilla imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's time of dictatorship, which stretched from 1969 to 1985. She praised the protesters, saying their demonstrations were a compliment to Brazil's democracy. "Brazil today woke up stronger," she said - without offering any actions or solutions that she is prepared to take to address her angry citizens. The protests are not just problematic for the government; they also raise concerns about security in Brazil, which is playing host to the Confederations Cup, a soccer event, and which plans to host Pope Francis in July when he visits Sao Paulo and the bustling Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's political problems are systemic and indeed structural. For example, the Brazilian Tax Planning Institute, a think tank, has said the country's tax burden in 2011 was 36 percent of gross domestic product (the sum of all of Brazil's goods and services for a year); that makes it 12th out of 30 countries with the highest tax brackets. Per the AP: Yet public services such as schools are in sorry shape. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found in a 2009 educational survey that literacy and math skills of Brazilian 15-year-olds ranked 53rd out of 65 countries, behind nations such as Bulgaria, Mexico, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, and Romania. 'We just want what we pay for' In addition, Brazilians are simply fed up with government corruption and inefficiency - all traits of a bloated federal government similar to that which exists in our own country. And they are upset that while they receive poor services, the government spends extravagantly on things like soccer stadiums and other structures as Brazil gears up to host the 2016 Olympics. "We just want what we paid in taxes back, through health care, education and transportation," Agatha Rossi de Paula, 34, an attorney who took part in protests in Sao Paulo, told AP, summarizing the modest demands of most protestors. "We want the police to protect us, to help the people on the streets who have ended up with no job and no money." Government corruption and inefficiency is becoming a hallmark of the American system as well. Sources for this article include: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130619/DA70KUBO1.html http://www.nytimes.com http://abcnews.go.com

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