Brazilian Crisis Sparks Chances for Socialist Marina Silva in the 2018 Presidential Election
By Julio Severo
In the midst of the deep political and financial crisis
in Brazil, and massive protests against its leftist President Dilma Rousseff —
despised by most Brazilian population who, according to Datafolha
polls, wants her impeached for corruption and economic recession —, a new
political scenery and possibilities begin to emerge.
Neves, who was also a presidential candidate in the
last election, had his
candidacy built by Marxist strategist David Axelrod, a longtime top Obama
adviser. Yet, he has received less support now than earlier, because his name
is also involved in the political and financial scandals sweeping the socialist
Brazilian government.
Even though not directly involved in these scandals, Marina
Silva had her origins in the Workers’ Party and Liberation Theology, and today
she is heavily involved in international environmentalist causes. She and other
socialists have strategically supported the Brazilian protests. This is a far
cry of some interpretations of the Brazilian political reality in some websites,
which try to present the Brazilian anti-government protests as exclusively “anti-Marxist.”
The popular dissatisfaction has been provoked by
economic constraints in the Brazilian workers’ pockets. The choice of Silva,
Neves and even Lula among Brazilian constituents is an evidence that Marxism is
a dominating force in the people’s aspirations.
The portrayal of the Brazilian reality in some websites
as protests against Marxism is as mistaken as the portrayal of Silva as “conservative.”
In fact, even the U.S. Christian media had portrayed her this way in the last
election, perhaps because she is a Pentecostal from the Assemblies of God, and
Pentecostals are generally conservative.
Her background is Catholic, in the Liberation Theology,
never giving up this ideology. Even though the Assemblies of God is the largest
evangelical denomination in Brazil, with over 15 million members, Marina Silva
has not received its political support.
Most of her political support comes from liberal
Catholics. Brazil is the largest Catholic nation in the world and its National
Conference of Bishops of Brazil (NCBB) was founded
by Marxist Bishop Helder Camara, who is in process of sainthood in the
Vatican.
The founding of the Workers’ Party is credited to
prominent NCBB bishops.
Silva and her former party are children of this institution.
So if the Workers’ Party is removed by the popular
impeachment of its president, NCBB bishops will manage to support a new
president with its socialist convictions.
Marina Silva’s political growth is a symptom that to
come out from Worker’s Party pit, many Brazilians are willing to come into any
other pit, whether socialist or otherwise, not minding that Silva’s pit is not
different from Worker’s Party pit.
Portuguese
version of this article: Crise
desperta chances para socialista Marina Silva na eleição presidencial de 2018
Source: Last Days Watchman
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1 comment :
Yeah that's the ticket for economically failing Brazil: elect a socialist, Liberation Theology fanatic. Insanity; another Venezuela on the way!
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