The End of the World? In Brazil, It’s Already Here
An unelected president is pushing through a sweeping austerity agenda that will affect a generation.
The End of the World? In Brazil, It’s Already Here
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — The end of the world has already arrived in Brazil.
At least that’s what people here are saying. A constitutional amendment passed by the Senate last month is being called
“the end of the world” amendment by its opponents. Why? Because the
consequences of the amendment look disastrous — and long lasting. It
will impose a 20-year cap on all federal spending, including education
and health care.
The
government justified the measure on the grounds that Brazil faces
severe budget shortfalls. But the people aren’t buying it. A poll last
month found that only 24 percent of the population supports the
amendment. Brazilians took to the streets to express their disapproval.
They were, as usual,
met with tear gas and mounted police officers. High school students
occupied as many as 1,000 schools in protest, many in the southern state
of Paraná.
The
government isn’t backing down. The “end of the world” amendment is just
one of many neoliberal measures being pushed through by Michel Temer,
the president. It should be cause for concern that Mr. Temer can
undertake so many such reforms, especially considering most of them,
including the budget cap, go against the agenda of the person who —
unlike Mr. Temer — actually won the most recent presidential election.
Last August, President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers’ Party was removed from office
over allegations that she had manipulated the state budget. As soon as
Mr. Temer, who had been Ms. Rousseff’s vice president, took office, he
announced a series of neoliberal policies. He’s still at it, saying he’s
taking advantage of his unpopularity to put unpopular measures in
place.
The
budget amendment, like many of Mr. Temer’s policies, will harm Brazil’s
poorest and most vulnerable citizens for decades to come. This is not
just the view of the president’s left-wing opponents. Philip Alston, the
United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, recently said
that the measure will “lock in inadequate and rapidly dwindling
expenditure on health care, education and social security, thus putting
an entire generation at risk of social protection standards well below
those currently in place.”
Mr.
Alston added that the law would place Brazil in a “socially
retrogressive category all of its own.” Which seems exactly where Mr.
Temer and his allies want us to be.
In
addition to the spending cap, Mr. Temer has introduced a proposal to
revamp Brazil’s pension system. His proposal will set a minimum
retirement age of 65, in a country where the average person retires at
54. The law will also require at least 25 years of contributions to the
social security system by both men and women.
There
are good reasons Brazil hasn’t passed laws like this before. Although
the average life expectancy in Brazil is 74, we’re one of the most unequal countries
in the world. For example, in 37 percent of the neighborhoods of the
city of São Paulo, people have a life expectancy of less than 65 years.
It’s even shorter for the rural poor.
Some
of Mr. Temer’s economic plans don’t even have to do with the budget
deficit. Also last month, shortly after the budget cap passed, the
government proposed a labor bill that would allow deals between
employers and trade unions to prevail over the labor laws. The new
proposal also increases the maximum permitted working hours to 12 per
day and reduces regulations on the employment of temporary workers. The
business community has praised the plan. Labor unions are enraged.
Another priority of the Temer presidency is what’s known as the outsourcing bill.
It was first proposed in 2004, but never passed because of strong labor
union resistance. In April 2015, it was ratified by the lower house of
Congress and is now awaiting consideration by the Senate. The bill would
free companies to contract out any job to third parties, even from
their core business. Under current rules, companies can outsource only
“nonessential” jobs like janitorial positions, while “essential” workers
have to be hired directly by the company, which means they are entitled
to all the rights and benefits prescribed by law, such as paid
vacation, maternity leave and year-end bonuses.
Given
all of this, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Temer administration
is deeply unpopular: a poll in December found that 51 percent of
Brazilians rated it “bad” or “terrible.” (Only 10 percent of respondents
said they approve of the government. Thirty-four percent called it
“regular.”) Mr. Temer, who took power thanks to Ms. Rousseff’s
impeachment, has also been found guilty of violating campaign finance
limits and has been named in one of the many corruption scandals
unfolding in the country.
Nevertheless,
the new government has already received full support from the following
organizations: Brazilian Federation of Banks, the Agricultural
Parliamentary Front, National Confederation of Industry, the World Trade
Organization, the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo,
Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian
Chamber of Construction Industry, National Federation of Motor Vehicle
Distributors and several top executives.
For some Brazilians, at least, the end of the world is the beginning of a golden opportunity.
Vanessa Barbara is a
columnist for the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, the editor
of the literary website A Hortaliça and a contributing opinion writer.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
copy http://www.nytimes.com/2017/
copy http://www.nytimes.com/2017/
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário