Set 01 2023 | Nº. 82

Editorial

The Lula administration has delivered good news on some important policy fronts even as the president and his finance minister in particular face challenges to their ability to follow through on key priorities. It was reported this week, for example, that in the first trimester of 2023, unemployment in Brazil fell to 7.9 percent, the lowest rate since 2014. This is unequivocally positive for the national economy. During that same period, deforestation in the areas of the Amazon most affected by logging, mining, and other illicit activities diminished by 42.5 percent. This too is an achievement the government can point to as a sign of its efficacy. And yet Lula remains in a position in which he must negotiate constantly with the conservative parties and individual leaders who make up a majority of Congress. For weeks, there has been speculation about which of Lula’s cabinet ministers might be replaced to accommodate figures more aligned with congressional leaders not necessarily sympathetic to Lula’s progressive governing priorities. Instead of news of a firing, however, this week it was reported that Lula will create the Ministry of Small and Medium Businesses. This way, Lula can give a cabinet position — his thirty-eighth — to an ally of party leaders whose support the government deems crucial in advancing the president’s policy agenda.

There are two ways of interpreting this move. One is as a reflection of the backroom dealing that has long characterized Brazilian politics. In order to get his legislative priorities approved, the president must cede space in his administration to individuals who very likely did not support him in his race against former president Jair Bolsonaro last year. Bolsonaro did the same thing to an even greater extent. The other way to understand such moves is as a necessary part of the political process. This is how Lula usually talks about such politicking. Members of Congress were all dully elected, he frequently points out, and it is legitimate that they be reflected in the executive branch in some way. The question, of course, is whether such concessions can deliver votes in the legislature. Sometimes it has, sometimes it has not. 

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has faced partisan headwinds of his own this week, with members of the Workers’ Party questioning his stated intention of balancing the budget by 2024. Doing so will require raising revenues and reigning in spending as outlined in the budget framework signed into law this week. “We are not denying the [fiscal] challenge,” Haddad said on Thursday, “we are not denying the difficulty. We are reaffirming the commitment of the economic area to obtain the best possible result, taking into account the opinion of the National Congress.” Haddad must convince not only members of Congress of the viability and need for fiscal balance but also members of his own party worried that the government is tying its hands. Negotiation and concession are still very much the order of the day for the Lula administration. 

Highlights

• TIMEFRAME. On Thursday, August 31, the Supreme Court continued judging the so-called "time frame" – a law that, if it comes into force, prohibits the State from demarcating as Indigenous land any territory that had not been claimed as such by 1988, which was the year of promulgation of the current Constitution. Indigenous peoples consider the “time frame” a serious threat to their existence and to the preservation of the environment. These peoples understand that the adoption of this “time frame” is based on a fictitious and arbitrary criterion. Of the 11 ministers of the Federal Supreme Court, 6 have already spoken out – 4 of them against the thesis and only 2 in favor. The votes of another 5 ministers are missing. The trial is due to resume next week.

• JEWELRY CASE. The Federal Police tried to collect the testimony of eight people involved in the scandal involving the embezzlement of jewelry by the Presidency of the Republic on Thursday, August 31. The deponents were former president Jair Bolsonaro, his wife and former first lady, Michelle, as well as an army general, three advisors and two lawyers. The defense lawyers of six of the eight deponents, including Bolsonaro and his wife, advised the group to remain silent in their testimony because they claim that the Supreme Court doesn’t have the legal jurisdiction to judge this action, which was initiated in a local court in Guarulhos, São Paulo. The case, which ended up being included in a comprehensive inquiry into digital militias whose rapporteur is Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moares, concerns the sale to US stores of a set of jewelry that had been given as a gift by leaders of Arab countries to the Office of the Presidency of Brazil when Bolsonaro was president. He and his advisors sold this jewelry and kept the money. When the case came to light, they tried to repurchase some of these objects to elude Justice.

• COUP D’ÉTAT. The Mixed Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI), which is investigating the failed coup d'état attempt on January 8, has the power to enter into plea agreements with the deponents and others under investigation, according to an opinion issued this week by the Senate's legal service. The opinion opens up the possibility that the CPMI will try to establish a whistleblower agreement with Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, an army officer who was Bolsonaro's right-hand man in the Office of the Presidency and is under arrest for his involvement in the case of falsifying vaccination certificates. He has also been accused of embezzling the jewelry from the Office of the Presidency and participating in a coup plot. Cid is considered a key witness in cases that could incriminate Bolsonaro, but his lawyer says his client does not intend to adhere to any plea agreement.

• MORE CPMI. The senators and representatives that make up the Parliamentary Commission on the coup attempt heard the army reserve general Gonçalves Dias this Thursday, August 31.  He was responsible for the Institutional Security Office (GSI) of the Lula government when the attacks on the federal government buildings took place on January 8, 2013. GDias, as he is known, had to explain why he did not mobilize a more robust protection scheme for public buildings, even though he received reports from the intelligence services that warned him that there would be attacks and invasions that day. The reserve general replied that he would have mobilized more troops if he had known that the Military Police of the Federal District would not act to contain the demonstrators. The inaction of the Federal Capital police led to the arrest of its commanders, accused of having acted to facilitate the failed coup attempt. The opposition to the current government has been trying to incriminate GDias, insisting that he is a part of a plot by the Lula government to stage the attack in order to create an image of being victims of Bolsonaro and his supporters.

• ZANIN VOTES. Cristiano Zanin, Lula's former lawyer who was nominated in June by the president to occupy one of the 11 seats on the Supreme Court, begin his position on the country's highest court surprising the Left with at least four conservative votes. In one vote, he rejected the thesis that crimes involving the theft of property valued at the equivalent of approximately US$ 20 is insignificant. In another case, he voted for the recognition of municipal guards as part of the public security apparatus and not just as security over property, which increases its police power. Zanin also disappointed the most progressive sectors by opposing the decriminalization of drug possession for personal consumption. Furthermore, he disagreed with classifying acts of homophobia and transphobia as crimes equivalent to racial slurs. Zanin's votes have increased pressure from the Left for Lula to nominate a Black woman for the vacancy that will open up in October on the Supreme Court with the retirement of Minister Rosa Weber. The campaign has gained significant support on social networks with the hashtag #MinistraNegranoSTF.

• BOLSONARIST SETBACK. Ricardo Salles, minister of the environment under President Jair Bolsonaro, has become a defendant in a lawsuit that is investigating the shipment to the United States of wood illegally cut down in conservation areas in the state of Pará. Salles is one of Bolsonaro's most famous allies. Today he is a federal congressman from the Liberal Party (PL), the same party as the former president. In the lower house of Congress, Salles became rapporteur for the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) that has been investigating the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). The case involving illegal logging led him to resign from the Ministry of the Environment in June 2021. According to the complaint, the former minister dismissed public officials from the environmental area and appointed in their place people who represented the private interests of loggers.

• IACHR. The Special Rapporteurship for DESCA (Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published on Wednesday, August 30, the final report of the mission that was sent to Brazil in August. The document expresses "great concern" with the findings made during that visit and notes that the challenges that had already been verified in the 2011 report on Brazil "have worsened in recent years". The WBO was one of the 25 organizations that organized the visit of the rapporteur, Soledad García Muñoz. Her report was delivered to the Brazilian government, which is responsible for responding to questions and suggestions.

• PUBLIC BUDGET. On Thursday, August 31, President Lula signed a law that changes the rules for public spending. This law was nicknamed the “new fiscal framework.” It gives greater freedom for public investment compared to the previous law, called the “spending ceiling,” which had been adopted in the government of President Michel Temer (2016-18) and limited the increase in spending only to amounts that would keep up with inflation. The approval of this new “framework” was one of the priorities of the Minister of Finance (Economy) Fernando Haddad. It also represents an important victory for the Lula government in a congress with an opposition majority. With the new rule, public spending will be able to grow between 0.6 percent and 2.5 percent,every year, in real terms – that is, in addition to inflation.

NEWS FROM SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS AND MOVEMENTS:

TRANSPARENCY AND HUMAN RIGHTS. On Wednesday, August 30, Artigo 19 published a study on the right to information with a focus on Memory and Truth. The document addresses the issue of transparency in access to public data applied to crimes committed by the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985). The organization notes that, in Brazil, “the lack of transparency is part of a central strategy of silencing the victims of the most diverse forms of state violence”.

MINI-ELECTORAL REFORM. A group of civil society organizations, including Transparency International, expressed concern about the direction of the so-called "mini-electoral reform," which will change the rules for the 2024 race. The entities have drafted a letter that will be sent to those responsible for proposing the “mini-reform” in Congress, complaining about the tight deadlines for holding public hearings and criticizing points provided for in this reform. The letter is open to additional signatures.

INDIGENOUS ISSUE. The resumption of voting on the so-called “timeframe” in the Supreme Court led to a large mobilization of  Brazilian civil society organizations. One of them was Greenpeace, which ran a campaign to collect signatures in defense of Indigenous peoples and the environment. As of the day of resumption of voting in plenary, the campaign had collected more than 481 thousand signatures.

COP30. The Coalizão Vozes do Tapajós Combating Climate Change has opened vacancies for the registration of individuals, organizations, and movements interested in learning more about the 30th COP, a conference that will bring together in Belém do Pará, in 2025, the States that are parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Changes. The idea is to increase the influence of civil society in this meeting, in which States have been considered the main formal protagonists.

Feature Article

by Rebecca Tavares

Policies in Defense of Women Need to Get Off the Ground

The achievements of women in the last 35 years in the country are undeniable. The 1988 Constitution ensured equality between women and men and brought labor guarantees such as 120-day maternity leave and the prohibition of wage differences based on gender. In 2006, the Maria da Penha Law created mechanisms to curb violence against women under the terms of the Constitution and international treaties. Moreover, the Femicide Law of 2015 now provides for femicide as a qualifying circumstance for the crime of homicide, making it a heinous crime.

But why, despite all these advances, are we still one of the countries that most harms and kills women? And what does this have to do with our efforts for empowerment and emancipation?

According to the latest report on gender equality by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Brazil occupies fifth place in the ranking of feminicides in the region, with 1.7 cases per 100,000 women. A recent survey by the Deloitte consultancy shows that 60 percent of Brazilian women suffered harassment and microaggressions at work in the last year, while burnout, lower pay, and low expectations of promotion were among the main reasons for women to want to leave their jobs.

We cannot forget the dramatic situation of trans women in Brazil, which is the world leader in murders of trans people and transvestites, even with the criminalization of homophobia and transphobia in 2019. There were 131 homicides last year, according to the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals.

The work of the Women's Police Stations and the entire support network – legal advice, medical and psychological care, temporary shelters – has been fundamental. However, it is necessary to focus not only on punishing the aggressor and on protective measures with a palliative effect, but also prioritizing female empowerment and early childhood education.

The concept of empowerment must be taught to girls from an early age in schools, showing them that it is possible to be independent and successful women, following the career they choose without needing men to legitimize them. Boys, on the other hand, must learn about gender equality as soon as possible, so that they become conscious and active adults in the fight to end the culture of machismo.

This fight is also for the right to one's own body, something difficult to achieve in a country where many women and girls do not have access to education and sexual and reproductive health, which makes them more vulnerable to abuse and violence. Let's remember the case that occurred in Santa Catarina last year, in which a ten-year-old girl was raped and became pregnant by her aggressor. Even with the trauma and risks of an early pregnancy, there was pressure not to perform the abortion, guaranteed by law in such circumstances, and even the child's personal data was leaked as a way to dissuade her from the decision.

And how can the private sector contribute to advancing gender issues in Brazil, where a woman earns, on average, 78 percent of a man's salary, according to Brazilian Institution of Geography and Statistics data?

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies have promoted significant changes in companies. When dealing with governance for women, they must include training and promotion programs for female leaders and awareness campaigns for male employees, especially in leadership positions, regarding discrimination and harassment. Women who work in a place where there is respect, fair pay, and opportunities for growth are satisfied with their jobs and produce more.

The social component of the ESG agenda can also bring advances in the quest for gender equity, by encouraging organizations that promote economic and cultural empowerment and access to health, including sexual and reproductive health for women and girls with special attention to Black, Indigenous, peripheral, rural and trans women.

Gender inequality reflects the country's racial and socioeconomic disparities. The State, civil society, and the private sector need to defend the maintenance and improvement of achievements achieved so far, put affirmative policies into practice, and combat setbacks. These are essential measures for building a more humane, egalitarian ,and prosperous society.

Rebecca Tavares, ED.D., President and CEO of BrazilFoundation

Feature articles express the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or WBO.