BRAZIL-From climate change to coup d'état

How to make the transition

Dilma speaks tomorrow for 5 minutes at a UN climate conference. I hope it is transmitted by local TV because I am most interested seeing in how she will “transition” her presentation from climate to “coup d’état” in such a short presentation.

In fact, I have a suggestion:

After commenting for about 3 minutes on the subject of climate change, Brazil’s policies re environmental protection, etc. she could move into the question of a “coup d’état” as follows: “And while I am on the subject of climate, I would like to say something about the political climate in Brazil…”

There, that should do it!

The question of Dilma’s statement that she intends to raise the issue at the UN has generated a lot more controversy than it probably deserves. Even the Supreme Court has chimed in with the comments of some justices that it is uncalled for and a “grievous error”. The talking heads are now shaking heads as they lament the embarrassment to Brazil of washing dirty laundry in public, and wondering what will happen if the international community accepts her argument. (Oh the horror, the horror!) Brazil’s politicians and political analysts have joined the chorus with similar statements and concerns for Brazil’s reputation in the rest of the world.

It is truly much ado about nothing. If Dilma follows through on her threat to raise the issue in a climate change conference, the embarrassment will be hers and hers alone. I would not expect anyone except that collection of “Bolivarians” (Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Cristina Kirchner) to even take her complaint seriously. 

With millions of migrants being shunted back and forth in Europe, high unemployment in the EU, the prospect of Donald Trump becoming president of the US, oil prices in the cellar, a five-year civil war in Syria, and melting ice caps that threaten to submerge coastal cities and Pacific islands, I would not expect those at the conference to be too concerned about an internal problem in Brazil that is being worked out in accordance with the country’s constitution.

Now, maybe, just maybe mind you, Dilma has it in mind to get some international support that would justify her calling for a state of National Emergency in Brazil that will grant her special powers and allow her to even put troops on the street.

However, to do that she will have to first consult with the Council of the Republic (which to-date has no members but according to the Constitution must have as one of its members the Vice President who Dilma has now labeled a “traitor”, and the National Defense Council made up of the military that she has regularly antagonized, and also is reported to have no members as yet). So, she will first have to nominate members to both groups or simply violate the Constitution to be able to declare a state of national defense.

If she does not get the international support she seeks, she will have no choice but to go beyond the planet to see what she can find in support of her claim.

In my view, she would be better off to just get a couple of my former Italian buddies from New Jersey to come down to Brazil and have a “talk” with her antagonists. Two names come to mind, Vinnie and Gino, who when asked how they plan to resolve the issue at hand will just say, “Don’t ask!” They are quick and efficient!

Ho hum! Never a dull day in Brazil!