Monthly Commentary – Sep/18

Dear Friends,

Wake up Brazil! The Giant shall no longer sleep.

Once again we are faced with the possibility of changing Brazil’s course. In the days prior to a new presidential election, we witnessed the Nation confronted with a daunting decision between what recent opinion polls have come to depict as two poles: on the one hand the Workers’ Party – PT (led by its main spokesperson and convicted felon former president Lula) and the other a Retired Army Captain (with his vice-president, also a retired Army General, both viewed as brutes and unsophisticated). For some a difficult choice, they still bet on a third way; others, by ideology, opportunism and even fear, prefer to grant PT the benefit of the doubt.

In fact, it is clear that any outcome may bring some frustration, but it is one thing to choose the certainty of failure, either by doubling down on everything we have seen in the last 14 years and/or continuity and more of the same; and another thing is to opt for the possibility of success. The “center” candidacy leads us to continuity and the lack of the imperative need to break with the status quo, as the give-and-take disguised as effective discourse both in guidance and in the “abilities” of the policies required to promote democracy and good management.

On the side of our deepening crisis, there is the return of the PT. Yes, judging from their proposals and government plan we will see much more than we have seen under the leadership of Dilma Rousseff; the catastrophe will be final. Why? For the simple fact that their track record is an undeniable disaster, and if elected now, people will be legitimizing all their past misdeeds and delivering a free pass for future atrocities – in all segments.

On the other hand, the double Captain-General with a strong “developmentalist-nationalist” history learns quickly and fits quite comfortably with the only possible way out for Brazil: liberalism. We must give ourselves the right, at least once in our lives, to “experience” what has worked in countries like England and the United States. Brazil has already been a “laboratory” of finances of all sorts, and a home for intelligent thinking – in this line of reasoning – like the Real Plan, which worked well… so, others of same lineage, will also work. In the political field, however, the PT is very explicit in what it claims by the voice of one of its exponents: it is about “overtaking power”. Nothing is more anti-democratic, crude and rude. It is the submission of the State and the Nation. We need the complete cleansing of what has been done in the last 14 years. The low competitiveness of other candidates in the first round of voting and redirection of these votes in an eventual second round may jeopardize Brazil’s likely success and seal its future. It is imperative to discuss the issue of useful voting, and especially the message of victory in the first round may represent. The fact is that the phrase that opens this Comment precisely translates the moment that we live, and we expect to be the last attitude of the Brazilian people: “We are at the eleventh hour “.

To read full report, click here.

To read full report in the original format, click here.

Open chat