Justice in Brazil

In 2022, Brazilian voters kicked president Jair Bolsonaro out of office. He responded with an attempted coup. Now, he's been convicted for it, and sentenced to 27 years in prison:

Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a military coup and seeking to “annihilate” the South American country’s democracy.

Justices Cármen Lúcia Antunes Rocha and Cristiano Zanin ruled on Thursday that Bolsonaro – a former paratrooper who was elected president in 2018 – was guilty of seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing the 2022 election, meaning four of the five judges involved in the trial had found Brazil’s former leader guilty.

Announcing Bolsonaro’s sentence for crimes including coup d’etat and violently attempting to abolish Brazil’s democracy on Thursday night, the supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes said: “[He tried to] annihilate the essential pillars of the democratic rule-of-law state ... the greatest consequence [of which] ... would have been the return of dictatorship to Brazil.”

Good. This is how democracies with a functioning legal system, like Brazil and Korea, respond to coups: with law and criminal charges. Meanwhile, the US, which purports to be the "world's greatest democracy", has not only failed to hold Trump to account for his coup attempt on January 6, 2021 - it re-elected him, and he is now threatening Brazil with tariffs and sanctions for upholding the law and defending their democracy from fascism. Which kindof makes it clear which side he's on, doesn't it?

Showing the Americans how to do it II

In 2022, Brazilian voters kicked president Jair Bolsonaro out of office. He responded with an attempted coup. And now, he's being prosecuted for it:

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, was charged Tuesday with overseeing a vast scheme to hold on to power after he lost the 2022 election, including one plot to annul the vote, disband courts and empower the military, and another to assassinate the nation’s president-elect.

The accusations, laid out in a 272-page indictment, suggested that Brazil came strikingly close to plunging back into, in effect, a military dictatorship nearly four decades into its modern democracy.

Brazil’s attorney general, Paulo Gonet Branco, indicted Mr. Bolsonaro and 33 other people, including a former spy chief, defense minister and national security adviser, accusing them of a series of crimes against Brazil’s democracy. The charges essentially adopted recommendations from Brazil’s federal police made in November.

This is how democracies defend themselves: with law and criminal charges. And as with South Korea, the contrast with America couldn't be clearer. And the refusal of America's political elite to defend their democracy and constitution from a violent insurrectionist is now having consequences all around the world.

Justice in Brazil

Following the 2022 Brazilian general election, election loser Jair Bolsonaro tried to do a Trump, attempting a coup to overturn the election. It failed. But unlike his American friend, he hasn't been allowed to get away with it:

The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and some of his closest allies are among dozens of people formally accused by federal police of being part of a criminal conspiracy designed to obliterate Brazil’s democratic system through a rightwing coup d’état.

Federal police confirmed on Thursday that investigators had concluded their long-running investigation into what they called a coordinated attempt to “violently dismantle the constitutional state”.

In a statement, police said the report – which has been forwarded to the supreme court – formally accused a total of 37 people of crimes including involvement in an attempted coup, the formation of a criminal organization, and trying to tear down one of the world’s largest democracies.

Prosecutions are likely to follow.

The contrast with America couldn't be clearer. There, the federal government dragged its feet on prosecuting Trump for insurrection, he was allowed to stand for re-election despite clear constitutional language forbidding it, and the US people then voted for him. Its an appalling indictement of the US's ramshackle "democracy" and of the state of the rule of law in that country.

(Meanwhile, in other good news, the ICC has finally issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant. Which invites the obvious question: when will our government be imposing sanctions against these war criminals and their genocidal regime?)

This is what the right stands for now

Two years ago, supporters of failed presidential candidate Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overthrow America's democracy and overturn the results of an election they had lost. And today, just a few days after the anniversary of that event, supporters of Trump's ally Jair Bolsonaro did the same in Brazil. Fortunately they also failed. But the mere act of doing it - of challenging the peaceful, democratic transfer of power with violence - destabilises democracy. And it encourages future attempts, which may not fail. And not just in America and Brazil - these countries are now exporting their anti-democratic instability to the world.

When Trump and Bolsonaro were in office, they were wholeheartedly embraced by mainstream right-wing parties in other countries - including in Aotearoa. Former National Party leader John Key says he would have voted for both (and this was after Trump's riot). And Key isn't alone in that. Key honestly attributes that to right-wing tribalism, but that's actually the problem here: the refusal to look past partisan affiliation and say "actually, this guy is anti-democratic, an actual fascist, I don't support that".

If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. The natural conclusion about the right-wing parties around the world who embraced Trump as a leader and Bolsonaro as an ally is that they support the same things - not just inequality and bigotry, but insurrection and the violent overthrow of democracy (the latter is sadly a reversion to historical type). That's basicly what the right stands for now, until they prove otherwise.

Democracy wins in Brazil

Brazilians went to the polls today in a run-off presidential election, and voted narrowly to re-elect former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rather than authoritarian, coup-apologist, anti-environment, covid-superspreader Jair Bolsonaro. Which is pretty good news for Brazilian democracy, the global climate, and actual Brazilians - Bolsonaro managed to murder more than 700,000 of them with his covid-denial, and Brazil's senate has recommended that he face murder charges over it.

I don't know enough about Brazilian politics to interpret the Chamber of Deputies results and work out if Lula will actually be able to do anything, or will have to fight a hostile legislature. But even if its the latter, the change at the top and the democratic ousting of an authoritarian would-be dictator is something to celebrate.

Justice for Brazil?

Brazil has been one of the countries worst-hit by the pandemic, with over 21 million confirmed cases and 600,000 deaths. Much of the blame for that can be squarely laid at the feet of its president, Jair Bolsonaro, who put the economy first and let the disease spread unchecked, while opposing mask-wearing and vaccination and denying the disease was serious. Hundreds of thousands died as a result of his choices. And now, Brazil's Senate says he should be prosecuted for it:

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, should face murder charges for his role in the country’s “stratospheric” coronavirus death toll, a draft report from a senate inquiry into Brazil’s Covid crisis has recommended.

The 1,078-page document, published by Brazilian media on Tuesday afternoon, is not due to be voted on by the commission until next week and could yet be modified by senators.

But the draft text paints a devastating portrait of the neglect, incompetence and anti-scientific denialism many believe has defined the Bolsonaro administration’s response to a public health emergency that has killed more than 600,000 Brazilians.

Bolsonaro’s “deliberate and conscious” decision to delay buying Covid vaccines needlessly condemned thousands of citizens to early graves, the report claims.

Bolsonaro is an extreme case, but he's not the only leader whose deliberate choices or depraved indifference caused mass-death (Boris Johnson is another good example). And these people should be held accountable for those choices, through criminal prosecution under domestic or international law. Its not like its a foreign concept in our constitutional tradition - Charles I was tried and executed for exactly this (his chosen means of causing mass-death being war).

So hopefully Brazil will follow through, and charge and try Bolsonaro. Even if a trial results in an acquittal, it would set a useful precedent for political accountability, and hopefully make politicians more cautious before choosing mass death over saving lives.

Climate change: Beaten by Brazil

Last year the government announced a climate change target of a 30% reduction on 2005 emissions by 2030. It was an unambitious target, puffing up a pathetic 11% cut from 1990 emissions behind the baseline shift, and worse, would commit us to failure on our 50% by 2050 target (which is against the 1990 baseline). And as a sign of just how unambitious it is, its just been trumped by Brazil:

The Brazilian government has ratified its participation in the Paris agreement on climate change, a significant step by Latin America’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases that could spur other countries to follow suit.

[...]

Countries set their own targets for reducing emissions. The targets are not legally binding, but nations must update them every five years. Using 2005 levels as the baseline, Brazil committed to cutting emissions 37% by 2025 and an “intended reduction” of 43% by 2030.

So there you have it: we're dragging our feet so badly on climate change that even developing nations are setting targets substantially more ambitious than ours. But I guess that's what you get when you have a government stuffed with (barely) closeted deniers and working for polluters.

The Olympic Spirit

What does the Olympic Games mean today? Oppression, tear gas, and rubber bullets:

Police used stun grenades and tear gas to clear protesters in the path of the Olympic torch in a poor suburb of Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, two days before South America's first Olympic Games open under tight security.

[...]

Police said anti-government protesters in Duque de Caixas, on Rio's north side, threw rocks and blocked the torch's path.

Police dispersed them with pepper spray and rubber bullets. A video of the incident spurred social media criticism of the police and amplified complaints that the Games ignored the poor.

[...]

Three people were injured by rubber bullets, including a 10-year-old girl, local media reported.

The Olympics: they're about shooting the poor. Sounds like a good reason not to have anything to do with them.

New Zealand is a haven for corrupt money II

Another day, another story of a corrupt foreign politician using new Zealand to launder their money. This time, its Eduardo Cunha, former Speaker of the Brazilian Congress:

A controversial and disgraced prominent Brazilian politician accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes used a New Zealand company as part of a complex arrangement to hide his wealth in secret bank accounts.

Eduardo Cunha, the suspended speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress, used a New Zealand trust company run by people featuring prominently in the Panama Papers and tax haven organiser Mossack Fonseca, to hide millions of dollars in bribes involving the state-run oil company Petrobras.

Mr Cunha was suspended for obstructing the official inquiry into the corruption scandal and his notoriety in Brazil is such that he's been likened to the fictional corrupt US politician Frank Underwood, featured in the television series House of Cards.

And National's friends have enriched themselves by taking a cut of his corruption.

But while National was defending corruption to the death in Parliament just a few weeks ago, now they've changed their tune, and are promising stronger anti-money laundering laws by next year. But its unclear if they have any intention to solve the core problem: secret foreign trusts which are effectively tax-free. Until we eliminate them, New Zealand will continue to be a haven for corrupt foreign money.

How it works in Brazil

The Brazilian government is currently mired in a massive corruption scandal which threatens to topple President Dilma Rousseff. Last week, it expanded, with police formally charging former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a money laundering investigation. So the current President immediately appointed him to a senior government position:

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been named chief of staff in the government of Dilma Rousseff, as the embattled leader reshuffles her cabinet in a desperate attempt to stay in office.

The decision means that the former president, currently under criminal investigation for corruption and money-laundering, will not have to face any eventual trial in an ordinary criminal court. As a government minister, he will be entitled to the so-called “privileged forum” of a hearing in Brazil’s supreme court.

This is simply corrupt and wrong. There is no other way to describe it. Politicians accused of corruption should face justice, not be shielded. And Rousseff's actions clearly show that she is a co-conspirator, not an innocent party.

More broadly, the entire idea that government officials should be immune from criminal charges is basicly a standing encouragement to criminal behaviour. No modern state should provide such immunity, and those which do provide it should repeal it.

Contributing to the international relations of New Zealand

On Monday, we learned that the GCSB had supported Tim Grosers campaign to become director of the WTO by spying on internet traffic about him and his rivals, including Brazil's Roberto Carvalho de Azevdo. Today, Brazil demanded an explanation:

Brazil has demanded an explanation from New Zealand after reports New Zealand's foreign intelligence agency the GCSB spied on its campaign to get Brazilian diplomat Roberto Azevedo elected as Secretary General of the World Trade Organisation in 2013 - successfully.

Brazil media have reported that New Zealand's ambassador in Sao Paulo, Caroline Bilkey, was summoned by the Secretary General of Brazil's foreign ministry (MRE), Sergio Danese, to explain.

A statement issued by the ministry was translated to say Brazil's Government was surprised at the news and is determined to have the facts clarified in consideration of the friendship that has always existed between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully confirmed in statement that "MFAT officials in Brazil have discussed the matters raised in media reporting with their counterparts."

So, GCSB spying has damaged our relationship with Brazil. Just another way the GCSB "contributes" to the international relations of New Zealand...

Canada spied on Brazil

Today's NSALeak: it wasn't just the NSA spying on Brazil - Canada was also involved:

Canada, as well as the US, infiltrated and spied on the Brazilian Energy Ministry, a new leak by Edward Snowden has revealed. The leaked documents show how the data gleaned through espionage was shared with international spy network the ‘Five Eyes.’

Newly-released documents handed over to Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald by former CIA employee Edward Snowden describe in detail how Canadian intelligence infiltrated Brazil’s Energy and Mines Ministry.

[...]

The program showed documents from a meeting of the ‘Five Eyes’ spy network, comprising the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, in June of last year. In a presentation the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSRC) – the Canadian version of the NSA – outlined how they used a program called Olympia to break through the Brazilian ministry’s encryption.

The information gleaned from the ministry was then shared with all of the members of the ‘Five Eyes.’

Given Canada's relationship with Brazil, this espionage can only be economic, aimed at profiting its companies. And it raises the question: this appears to have been a project shared across the Five Eyes. Was New Zealand involved too?

This exposes us to the potential for diplomatic repercussions. Brazil has already cancelled a state visit to the US, and you can bet it will be less cooperative in diplomatic and trade negotiations. And as one of the Five Eyes who can now be presumed to be spying on them, we may very well suffer the same fate. And not just from Brazil - as international disquiet grows, we may find doors being closed to us on the basis of who our spy-friends are. And we would completely deserve it.

Spying for big oil

Today's NSALeak: the NSA has been spying on Brazilian oil company Petrobras:

The US National Security Agency has been accused of spying on Brazil's biggest oil company, Petrobras, following the release of more files from US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The latest disclosures, which aired on Brazil's Fantástico news program, have led to accusations that the NSA is conducting intelligence-gathering operations that go beyond its core mission of national security – often cited as the key distinction between the agency and its counterparts in China and Russia.

The revelations are likely to further strain ties between the US and Brazil ahead of a planned state dinner for president Dilma Rousseff at the White House in October. Bileteral relations have already been muddled by the earlier release of NSA files showing the US agency intercepted Brazilian communications and spied on Rousseff and her aides.

I guess its just more evidence that to the US, "national security" means the interests of Big Oil.

Now the NSA is spying on Brazilians

The latest NSA leak: the NSA is spying on Brazil. Not its government, but its people - all of them:

the main article details how the NSA has, for years, systematically tapped into the Brazilian telecommunication network and indiscriminately intercepted, collected and stored the email and telephone records of millions of Brazilians. The story follows an article in Der Spiegel last week, written by Laura Poitras and reporters from that paper, detailing the NSA's mass and indiscriminate collection of the electronic communications of millions of Germans. There are many more populations of non-adversarial countries which have been subjected to the same type of mass surveillance net by the NSA: indeed, the list of those which haven't been are shorter than those which have. The claim that any other nation is engaging in anything remotely approaching indiscriminate worldwide surveillance of this sort is baseless.

How do they do this? They "partner" with US telecommunications companies, who then partner with foreign telecos. So any business deal between a US phone company and your local provider may be cover for the NSA getting all your phone calls and email traffic. Somehow, I suspect a number of those deals are going to be terminated in the near future...

As for why the ordinary people of Brazil are intelligence targets, the whole point is that the US is now running a panopticon, in which they spy on everyone just in case. No individualised suspicion, no probably cause, no reason; if you exist, you're a target for the American Eye of Sauron.

And remember, the New Zealand government is supporting this, through its membership in the "Five Eyes" network. We should be terminating that alliance immediately. This sort of global totalitarianism is an anathema to New Zealand values, and we should not be supporting it.

Brazil elects its first female President

Brazil went to the polls over the weekend in the second round of Presidential elections - and elected its first woman leader: Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist rebel, political prisoner, and torture victim. She's made it clear that she intends to continue the successful policies of her predecessor, Lula, which have raised millions out of poverty - and with a solid majority in both houses of the National Congress, she'll be able to do it.

Climate change: A good first step

While rich nations refuse to act on climate change, Brazil has promised to cut its 2020 emissions by 38 - 42% from business-as-usual. This doesn't sound like much, and its not a binding target - but it is the "substantial deviation from baseline" the IPCC says that major developing countries need to make.

So, once again the developing world, the people who can least afford to, is acting where we are not. Feel ashamed yet? You should.

Twenty minutes into the future...

Guardian: Brazil TV host turned politician 'ordered killings to boost ratings'

A Brazilian politician who fronts a popular television crime show is being investigated for allegedly ordering a series of executions in a bid to boost his ratings.

Wallace Souza, a former police officer who used his lunchtime television slot to rail against the violence sweeping the jungle city of Manaus, is suspected of commissioning at least five murders to prove his claim that the region is awash with violent crime.

Talk about "making the news". When this was done on Max Headroom, it was satire. Now, its reality.

Let's just hope the Sensible Sentencing Trust doesn't get the same idea...

Evil

That is the only way to describe the actions of the Catholic Church in excommunicating the parents and doctors of a nine-year-old child abuse victim because she had an abortion. This isn't a case of convenience; as the article points out, Brazil only permits abortion in cases of rape where the mother's life is at risk. But as in Victoria, it seems that the Catholic Church would rather women (and in this case, children) facing dangerous pregnancies simply died. It's evil, its barbaric, it's misogynisitc. But that seems to be the nature of reactionary "modern" Catholicism...

Correction: Corrected post; the girl was not excommunicated, but her parents and the doctors who performed the procedure were. But it seems the church didn't stop there - it not only excommunicated the mother, but threatened to prosecute her for murder for saving the life of her daughter. Could they be any more monstrous?

Brazilian elections

Brazil went to the polls overnight, and it seems that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (or "Lula", as he is normally known) has narrowly missed out on an absolute majority, and so will be facing a run-off election at the end of the month. The Economist will be pleased. Last week, they published an article about Lula's "underperformance". The problem? He spends money on the poor. The result is that the proportion of Brazilians living in poverty has dropped from 28 to 23 percent, and the real income of poor households rose 28% on average last year. Clearly, this is exactly the sort of "underperformance" Brazil needs at the moment...