Explaining Brazil #124: Rio’s descent into political hell

Wilson Witzel. Photo: Andre_MA/Shutterstock

This week’s episode, Rio de Janeiro’s descent into political hell, was supported by AMEC, the Brazilian Association of Investors in Capital Markets. AMEC brings together around 60 institutional investors from Brazil and abroad — with a combined portfolio of over USD 130 billion.

It was also supported by AirYourVoice.com, a platform that offers a SEO Mastery course which will help make your company’s website the top-ranked in your field, in no time at all.

Rio de Janeiro was the center of the world in 2014 and 2016, when Brazil hosted the football World Cup and the Olympics. It seemed like a turning point for the City, with Brazil’s soft power reaching a historic high.

Four years later, everything seems to have gone downhill. Every single living former governor of Rio has been jailed at some point, and the incumbent governor could face the same destiny. Apart from its political troubles, Rio continues to battle the Covid-19 outbreak, violent crime, police brutality, and an economic collapse that has no end in sight.

This week, we discuss Rio’s endemic corruption problem.

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On this episode:

Mauricio Santoro holds a Ph.D. in Political Science. He is currently an Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of International Relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. He also writes op-eds for The Brazilian Report.
Benjamin Fogel is a regular contributor to The Brazilian Report, he also writes for Jacobin magazine and Africa is a Country. He is working on a Ph.D. on the history of Brazilian corruption politics at New York University.

Background reading:

Besides the pandemic, Brazilian governors face multiple crises — including threats of impeachment.
The impeachment process against Rio Governor Wilson Witzel. (For premium subscribers only.)
The Wilson Witzel administration, albeit short, was marked by a massive increase in police brutality, as Edmund Ruge reports. Earlier this year, the police killed a 14-year-old boy in what was just the latest chapter of a story that has become all-too-common for favela residents.
Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice suspends Rio Governor in a coronavirus corruption probe. The Feds had already targeted Mr. Witzel in May.
Rio de Janeiro has lived through a constant economic crisis for years. Alcysio Canette wrote about the city’s economic catastrophe.