Politics

Five years on, scars of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment still visible in Brazil

Exactly five years ago, Congress voted to oust Dilma Rousseff as president, after one-and-a-half terms of infighting and mismanagement. A "coup" for some and "necessary" for others, impeachment after-effects are still being felt

Dilma Rousseff leaving the Senate’s stand after delivering arguments against her impeachment prior to the vote which ended her term. Photo: Pedro França/SF/CC-BY 4.0

Five years to the day, Dilma Rousseff became the second Brazilian president to be impeached by Congress in a quarter-century. The acrimonious process bookended an often inept administration, but also deepened political divisions, fueled anti-establishment movements, and left Brazil’s political system in tatters. The traumatic process still bears ripple effects in the country.

Ms. Rousseff was formally ousted for doctoring the budget. While technically an impeachable offense, her crimes were arguably no less heinous than those committed by administrations before her, simply being used as a pretext to jettison a head of state who had lost her ability to govern. 

A sizable portion of Brazilian society calls Ms. Rousseff’s impeachment a parliamentary coup, largely due to the preposterous theater that ended up pushing the president out of office. During a prior House vote on the case, lawmakers enjoyed their moments in the sun by voting in favor of impeachment for the most absurd reasons. Lawmakers gave shoutouts to their family members and dedicated their votes to the most spurious sectors of society, including “the farmers of Santa Catarina state.” 

During Jair Bolsonaro’s vote — then a member of Congress — he paid tribute to Army Colonel Carlos Brilhante Ustra, who tortured Ms. Rousseff during the military dictatorship. 

The coup sentiment was further aggravated by the fact that many of the proceedings’ mentors were investigated or arrested for corruption shortly afterward — and pork-barrelling politics became stronger than ever.

Meanwhile, others saw the ousting it as a necessary move against a leader who was undermining democratic principles by diminishing transparency over the federal budget.

The first woman president

The Dilma Rousseff project was set into motion on January 1, 2007, on Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s inauguration for his second term as Brazil’s president. Lula’s Justice Minister, the late Márcio Thomaz Bastos, took Ms. Rousseff aside and told her of the “ambitious project” their boss had in store for the then-Chief of Staff. She would be appointed as Lula’s successor.

Ms. Rousseff’s first reaction was laughter.

She had her reasons for not believing it. Ms. Rousseff was not a leader within the Workers’ Party, having instead made her political career in the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) and joining Lula’s political family less than ten years prior. She was perceived as an impatient technocrat with zero charisma and had never once run for public office. 

Up to that point, Dilma Rousseff had never been tested electorally — not even for shop steward.

But Lula, the sun around which the Workers’ Party orbits, was facing a dilemma. The two men he was considering as possible successors had both fallen, one after the other, to corruption accusations. 

José Dirceu, his first Chief of Staff, had been impeached as a congressman after being accused of operating a bribing system to assure the government a majority in Congress. 

Antonio Palocci, his first Finance Minister, battled his own demons. He was exposed participating in clandestine meetings with lobbyists and prostitutes at a mansion in Brasília and illegally accessed the confidential bank records of the mansion’s owner — all while leading Brazil’s economy.

To avoid an internal battle during his second term, Lula decided to handpick his heir on his own. While gambling on Ms. Rousseff — a largely unknown political quantity — his reasoning was that if the economy went well, he would have enough prestige to elect anyone as his successor — and he was right.

On January 1, 2011, Brazil’s first working-class head of state handed over the presidential sash to the country’s first female president.

dilma rousseff lula
Dilma Rousseff and Lula at the presidential palace. Photo: Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR

The first term

In her first year as president, Dilma Rousseff was forced to swap out seven cabinet ministers due to corruption allegations — including the aforementioned Antonio Palocci. After the press published cases of bribery demands from public officers, she acted quickly and eradicated her would-be allies, earning her the nickname of the “Moral Cleaner.” 

While these moves pushed her approval ratings to all-time highs, her reputation began to sink among the political class.

Whenever her decisions were contested, she would offer the same response: “Did you get 55 million votes or did I?” And Ms. Rousseff was decidedly not fond of...

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