So if anyone has been paying attention to the news lately, you probably realized that the impeachment of President Dilma here in Brazil was made official on Thursday.
I was walking home from my job at the city hall when it happened. All of a sudden hundreds of cars around me kept uncontrollably beeping their horns. I thought perhaps there was some sporting event that happened? Maybe the Cruzeiros won?
I asked this random guy on the street what was going on. Why was everyone honking their horns? He then turned to me and told me "Dilma has officially been removed from office" and gave me a thumbs down.
Dilma's impeachment was brought to the table once she was found moving around budgets, allegedly to secure a future win for herself in the next election. Although other presidents have done this before, she was the first one to be brought to an impeachment trial due to this.
The problem, however, is not that Dilma is a well-liked president. Not many Brazilians "absolutely love" her. In fact, a large part of it seems to be that Michel Temer, her replacement, is very widely disliked. According to my friends here in Belo Horizonte, he is cutting social reform, taking away rights, and overall stifling the progressive motion that Brazil had been making. In addition, the only times Temer's party (The Democratic Movement Party) have been in power have been in cases involving issues such as the death of the president. They were never directly elected by the people.
There is also the fact that Dilma was elected by the people of Brazil, which is why many are saying that this impeachment is a direct blow against democracy in Brazil. This is because 61 men in the senate voted to remove her, yet more than 50 million Brazilians of all backgrounds and walks of life supported her and voted her in. Hashtags have arisen saying that "Brazil is no longer a democracy" and protests have sprung up from São Paulo to Brasília to protest her removal. Just on Sunday, over 50,000 Anti-Temer protesters came out in São Paulo and the police used tear gas to deter them.
Here in Belo Horizonte, I witnessed an interesting manifestation right by Praça da Liberdade. People were throwing firecrackers in the air, beating drums, and chanting. I was on the phone with my good friend living in Italy and she freaked out because she thought there were gunshots happening behind me. Rest assured, everything is ok guys.
What I personally find interesting is that in Brazil, most people I talk to directly label this a coup d'etat - a "Golpe de estado" - No question about it. Once you look at media sources outside of Brazil, most people just label it as a normal "impeachment" or "change of leadership."
In the past few days I've been asking people what they thought of the impeachment. I've interviewed my employer, co-workers, Uber drivers, waiters, friends, random people on the street - you name it. I'm not Brazilian myself so I rely on their views to give me more clarity. Most people I have personally talked to are completely against the impeachment. However, there are a few who just say that nothing really will change. "It's normal what is happening." In fact, all of those people beeping their horns on Thursday were in support of the decision.
Regardless of the label you choose to place on it, there is no doubt that this change will have (and is already having) large implications on Brazil and its population. The next election is in 2019 and Dilma has not been banned from running. In fact, she never truly said goodbye, she pledged to us that she would "be back soon."
Side note: I've been here in Brazil for almost two months, and Thursday has been the only day that I have actually seen rain in this city.
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