Brazil's Government Cuts Social Programs to Subsidize Fuel
To meet strikers' demands government to cut funds of agrarian reform, indigenous land demarkations and exporters' incentives.
By Lise Alves - June 1, 2018
By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The federal government of Brazil announced yesterday (Thursday, May 31st) cuts of R$1.2 billion in social programs, infrastructure, incentives for exporters and maintenance of federal highways to cover the R$9.58 billion in expects to lose after giving into strikers’ demands and subsidizing diesel fuel prices. Sectors affected by the decision say they have been abandoned by the federal government.
“We regret the reduction of Reintegra [incentive program for exporters]. The moment is bad for the decision, which signals the abandonment of the export sector,” Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB) president, José Augusto de Castro, told a government media agency.
The federal government will reduce the tax credit from two percent to 0.1 percent. “It is a decision that pushes Brazil even further away from the global chains, removing the competitiveness of our manufactured products,” concluded Castro.
According to government officials the subsidy for the price of diesel, granted to strikers to end the nine-day protest which paralyzed the country, will cost R$9.58 billion in revenues. Resources which will have to be obtained by the government in other ways.
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It's not a great step for the vicious Pres. Temer to take, as he tries to destroy the politically powerless, poor majority of Brazil. It's easy to do for corrupt, dirty politicians, since the poor people have no way to defend themselves and their interests, and if they try to protests, Brazil can simply have another bloody, torture-loving, racist dictatorship like their military dictatorship the right-wingers have been clamoring for in the last several years in Brazil. So damned sad.
Here's a photo of one of the regular sunny weather demonstrations the wealthy class in Brazil attended, some bringing their pets, some having their nannies pushing their kids in the strollers while the parents walked ahead, a few naked women thrown in as they paraded their assets about in the crowd, a lot of enormous yellow ducks produced by a corporation which sided with the wealthy Brazilians, etc., etc., etc. A real zoo, and festival for the oligarchs who wanted to get rid of the leftists who were looking out for the massive poor population.
These images were shared a couple of years ago by a great D.U. poster who lives in Brazil .