Brazil's public services face 'very real threat of collapse', says Lula
Source: The Guardian
Brazil’s public services face ‘very real threat of collapse’, says Lula
President-elect says transition team have found ‘simplest things not being done’ as result of Bolsonaro mismanagement
Andrew Downie in São Paulo
Thu 22 Dec 2022 17.45 GMT
Last modified on Thu 22 Dec 2022 17.53 GMT
Public services in Brazil face a “very real threat of collapse” as a result of the mismanagement by the outgoing far-right government, and the incoming administration will have a “herculean task” in rebuilding damaged institutions, particularly in the fields of health, education and the environment, the country’s president-elect has said.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat the far-right incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, in a tightly fought election in October and is due to take power on 1 January.
In the weeks since Lula’s victory, his transition team have been evaluating the task ahead, and the leftist leader, who called Bolsonaro’s term “a tempest of fascism”, said they were shocked by what they have found.
“I don’t intend on making a big scandal about this; I just want Brazilian people to know the task that we are facing,” Lula said on Thursday. “After a four-year mandate, we find the government in penury, with the simplest things not being done … because the president preferred to tell lies to his bubble rather than govern this country.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/22/brazil-public-services-lula-president-elect-bolsonaro-government
= new reply since forum marked as read
The incident - resulting from a high-voltage transmission line downed due to botched maintenance (carried out by a subcontractor owned by Macri's own family) - left over 50 million people without power at once: All of Argentina (exc. tiny Tierra del Fuego Province), and 4 million or so in neighboring countries.
And this, after 3000%+ rate hikes over the prior 3 years.
Like his pal Cheeto, Macri spent his entire 4-year tenure touting himself as "the infrastructure president." And yes, he, too, is trying to weasel his way back into office.
Which - again, like Trump - he largely squandered with bad business decisions (and being taken to the cleaners in two divorces).
And like Trump, Macri tried to cover his losses by stealing from the taxpayer - in his case, from the Argentine postal service (an ongoing fraud case "stalled" in the courts since 2001).
They're both, at their core, self-important incompetents that couldn't manage a candy stand - let alone a nation.
Especially one as feeble as Argentina.
That said, Macri does still have a loyal base among the country's large (and sadly, mostly racist) middle class.
TigressDem's mention of the way middle-class Peruvians refers to the indigenous (https://www.democraticunderground.com/110883418#post2) very much applies to Argentine right-wingers - except down there it's negro de mierda.
(Negro, in Argentina, mainly refers to either indigenous or mestizo people - rather than actual "negroes," who are fairly rare in Argentina)
To the Argentine middle-class right-winger (I'd say about 70% of the middle class is), "those negros" are the cause of most of the country's ills - along with Peronists, "who coddle them for votes!"
The fact that their own upper class pulled a giant Mitt Romney on them - taking on huge debts against the country's credit, to finance the dollarizing and offshoring of assets - escapes them completely.
Trust me: most are so stupid, it boggles their mind even when you try to explain this (really quite simple) scam.
Perhaps this is why it keeps happening to them.
But enough of that. Here's hoping you had a great Christmas, Judi. All the Best! 
After all this time, the unspeakable torture, inhuman, insane behavior from the right-wing racists everywhere, it persists, unchallenged, apparently. It must be in every country in the Western Hemisphere, it appears.
One never thinks of Argentina, from a distance, of course, as a place with that level of virulent racism, but it looks like it hasn't put it behind, either.
After seeing your post, I suddenly remembered the indigenous hero(ine), Milagro Sala.
Here's an article from before her last vicious persecution from the governor of her area, and Macri:
Jailed Indigenous Leader Milagro Sala Unmasks Torture, Mistreatment in Argentina Prison
teleSUR
May 22, 2017
Jailed Indigenous activist and lawmaker Milagro Sala denounced Sunday that she and other inmates have been tortured and threatened to death in prison in the Argentine province of Jujuy, where she as been illegally detained for almost a year and a half.
Sala and other women prisoners voiced complaints about abuses in the Alto Comedero prison to Jujuy provincial authorities and a United Nations panel that was visiting the Argentine province in order to report on the human rights situation in the country.
The complaint, which includes “torture,” “use of isolation cells” and “constant harassment,” will be presented to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on Thursday, reported Argentina’s Pagina 12.
Directly implicated in Sala’s testimony, the prison’s Vice Director Patricia Balcarce was removed from her position before the U.N. visit.
. . .
On Sunday, the U.N. Committee against Torture released a damning report on the human rights situation in Argentina, denouncing torture in prisons, police abuses and arbitrary arrests by federal and state authorities.
Quoting cases of torture like Ezequiel Villanueva and Ivan Navarro, 15 and 18-years-old respectively, the report also mentioned attempted homicides and forced disappearances, urging authorities to address the impunity level immediately.
More:
https://intercontinentalcry.org/jailed-indigenous-leader-milagro-sala-unmasks-torture-mistreatment-argentina-prison/
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This happens AFTER the Dirty War dictatorship which eliminated 30,000 souls!
It's there in every country.
I'm holding to my hope/belief that resistance and anger will build within the sane part of those born lucky who have not been targeted yet to turn against those finally and drive them all out of power. It may be something as unexpected as the haters finally blowing themselves up, one way or another! It definitely could happen.
Already the freakish weather has broken, a balmy normal coldness is coming, things might be looking up right away! We can use that for the New Year, can't we?
Be sure to keep warm throughout the holiday. The New Year should be a lot less horrifying!
