From: nicanet@nyxfer.UUCP
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Subject: Brazil News Update 1/3/93
Date: 4 Jan 93 22:28:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:DccVwB1w165w@nyxfer.uucp:-1340737944:000:4501
Nf-From: nyxfer.uucp!nicanet    Jan  4 14:28:00 1993


Subject: Brazil News Update 1/3/93
From: nyxfer!nicanet (NicaNet NY)


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

excerpted from...

         Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York
       339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499

             Weekly News Update #153, January 3, 1993


BRAZIL'S NEOLIBERAL PRESIDENT FINALLY RESIGNS

After less than three years in office, Brazilian President
Fernando Collor de Mello resigned on Dec. 29 just as the Senate
was beginning his trial on charges of official misconduct. Three
hours later Collor was succeeded by his vice president, Itamar
Augusto Cautiero Franco, who has served as acting president since
Collor was impeached on Sept. 29. [New York Times 12/30/92;
Washington Post 12/30/92] Proceeding with the trial the next day,
the Senate voted 76-3 to convict the former president. Collor is
now barred from holding political office for eight years and no
longer has immunity from criminal prosecution on corruption
charges. Speaking on television, Collor called his impeachment a
"summary execution" and said: "I have been publicly lynched."
[NYT 12/31/92] According to a poll from the Ibope institute, 80%
of Brazilians consider Collor guilty, while 60% have confidence
in Franco. Four members of Congress received anonymous notes
threatening them with death if they voted to convict. [La Jornada
12/27/92 from AFP, EFE and ANSA]
 
Collor defeated Workers Party (PT) candidate Luiz Inacio ("Lula")
da Silva on Dec. 18, 1989, to become Brazil's first freely
elected president after decades of military rule. On Mar. 16,
1990, the day after his inauguration, Collor initiated one of
Latin America's most sweeping neoliberal programs, freezing bank
accounts, raising taxes, relaxing controls on foreign exchange
and privatizing state-owned enterprises. In the resulting
recession, inflation fell from 80% a month to as low as 10%, but
has now climbed back to 25% (1,500% annually). [NYT 12/30/92]
About 65 million Brazilians (45% of the population) live below
the poverty level and 30.7% of children under five suffer from
malnutrition. [ED-LP 12/30/92 from AFP] Collor's downfall was an
influence-peddling network headed by his friend Paulo Cesar
Farias; Paulo Lacerda, who headed the corruption investigation,
told Jornal do Brasil on Dec. 24 that the network accumulated $1
billion. Farias himself left the country on Dec. 20 on a private
plane with his family, allegedly to receive medical treatment in
Barcelona. [Folha do Brasil weekly supplement in ED-LP 12/29/92
from AFP]
 

BRAZILIAN ECONOMIC POLICY: "CLINTON'S BIGGEST LATIN WORRY"?

Upon assuming power, President Franco denounced Collor's economic
policies--which he said reduced the income of the poorest by 10%-
-and attacked businesses that "practice jungle capitalism,
predators who oppress us and dissipate fortunes." [NYT 12/31/92]
Franco's planning minister, Paulo Haddad, says that the new
government's goal will be to double or quadruple the minimum wage
and create 4 million new jobs in the next two years, partly
through government projects. [NYT 1/1/93] On Dec. 23 Franco
established new rules tightening economic and environmental
restrictions on the privatization process; 20 state enterprises
sold since 1990 have netted just $250 million, mostly in
"alternative payments" such as discounts in the secondary market
for external debt. [FdB supplement in ED-LP 12/29/92 from AFP]
 
Franco's new policies haven't won commendations from US business
circles. The New York Times editorialized that Brazil's lack of
"decisive political or economic leadership...could be the biggest
Latin worry facing Bill Clinton." [12/31/92]

                               -30-

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