From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: BRAZIL: CALLS FOR PSYCHIATRIC TESTS ON COLLOR
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 08:23:15 GMT

/** reg.samerica: 184.0 **/
** Topic: BRAZIL: SOCIAL LEADERS CALL FOR PSY **
** Written  5:31 pm  Sep  4, 1992 by jbinder in cdp:reg.samerica **
From: James Binder <jbinder>
Subject: BRAZIL: SOCIAL LEADERS CALL FOR PSY

/* Written 12:10 am  Sep  3, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "BRAZIL: SOCIAL LEADERS CALL FOR PSY" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: BRAZIL: SOCIAL LEADERS CALL FOR PSYCHIATRIC TESTS ON COLLOR

an inter press service feature

by gabriel canihuante and arnaldo cesar

rio de janeiro, aug 31 (ips) -- social leaders here monday
proposed that a panel of doctors should perform psychiatric tests
on brazilian president fernando collor de mello to determine
whether or not he is sane.

the call followed closely on collor's rejecetion of a proposal
that he should resign quietly as a way of resolving the crisis
sparked by charges that the brazilian head of state is involved
in a corruption scandal.

the proposal has also been rejected by the opposition, which
maintains that the president must be made an example and be tried
on corruption charges.

''it would be very easy to prove that he is mad,'' said
sociologist herbert de souza, director of the brazilian institute
of socio-economic analysis (ibase), one of the country's most
prestigious non-governmental organizations (ngo's).

de souza said collor had lost contact with reality and that
his speech on sunday had ''strengthened the opposition and public
opinion.''

''with such crazy nonsense, i prefer to doubt his sanity. i do
not think a person can be so cynical. he insults public opinion,
reducing an impressive volume of denunciations to just a few
issues,'' said catholic bishop mauro morelli.

in a 20-minute address, carried sunday by radio and
television, collor said an emphatic ''no'' to the idea of his
resignation, pointing out that ''our generation has already paid
an excessively high price as a result of the 1961 resignation,''
of then president janio quadros.

quadros' resignation gave rise to a severe institutional
crisis, which led to a military coup in 1964.

collor also attacked the national congress, where
pro-government and opposition parliamentarians have been locked
in negotiations over an honorable way out for the president,
based on the consensus that if the crisis is prolonged it could
severely hurt the economy.

he said he would fight against parliamentary efforts to remove
him from office, claiming ''we shall win, we shall win by the
vote.''

according to local surveys, 84 percent of the population
disapprove of collor's government. a study by the ''folha de sao
paulo'' daily, showed that 76 percent view his administration as
''extremely poor,'' while eight percent see it as ''poor''.
(more)
----


reacting to collor's speech, the president of the
international association for group psychiatry, luis alberto py,
said ''i see little attention for dialogue in the president's
address. it is part of the pathology of powerful persons.''

collor always refers to the 35 million votes he received at
the 1989 presidential elections as ''if it were a type of
absolute licence which gives him the right to do whatever he
wants,'' py said.

over the past few days parliamentarians had been trying to
work out an escape route for the president: his resignation in
exchange for impunity from prosecution.

his speech was a disappointment to governmental secretary
jorge bornhaussen, who had urged the president to condemn in
clear terms the illegal activities of his friend and former
campaign treasurer paulo cesar farias and leave some doors open
for an honorable solution to the crisis.

disregarding the recommendations and proposals of his
political coordinator, collor one week ago signed a joint note
with the rest of his cabinet in which they pledged to remain in
power until the crisis is resolved.

''resignation is totally out of the question. it never entered
the mind of the president,'' said presidential spokesman etevaldo
dias.

now that collor has said ''no'' to a negotiated solution, he
risks losing the support of bornhausen's party, the liberal front
party (pfl) which had so far been the cornerstone of the
president's resistance to efforts to oust him.

however, opposition politicians like senator mario covas,
leader of the brazilian social democratic party (psdb) and the
95-year old president of brazil's press association, barbosa lima
sobrinho, would not have been satisfied with a quiet resignation.

stressing that a solution to the crisis could not be limited
to collor's destitution, covas said monday that ''the humiliation
of resignation is too mild for the evil he caused the country.''

''the president will have to be tried and condemned for crimes
of fraud, omission, influence-peddling and misappropriation of
public funds,'' said covas, a key member of the parliamentary
commission of investigation (cpi) that examined corruption
charges against farias, which also involved collor.

lima sobrinho, designated by the opposition to co-sign a
request for the impeachment of the president, maintained that
''if we are concerned with the restoration of morality and ethics
in the country, we have to continue on to the end.'' (more)
----


he said collor could not be absolved of responsibility ''for
the crimes committed in public administration.''

in his impeachment petition, which will be co-signed by the
president of brazil's bar association, marcelo lavenere, lima
sobrinho will ask for collor to be tried not only for political
crimes, but also for common law offences such as fraud,
corruption and crimes of omission, in which case he would have to
appear before the supreme court.

the vast sums of money which collor's support group is
rumoured to have gathered, have contributed to galvanizing the
movement against resignation without punishment and to calls for
the confiscation of the property of the president and others
involved in the corruption scandal.

important publications like the ''veja'' magazine and the
''folha de sao paulo'' daily have reported that the president's
advisers had celebrated in paris at the end of 1991, the
collection of the first one billion dollars for the group's
political fund.

in its investigation, the cpi has been able to find evidence
of irregularities amounting to close to 360 million u.s. dollars,
but one of its members, senator jose paulo bisol, said that the
parliamentarians' inquiry ''did not include even 10 percent of
the corruption committed by that band.''

''neither the mafia nor the medellin cartel was able to gather
so much money in so little time,'' said jair meneguelli,
president of the unified workers' federation (cut), brazil's
largest trade union federation.

brazilian law does nor provide amnesty for persons convicted
of misappropriation of public funds. if convicted, collor faces a
jail sentence of up to 16 years, according to legal expert miguel
seabra fagundes, a former justice minister.
(end/ips/trd/so/ac-ug/gc-sfi/kb/92)
----


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