SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Naomi Klein, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky, Others Condemn 'Coup' in Brazil
"Brazil has only emerged from dictatorship some 30 years ago and these events could set back the country's progress towards social and economic inclusion by decades"
Aug 26, 2016
Naomi Klein, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, Arundhati Roy, and 17 other human rights activists, intellectuals, and public figures on Wednesday sent a letter to the Brazilian government condemning the impeachment of the country's President Dilma Rousseff, and demanding that Brazil's senate "respect the October 2014 electoral process which over 100 million people took part in."
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil."
-- Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, et. al.
In the letter, which was published by the U.K.-based group No Coup in Brazil, the luminaries argue that "Brazil is a major regional power and has the largest economy in Latin America. If this sustained attack on its democratic institutions is successful, the negative shock waves will reverberate throughout the region."
Rousseff's impeachment trial began on Thursday, and was suspended briefly on Friday when the proceedings devolved into a shouting match.
"It is widely expected that, within a few days, senators will vote to definitively remove [Rousseff] from office," notes Maria Luisa Mendonca, director of Brazil's Network for Social Justice and Human Rights.
"The impeachment--labeled a coup by many Brazilians--has generated outrage and frequent protests in Brazil," Mendonca adds.
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil," the letter says, adding that "Brazil has only emerged from dictatorship some 30 years ago and these events could set back the country's progress towards social and economic inclusion by decades."
Rousseff's removal would end 13 years of Workers' Party rule, as Common Dreams reported, and bring about the confirmation of "the unelected, right-of-center Temer" as president until 2018, the rest of Rousseff's term.
"We are concerned about the politically motivated impeachment of the president, which has installed an unelected interim government," the letter writers say. "The legal basis for the ongoing impeachment is widely contested and there is compelling evidence showing that key promoters of the impeachment campaign are seeking to remove the president to stop the corruption investigations that they themselves are implicated in."
Prominent organizations have also joined in the condemnation of Rousseff's impeachment. On Tuesday, 43 grassroots environmental, labor, and religious groups in the U.S. issued a statement decrying the "legislative coup."
"We join social movements and millions of people in Brazil and worldwide calling for a return to democracy and the rule of law in Brazil, the return of the legitimately-elected President Rousseff to office, the reinstatement of Brazil's critical social programs, and the recognition of human rights," the groups declared.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Naomi Klein, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, Arundhati Roy, and 17 other human rights activists, intellectuals, and public figures on Wednesday sent a letter to the Brazilian government condemning the impeachment of the country's President Dilma Rousseff, and demanding that Brazil's senate "respect the October 2014 electoral process which over 100 million people took part in."
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil."
-- Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, et. al.
In the letter, which was published by the U.K.-based group No Coup in Brazil, the luminaries argue that "Brazil is a major regional power and has the largest economy in Latin America. If this sustained attack on its democratic institutions is successful, the negative shock waves will reverberate throughout the region."
Rousseff's impeachment trial began on Thursday, and was suspended briefly on Friday when the proceedings devolved into a shouting match.
"It is widely expected that, within a few days, senators will vote to definitively remove [Rousseff] from office," notes Maria Luisa Mendonca, director of Brazil's Network for Social Justice and Human Rights.
"The impeachment--labeled a coup by many Brazilians--has generated outrage and frequent protests in Brazil," Mendonca adds.
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil," the letter says, adding that "Brazil has only emerged from dictatorship some 30 years ago and these events could set back the country's progress towards social and economic inclusion by decades."
Rousseff's removal would end 13 years of Workers' Party rule, as Common Dreams reported, and bring about the confirmation of "the unelected, right-of-center Temer" as president until 2018, the rest of Rousseff's term.
"We are concerned about the politically motivated impeachment of the president, which has installed an unelected interim government," the letter writers say. "The legal basis for the ongoing impeachment is widely contested and there is compelling evidence showing that key promoters of the impeachment campaign are seeking to remove the president to stop the corruption investigations that they themselves are implicated in."
Prominent organizations have also joined in the condemnation of Rousseff's impeachment. On Tuesday, 43 grassroots environmental, labor, and religious groups in the U.S. issued a statement decrying the "legislative coup."
"We join social movements and millions of people in Brazil and worldwide calling for a return to democracy and the rule of law in Brazil, the return of the legitimately-elected President Rousseff to office, the reinstatement of Brazil's critical social programs, and the recognition of human rights," the groups declared.
Naomi Klein, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, Arundhati Roy, and 17 other human rights activists, intellectuals, and public figures on Wednesday sent a letter to the Brazilian government condemning the impeachment of the country's President Dilma Rousseff, and demanding that Brazil's senate "respect the October 2014 electoral process which over 100 million people took part in."
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil."
-- Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, et. al.
In the letter, which was published by the U.K.-based group No Coup in Brazil, the luminaries argue that "Brazil is a major regional power and has the largest economy in Latin America. If this sustained attack on its democratic institutions is successful, the negative shock waves will reverberate throughout the region."
Rousseff's impeachment trial began on Thursday, and was suspended briefly on Friday when the proceedings devolved into a shouting match.
"It is widely expected that, within a few days, senators will vote to definitively remove [Rousseff] from office," notes Maria Luisa Mendonca, director of Brazil's Network for Social Justice and Human Rights.
"The impeachment--labeled a coup by many Brazilians--has generated outrage and frequent protests in Brazil," Mendonca adds.
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil," the letter says, adding that "Brazil has only emerged from dictatorship some 30 years ago and these events could set back the country's progress towards social and economic inclusion by decades."
Rousseff's removal would end 13 years of Workers' Party rule, as Common Dreams reported, and bring about the confirmation of "the unelected, right-of-center Temer" as president until 2018, the rest of Rousseff's term.
"We are concerned about the politically motivated impeachment of the president, which has installed an unelected interim government," the letter writers say. "The legal basis for the ongoing impeachment is widely contested and there is compelling evidence showing that key promoters of the impeachment campaign are seeking to remove the president to stop the corruption investigations that they themselves are implicated in."
Prominent organizations have also joined in the condemnation of Rousseff's impeachment. On Tuesday, 43 grassroots environmental, labor, and religious groups in the U.S. issued a statement decrying the "legislative coup."
"We join social movements and millions of people in Brazil and worldwide calling for a return to democracy and the rule of law in Brazil, the return of the legitimately-elected President Rousseff to office, the reinstatement of Brazil's critical social programs, and the recognition of human rights," the groups declared.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.