Sunday, October 26, 2014

Brazilian Presidential Elections

Today was the second round of the presidential elections in Brazil and, in spite of corruption charges and much criticism, the incumbent president, Dilma Rousseff, was re-elected.

The sharp divisions in the country remind me a lot of the "red" and "blue" states extremes that started with Bush's "election" and re-election, except that the Northeast and North of Brazil are equivalent historically to the South of the U.S. and in Brazil the "red" side refers to the socialist-learning Worker's Party and the even more left communist parties.

All of my friends and family are very  upset with the re-election and I read lots of unhappy posts on facebook. Many people actually putting up a black "bereavement" Brazilian flag as their profile photo. I also talked to my mom on the phone and she ranted for a long time.

I haven't lived in Brazil for 18 years, so I cannot really have an informed opinion about the election. I liked Marina and I used to support the Worker's party, but their corruption and other problems make me no longer sympathize with them.

People are talking of impeaching Dilma, let's see what will happen. I hope that the economy in Brazil doesn't go into crisis mode harming our family members. :-(

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