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Brazils Downfall

There is a common phrase in Brazil used when describing scandals,

Ending in pizza. The nature of Brazils government is that there have been
so many corruption cases discovered, that no one notices and will often
pretend nothing is happening and will eat pizza, ignoring the issue.
However things have changed and the ignoring of serious corruption issues
have led to the crisis in Brazil. The scandal has caused many issues
including corruption by officials, impeachment of important figures, and
general distrust in the government. The days of ending in pizza are over.
At the root of the crisis lies a company known as Petrobras. The
infamous Petrobras scandal had officials engaged in one of the most
astonishing corruption schemes ever to be uncovered. (Vox 1) In order to
have the scandal work government officials bribed Petrobras employees to
sign building contracts that overcharged the government huge amounts. By
the end of it, they collected a sum equal to 5.3 billion US dollars. All in all,
somewhere upward of $5.3 billion changed hands as part of this scheme.
(Vox 2) This was able to happen due to the overall corruption of the

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government and the poor oversight of the company by Silva Lula, the
president of Brazil at the time.
The overseer of Petrobras was Silva Lula. Described by President
Obama as the most popular politician on earth (Time 1) he was an
example of a perfect leader. He led the democratic peace uprising against the
military dictatorship and was elected President once the regime fell. His
Workers Party was plagued by the habits of corruption from the old era.
When he left office, the next President became Rousseff, someone with a
similar background of Lula. However her reign saw its walls crumble,
unleashing economic troubles and civil unrest, Rousseff was forced to deny
charges of money laundering, while widespread public anger against the
political class, abetted by Brazils worst economic slump for 25 years.
(Time 2) She and many of the congress seat holders are undergoing
impeachment cases, and Lula is on the verge of being investigated and
arrested. The public opinion has dropped from 80 to 20 percent, favoring the
government, In 2013, Brazils government had a roughly 80 percent
approval rating. Today, it's around 10 percent. (Vox 2)
With the public engaging in riots and corruption being exposed left
and right, many are outraged and feel betrayed. People calling for Lulas

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arrest and Rousseffs impeachment shows the anger felt by Brazilians. The
protestors have explicitly, been calling for Rousseff's resignation, blaming
her for Petrobras and the economic crisis. (Vox 3) The trial has reached the
lower congress, with the majority favoring her being removed from her
position. The riots in Brazil have reached unheard of levels, with some
millions of citizens uniting to show their opinion. "There were big protests
[in mid-March] 3 million and those were aimed largely at fence sitters
in Congress." (Economist 1) Many of the protesters were college students
and most were white, showing that the future generation of Brazil is already
being taught how to distrust.
The political crisis in Brazil has damaged the community and the
government. The citizens of Brazil feel scared, and betrayed. Due to a
combination of corrupt officials, the impeachment of important figures, and
public distrust of the government, Brazil has never been in a deeper hole. It
does to show that problems left unattended, will come and bite you in the
back.