Banana Pundits

Cisco Costa: A Brazilian environmentalist made quite a scene at a protest this weekend. I am wholly ignorant of the merits of his cause, but I have to point out that this is a rare occurrence in Brazil. This sort of self-sacrifice for protest is, as far as I know, unheard of. Most likely, the man was imitating the famous Vietnamese Buddhist protests of the sixties.

Environmentalist who set himself on fire in Mato Grosso do Sul dies

The environmentalist who set himself on fire in protest yesterday at downtown Campo Grande died this morning. Francisco Anselmo Barros, president of Fuconams (Mato Grosso do Sul Nature Conservation Foundation) was hospitalized at Campo Grande’s Santa Casa and had burns on 100% of his body.

He was part of a protest against a state government project which proposes the installation of alcohol processing plants at the High Paraguai Basin, which is part of Pantanal. Amidst musical and artistic performances, Barros set two mattresses on the floor, wrapped himself around them, doused them in gasoline and set them on fire.

The environmentalist had first, second and third degree burns. He was hospitalized at the Intensive Care Center and was breathing with the aid of machines.

Francelmo’s gesture (as the environmentalist was called by his friends) surprised people next to him. Jorge Gonda, who was also at the protest, said Barros was participating regularly in the act and then handed him a briefcase and told him he would be right back.

Soon there were flames on the sidewalk drawing everybody’s attention. There was a long time before people realized there was a person inside the fire. There was panic and people used a fire extinguisher and clothes and blankets from nearby stores to try to stop the fire.

Environmentalist left letters to friends and family

Douglas Ramos, Fuconams’s juridical director, helped the man without knowing it was his friend, so bad were the wounds. Inside the briefcase he gave Gonda, the environmentalist left a series of letters to friends, family members and the press, where he spoke of giving his life for the Pantanal. In the letter to the press he left criticism against state power.

Another letter had recommendations for his wake. He asked that it happened at the May 13th Street chapel, in downtown Campo Grande. It is expected his body will be released before 3PM today and the service will happen at dusk.

The environmentalist, who was also a journalist, had positions at the Municipal Counsel for Environmental Control, was a member of the Brazilian Association of Tourism Journalists, of the War School Graduates Association, executive director of Saber publishing house, executive director of the Association for the Promotion and Support of Art and Culture in General. He was also affiliated with the Brazilian NGO Forum, to the Brazilian NGO Association and a participant of the Living Rivers Network, the Pantanal Network, the Aguapé Environmental Education Network, the Cerrado Network, the Socio-Environmental Institute, the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and SOS Rainforest and a coordinator of the Mato Grosso do Sul Environment and Development Forum and the Pantanal Defense Forum.

Solon Brochado: Last week, the CPI that was set to investigate charges of bribe in the country’s Postal Service, and eventually led to the mensalão scandal, reached its expiration date. Being as it were nowhere near finished, the opposition launched a campaign to extend its life expectancy. The president then decided to play his cards at the Congress, promising funds for projects of congressmen who refused to sign the form asking for the CPIs extension.

With that, 66 representatives who were backing the proposition, changed their mind and withdrew their signatures. Unfortunately for the president, it wasn’t enough, and the opposition gathered all the needed signatures from congressmen. The result, according to Ricardo Noblat, the country’s most widely read political blogger, is death upon the administration.

There’s a body stretched on the ground

The balance after seven days of political crisis: one dead, 66 wounded and one diseased who sees his health deteriorating little by little. The dead is minister Antonio Palocci. His body is stretched out in the Esplanada dos Ministérios’ grass waiting for the rabecão [car used for the transportation of corpses]. It may not come. But not even then will Palocci rise from the horizontal position.

The 66 wounded are the representatives who signed the request to extend the expiration of the Postal Service’s CPI - and who, pressured by the government, withdrew their signatures in exchange for promises. They lost prestige and shame. They’ll lose votes. They’re furious and condemned to further thicken the line of those who sacrificed themselves in vain for the government’s sake.

The diseased is Lula. He maneuvered to detain the inquiry of frauds after saying he would never mess with the CPIs, and stimulated Brazilians to denounce irregularities. The maneuver was a resounding fiasco - one of the more astonishing ones ever since he’s been at the number one chair of the Republic.

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Solon Brochado: As if he didn’t have his hands full, Lula now has to deal with dissent in his own ranks. It seems to be only another episode in the historical divide between left-leaning petistas and moderate ones. Those on the left side of the party, commonly referred to as shiites, have never been very pleased with the economical orthodoxy of Treasury minister Antonio Palocci, but have never been able to touch him due to the country’s most solid numbers in decades.

But now, Palocci has been weakened by evidences of corruption during his term as mayor of Ribeirão Preto, that were raised in the CPIs. It was the opportunity shiites were looking for. Dilma Roussef, the Chief of Staff, has been very critical of the minister of late, never missing a chance to state her opinions in newspapers or during political meetings. Palocci, while apparently ready to step down if the president deems necessary, is also using the media to defend himself.

The situation has come to a point when Lula had to call both ministers and tell them to, basically, shut up and help the party and the government get out of the current crisis, instead of giving fodder to the opposition, which has been more than happy to help undermine Palocci’s stand. It is amazing that, after all this time, petistas still approach the government from a student politics standpoint.

Below, an op-ed by Kennedy Alencar, Folha de S. Paulo’s special reporter in Brasília, and their main political commentator.

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