DILMA ADDRESSES BRAZIL

In a very reassuring speech issued last night, our president Dilma Roussef has made it clear (once again) that any kind of peaceful manifestation will be welcome. She even praised those youngsters who were there to manifest orderly and to ask for social changes, which may help us to put pressure on political and economic forces preventing it now from happening faster.

One of such forces is represented by the opposing parties which do not want to approve the integrality of pre-sal oil revenue to education, in the terms of a law she presented to Congress which faces difficulties now, mostly created by these same parties that also send people to the streets to say public education must improve and to protest.

Another solution presented, now for public health, is to bring foreign doctors in to help our own doctors to make public health system more universal and efficient, especially in distant parts of the country where few doctors wanted to go, but where these services are still needed.

As about the claims of corruption, she said public controls in every level and every republic power must improve too, which depends on new laws, as well as on the citizens to help scrutinizing public expenditure. She mentioned federal site called Portal da Transparência, where one can find most data concerning federal expenditure, as a model.

As about public transportation, she recognized they must improve, and hailed the fact that mayors and governors were starting to do what demonstrators wanted and asked for, by decreasing the prices of public bus, train and subway fares, and announced a series of meetings (with manifesters' representatives, union leaders, mayors, governors and ministers) to help solving the problem. Also, she announced a public mobility plan which is being conceived to soon be presented to the nation.  

Concerning the World Soccer Cup and other international sports events programmed to happen here (or already happening, as Copa das Confederações, which is taking place now), she pointed out Brazil has won five soccer cups, as well as the fact that soccer is part of our national identity and, also, that we have taken part in every single Cup and have always been very well received by those who hosted the events. She made it clear the necessary money to prepare for the event does not come from public budget, it's money from loans which will be paid back by those who are organizing it.

In general terms, she said demonstrations were in fact welcome, but condamned all types of violence involved and the destruction of public and private properties, stressing how hard and long the way to democracy in Brazil had been. Also, she said we needed new forms of making public participation in politics more effective. I liked it!

Flávio Prieto

RJ

Brazil