A ‘New Era’ for Brazil

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A ‘New Era’ for Brazil

What the ouster of Dilma Rousseff means for Brazil’s past and future allegiance

Brazil’s Senate ousted Dilma Rousseff from the presidency in a 61-20 impeachment vote on August 31. Gone is Brazil’s first female president and the 13-year rule of her leftist Workers’ Party. Rousseff’s center-right opponent from the Democratic Movement Party, Vice President Michel Temer, is in.

Rousseff had been suspended since May, when the Senate sent her to trial for breaking budget laws. Temer became Brazil’s interim president; he will now serve out the remainder of Rousseff’s term as the president of Latin America’s most populous nation.

“Today, we inaugurate a new era of two years and four months,” the newly sworn-in Temer said in a cabinet meeting on August 31. “From today on, the expectations are much higher for the government. I hope that in [this period before the next elections in 2018], we do what we have declared—put Brazil back on track.”

This track connects Brazil to the global economy’s powerhouses. Temer said his upcoming visit to the 11th G-20 summit in China was intended “precisely to reveal to the world that we have political and legal stability.” He added, “We have to show that there is hope in the country.”

Rousseff’s ousting (and Temer’s leadership) represents a significant shift in Brazil’s regional and global outlook. The Rousseff administration was aligned with other leftist governments in South America, such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. All three countries recalled their ambassadors to Brazil following Rousseff’s impeachment.

This rift will not concern Temer much. Latin America has been witnessing a dramatic shift in governance from the left to the right. “Rousseff’s removal marked the latest setback for Latin America’s left, which had been on the ascendancy just a few years ago in Argentina, Venezuela and other countries but has increasingly struggled amid a continent-wide economic slowdown and a series of corruption scandals,” wrote the Washington Post.

The most prominent example is Argentina, where the former socialist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was replaced by center-right current President Mauricio Macri. A similar movement appears to be underway in Venezuela.

The reform movements in Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil are moving Latin Americans closer to the West. Specifically, they are moving them closer to Europe.

In “Turning Point in Latin America,” German-Foreign-Policy.com explained that a new government in Brazil “creates space for the expansion of relations with Germany and the EU” and that the “political developments in South America promise Berlin new opportunities” (Trumpet translation throughout). All current cabinet members in Brazil are “descended from former European colonial elites,” it wrote.

Before Rousseff’s suspension, German-Foreign-Policy.com wrote on April 13, “In Brazil, the opposition is doing its best to oust President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff has brought that country into intensive cooperation with China and Russia within the framework of the brics [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] alliance. In other words, important pillars of a Latin American counterweight to the power of the EU and the United States are either teetering on the brink or have been removed from power.”

Based on Bible prophecies in Revelation 17-18, Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27, the Trumpet’s predecessor, the Plain Truth, predicted in May 1962: “The United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.”

Europe and Latin America haven’t yet reached this level of cooperation. In fact, Europe is still cementing together its empire. Meanwhile, Brazil and other Latin American nations are restructuring their governance and promising new eras and “new opportunities” that will soon lead to the outcome indicated in the sure word of Bible prophecy.