Occupy Brasilia Aims to Bring an End to Temer's Presidency

All the king's horses and all the king's men are abandoning defacto president of Brazil Michel Temer as his presidential cards blow violently in the wind.

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Even prior to this disaster, an ever-growing number of social movements, organized by Popular Brasil Front, other trade unions, and People Without Fear, have summoned mass mobilizations that will result in a civic occupation of Brasilia called Occupy Brasilia on Wednesday, May 24.

Other groups participating in Occupy Brasilia include Central Workers Union, CUT, Rural Landless Workers Movement, MST, and the Roofless Workers Movement, MSTS. Their demands, to end to all labor reforms and pensions cut proposals, the selling of national companies and large swaths of land, and other unfettered, neoliberal, capitalist measures that will remake Brazil into a full-fledged banana republic.

Occupy Brasilia organizers are hopeful that their mass demonstrations will be a crucial moment for the removal of Temer, a president who oversaw the ousting of democratically re-elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

According to Brasil de Fato, Occupy Brasilia was scheduled prior to the release of a wiretap which implicated Temer in a string of bribes.

Referring to Temer's involvement in bribes, Josue Rocha, a member of MSTS, said that “We can't accept this.” He added that “our journey to Brasilia, besides our intention of conclusively bringing an end to these reforms, will be decisive in our demands for Temer's removal and immediate, democratic elections.”

Joesley Batista, owner of Brazilian meat company, JBS, confessed on Friday that Temer had received bribes from his company since 2010. That year alone he reportedly received roughly US$1 million from JBS and during Rousseff's impeachment process had received about US$85,000 for online political marketing expenditures.

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The wiretap also revealed that Temer confirmed, “Look, you've got to keep that up,” when Batista confided that bribes were being paid to Eduardo Cunha, former speaker of Brazil's lower house of representatives. These illegal payments were made to keep Cunha's mouth shut about embarrassing secrets that could jeopardize the legitimacy of Temer's presidency.

Ricardo Gebrim, a member of Popular Consult, reiterated that May 24, “adds extraordinary significance to the current conjuncture of events,” adding that, “it will play a decisive role,” in the struggle for immediate, democratic elections.

Despite his attempts to ward off ever-increasing calls for his resignation, Temer finds himself isolated, battered. On Thursday, Parana Institute Research released a survey indicating that 87 percent of Brazilians favor the immediate removal of Temer. Meanwhile, 88 percent support Temer's impeachment, resignation, or his removal by the Supreme Court.