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News > Latin America

US Refuses to Acknowledge the Brazil Coup Is in Fact a Coup

  • Michel Temer, head of the coup government, reacts during a meeting with defense officials regarding the security of the 2016 Rio Olympics, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 16, 2016.

    Michel Temer, head of the coup government, reacts during a meeting with defense officials regarding the security of the 2016 Rio Olympics, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 16, 2016. | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 May 2016
Opinion

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said the coup government's all-white and all-male cabinet represented a regression for Brazil.

Michael Fitzpatrick, interim representative for the United States at the Organization of American States, denied Wednesday that the ouster of democratically elected President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil was a coup and instead attacked the government of Venezuela.

So far only the United States government and the right-wing government in Argentina have publicly backed the coup government of Michel Temer, which assumed power after the country's Congress voted to proceed with the impeachment trial of Rousseff.

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The ouster of the democratically elected president has been widely condemned as a coup by Brazil's neighbors, with several choosing to withdraw their ambassadors in protest.

During Wednesday's regular meeting of the Permanent Council, Fitzpatrick said that in Brazil "there is a clear respect for democratic institutions and a clear separation of powers. In Brazil it is clearly the law that prevails, coming up with peaceable solution to disputes.”

 

Fitzpatrick then went on to attack Venezuela, which is in the midst of a political and economic crisis, with the country's opposition clamoring to oust President Nicolas Maduro through any means possible.

"We don't believe that this is an example of a 'soft coup' or, for that matter, a coup of any sort. What happened in Brazil complied perfectly with legal constitutional procedure and totally respected democratic norms," said Fitzpatrick.

His comments echo earlier statements made by U.S. Department of State spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau shortly after the parliamentary coup ousted Rousseff.

“We are confident Brazil will work through its political challenges democratically in accordance with its constitutional principles,” Trudeau told the press gallery last week.

However even OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, a stalwart ally of U.S. interests within the regional body, said he had doubts about the legality of Rousseff's ouster.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an appendage of the OAS, also criticized the coup government in Brazil.

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The IACHR took exception to Temer's all-white and all-male cabinet, saying that it represented “a regression and have a negative impact on the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.”

The human rights body also questioned the neoliberal policies being pursued by the coup government.

“The IACHR takes cognizance of the interim government’s announcement that it will reduce the funding earmarked for social programs related to housing, education, and poverty reduction,” read the statement released by the body on Wednesday.

Brazil's representative at the OAS, Jose Luiz Machado, nonetheless attempted to defended the coup government's policies, claiming that “social rights and achievements of Brazilian society are clearly assured."

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