Is Brazil the Albany of South America? And if so, why are citizens far more upset about corruption there than they are in New York?

As an upstate New Yorker currently working in Brazil, I am a bit surprised that the U.S. media, much of which is based in New York, have reacted with shock and concern toward Brazil’s current political crisis. After all, the corruption scheme that threatens to topple President Dilma Rousseff would seem like business as usual in Albany. Monday, the Brazilian congress voted to begin the process of impeaching Rousseff, whose biggest alleged crime has been the use of public money from the Central Bank to cover up gaps in the budget (a practice fairly common under previous regimes). On a broader level, Rousseff is being sacrificed for the sins of Brazil’s political class, which is swept up in a massive bribery scandal involving the state-owned firm Petrobras, one of the world’s largest oil companies and a symbol of Brazil’s economic ascendancy over the past decade. This scandal, called Lava Jato, or car wash, involves billions in bribes and hidden payments to some of the country’s most powerful businessmen and politicians. BRAZILLIAN PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF IMPEACHED, OUSTER LIKELY Crucial context: The country is in the midst of a historically bad recession, and billions of dollars have been squandered on bribery and… Read full this story

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Is Brazil the Albany of South America? And if so, why are citizens far more upset about corruption there than they are in New York? have 321 words, post on www.nydailynews.com at April 19, 2016. This is cached page on CuBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.