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UN agency concerned about "threats to democracy" in Brazil

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Santiago-based UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Tuesday expressed concern about "threats to Brazilian democracy," as opposition groups stepped up pressure on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to resign.

In an open letter to the embattled president, ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena wrote: "It is with deep concern that we have witnessed the development of the political and judicial events that have convulsed Brazil in recent weeks. We are alarmed to see the democratic stability of your country threatened."

The conservative opposition in Brazil has tapped into widespread anger at public-sector corruption, which has been spotlighted by a two-year investigation into graft and kickbacks at state oil giant Petrobras.

Opponents have been calling on Rousseff to resign, and organized nationwide marches on March 13 that brought some 3.3 million people into the streets.

"The people's will, the only source of legitimacy in a democracy, elected Lula and then you, President Rousseff, to a constitutional mandate that led to governments committed to justice and equality," said Barcena.

"Never in the history of Brazil have so many of your countrymen succeeded in overcoming hunger, poverty and inequality," she added.

The ECLAC joined other regional organizations in expressing support for Rousseff and questioning the absence of evidence in the opposition's anti-government campaign.

Barcena noted that in lieu of a "trial or proof" there have been "leaks and a media offensive that has already dictated a sentence" in an attempt to "smear your image and legacy."

Also Tuesday, Rousseff warned there was a "coup underway," referring to revived plans to have her impeached, and stressed "I will never resign."

In a setback for former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a habeas corpus motion brought by his lawyers.

The motion aimed to overturn an earlier decision by Supreme Court Judge Gilmar Mendes, who suspended Lula's recent appointment to a cabinet post, which would have given the former president a degree of immunity from prosecution.

Rousseff offered Lula the post last week, in what appeared to be a thinly veiled attempt to shield him from detention or imprisonment, further angering the opposition and their supporters. Endi