The corruption charges against current Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff have inspired widespread protests, and a suspension of her office for at least 180 days after more than two thirds of the Senate voted to begin impeachment proceedings. This kind of independent proceeding is a crucial component of the rule of law, holding powerful leaders to the same standard of justice as any other citizen. If this trial finds Rousseff guilty of corruption, it would set a precedent for fairness and transparency in governance and create new opportunities for reform. Indeed, interim President Michel Temer is taking encouraging steps to move Brazil’s government in a more responsible direction, such as freezing expenditure levels and restraining runaway budget growth. Still, there remain supporters of the Rousseff regime who hope to preserve the system of favoritism that has brought them wealth and power at the expense of others, so it remains to be seen how successful the interim reforms may prove to be.
“We need a political reform, as well as to reduce the political ‘parties’ that exist only to get a share of public funding,” said Rodrigo Constantino, chairman of Atlas Network partner Instituto Liberal. “It’s also very important to apply the rule of law, so that people can realize it’s costly to break the laws. If we opened our commercial frontiers, privatized our state-owned companies, and used the state only to invest in justice and education — with vouchers — that would change our fate. But it’s easier said than done, and first we have to fight against our culture and all those people that take advantage of the status quo, especially the [labor] unions.”
ROOTS OF SOCIALISM IN BRAZIL
Socialist ideas initially began to take root in Brazil when the First Socialist Congress was established in 1892, followed later the same year by another Socialist Congress and the Workers’ Socialist Party. Growth of that ideology in Brazil eventually led to the Brazilian Communist Party in 1922. A full-fledged military coup in 1964 essentially amounted to fighting fire with fire, pitting socialism against autocratic authoritarianism — and it lasted for more than 20 years. That dictatorship ended more than three decades ago, when new democratic elections were allowed again in 1985, but the intellectual climate since then has been rooted in the statist and populist ideas that now dominate and have led to Brazil’s current crisis.
“Brazilian people are used to a very socialist view when it comes to state’s role in society,” Constantino said. “They hate politicians, but they love the state as an abstraction. It’s a paradox, but it’s something that comes from a long time ago. That’s why they distrust the profit motive and entrepreneurs, while they look at the federal government as a kind of panacea to solve all our problems. We have to change the mentality there, and it’s not something easy that can be done in one generation only. It’s going to take a while, and it needs lots of effort. Our teachers are almost all leftists, and they indoctrinate young minds with socialism. Our journalists are leftists as well. Our media is biased and we don’t have the other side as in the United States with Fox News. Almost all political parties support state’s intervention and a ‘social’ agenda. So, as we can see, the challenges are great, but we can see some signs of improvement in all those areas.”
Bringing greater freedom and justice to Brazil will take more than disseminating the ideas of liberty. It will also require redirecting anger at corruption in the current regime into a movement that insists on a consistent rule of law for every leader and every political faction that hopes to attain power. It’s not enough to be fed up with the system — the new intellectual vanguard also needs to present a clear vision for what should replace it.
“There are three big challenges in this moment,” said Carlos Góes, chief research officer at Instituto Mercado Popular, a Brazilian think tank modeled after the rigorous policy research and data-driven journalism of organizations like the Cato Institute. “First, we must translate broad anti-government sentiment — currently felt by everyone from social conservatives to members of the far left — into broad pro-liberty sentiment that can achieve lasting reforms where they matter most. Second, we need to be pragmatic and influence policy at the margin, so we move toward a freer and fairer society. Finally, we need to ensure the Brazilian freedom movement can continue to grow, which means finding ways to diversify our funding base.”
LIBERTY FOR A NEW GENERATION
To a population that has been raised for decades on a steady diet of socialist propaganda, a new freedom-oriented perspective can be a hard sell. Libertarian ideas have proven increasingly popular, however, with a new generation of youth, explained Rafael Dal Molin, president of the National Council for Atlas Network partner Estudantes Pela Liberdade (EPL). Young people are more likely to be open to a new way of understanding the world around them, and this intellectual curiosity has proven to be a source of explosive growth for the student group.
“EPL had been going through an amazing period of growth in the last two years,” Molin said. “We went from 100 local coordinators to more than 600. This growth, although being very good, has presented new challenges for the organization. We’re at a moment when we have to adapt and improve all of our processes and management methods for this new reality. One of our policies is constant and quick change. This is how we’re always able to improve our results and find new challenges. Attending the Think Tank Startup Training that Atlas Network held in Brazil was key for this new phase of EPL, helping us troubleshoot problems and continue our growth.”
