Page 11 - Aruba Today

WORLD NEWS A11
Poll shows Brazil’s
President Rousseff
with 10% approval A. RODRIGUEZ
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Em-
battled Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff is looking to
shore up the support of the
parties that make up her
governing coalition, news
reports said Wednesday,
a day after the country’s
largest party decamped
in a move that will make it
harder for Rousseff to fight
impeachment proceed-
ings against her.
Leaders of the Brazilian
Democratic Movement
Party, known as the PMDB,
on Tuesday announced
that party members would
be immediately leaving
their six Cabinet posts, as
well as some 600 federal
government jobs.
But it appeared Wednes-
day that at least three of
the party’s Cabinet minis-
ters planned on staying in
Rousseff’s government. O
Estado de S. Paulo daily re-
ported Health Minister Mar-
celo Castro and Science
and Technology Minister
Celso Pansera wanted to
cut a deal that would al-
low them to remain in the
government, while Agricul-
ture Minister Katia Abreu
could sever her ties with
Democratic Alliance in or-
der to remain.
Rousseff was said to be
planning to use the posts
vacated by the Demo-
cratic Alliance to strength-
en her support from the
six parties that remain in
the governing base, along
with her left-leaning Work-
ers’ Party.
Rousseff needs to secure
at least 172 out of 513
votes in the lower house of
Congress to halt impeach-
ment proceedings against
her over allegations she
violated fiscal rules. A vote challenges as it tries to gov-
on the matter is expected
around mid-April, and with-
out the PMDB’s 69 votes,
Rousseff’s chances of sur-
viving the vote appeared
diminished.
Thursday 31 March 2016
Unusual dissent erupts in Cuban Communist Party
families with state sala- ed response to Obama, ated Press that Obama’s
M. WEISSENSTEIN ries around $25 a month, in which the 89-year-old well-received addresses
Associated Press many ordinary Cubans father of Cuba’s socialist to the Cuban people had
HAVANA (AP) — Days after see their government as system said, “My modest nonetheless increased pres-
President Barack Obama’s infuriatingly inefficient and suggestion is that he reflect sure on the 700,000-mem-
historic visit, the leaders of unresponsive to the needs and doesn’t try to develop ber Communist Party to
Cuba’s Communist Party of average people. The theories about Cuban poli- forge a more unified and
are under highly unusual
public criticism from their Cuban President Raul Castro points to the front of the stage in at El Gran Teatro de Havana in Ha-
own ranks for imposing new vana, Cuba. Days after President Barack Obama’s historic visit, the leaders of Cuba’s Communist
levels of secrecy on the fu- Party are under highly unusual public criticism from their own ranks for imposing new levels of
ture of social and econom- secrecy on the future of social and economic reforms.
ic reforms.
After months of simmer- (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
ing discontent, complaints
among party members open anger among promi- tics.” credible vision of the future.
have become so heated nent party members in the Many Cubans are skeptical “Obama’s visit requires us,
that its official newspaper, middle of sweeping socio- of free-market capitalism, going forward, to work on
Granma, addressed them economic reforms and nor- wary of American power debating and defending
in a lengthy front-page ar- malization with the United and cannot envision a soci- our social consensus about
ticle Monday. It said the States hints at a deeper cri- ety without the free health the revolution,” Rodriguez
public dissatisfaction over sis of credibility for the party care and education put in said.
the lack of open discus- that has controlled virtually place by the 1959 revolu- While Cuba’s non-elected
sion before the upcoming every aspect of public life tion. Party member Francis- leaders maintain tight con-
Communist Party congress in Cuba for more than a co Rodriguez, a gay activ- trol of the party and the
next month is “a sign of half century. ist and journalist for a state broader system, the last
the democracy and public The article in Granma ap- newspaper, said Obama’s party congress in 2011 was
participation that are in- peared less than a week nationally televised speech preceded by months of
trinsic characteristics of the after Obama won an en- in Old Havana, his news vigorous debate at party
socialism that we’re con- thusiastic response from conference with 84-year- meetings about detailed
structing.” many ordinary Cubans by old President Raul Castro documents laying out re-
The article did little to calm calling for both an end to and a presidential forum forms that have shrunk the
many party members, Cold War hostility and for with Cuban entrepreneurs state bureaucracy and al-
some of whom are call- more political and eco- represented a sort of “cap- lowed a half million Cubans
ing for the gathering to be nomic freedom on the is- italist evangelizing” that to start work in the private
postponed to allow public land. The unsigned article many party members dis- sector.
debate about the govern- shared the front page with like.
ment’s plans to continue Fidel Castro’s sharply word- Rodriguez told The Associ- Continued on page 27
market-oriented reforms for
Cuba’s centrally controlled
economy.
“The base of the party is
angry, and rightly so,” par-
ty member and noted in-
tellectual Esteban Morales
wrote in a blog post pub-
lished before Obama’s vis-
it. “We’ve gone backward
in terms of democracy in
the party, because we’ve
forgotten about the base,
those who are fighting and
confronting our problems
on a daily basis.”
Across the country, Cuba’s
ruling party is facing stiff
ern an increasingly cynical
and disenchanted popula-
tion.
Struggling to feed their