The Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has been facing constant attacks by the conservative media in her country that are linked to corruption scandals around the oil giant Petrobras, the ruling Worker's Party (PT) and the inflation and unemployment rates.
These attacks have contributed to the sharp drop in Rousseff's popularity, however, the allegations are promoted by the media conglomerates in the country that hold tight control over the airwaves, said political scientist Carlos Henrique Santana in an interview with teleSUR English.
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“It's true that now we have bad numbers, however is also truth that Brazil is one of the countries with some of the most mass conglomerate media in the world. For example the media giant Globo controls more than half of the market, and this kind of media is supporting the conservative ideology, in order to make people support this ideas at the congress.” Santana said.
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Talking about the recent scandals that have surrounded the PT, the analyst said that the corruption found in Brazil is systematic and runs in all the parties, especially in the opposition. However he said the media is manipulating the information only against the left-wing forces in order to prevent former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to become a frunt runner in the 2018 general elections.
The Speaker of the South American country's lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, recently announced he was leaving the governing coalition. Santana said he just did it in order to support the conservative opposition ideas and gain more power.
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Just like in other Latin American countries with progressive governments, Brazil's rocky economic performance has been coupled with a backlash from opposition groups in the past years, some of which the president says are conspiring to have her removed from office early.