Rousseff Says Whistle-blowing "Creates Conditions For Coup"

04/08/2016 - 09h41

Fearful that the disclosure of any more anti-government depositions will have a negative impact on the vote on impeachment, President Dilma Rousseff is urging MPs to take a stand.

She has asked the federal government to act out against the recently whistle-blower's account that suggests the 2014 electoral campaign was financed by Petrobras bribes.

The President and the PT Treasurer, Edinho Silva (Social Communications Minister) spoke harshly about the deposition of ex-President of Andrade Gutierrez Otávio Marques de Azevedo. The account, recently revealed by Folha, was described as a "work of fiction" that had created the "perfect conditions for a coup".

To avoid any more such revelations, the President urged the Justice Minister to take judicial measures to tackle what she described as "opportunist and selective" leaks of information.

With the outcome of the impeachment process in the Lower House still highly uncertain, the government is concerned that new accusations could influence those MPs who remain indecisive, or even cause some MPs to change sides.

Rousseff said that the leaking of an excerpt of the notorious deposition was "premeditated" and clearly had an ulterior motive. "Our constitution is meant to protect privacy and prohibit such premeditated leaks, which are clearly designed to create the conditions for a coup".

Similarly, Edinho Silva said in an interview with the press that the contents of what reached the public "had very few elements of truth" and that the disclosure "was deliberately trying to worsen the political situation."

"We find it odd to say the least that a certain whistle-blower's account has been leaked. Especially at this precise moment, when the House is on the eve of the important decision about the call for impeachment, a call that, we believe, has all the makings of a coup," he said.

Translated by GILLIAN SOPHIE HARRIS

Read the article in the original language

	Evaristo Sá/AFP
	Dilma Rousseff receives a red rose during the event Women in Defense of Democracy at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia