In Informal Referendum, 95% Vote for the Separation of the South Region from the Rest of Brazil

10/05/2016 - 11h05

If it was up to 95.75% of the 617,543 people who voted in last Saturday's (1st) informal referendum, a new country would be created with the separation of the States of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná from the rest of Brazil.

The number of participants was lower than initial planned target of 1 million people, equivalent to 5% of the voters in the South.

According to the separatist movement "The South is my country," only 4.25% of the participants were opposed to the project. Most of the votes against it were concentrated in Paraná, where 11.18% of 24,051 people voted "no".

One of the main reasons to separate the South region from the rest of Brazil, according to the movement, is the difference between what the states collect for the federal government and what is returned in the form of direct investment.

The movement was created 25 years ago, in Santa Catarina. Last year, volunteers held a hundred meetings and events.

The separation of the three states is forbidden in the first article of the Constitution, which provides that "the Federative Republic of Brazil is formed by the indissoluble union of the states and municipalities and the Federal District."

Translated by MARINA DELLA VALLE

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