Reuters reports the Senate in Brazil has voted 55 to 22 to put President Dilma Rousseff on trial for corruption. This means she is removed from office and her Vice President, of a different party, takes over.
The size of the vote to impeach suggests Rousseff is unlikely to be acquitted. Brazil meanwhile faces an economic downturn, Zika, and the impending Olympics for which preparations are still being made.
Rousseff's left-wing Workers Party, in office for 13 years, is deeply mired in the corruption charges for which Latin America is well known. Perhaps Iberian colonial policy, Iberian culture, or its incestuous relationship with the Roman Catholic church are contributing factors to this regional malaise.
I use the label "Iberian" because Brazil was a colony of Portugal. The balance of Latin America was colonized by Spain.
Cultural similarities between the two Iberian peninsula neighbors are much greater than their differences. I daresay the differences which exist seem large to Spaniards and Portuguese much as differences between Canada and the U.S. seem substantial to us but insignificant to the rest of the world.
