With a three-word tweet, the social media account of House of Cards, the Netflix US political drama, provided on-point commentary on Brazil’s real-life political drama. “Tá difícil competir,” (it’s hard to compete) read the message in Portuguese on May 17. It was the day news broke that Brazil’s president, Michel Temer, had been caught on tape allegedly condoning bribes, in the latest twist in the corruption scandal that has engulfed the country for the past three years. Charges were subsequently filed to the supreme court, but it was left to Congress to decide whether to go ahead with a trial. Mr Temer denies any wrongdoing.
The network of kickbacks and machinations linking Brazil’s political and business elites is the stuff of fiction. The scandal has not only delivered a lethal blow to an economy already badly hurt by the commodities cycle bust, but also cooled the interest of local and international investors. Yet the government is intent on pressing ahead with reforms that it hopes will restore confidence. So are Brazil’s fortunes about to turn?
