Rio de Janeiro For an event that marked the end of an era, the final act of the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was a staid affair, punctuated by procedure and civil speeches.
Sure, there were tears. Janaína Paschoal, the lawyer who charged the president before the Senate with covering up holes in the budget to conceal the worsening state of the economy, cried at the podium. The president’s defense attorney, her former justice minister José Eduardo Cardozo, wept openly after presenting his argument.
When the final vote count was announced — 61 for Ms. Rousseff’s removal, and 20 against — the senators joined in an impromptu rendition of the national anthem. Around the country, protests were few and sparsely attended.
By Brazilian standards, it was a strangely muted reaction after the yearlong battle that had paralyzed the nation. Its conclusion capped more than a decade of Workers’ Party rule, led first by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office in 2003, then by his successor, Ms. Rousseff, from 2011. And it marked the end of a period of growth, political stability and optimism during which working-class Brazilians had felt truly represented in power and had dared to expect more for themselves, their families and their country.
At first, an economy buoyed by commodity prices, record levels of foreign direct investment and the discovery of substantial oil reserves saw steady growth. Together with redistributive programs that focused on low-income Brazilians for the first time in the country’s history, this helped lift 29 million people out of poverty and narrow the inequality that had been one of Brazil’s defining characteristics. By 2012, Brazil had overtaken Britain as the world’s sixth largest economy, and the country found a new confidence with a more expansive foreign policy.
Brazil was the next big thing — and Brazilians believed it. The feeling was captured when the International Olympic Committee announced its decision to award the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro, bringing the Games to South America for the first time. Hearing the news, Mr. da Silva cried, “The world has recognized that the time has come for Brazil.”
As rapid and exhilarating as Brazil’s rise was, its unraveling over the years that followed has been slow, painful and exhausting.
First, the economy. After reaching a peak in Mr. da Silva’s last year in office, when gross domestic product grew 7.5 percent, growth slumped during Ms. Rousseff’s first term to 0.1 percent in 2014, and then the economy went into free fall, shrinking nearly 4 percent last year.
Much of this had to do with external factors like reduced demand from China for soy beans and iron ore. But as inflation and unemployment ticked upward, and Brazilians felt their effects, the president was widely perceived as having lost control of the economy. In a country that has suffered from hyperinflation and a deep recession in the past, this was an unforgivable sin — and the country exploded in nationwide protests in 2013.
Then, the scandals. An expanding probe known as Lava Jato that began in 2014 exposed a nexus of bribery and kickback schemes that implicated the country’s largest companies and political elites. Ms. Rousseff herself was one of the few high-level politicians unscathed by charges, but many of her confidants have been arrested or are on trial. The revelations shattered the ruling Workers’ Party’s image as the incorruptible champion of the poor.
None of this was helped by Ms. Rousseff’s personality. Initially perceived as tough and no-nonsense, by her second term she was increasingly seen as inflexible and autocratic. As her approval ratings tanked, political allies deserted her — especially once it became clear that she would not muster the votes in the Senate to beat the impeachment charges. The merits of the case against her concerning budgetary violations were almost irrelevant: She called her ouster a bloodless coup, but it was also a vote of no-confidence in a country that lacks a legal provision for that.
What does this all mean for Brazil?
Dilma Rousseff’s ouster marks the end of a 13-year period in which Brazilians had dreamed big, only to see their newfound expectations, new self-image and national aspirations dashed. While Mr. da Silva was a symbol of a nation’s hopes, Ms. Rousseff became a lightning rod for its frustrations.
Not even the Olympics could lift the mood. The president was removed, but her slow-motion downfall did not provide Brazil with the catharsis it craved. There were those tears, yes; but if few protested, even fewer celebrated.
That’s because Ms. Rousseff’s departure is a first step toward change, but it does not mean those who took it know the next one. Her impeachment leaves Brazilian democracy with a power vacuum, facing one of its toughest trials since it emerged from a military dictatorship more than 30 years ago.
The Workers’ Party is in tatters, but no other political group or leader has the credibility to unite an angry, divided electorate. Ms. Rousseff’s vice president, Michel Temer, who now governs Brazil, is reviled. He will shift the country to the right, as he made clear when he nominated the first all-white, all-male cabinet in decades. He will try to pass unpopular budget-tightening measures, but it’s doubtful he will succeed with such a fractious Congress.
The country is weary of the scandals and political machinations that play out as a soap opera on the nightly news. Dilma Rousseff is gone, but her oddly muted departure suggests that few Brazilians expect things to improve anytime soon.
Juliana Barbassa is the author of Dancing With the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro on the Brink.