Amidst all the news coverage about Donald Trump’s trip to Mexico on Wednesday, there was one other major story in Latin America as Brazil removed its corrupt and far-left President for questionable behavior with the country’s finances. Of course, it nearly saw nary a mention on the broadcast network evening newscasts as ABC and CBS were out to lunch on Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment.
Somehow, NBC didn’t let their firm ties with Brazil after being the U.S. broadcaster for the Rio Olympic Games (which concluded six days ago) stand in the way as NBC Nightly News fill-in anchor Savannah Guthrie spent 21 seconds on Rousseff.
Guthrie began by revealing that there was “big change in Brazil tonight” before noting the recent end of the Olympics coinciding with Rousseff being “ousted by the Senate for breaking fiscal laws while managing the budget.”
“It’s been a major drama in Brazil for a year now, culminating in Brazil's vote, which Rousseff called a coup as she has repeatedly denied those charges,” Guthrie concluded.
In contrast to the apathy shown by the English-language networks, Telemundo and Univision did their homework by combining to provide a total of two minutes and 11 seconds on Rousseff’s ouster.
Whereas Telemundo reserved a 22-second news brief to Rousseff (so similar to its fellow Comcast-owned network NBC) while Univision dedicated a full, one-minute-and-49-second segment from correspondent Pablo Monzalvo in the Brazilian capital Brasilia
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Naturally, we can leave it to The New York Times to bemoan, fret, and wallow over how Rousseff’s downfall ushered in an abrupt end to a decades-plus reign by one of Brazil’s far-left parties:
The Senate voted 61 to 20 to convict Ms. Rousseff on charges of manipulating the federal budget in an effort to conceal the nation’s mounting economic problems.
But the final removal of Ms. Rousseff, who was suspended in May to face trial, was much more than a judgment of guilt on any charge. It was a verdict on her leadership and the slipping fortunes of Latin America’s largest country.
The impeachment puts a definitive end to 13 years of governing by the leftist Workers’ Party, an era during which Brazil’s economy boomed, lifting millions into the middle class and raising the country’s profile on the global stage.
But sweeping corruption scandals, the worst economic crisis in decades and the government’s tone-deaf responses to the souring national mood opened Ms. Rousseff to withering scorn, leaving her with little support to fend off a power grab by her political rivals.
The relevant portion of the transcript from August 31's NBC Nightly News can be found below.
NBC Nightly News
August 31, 2016
7:23 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Impeached]
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Big change in Brazil tonight. Just over a week after the end to the Olympics in Rio, that country's President, Dilma Rousseff, has been ousted by the Senate for breaking fiscal laws while managing the budget. It’s been a major drama in Brazil for a year now, culminating in Brazil's vote, which Rousseff called a coup as she has repeatedly denied those charges.
