PEC da Blindagem (Shielding and Amnesty): Whose Interest Is It in Paralyzing Brazil? Brazil - OPINION September 23, 2025
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- Sep 22
- 2 min read
PEC da Blindagem (Shielding and Amnesty): Whose Interest Is It in Paralyzing Brazil? Brazil - OPINION
No Justice - No Peace
Brazil is experiencing another week of debates that expose the distorted priorities of national politics. The so-called PEC da Blindagem (Shielding and Amnesty) and the Amnesty Bill are not just legislative proposals—they are symbols of a disconnect between what Congress is discussing and what society truly needs.
While hospitals face endless lines, schools await renovations, communities lack basic sanitation, and social policies remain shelved, lawmakers are focusing their efforts on securing more prerogatives and expanding spaces of impunity. It's impossible not to ask: who benefits from a PEC that protects lawmakers, while millions of Brazilians still await basic public policies?
The narrative being constructed around the PEC is to "guarantee prerogatives" and prevent "abuse of power." But, ultimately, what's being designed is a shielding mechanism that weakens oversight instruments and opens loopholes for practices that drain public resources. Resources should be directed toward strengthening the Unified Health System (SUS), education, food security, and social assistance.
Every hour of the plenary session spent discussing shielding is one less hour dedicated to resolving social bottlenecks. Every agenda item stalled in the name of amnesty is a social project postponed.
The impact goes beyond the political realm. The feeling of impunity undermines trust in institutions, scares away social and international investors, and demobilizes strategic partnerships. Who would risk investing resources in a country where Parliament's priority is not to guarantee rights, but to protect privileges?
This logic generates a cascade effect: less trust, less investment, fewer social policies implemented. And yet another cycle of inequality is strengthened.
What concerns me—and should concern everyone—is that the social agenda already suffers from a huge backlog of stalled projects. There are innovative initiatives capable of transforming entire territories, just waiting for a political and budgetary green light. But when the agenda is dominated by discussions like the Shielding Amendment (PEC), these investments become even more distant.
Will we accept democracy being hijacked by corporate interests, while families continue without clean water, quality schools, or basic healthcare? How long will we allow politics to be more self-centered than the society that sustains it?
This week, once again, Brazil faced an uncomfortable mirror: we're in a rush to address social issues, but those who make decisions seem to be in a rush to protect themselves.
And here I leave my concern: by shielding its own corridors, isn't Congress also closing the doors to the future for millions of Brazilians?
@cauvic2
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