200 dead in Brazil air disaster: Lula government shows gross indifference

Over the weekend, a failure of the radar system over the Amazon region compelled at least a dozen international flights to change course and triggered a massive round of flight cancellations and delays, leaving passengers stranded at airports throughout Brazil. Initial government suggestions that the failure had been caused by sabotage provoked sharp protests by air traffic controllers, who told the press that they were being made scapegoats for the crisis and insisted, “We are not terrorists.” These delays came on top of those already caused by the closure of the main runway at Congonhas because of the crash investigation. In response to the crisis, Brazil’s civil aviation agency ordered a halt to the sale of tickets for flights departing from Congonhas. The agency indicated this suspension could be extended to other airports.

The catastrophic July 17 airplane disaster that claimed the lives of 200 people at São Paulo’s Congonhas airport has further deepened the crisis of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government