On February 26, Brazil’s ruling PT party approved a “National Emergency Plan” (NEP) that urges President Dilma Rousseff to clip the wings of the usurious financial sector operating in Brazil and sharply reduce domestic interest rates; use the country’s sizable, $371 billion in foreign reserves to establish a National Development and Employment Fund for infrastructure development; and work closely with the BRICS New Development Bank and Chinese banks to achieve these goals.

The plan is reported to have been personally drafted by PT president Rui Falcao, and has the full backing of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was arrested and hauled in for questioning by police for three hours in relation to the corruption scandal sweeping the country, on March 4, exactly one week after the NEP was released. The emergence of the NEP reflects the fact that there are significant forces in Brazil that are…