Out for the money: a legal analysis of economic claims for secession in Brazil

Abstract

To a part of Brazil’s southern and south-eastern population, the 2014 presidential election was about two irreconcilable projects for the country. To them, the victory of the Workers Party contender meant the unacceptable maintenance of the current economic policy and distribution of state's benefits. In response to this outcome, they publicly called for the secession of the south and south-east regions. Even though not a new phenomenon in Brazil, the current calls for secession are made under a distinct international legal scenario. The rise of self-determination as a right could serve as a legal basis for such claims. By looking at said right, the present article endeavours to establish the legal validity of the current calls for secession coming from south and south-east Brazil. After demonstrating that these claims are economic in nature, the present work demonstrates that those from the south and south-east seeking secession cannot be classified as a people and, therefore, could not legitimately claim such right. Even if peoplehood was present in the equation, the work further concludes that the current governmental policy directed at distributing benefits to disadvantaged sections of society via taxation cannot be considered to reach a threshold of harm that would legitimise secession through the saving clause of UN Resolution 25/2625. The authors suggest that secessionists abandon their false discourse of colonial liberation and their prejudiced views based on racist stereotypes of other regions of the country, which could only be detrimental to the social cohesion of Brazil. To pursue their goals, be they legitimate or not, secessionists are advised to make use of participatory tools that could provide for the same results achieved via the right to self-determination, except for secession.