Exit Day for Collor?

FERNANDO COLLOR DE MELLO USED EVERY TRICK IN the book to delay a vote on his , impeachment in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies. But last week the President suffered what might have been the decisive blow. After a nine-hour televised hearing, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that the chamber had every right to schedule the vote for this week and to make it a "nominal" ballot -- meaning that Deputies will have to declare themselves by name for or against. Though it is still possible that Collor will pull some last-second surprise, the odds are that the required two-thirds of the 503 Deputies will vote, possibly Tuesday, to put Collor on trial, and that by week's end Collor will effectively be out. Officially he would be "suspended" for up to 180 days while the Senate tries him on charges of receiving bribes and kickbacks and votes on final removal from office.

Vice President Itamar Franco would be sworn in as President with a mandate of up to six months and face the daunting tasks of cobbling together a government and reviving a paralyzed economy. Nonetheless, Latin America's biggest nation would display one sign of a mature democracy: for the first time resolving a government crisis by strict constitutional means, without military intervention. But it is too early for relief that "the system works." Collor might confuse matters by trying to exercise some authority as a shadow president while suspended. And there is a slim chance that he will beat the impeachment vote. Given his massive unpopularity, that could trigger chaos in the streets.