Brazil's
'corruption trial of the century' expected to hurt ruling coalition
Politicians stand accused of involvement in illegal vote-buying scandal
Among the accused is Jose Dirceu, chief of staff of former Brazilian
president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Photograph: Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
In what has been billed as Brazil's "trial of the
century", the supreme court on Thursday started to hear the case of 38
prominent defendants – including former ministers, politicians, bankers and
businessmen – who are implicated in a vote-buying case that first hit the
government of Luiz Inácio Lula
da Silva in 2005.
The Mensalão (big monthly payment) scandal, as it is commonly known, saw
millions of dollars siphoned from public funds to pay off politicians and buy
support for the coalition. Among the accused is Jose Dirceau, Lula's chief of
staff.
The attorney general, Roberto Gurgel, has said it was "the most
daring and outrageous corruption scheme and embezzlement of public funds ever
seen in Brazil".
Lula is not in the dock, but he has apologised on behalf of the Workers
Party, now led by President Dilma Rousseff, and the case looks likely to hurt
the coalition in this autumn's municipal elections. Rousseff seems unlikely to
be directly affected as she has fired ministers who have been implicated in
scandals.
Corruption and murder are nothing new in Brazil, but the prominence of
the case has prompted some to hope an endemic problem is now being addressed.
"For the first time, corruption is being honestly combated,"
said Gilson Caroni Filho, a sociologist at the Hélio Alonso Institute, Rio de
Janeiro. "The Brazilian government has been moving forward meaningfully.
But we must not have illusions, changes will be molecular and the reaction of
those who are targeted will be strong."
Others warn that without decisive action, the corruption cases may
simply increase. "The main impact is still coming. Brazilians always
expect that episodes like this are investigated and judged carefully. But there
is a tradition in the political class to protect one another," said João
Trajano, a political scientist at Rio State University.
Few analysts expect change in the short term. Noéli Correia de Melo
Sobrinho, a political scientist, said the main difference was in transparency.
An old, hidden problem is coming the surface, but that does not necessarily
mean it will be dealt with "There is a bigger freedom now to talk about
these issues," he said. "I believe Dilma's government has the will to
fight corruption, but that would go against lots of powerful people. Sometimes
that's the reason why corruption can't be fought: it's already in the
system."
The Mensalão scandal is not the only big corruption case to hit the
headlines in recent weeks, with another raising questions over the probity of
the very organisations supposed to be investigating crime.
Police investigator Wilton Tapajós Macedo was killed last month while
watering the flowers on his parents' grave. At close range, two bullets were
enough. One went through the temple, the other through the throat.
As his body lay on the ground near where he would later be buried, an
undertaker witnessed two killers fleeing the scene. They left behind not just a
corpse but a fear that the battle against corruption in Brazil may be entering
a dangerous new phase as rival law enforcement agencies fight one another.
Tapajós was investigating the head of an illegal gambling cartel,
Carlinos Cachoeira – also known as Charlie Waterfall – and his sprawling web of
influence.
The corruption scandal has toppled a senator, disrupted renovation of
stadiums for the World Cup and prompted the resignations of judges and
prosecutors who said they were threatened and obstructed by police.
No one has been arrested in connection with the killing and detectives
stress that the motive remains unclear, but the public prosecutor, Daniel de
Resende Salgado, said military police – who operate on a regional rather than
national level – had obstructed Tapajós and other federal agents as they
attempted to look into the gambling activities run by Cachoeira during the
investigation known as Operation Monte Carlo.
"During fieldwork, Tapajós was once intercepted by a military
police officer, who may have been protecting the gamblers," Salgado said.
"We are aware of potential infiltration by criminal groups in government
sectors. It is an even greater concern when they infiltrate public security
organisations. If people who are supposed to fight crime associate with it, how
can others react? Society and government are very vulnerable when that
happens."
This followed the resignation from the case by a judge, Paulo Augusto
Moreva Lina, who said his family had been threatened by police in Goiás — the
regional base of Cachoeira's operation. A public prosecutor, Léa Batista de
Souza, also quit after receiving a message saying: "Bitch, we will get you."
"I can't affirm Cachoeira ordered these threats, but I am sure
these emails were because of the discomfort that Monte Carlo operation
caused," de Souza told the Guardian. "The operation shows that
organised crime has infiltrated the state, especially public security."
The effort to intimidate investigators – and the apparent involvement of
military police – has prompted calls for Brazil's justice ministry to declare
an emergency. But it also shows that the inquiry has started to hurt some
powerful vested interests.
A vast wire-tapping operation has revealed Cachoeira's close ties to
several influential politicians and businessmen. Demóstenes Torres – who had a
reputation as one of Brazil's cleanest politicians until this case – was only
the second senator to be impeached since the dictatorship ended in 1985 after
claims he took $1.7m (£1.1m) from Cachoeira.
Similarly shady ties also hit one of the country's biggest construction
firms, Delta – which was expelled from a project to renovate the Maracanã
stadium for the 2014 World Cup. With Cachoeira now on trial, more cases are
expected.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário