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BRAZIL:
Trail of
Corruption?
Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, (IPS) -
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva is facing a new
crisis over an ill that was not
expected to plague his leftist
Workers Party (PT) government:
corruption.
Reports that the ruling party
made monthly payments of 30,000
reals (12,000 dollars) to
lawmakers from two allied
parties in exchange for their
votes on bills supported by the
government have compounded
problems that have built up in
the past few weeks.
The alleged monthly bribes to
legislators were vaguely
referred to by several
politicians a year ago. But the
president of the Brazilian
Labour Party (PTB), Roberto
Jefferson, provided names and
specific amounts in an interview
published Monday by the daily
newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.
PT treasurer Delubio Soares is
reportedly responsible for
making total payments of three
million reals (1.2 million
dollars) a month to lawmakers
from the Liberal Party (PL) and
Progressive Party (PP), two
conservative forces allied with
the PT.
PT president José Genoino
expressed ”surprise and
indignation,” and said
Jefferson's claims were
”absolutely unfounded.” He added
that the relations between the
parties that support the
government are based on
”political programmes and
principles.”
The leader of the PP in the
lower house of Congress, Deputy
José Janene, also denied the
allegation, attributing it to
the ”desperation” of the head of
the PTB, who was accused in an
earlier corruption scandal.
Three weeks ago, the magazine
Veja reported that a postal
service executive, Mauricio
Marinho - who Jefferson has
pointed his finger at - received
kickbacks in order to approve
contracts with the post office.
A secretly filmed video was
later broadcast on TV, showing
Marinho accepting 3,000 reals
(1,200 dollars) while stating
that he was merely following
orders from Jefferson.
There have also been
denunciations that the PTB
attempted to obtain a monthly
”contribution” of 400,000 reals
(164,000 dollars) from another
state body, the reinsurance
institute, for its election
campaign. The former president
of the institute, Lidio Duarte,
was named to his post on the
recommendation of the PTB.
The opposition had called for
the creation of a congressional
investigation commission to
study the earlier accusations,
and has already collected the
necessary number of signatures
(the support of at least
one-third of the 513 deputies
and 81 senators is needed),
including those of several
members of the PT itself.
But the government and the PT
leadership are attempting to
block the initiative by keeping
it from being approved in
commission and by the plenary of
the Chamber of Deputies.
Jefferson's accusation, however,
has strengthened the offensive
by the opposition, which is now
demanding that another
congressional investigation
commission be set up to examine
the allegations of bribes paid
to legislators by the ruling
party.
This latest development came on
the heels of a federal police
bust of an illegal logging ring
in the southern state of Mato
Grosso late last week.
High-ranking officials from the
Brazilian Environment Institute
(IBAMA) - the government agency
in charge of protecting forests
- and timber businesses were
implicated in the racket.
Half of all deforestation of the
Amazon jungle is concentrated in
the state of Mato Grosso.
Over 90 people were arrested,
including environmental
authorities accused of ”selling”
documents to legitimise
illegally logged timber. Some of
those in custody are linked to
the PT, and are suspected of
partaking in these activities to
raise funds for the party's
candidates.
Jefferson's claims have been
attributed to his decision to
drag others down with him, given
his difficult position as the
”godfather” of many high
government officials, some of
them even in his own party.
In public statements, he has
accused the PT of ingratitude,
declaring that ”they have used
us like a mistress, and are now
ashamed of being seen with us by
the light of day.”
The problem facing the PT and
the government now is that this
is the third scandal to erupt in
less than a month, leading to a
magnification of the public's
perception of corruption in the
current administration, and
hurting the squeaky clean image
that the PT boasted as an
opposition party since its
founding in 1980.
The most recent polls, conducted
shortly after the post office
scandal, already indicated a
drop in Lula's popularity.
According to figures released on
Sunday by Datafolha, a survey
firm affiliated with the Folha
de Sao Paulo, a full 65 percent
of respondents said they
considered the Lula
administration to be corrupt, up
from 32 percent in a March 2004
poll.
This has prompted the government
to launch a counteroffensive,
with various ministers and Lula
himself appearing on television
to state that the perception of
greater corruption is the result
of increased efforts to fight
this scourge.
Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz
Bastos stressed that the federal
police had carried out 45
special operations in the last
two years, arresting 1,234
individuals, including
politicians, judges, police
officers and public officials,
primarily on charges of
corruption.
Now the shockwaves caused by
Jefferson's allegations will
demand a reworking of the
government's counter-campaign.
It is true that the perception
of corruption grows when efforts
to fight it increase,
acknowledged Claudio Weber
Abramo, the executive secretary
of Transparency Brazil, the
local branch of the global
corruption watchdog Transparency
International. However, this
does not justify the claim that
the current administration has
managed to reduce corruption, he
added.
”These accusations are extremely
serious, and given their nature,
they should by investigated by
Congress,” he told IPS. But
identifying and punishing the
guilty parties is not enough, he
said. It is also crucial to seek
out the underlying causes and
correct them.
One of the measures Abramo
recommended is to reduce the
number of patronage
appointments, in which ruling
party members are designated to
head up government agencies and
state-owned companies.
There are between 16,000 and
20,000 of these positions in
Brazil, which are refilled every
time a new government takes
power. As a consequence,
”governments are held hostage by
the political parties,” the
activist said.
Ironically, in the midst of
these latest scandals, Brasilia
will be hosting the 4th Global
Forum Against Corruption this
Tuesday through Friday.
Organised by the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
the meeting will be attended by
experts and other
representatives from over 100
countries.
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