Financial Times (Reino Unido) – Brazil's culture of corruption thrives despite scandals

Financial Times (Reino Unido) – Brazil's culture of corruption thrives despite scandals

 

Joe Leahy in Brasília and Andres Schipani in São Paulo

 

João Rodrigues used to spend his nights in prison and his days working as a lawmaker in Brazil's federal congress, weighing in on the most important decisions of Latin America's largest country despite being a jailbird.

 

Found guilty of violating public procurement law, he was sentenced to more than five years of "semi-open" jail in Brasília's grim Papuda prison, under which he could work outside but had return to his cell every evening.

 

"It's crowded. There is a toilet; it has no door but there's a curtain instead," Mr Rodrigues, who claims to be innocent, said of his cell.

 

The congressman from the centre-right Social Democratic party, who is temporarily free pending an appeal, is not alone in his plight. As Brazil prepares for elections this Sunday in which the country will choose not only a new president but members for its powerful congress as well as state governors, the political class has been buffeted by a record number of criminal cases.

 

A political bribery investigation centred on former state-owned oil company Petrobras, known as Lava Jato or Car Wash, has targeted hundreds of politicians. About 60 per cent of Brazil's 81 senators and a third of the 513 members of its lower house have been accused of a crime, the website Congresso em Foco found.

 

Former leftist Workers' party (PT) president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is serving more than 12 years in jail for corruption. Other high-profile jailings include former congressional lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.

 

Analysts say that the deluge of corruption investigations and imprisonments has destroyed public confidence in politicians and given rise to the far-right frontrunner in the elections, former army captain Jair Bolsonaro.

 

"Lava Jato has transformed the landscape," said Michael Mohallem, of FGV Direito Rio, a law school.

 

Brazil's expensive elections fuel its political corruption problem, according to analysts. Candidates for congress, for instance, must compete for votes across vast state territories. The best networkers who are able to raise money for their parties have risen to the top, said Mr Mohallem.

 

Lava Jato has prompted public hopes for a renewal in politics, particularly in congress. All lower house seats are up for grabs and two-thirds of those of the senate.

 

"If we don't get involved now, we won't be able to do anything in the future, we won't have a future," said Luiz Philippe de Orléans e Bragança, a Stanford-educated heir to the defunct Brazilian throne.

 

A newcomer to politics, Mr de Orléans e Bragança is a candidate for congress for Mr Bolsonaro's Social Liberal party. He advocates political reform in a country where, today, a member of the royal family is seen as anti-establishment.

 

Those hoping for a renewal will probably be disappointed. Political reforms, such as banning corporate financing of campaigns in 2015 and replacing it with public funds, favour incumbent parties.

 

Parties receive public funding in proportion to their presence in congress, which benefits established groups. Shorter campaign periods, designed to save money, also favour established politicians, whose names are better recognised by the public.

 

"The conditions in the legislature were changed exactly to favour those who are running for re-election," said Antônio Augusto de Queiroz from Diap, a group that monitors congress.

 

Despite its problems with corruption, the biggest party after the election will probably be the PT, albeit with only about 60 seats, or 12 per cent of the lower house, said Carlos Ranulfo, a political scientist at the Federal University of Minas Gerais.

 

Many of the new faces in congress come from political dynasties and do not represent fundamental change. For instance, Danielle Cunha, the daughter of disgraced house speaker Mr Cunha, is campaigning for a lower house seat.

 

"There won't be too much new. We will continue with many of the same parties in congress," said Mr Ranulfo.

 

The election of 27 powerful state governors could produce some surprises, however. An outsider is polling strongly in the state of Paraná where the Lava Jato investigation is based. The leading contender, Carlos Roberto Massa Júnior, known as Ratinho Junior, or Mouse Junior, is the son of a tabloid television show host, Ratinho, and is running on a pro-business platform.

 

"There doesn't exist a social policy better than generating jobs," said Mr Massa, referring to the political system.

 

His father's TV presence has boosted his visibility. But his rise can also be attributed to corruption allegations against the state's longstanding former governor, Carlos Alberto Richa, who was briefly arrested last month.

 

The fall of Mr Richa, a once influential powerbroker, demonstrates that it is harder to get away with corruption in Brazil, where impunity was once the rule.

 

Mr Rodrigues can testify to that. He is campaigning for re-election but might have to return to jail at any moment. "For a human being to pass through this when you haven't got any debt with justice, it's practically like dying. It's crushing," he said.