{"id":610,"date":"2011-08-18T10:05:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T12:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/observingbrazil.com\/?p=610"},"modified":"2019-09-09T01:18:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T01:18:53","slug":"new-brazilian-record-4-ministers-fall-in-8-months-of-corruptin-faxina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/new-brazilian-record-4-ministers-fall-in-8-months-of-corruptin-faxina\/","title":{"rendered":"New Brazilian Record: 4 Ministers Fall in 8 Months of Corruption Faxina"},"content":{"rendered":"

When President Dilma Rousseff took office in January, she counted on the largest congressional majority Brazil had ever witnessed\u2014a super-majority that gave her more than three-fifth of votes Congress\u2014 enough to change the constitution. Rousseff lost that super-majority when the PR and its block of 52 deputies broke with the government on Tuesday, reported Jornal Globo<\/a>. The break follows the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (DNIT) scandal, in which the government wrested control of the ministry from the PR after clear evidence of embezzlement and kickback schemes surfaced.<\/p>\n

5\u00a0days\u00a0ago<\/span><\/div>\n
5\u00a0days\u00a0ago<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4 Resignations in 3 Months<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday’s resignation by the Minister of Agriculture, Wagner Rossi (PMDB), marked the fourth ministerial resignation in 8 months\u2014a new record for Brazilian democracy. Rossi\u2019s departure follows in the footsteps of Antonio Palocci (Chief of Staff, PT), Alfredo Nascimento (Minister of Transportation, PR), and Nelson Jobim (Defense [resignation unrelated to corruption]). The Ministry of Tourism has also been purged, with the Federal Police having made over a dozen arrests in the face of ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n

Even before this latest resignation, the faxina<\/em> (cleaning) of corruption jeopardized congressional support, particularly because most revelations fell on the heads of parties within the PT\u2019s coalition. The latest resignation puts into question the support of the President\u2019s key congressional ally, the PMDB, without whose support Rousseff would probably not be able to approve legislation in Congress.<\/p>\n

The PMDB\u2019s leader, Vice-President Michel Temer, says the resignation of Agriculture Minister Rossi responds to family issues. Yet a whistleblower within the Ministry of Agriculture has insisted that the building\u2019s video system captured visits by lobbyists implicated in alleged payoffs. These videos have been seized by the Comptroller General (CGU) for further analysis. Whatever the reason for Rossi\u2019s departure, the resignation may help clear the PMDB name and obviously heightens the party\u2019s leverage over the Rousseff government.<\/p>\n

Surprising Follow-Through<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most surprising element of all these scandals is Rousseff\u2019s follow-through. In the past, scandals broke, leaders admitted no wrongdoing, insisted on getting back to the business of governing, and chastised the news media for its impudence. The 2006 Mensalao, a monthly vote-buying scheme that nearly brought down Lula\u2019s first government, played out in this fashion. No one has yet gone to jail for the Mensalao, undoubtedly the most encompassing corruption scandal Brazil has experienced since re-democratization in 1988.<\/p>\n

Yet with Rousseff it appears to be different. No criminal convictions have yet been made, but the President is insisting on investigative follow-through. This follow-through keeps the media spotlight trained on alleged perpetrators, an excellent means of \u201cshaming\u201d politicians and their parties, and one of the key reasons that we have seen resignations as opposed to mere passing storm clouds. It has also shown the spirited work of Brazil\u2019s policing mechanisms, such as the Tribunal de Contas, the Comptroller General, the Federal Police, and the Corregedoria de Justi\u00e7a.<\/p>\n

Loss of Congressional Support or Greater Momentum for Anti-Corruption?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the press has done excellent job in breaking scandals, greater citizen oversight is needed\u2014a long-awaited freedom of information still awaits approval in the Senate. It remains to be seen whether Rousseff\u2019s strategy will cost her the support of Congress, possibly jeopardizing the approval of further accountability-enhancing tools, such as the freedom of information law and a Truth Commission. An alternative hypothesis is that Rousseff\u2019s actions may ignite even greater momentum for the cause of anti-corruption.<\/p>\n

Whatever the result, Rousseff\u2019s faxina <\/em>appears to be a paradigm shift in the country\u2019s political culture: from an acquiescence of corruption and impunity in exchange for governability, to growing intolerance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When President Dilma Rousseff took office in January, she counted on the largest congressional majority Brazil had ever witnessed\u2014a super-majority that gave her more than three-fifth of votes Congress\u2014 enough to change the constitution. Rousseff lost that super-majority when the PR and its block of 52 deputies broke with the government on Tuesday, reported Jornal Read more about New Brazilian Record: 4 Ministers Fall in 8 Months of Corruption Faxina<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1668,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions\/1668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}