BRAZIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL UPDATE, WEEK OF 22-26

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 002305 SIPDIS SENSITIVE C O R R E C T E D COPY (TEXT MISSING) TREASURY FOR PARODI, STATE PASS TO USTR AND USAID/LAC/AA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL UPDATE, WEEK OF 22-26 AUGUST 2005 REF: A. BRASILIA 2219 ¶B. BRASILIA 2150 ¶C. BRASILIA 2082 ¶D. BRASILIA 2025 ¶E. BRASILIA 1979 ¶F. BRASILIA 1874 ¶G. BRASILIA 1973 ¶H. BRASILIA 1631 ¶I. BRASILIA 2242 ¶J. BRASILIA 2237 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. During the week of 22-26 August, the ongoing, scandal-driven political crisis shaking the Lula da Silva government and PT party (refs) was augmented by the new corruption allegations against Finance Minister Antonio Palocci (refs I and J). Political reactions to Palocci's 21 August press conference, in which he refuted accusations leveled by his former aide Rogerio Buratti(ref I),were mostly positive. Buratti repeated the charges before a congressional inquiry committee (CPI) on 25 August, but offered no documentary evidence. Former PL deputy Valdemar Costa Neto and former PT communications Secretary Marcelo Sereno also testified before CPIs. An SIPDIS IBOPE poll released on 23 August indicates that the continuing crisis has finally affected President Lula da Silva?s standing, with the results showing that in a presidential election Lula would lose in a second-round vote to Sao Paulo PSDB mayor Jose Serra. The PT party's internal disputes -- particularly the struggle between current president Tarso Genro and former minister Jose Dirceu -- continue to undermine the party's unity and electoral prospects. In a dramatic speech on 25 August, Lula stated he has not decided yet whether he would seek re-election, and pledged ?patience? in confronting the crisis, vowing he would not emulate former Brazilian presidents who have opted for resignation or even suicide in the face of crises. END SUMMARY. POLITICAL REACTIONS TO PALOCCI'S PRESS CONFERENCE -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) In a testimony before the Sao Paulo state prosecutor's office on 18 August, Rogerio Buratti, a former advisor to Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, alleged that Palocci received kickbacks from a trash collection company and funneled the funds to PT coffers while he was the mayor of Ribeirao Preto (refs I-J). Buratti could not present evidence in support of his claims and on 21 August, Palocci held a two-hour press conference in which he offered a forceful, point-by-point denial of the accusations. Although Palocci is likely to be summoned by one of the congressional inquiry committees (CPIs) to formally respond to Buratti?s charges, responses to Palocci?s press conference have been mostly positive, including among opposition leaders. PFL president and senator Jorge Bornhausen called Palocci?s statements straight forward and courageous in comparison with President Lula?s reactions to date; PSDB floor leader in the Senate Arthur Virgilio agreed that "Palocci's form and tone were excellent, and Lula should follow his example". On 25 August, Buratti testified before the CPI on bingo operations and repeated his accusations against Palocci, but did not provide any documentary evidence against the Finance Minister. IN THE CPI?S -------------- ¶3. (U) The three congressional inquiry committees (CPIs) currently investigating the interlocking corruption scandals in Brazil had a full week. On 23 August, former PL president and congressman Valdemar Costa Neto testified before the CPI on vote buying, and confirmed that the PL received approximately USD $4.2 million from the PT in exchange for the party's support for Lula in the 2002 presidential campaign. Costa Neto denied the existence of a PT vote-buying scheme among PL congressmen (Note: Lula's vice-president, Jose Alencar, is a PL member. End Note). On the same day, former PT communications Secretary Marcelo Sereno testified before the CPI on corruption related to bingo operations and acknowledged that he had discussed PT finance and campaign issues in meetings in the Presidential Palace with Marcos Valerio, the now-notorious private sector money man at the center of current crisis (refs). ¶4. (U) The CPIs also approved a number of requests to summon more witnesses that could assist in the investigation of other corruption allegations. On 18 August, members of the CPI on Bingos approved a request to invite Jose Francisco Daniel, the brother of Celso Daniel - - the PT mayor of Santo Andre, Sao Paulo who was kidnapped and murdered in still-murky circumstances in 2002 -- to explain his claims that Daniel's assassination was linked to a corruption scheme to funnel payoffs on municipal contracts to PT campaign coffers. Last week, the Sao civil police reopened its criminal investigation of the case, which has remained the subject of an active inquiry by the state Public Ministry (a judicial authority under Brazilian law that can conduct separate investigations from police, especially in instances of suspected corruption or malfeasance),where officials have consistently supported the theory that the killing was linked to corruption and politics. On 22 August, the CPI on Vote Buying decided summoned for testimony 62 persons who allegedly withdrew money from Valerio's accounts, including congressmen and congressional staffers. The dates for the depositions have not been established. ETHICS COMMITTEE REQUESTS JEFFERSON'S IMPEACHMENT -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) On August 25, the Chamber's Ethics Committee presented the final report on congressman Roberto Jefferson's case, requesting his impeachment (refs). The report will be voted on next week and, if approved by the Chamber, Jefferson will lose his seat and political rights for eight years. The impeachment requests against other congressmen currently being investigated by the Ethics Committee -- including the case against former Chief of Staff Jose Dirceu--are likely to be voted on before the end of the year. POLL: LULA?S REELECTION PROSPECTS DROP -------------- ¶6. (U) An IBOPE poll released on 23 August shows a virtual tie between Lula and Sao Paulo mayor Jose Serra (PSDB) in a the first-round vote of a presidential election, with the president receiving 29 percent and Serra 30 percent. Serra would beat Lula 44 to 35 percent in a subsequent run-off vote. In addition, President Lula's personal approval rating dropped to 45 percent. (Note: When Lula took office, his approval rating was 84 percent; in June 2005 it fell to 55 percent, and in July to 54 percent. End Note.) Lula's PT party also remains divided internally. A bitter struggle continues between current PT president Tarso Genro, who advocates a major reformation of the party and possibly re-orientation leftward in the wake of the scandals, and former minister Jose Dirceu, who refuses to stand down from aspirations for party leadership, despite being widely viewed as culpable for the financial irregularities and corruption allegations rocking the party and GOB. The leadership will be decided in the PT?s upcoming September elections. The dispute may ultimately lead to rift in the party and threaten its survival in its present form, with the moderate wing led by Dirceu splitting from a more leftist group disillusioned with the corruption scandals and critical of Lula?s orthodox economic and fiscal policies. PLEDGES OF PATIENCE -------------- 7.(U) In his most dramatic speech since the outset of the three-month old crisis, Lula stated on 25 August to an audience of businessmen that he has not decided yet whether he would seek re-election, and pledged ?patience, patience, patience? in confronting the pressures mounting on him and his government. Evoking memories of former crisis-plagued Brazilian presidents Getulio Vargas, who committed suicide, and Janio Quadros, who resigned abruptly from office, Lula said he would eschew such desperation and emulate instead Juscelino Kubitschek, who endured public scorn to become, over time, remembered as a great statesman. ¶8. (SBU)Comment. Three months and counting into the crisis, a kind of melancholic routine is settling into Brazilian politics. Judicial authorities continue investigations in various directions, the three CPIs are becoming institutionalized features of evening TV broadcasts, new testimony is heard daily from witnesses who regularly seek habeas corpus or plea deals before they open their mouths, Sunday newspapers compete for sensational new angles each weekend, and the electoral polls show the negative impact of the scandals is finally seeping down into the Lula redoubts of Brazil?s poorest and least educated classes. Media commentators are starting to criticize the lack of concrete results from the various inquiries, but the next several weeks may be more decisive as investigations come to a head, decisions are rendered by the congress on the motions for removal of congressmen implicated in the scandals, and the 62 individuals clearly suspected of receipt of bribes are called to testify publicly. ¶9. (SBU) Comment continued. The three CPIs continue to compete with each other in often unproductive ways, and the organization of their internal workloads is apparently poor and politicized, but there is emerging a rough but coherent division of labor. The CPI on postal service corruption will now focus on the origins of the millions of dollars in funds that apparently served as collateral for the huge sums loaned by money man Marcos Valerio to the PT and allied parties. The CPI on vote buying will try to extract confessions and stronger proof of bribery. And the bingos CPI will focus not only on linkages between bingo houses and PT finances, but PT schemes for kickbacks on contracts in municipalities such as Riberao Preto and Santo Andre in Sao Paulo that appear intended to funnel money into party coffers. If parsing of investigations along these three lines proves effective, Brazilians may start to perceive, finally, the clear outlines of the monster of massive illegality created by elements of the PT in the service of conquering and keeping power -- a creature that now has ravaged the party?s image, the GOB?s efficacy, and Lula?s future and legacy. DANILOVICH