Brazilian supreme court has mandated the immediate imprisonment of eleven politicians involved in curruption during the government Lula.
First of all, this topic should not be used by other parties for political purposes. The ones that are mostly celebrating the sentence, PSDB supporters, should remember that the CPI (parlamentary investigation) has determined that the mensalão has cost R$ 10 million to the country. It may have been more, however, only the propinoduto, operation to steal money from the state of São Paulo in the PSDB government, has cost the state US$ 50 million ( ~ R$ 110 million), according to investigations concluded in Europe, destination of great part of the stolen money
Having said that, the moment is definitely historic! It’s one of those few things that still gives us hope in Brazil: the independence of the three powers, even though it’s often debatable.
Impunity is THE biggest problem of Brazil as a nation! It’s the fuel for all of the curruption that criples the country and causes that no money is left to invest in areas with screaming needs, such as: healthcare, education, infrastructure, public transportation etc.
Curruption in Brazil is so widespread due to the complete awareness from politicians that they are never going to suffer any consequence like being caught and going to jail. In the worst case, they lose their term and come back in the next election. Or retire with a fat checking account.
For that reason, the moment is historic! The case sets a precedent and shows politicians that they can indeed go to jail. Now, that doesn’t mean everything is going to change and curruption is over in Brazil. Far from that. But they will think twice now before getting into ilicit behavior.
To get permanent results, we need more! We need serious investitgations also in the state and municipal levels so this doesn’t become just a flag for the next elections in 2014. The case brings hope of a Brazil with less curruption in the future. This is indeed something to fight for in the popular riots: the of impunity! It’s the best way to fight for a better Brazil for the next generations.
Translation from my original post at: http://www.pensamentoliberal.com/momento-historico-para-o-brasil/
Leave a Reply