Brazilian judges convict popular former leader, indict unpopular sitting president.
| Autor | Scruggs, Gregory |
In a plot twist befitting a telenovela, Brazil's wildly popular former president, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva (2003-2011), has been convicted of corruption and money laundering. He was sentenced to nine and a half years of prison, but the presiding judge will allow him to keep his liberty during his appeal. The July 12 decision shook Brazil to its foundation, with the current and previous two presidents (including da Silva's successor, Dilma Rouseff [2011-2016]) now tainted by impropriety following the June indictment of President Michel Temer on formal corruption charges. The country must now look back 14 years to find a head of state with a clean legal record (NotiSur, Nov. 3, 2006, June 24, 2016, Sept, 30, 2016).
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in support of the embattled da Silva, the charismatic former metallurgist who rose from a destitute childhood in Brazil's impoverished northeast to become a two-time president under the banner of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). He was once deemed the most popular politician in the world, following a successful administration during which millions of Brazilians were lifted out of poverty while economic growth remained steady. The country was awarded the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics under his watch (NotiSur, Feb. 7, 2014, Aug. 1, 2014, Aug. 5, 2016).
Despite the conviction, da Silva remains defiant and insists he will run in the 2018 presidential election. Prior to the judicial decision, opinion polls showed him as the leading candidate, with sitting president Temer's approval rating hovering in the single digits. "Anyone who thinks this is the end of Lula is going to be disappointed," he said at a press conference on July 13. "Wait for me, because no one can decree my end but the Brazilian people."
Beachfront bribe
Federal Judge Sergio Moro handed down the indictment, one of dozens that have reached the highest echelons of the Brazilian political establishment as part of the Operacao Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) anti-corruption investigation (NotiSur, Jan. 13, 2017). With poetic flourish, Moro cited the 17th century English scholar Thomas Fuller in his ruling: "Be you never so high, the law is above you." But after delivering the 260-page decision, Moro deferred to the delicacy of sentencing such an important national figure to jail. In his decision to allow the former president to remain free while the case is appealed, he acknowledged "certain traumas" to the...
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