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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Brazilian lawmaker says ruling party bribed congressmen |
| 2005-06-07 |
| A Brazilian lawmaker at the heart of a corruption scandal battering Brazilian President Luiz Inäcio Lula da Silva's government said the ruling Workers Party had paid congressional allies the equivalent of $10,000 a month for their political support. The allegations have deepened the crisis surrounding the da Silva government, rattled Brazilian financial markets and given a big boost to those calling for a congressional inquiry, which the government had been trying a block. A probe likely would drag on for months, stalling key legislative votes on overhauling the economy. Rep. Roberto Jefferson, whose Brazilian Labor Party is accused of using appointees at the post office and other state-run entities to solicit bribes for his party, made the charges against Mr. da Silva's Workers Party during an interview with the Folha de S'o Paulo newspaper. Mr. Jefferson said he alerted six cabinet members about the alleged scheme, but that the payoffs only stopped after he took the matter to Mr. da Silva, who he claimed wept upon learning about the arrangement. The Workers Party, known as PT, denied any wrongdoing. Brazilian stocks tumbled 3.1% on the news, and the dollar strengthened as much as 2.2% against the real before settling 1% higher at 2.45. The payoff charges come as Mr. da Silva's approval ratings are slipping and as opposition parties improve their standing in polls ahead of next year's presidential election. Mr. Jefferson has been called a "human bomb" by newsweekly Veja for the explosive potential of what he allegedly knows about government corruption. Apart from Mr. Jefferson's alleged role in the post-office scandal, his party is accused by a former government employee of soliciting a monthly 400,000 reais -- about $165,000 at the current exchange rate -- from the state-run reinsurance monopoly. This past weekend, the newsmagazine Época ran a story about an ice-cream salesman who allegedly fronted for Mr. Jefferson as a shareholder of two radio stations. Mr. Jefferson denies all allegations. Mr. Jefferson's payoff claims appeared to be buttressed by Goiäs State Governor Marconi Perillo, who said in a television interview that he alerted Mr. da Silva last year "about the possibility that government sectors were paying off lawmakers." Mr. Perillo is a member of an opposition party. Mr. Jefferson is a controversial figure in Brazilian politics. In the early 1990s, as then President Fernando Collor de Mello was losing political support amid corruption charges that eventually led to his impeachment and resignation, Mr. Jefferson stood by the president until the last minute. |
| Posted by:too true |
| #2 Leftists, anyway. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-06-07 16:21 |
| #1 So you're saying the Dems are in charge down there? ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-06-07 14:07 |