Political pressure is growing in Brazil to disband a high-profile team of anti-corruption prosecutors that has put dozens of former executives and politicians behind bars, despite its strong popular support and hundreds of cases still pending.
Prosecutor General Augusto Aras will decide on September 10 whether to renew for another year the mandate of the team, which has repeatedly made headlines over the last six years with its sprawling ‘Car Wash’ corruption probe. Aras, who has not spoken about his intentions, declined to comment for this story.
But the country’s top public prosecutor is facing pressure from influential politicians for the task force to be disbanded, as skepticism grows about President Jair Bolsonaro’s commitment to a campaign promise to tackle corruption.
The 65-year-old former army captain took office at the start of last year amid popular anger at corruption under the former governments of the leftist Workers Party, but has since railed at investigations of alleged graft involving members of his own family.
Senator Major Olimpio, Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man in Congress, said there was a broad political movement afoot to stop the task force’s investigations and annul ongoing trials.
“Today there is a campaign to demonize Car Wash,” said Olimpio. The right-wing senator cited pressure from politicians under investigation to shut it down, by opening a parliamentary inquiry that has questioned its work and appeals to the Supreme Court to terminate its probes.
Leftist Senator Randolfe Rodrigues has joined Olimpio in advocating for keeping Car Wash going.
“The conditions are there for Aras not to extend the work of the task force,” he said.
With a raft of investigations opening in Brazil into alleged corruption in the purchase of medical equipment to combat COVID-19, there are abundant signs that graft is thriving despite the years of prosecutions.
The Car Wash investigation shocked many Brazilians by revealing the widespread use of political kickbacks on major state contracts, particularly at the massive state-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras).
A senior member of the task force, requesting anonymity, said there were still 400 ongoing probes by federal prosecutors and police stemming from the Car Wash investigation. A second source, directly familiar with their investigations, confirmed the figure.
“You just cannot stop all the relevant work that is still being done,” the task force member said.
— Reuters
Ricardo Brito
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