Marina Maggessi: Diehard. Authorized hagiography. Editora Objetiva (Grupo Prisa-Santillana), 2008.
[Maggessi] said she was much more concerned with the present of the MST [Landless Rural Workers Movement] in the Rocinha shantytown than with the activity of militias in Rio. Marina fears a possible alliance between the drug traffic and the MST. “The MST is politicizing Rocinha …”
Deputada diz que foi ameaçada por policiais federais (Agência Estado): Marina Maggessi, a Rio state police inspector and federal legislator, told a Rio state legislative commission on “militias” that she is being “threatened” by the federal police over a wiretap in which she was heard recommending the “whacking out” of an police corruption informant.
Someone later did, in fact, try to whack that informant out. Poor guy lost several fingers, but survived after being ambushed, in classic sicário style, on the Av. Atlántica in Copacabana, in broad daylight.
Maggessi, who recently released an autohagiographical “authorized biography” (above), says she was only speaking figuratively when she used the phrase, “What that guy needs is a whole lot of bullets between the horns” in her conversation with a Rio cop later indicted on organized crime and corruption charges.
A deputada federal e policial civil licenciada Marina Magessi [sic] (PPS-RJ) disse, em depoimento à Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito (CPI) das Milícias da Assembléia Legislativa do Rio, que deputados federais integrantes da CPI dos Grampos da Câmara estão sendo ameaçados “por grupos da Polícia Federal”.
Federal deputy and state police inspector Marina Magessi [sic] (PPS-RJ) said in testimony to the state legislative commission on Militias that federal deputies working on the CPI of Illegal Wiretaps in the federal congress are being threatened by “groups inside the federal police.”
Marina, que faz parte da CPI dos Grampos, denunciou que policiais federais a ameaçaram com a abertura de inquérito baseado em escutas telefônicas antigas, que registraram diálogos entre a deputada e o policial civil Hélio Machado da Conceição, o Helinho, preso por suspeita de envolvimento em um esquema de lavagem de dinheiro, facilitação de contrabando e corrupção.
Marina, who is a member of the federal CPI of Illegal Wiretaps, charged that federal police agents threatened to open a probe into her conduct based on old wiretaps that captured her conversations with state policeman Hélio Machado de Conceição, known as Helinho, arrested on suspicion of money laundering, facilitating contraband activities, and corruption.
Helinhos was one of the so-called “Inhos,” a group of senior police officials tied to state police chief Álvaro Lins.
Lins ran successfully for the state assembly in 2006, gaining parliamentary immunity against charges he ran a protection scheme for the illegal gambling machines rackets while leading the state police under the Garotinho II (Evita) administration.
Lins was recently impeached and lost his parliamentary immunity.
Maggessi — with two gs — has worked in Congress to inhibit the use of court-ordered wiretaps as a tool for investigating organized crime and official corruption.
Go figure.
You would hope that the federal police would already be following up on the apparent correlation between Maggessi being heard discussing the whacking out of a corruption informant and the informant actually being whacked out (attempted).
Rather than just “threatening” to.
The problem, of course, is that she has parliamentary immunity.
Marina Magessi foi chamada à CPI das Milícias por ter sido citada por dois supostos milicianos como candidata que fazia campanha em áreas dominadas pelos grupos paramilitares. A deputada negou envolvimento com milicianos, mas disse que se preocupa muito mais com a presença do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) na favela da Rocinha do que com a atuação das milícias no Rio.
Maggessi was summoned by the state commission on militias after being named by two alleged militia leaders as a candidate who campaigned in areas dominated by the paramilitary groups. She denied involvement with militias, but said she was much more concerned with the present of the MST [Landless Rural Workers Movement] in the Rocinha shantytown than with the activity of militias in Rio.
Marina teme uma possível aliança entre os traficantes e os sem-terra na favela. “O MST está politizando a Rocinha. O que mais me preocupa é que a Rocinha tem mais de dois mil fuzis e o MST, armado de foices e facões, já fez muito estrago”, disse a parlamentar.
Marina fears a possible alliance between the drug traffic and the MST. “The MST is politicizing Rocinha. What worries me most is that Rocinha has more than 2,000 assault rifles and the MST, armed with sickles and machetes, already does a lot of damage,” said the federal legislator.
“Better in bed with the mob than Red!”
These people are amazingly predictable in their rhetoric.
The portrayal of the MST as a paramilitary guerrilla group — rather than as the endlessly irritating nonviolent civil resistance movement it says it is — seems highly exaggerated. Never seen any credible evidence that this is true.
Ironically, perhaps, the cop-legislator’s Partido Popular Socialista (PPS) is the present-day incarnation of the old Brazilian Communist Party.
It will be interesting to see if the MST answers the charge.
Ah, okay, here we go, from the Folha de S. Paulo, in a story that only gets around to mentioning why Maggessi was summoned to the CPI of Militias in the first place in the final paragraphs, well beyond the jump:
Marina se referia a ida do líder sem terra José Rainha Júnior à favela e ter declarado apoio ao candidato Claudinho da Academia (PSDC), suspeito de ter respaldo do crime organizado. Segundo Marina, há outros 20 membros do MST atuando na Rocinha.
Marina was referring to the arrival of “landless” leader José Rainha Jr. in Rocinha, and his declaration of support for city council candidate Claudinho da Academia (PSDC), suspected of having organized crime backing. According to Marina, there are 20 members of the MST acting in Rocinha.
“Me preocupa a presença do MST na Rocinha. A Rocinha tem mais de 2.000 fuzis. O MST armado de foice e martelo já faz bastante estrago. Imagina com fuzil”, disse.
“I am concerned by the presence of the MST in Rocinha. Rocinha has more than 2,000 assault rifles. The MST armed with sickle and hammer already does enough damage. Imagine with assault rifles,” she said.
Procurado pela reportagem, o MST informou que considera as declarações de Maggessi levianas e irresponsáveis. Informou ainda que ela é mal informada, pois Rainha não faz mais parte dos quadros do MST.
Sought by Folha reporters for comment, the MST said it considers Maggessi’s remarks baseless and irresponsible. It also said she is misinformed, since Rainha is no longer a member of the MST.
Em julho, durante uma operação na Rocinha, a polícia encontrou a ata de uma suposta reunião na casa do traficante Nem que tratou das eleições e teve a participação de Rainha.
In July, during an operation in Rocinha, the police discovered the minutes of a supposed meeting at the house of the drug trafficker Nem which dealt with elections and was attended by Rainha.
“O que me preocupa é o convencimento dos membros do MST de que os traficantes podem virar salvadores da pátria. Já tivemos esse tipo de discurso, com Marcinho VP, André Fernandes, William Professor… Os traficantes não têm condição de escrever a ata que foi apreendida na operação das delegacias”, disse.
“What worries me is that members of the MST are convinced that the drug traffickers are the saviors of the nation. We have already heard this kind of talk from Marcinho VP, André Fernandes, William Professor … the traffickers would not have been able to write the minutes that were found during the police operation,” she said.
Marina é aliada politicamente da vereadora André Gouvêa Vieira (PSDB) que disputa votos na Rocinha com Claudinho da Academia. No depoimento, a ex-delegada da DRE (Delegacia de Repressão aos Entorpecentes) fez uma espécie de “mea culpa” por ter considerado a milícia um mal menor do que o tráfico de drogas.
Marina is politically allied to city councilwoman André [sic] Gouvêa Vieira (PSDB), who is disputing votes in the community with Claudinho da Academia. In her statement to the CPI of Militias, the former head of the state police narcotics unit issued a sort of mea culpa for having considered the militia a lesser evil than the drug traffic.
Which is odd.
The Estado reports that she said the militia are a lesser evil than the MST allied with the drug trade. Neither cites her exact words.
Also, in quoting the exact same remarks, one paper comes out with “hammer and sickle” and the other with “machetes and sickles.”
The Rashomon effect is in effect, apparently.
The Jornal do Brasil has a more straightforward write-up of Maggessi’s testimony, but omits her claims about MST members allegedly chanting “time to pick up the gun (off the pig!) …”
O convite foi feito à deputada logo após o vereador Nadinho falar espontaneamente que Marina Magessi, quando era ex-chefe da DRE, havia ido à comunidade do Rio das Pedras e que não havia reprimido as milícias do local.
The federal legislator was invited to testify after city councilmember Nadinho said spontaneously in his testimony to the commission that Maggessi, when she led the narcotics division, had gone to Rio das Pedras and not acted against the militias there.
Magessi respondeu hoje que esteve uma vez na comunidade durante o aniversário do inspetor Félix dos Santos Tostes, ex-líder da comunidade assassinado no ano passado, e que foi convidada junto com outros policiais civis, mas não quis mencionar quais. Além disso, a deputada disse que é papel da Draco fazer as investigações sobre esses grupos paramilitares.
Maggessi responded that she was inthe community once, attending the birthday part of police inspector Félix dos Santos Tostes, a former community leader assassinated last year …
By “a former community leader” read “leader of the militia in the community.” For “police inspector,” read “former police inspector and wanted fugitive from corruption and organized crime charges.” For “murdered,” read “allegedly murdered on the orders of Nadinho.”
… and that she was invited along with other state police officials, though she would not mention their names. Further, she said, it was up to the organized crime division to investigate paramilitary gorups, not her division.
To investigate paramilitary groups led by the decorated senior police inspector who invited her to this birthday party, not long before going underground to avoid arrest on corruption charges, then getting whacked by a political rival in dispute over whom the vote in the area would be delivered to en masse.
None of this sounds very good for Marina “Diehard” Maggessi, once a sought-after quote-giver to the foreign press on public security issues in Rio, and subject of a fawning TV interview by Globo’s Mariella Gabriela not long after she was elected.
Filed under: Brazil Tagged: | álvaro lins, caça-níqueis, corruption, Marina Maggessi, militia, parapolitics, police corruption, rio de janeiro
