«Lula: Scumbag In Chief»

 

Lula the Nine-Fingered

Via Viomundo: «Senator Calls Lula Brazil’s Leading Scumbag in Convention Speech»

The opposition PSDB is holding its leadership convention this week and seems determined to pursue a rhetoric of hate-mongering that has not served it well in the past.

Goias governor calls Lula “the biggest scumbag in Brazil.”

The comparable term in Portuguese is «canalha», variously translated as «douche bag,» «dirt bag,», «scumbag», «miscreant» and «fucker.»

Goiás governor Marconi Perillo (PSDB) recently referred to former president Lula Lula da Silva (PT) as a “scumbag” in remarks on the “monthly payola” case during the PSDB party convention that confirmed Senator Aécio Neves (MG) as party leader. “Never before in the history of this country has it been so difficult to mount an opposition to the biggest scumbag in this country,”  Perillo stated in his speech

Perillo used the term several times, stating that he had warned Lula of the scheme of monthly payments to lawmakers in exchange for support in the Congress. “One day I got up the courage to alert this scumbag to the fact that his government was making monthly payoffs to congressional deputies. Since that day I have joined Artur Virgílio, José Agripino, and Tarso Genro among his major detractors.”

The governor highlighted his “solidarity” with Aécio Neves in the 2014 campaign and called for party unity. “We are going to prove to Brazil that we are capable, that we are competent, that we are public-minded, that we know how to manage public funds and assets.”

Support

Another sign that the PSDB has not learned the lesson of its «moral panic» marketing — «we are virgins and our enemies, painted harlots» — is Pirillo’s own political biography, which includes solid evidence of close ties to the numbers racketeer Carlinhos Charlie Waterfall Cachoeira and to Senator Demostenes Torres, who resigned from office when ties of his own were discovered with Cachoeira.

In a speech criticizing the government, the leader of the Democratas, Senator José Agripino (RN), praised the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that the PT had “shown its claws” when it arrived in power.  “While we did what we always do, they led Brazil into the future. When they occupied their seat and showed their claws, they befouled themselves in a monthly payola scheme, a corrupt scheme that Brazil now rejects.” During his speech to the convention, Agripino said he felt at home in supporting the PSDB. The senator critiqued the 10 years of the PT in the federal government. “In their incompetence, they brought inflation back and traded cheap foreign debt for R$ 2 trillion in internal debt.

The president of the  PPS, federal deputy Roberto Freire (SP), insisted on his party’s support for the “Toucan” Aécio Neves. “We are able to stand with Aécio, we were with him in Minas and will be again in 2014, without a doubt.” Freire said he expects “difficult times” during the campaign, pointing to the presidency’s attempt to impose a bill in the Congres that would asphyxiate new political parties, restricting their TV time and their access to the Party Fund.  “We will encounter difficult times going up against a government that, because it lacks respect for freedom, will use means to win the election using marked cards.” Freire also stressed the urgency of working in opposition to the PT government. “I believe it is of the upmost inportance for Brasil not just to call ourselves parties of the left, but to be parties of a democratic republican left.  This is the challenge before the PSDB, to confront those who do no respect democracy and republican institutions.

Rio | Beginning of the End for Black Market Taxes?

Judicial Police in action against militia members, November 2009

G1 reports on the sensational feat  of locking up dozens of military police for organizing themselves into what amount to militia groups — protection racketeering, mostly.

Agents from the Sub-Secretariat of Intelligence of the state security secretariat and the internal affairs agency of the military police, in coordination with GAECO, the state prosecutor’s special organized crime task force, last night began an operation designed to arrest a gang of criminals — most of the military police — who were extorting street merchants and informal van services in Bangu, in the Western Zone, and neighboring areas.

Of the 78 persons charged by the state prosecutor, 59 are policement: 53 from the military police and six from the state judicial police. The policemen involved worked out of different units: the 14 Miltary Police Battalion (BPM)(Bangu), the 9th BPM (Rocha Miranda), the 31st DP (Bangu) and officers assigned to the task force on crimes against intellectual property, designed to combat street vendors.

Rio | The Return of the New Van Plan

Black-market van stuffed with 10 armed, ninja-style black-clad corpses, December 2007, Rio de Janeiro

Source: O Globo — Portal ClippingMP.
Translation: C. Brayton

A follow-up to Rio Has New Man With Plan for Van, from 2007.

That year, fierce feuds over turf and market share broke out among the militias and drug traffickers who shake down independent operators of vans and mototaxis for «tolls» and «insurance».

It makes you wonder: are such measures also aimed at undermining the economic base of the milícia — cohorts of current and ex-police who invade territory neglected by the state and impose a mafia-style discipline — in these areas.

Probably. Ferraz, the special secretary of supplementary public transportation, made his bones pursuing the militias of Rio. He is also the author of the novel that formed the basis of the film Tropa de Elite |  Elite Squad 2.  The official announcement, from December 2007:

On December 5. Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes announced the creation of a special office of supplementary public transportation, led by state judicial police official Cláudio Ferraz, former commander of the anti-organized crime bureau that has pursued the militias of Rio.

The Ban on the Van

Eucatex | Twilight of the Maluf Family Empire?

If Mexico can finally imprison Elba Ester Gordillo, why shouldn’t the Brazilian finally bring down the notorious M.A.L.U.F?

The following excerpt is translated from the Estado de S. Paulo |  Portal ClippingMP. File it under «political grotesques».

SÃO PAULO – A São Paulo court has ordered the freezing of R$ 520 million from the Maluf family business Eucatex.

Or about US$ 260 million.  Eucatex, a eucalyptus grower, was founded by in 1951, thrived under the military dictatorship — which named Maluf mayor of the capital and later governor of São Paulo state. He is featured in a World Bank list of 150 notable corruption cases.

The measure was taken at the behest of the São Paulo state prosecutor’s office, which denounced insider transactions within the Eucatex group as part of a fraudulent effort to transfer Eucatex assets off the books and avoid payment of future court-ordered reimbursements as a result of various law suits against Maluf, accusing him of embezzling public funds while serving as mayor of São Paulo.

[The court] found that the prosecutor’s indictment demonstrates “the possibility of fraudulent reporting of assets” by Eucatex, but the ruling may be overturned if Eucatex can show that the penalty will drive the company into bankruptcy.

As the Folha de S.Paulo revealed in March, the prosecutor’s office believes that the family is trying to escape payment of court-ordered monetary awards by transferring assets to a newly founded member of the group, ECTX. Prosecutors see the transaction as fraudulent and believe its purpose is to “dehydrating” Eucatex of its assets.

Back in March, Eucatext VP José Antônio Goulart de Carvalho, denied the accusation. Goulart said the asset transfer to ECTX was undertaken because the new company would represent the vanguard of a new, more transparent governance model.

In July 2012, Eucatex transferred R$ 320 million of its assets to ECTX. In May and October, Eucatex released a Material Event statement to the market, saying it had initiated a “process of share reorganization” in order to transfer its assets.

ECTX, according to Goulart de Carvalho, is waiting for CVM authorization to launch an IPO in the capital markets.

Legal Troubles

Eucatex and the Maluf family are defendants in a case in which prosecutors have moved for the return of US$ 153 milhões that was supposedly stolen from the São Paulo city government, wired overseas and then funneled into Eucatex through various financial transactions.

There is also an open case on the Isle of Jersey involving the transfer of money by Maluf family members.

Overseas companies with ties to the Malufs have been ordered to reimburse US$ 28 million to the city of São Paulo, funds thought to be the fruit of fraudulent dealing involving the city government. These companies have appealed the decision.

In the present case, the Jersey court also ordered the freezing of Eucatex shares belonging to foreigners with ties to Maluf.

In a statement, Eucatex says it was not officially notified of the asset freeze involving R$ 520 million as ordered today by the São Paulo court.

There is another open case against Maluf, in fact, O Dia notes:

In the federal Supreme Court, Maluf and family were charged in 2011 on allegations of money laundering and using Eucatex to camouflage the misappropriation of public funds during Maluf’s term as mayor, from 1993 a 1996.

Maluf’s status as a sitting federal legislator entitles him to be tried by the Supreme Court.

Without Notice

In an official statement, the company says the motion to block its accounts has already been applied for by the prosecutor in 2009, and the application failed both in the first instance and on appeal.

According to Eucatex, the accusation is groundless given that the company’s net assets increased after the cretion of ECTX, from R$ 997 million in 2011 to R$ 1.1 billion at year’s end 2012.

“It should be recalled that Eucatex is a publicly traded corporation, with hundreds of shareholders, among them the federal legislator Paulo Maluf, who is not an executive of the company or even a member of  the board of directors,” the company added.

True: it is currently led by Maluf’s son Flávio. Interpol has an open arrest order on Flávio, from what I read. Otávio Maluf is chairman of the board.

The creation of ECTX was part of a general restructuring of the company with the goal of qualifying for the Novo Mercado listing segment of the São Paulo Stock Exchange, reserved for companies with superior governance standards and practices. The new company has been waiting since December for the CVM to rule on its registration as a publicly traded company.

Rio | Batman Returns

Parapolitics: City council candidate displays Batman militia symbol

I read it in the Folha de S.Paulo. Partial translation: C. Brayton

Every Friday night, two motorcycles with no license plates cruise the streets of Guaratiba in the Western Zone of Rio de Janeiro, demanding money from local business owners.

On the weekends least five different locations inside the community, with its population of 110,000, host funk dances overflowing with drugs and booze.

Electronic slot machines are stashed away in warehouses or the false bathrooms of bars so that residents can play while drinking the one brand of beer that is “authorized.”

Local residents avoid talking about the situation and business owners are afraid.

And yet it it is precisely this area the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro has scheduled to receive 2 million persons during a July 28 visit from the pope. It is here that Francisco will celebrate his first mass in Brazil, marking a high point of World Youth Day.

Guaratiba is dominated by the largest militia group in Rio, which controls another five neighborhoods in the region as well. Militia members, for example, set opening and closing times for local business.

ON the arrest of the faction leader: «Batman, you lose! »

Truth Commission SP | Who the Hell Was Halliwell?

I read it in the Estadão.

Ongoing work by federal and state truth commissions related to the military dictatorship of 1964-1985 has turned up the log entries of persons entering and exiting the notorious torture facilities of São Paulo — among them a U.S. diplomat who was a frequent visitor.

U.S. citizen  Claris Halliwell, identified as a regular visitor to S. Paulo’s Department of Social and Political Order — DOPS — during the military dictatorship, was a diplomat working out of the São Paulo consulate as a political attaché.

According to a telegram dispatched in 1973 by the U.S. Embassy to the Department of State, he began to receive threats because of his activities.

The name Halliwell came to light after  a series of  log books or sign-in registers were found in the archives of the defunct department — one of the most significant centers of political repression in Brazil during the 1970s.

A state-sponsored study of these records showed Halliwell spending time at the DOPS building between April 1971 and November 1973. Identifying himself as a “consul,” in 1971 he visited the site twice a month, on average, meeting directly with frontline agents of the political repression, many of them accused of torturing political prisoners.

Contacted for comment by the Estado, representatives of the Consulate São Paulo said they could not confirm Halliwell’s stay in São Paulo because they did not keep records from that far back in time. They might be found, however, in the U.S. National Archive.

But it will not be easy. A preliminary search turns up only a declassified exchange of messages between Brazil and State, detailing the threatening calls targeting Halliwell.

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THIS INCIDENT MAY BE LINKED TO THE FIRE BOMBING INCIDENT AT THE HOME OF CONSUL JAMES W. LAWLER ON MAY 18, 1973, OR TO A SERIES OF HARRASSMENT CALLS RECEIVED IN JUNE

Still, there are a substantial number of results from the 1970s on the keyword “DEOPS.” Download for later reading.

Vi O Mundo provides more detail — although I think is no correct to call Halliwell a «consul». He was one of those attaché sorts of people. 

The Bicho and The Bingo | Hurricane Update

O Dia Online:

Rio de Janeiro, 18 February 2013 —  José Januário de Freitas 10 other state judicial police have been dismissed by Rio de Janeiro state public safety secretary because of their involvement with numbers and gambling machines racketeering.

The adminstrative ruling comes six years after the initial indictments in the case. See also

• Brazil: Hurricane Blows Up the Toga
• Hurricane Aftermath: Rio Bicheiros Lobby for Top Cop Slots

Dutifully noted.

Michael or Maecenas? | The New Godfathers of Carnaval

Private and principally public patronage of Samba champions 2013

Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in. —Michael Corleone, The Godfather (1972)

Champion of this year’s Rio de Janeiro Special Group, with an environment-friendly agroindustrial-related theme sponsored in part by pesticide manufacturer BASF, the Vila Isabel escola de samba illustrates the fascinating convergence of world and underworld during the annual delirium.

iG, for example, shines a spotlight on a young Carnaval Maecenas from a venerable jogo de bicho — numbers racketeering — family, Little Wilson Alves, whose father, the legendary Moisés Alves, was tried and sentenced for racketeering in 2006.

Moisés is said to be a leader of the “nickel hunter” — one-armed bandit — gambling machines mafia.

For “is said to be” read “has been sentenced to a very long time in prison for being, and is free pending the result of appeals …”

The story as iG reports it turns on what is something of a forced analogy, however.

Isn’t the son, Wilsinho, similar to the character of Michael Corleone in The Godfather?

Not really.

He does not really seem all that bitter about being pulled back in, for example. It might be fair to say that he seeks to legitimize the family business, but more information is needed.

Source: iG
Excerpt and translation: C. Brayton

At 28 years of age, the son of Moisés Alves admits to being called «godfather», but attributes his standing in the community to the hard work that brought the samba school into the special access group and won it two championships.

CAPTION: The youngest Carnaval society president ever to win a championship, Wilsinho celebrates with Carnaval muse Sabrina.

The youngest escola de samba president ever to win a Rio Carnaval championsip, Wilsinho Alves of Vila Isabel acknowleges the respect and the reverence in which he is held by  members of the escola, but denies that he is a Godfather, “like in the movie”.

During the verification of the votes on Wednesday afternoon, as iG reported, Wilsinho was observed giving orders and receiving all manner of affection and respect from leaders and supporters of the escola.  Some bystanders asked the young man — he turned 28 on Saturday before Carnaval — for his “blessing.”

“I am not Don Corleone, «The Godfather» — a great film, by the way — but as it happens they do call me Godfather, or in other words, President … Our people are humble, grateful. The nickname is similar, but it is not like in the movie”, he told iG, laughing at the comparison.

«How the numbers rackets use Rio samba societies to skim public funds and launder illegal gambling money»

Here is that clipping I promised you about the complex economics of the mighty and magnificent Carnaval celebrations of Rio de Janeiro:

• How the numbers rackets use Rio samba societies to skim public funds and launder illegal gambling money

As I mentioned in a previous note, it is not so shocking to find organized crime thriving in an atmosphere oxygen rich with private and public subsidies.

ÉPOCA magazine reports — from its November 11, 2012 issue — and I translate a selection:

Edson dos Santos is the managing partner in a company with an imposing name — Alumilax — that ostensibly fabricates and sells metals. One look at Edson’s home is enough to realize that the pomp and circumstance suggested by the company’s name is nothing more than a piece of paper bearing his name and a CNPJ.

Edson is nothing more than a front man who lives in the Preventório shantytown in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro.

Alumilax is nothing more than a shell corporation.

Edson and Alumilax are part of an intriguing scheme set up by the Rio numbers rackets to conceal the origin of stolen public funds, or launder dirty money through accounts used to mount Rio’s Carnaval celebration.

Or perhaps both at once.

ÉPOCA magazine has obtained exclusive access to an investigation by the Rio state prosecutor into the financing of Carnaval celebrations and their escolas de samba.

During Carnaval 2010, shell companies issued 14 falsified receipts worth R$ 1.25 million and made payable to such samba schools as Mangueira, Imperatriz Leopoldinense, Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, União da Ilha do Governador and Viradouro.

Among the papers discovered were four promissory notes executed by Alumilax.

Rio de Janeiro’s carnival societies are the prime mover of some R$ 1.5 billion per year in tourism revenues.

To bring “the greatest show on earth” to the avenue — and the world stage — Rio has recently begun to follow positive examples drawn from the business world — pitching to sponsors and selling rights to its brands to companies desirous of associating themselves with the wildly popular celebration.

But more and more funding is still needed for the increasingly expensive spectacle, and so the Carnaval establishment of Rio de Janeiro continues to use underhanded practices that stray far from the sort of benevolent capitalism that creates revenues, taxes, income, and jobs.

Falsified receipts are commonly used to justify expenditures that never existed and were never paid. The goods were never sold, the price was never paid, but even so, the transaction was accounted for.

This is how one creates an artificial profit margin that can be used to wash dirty money, such as the earnings of the bicho-bankers of Rio de Janeiro.

In the case just discussed, it is as though the bicho bankers received a clean R$1.25 million check in exchange for the same amount in dirty cash.

The same logic applies to the misappropriation of public funds. The samba schools simulate expenditures funded with public money from the city government, but never spend the amounts declared on the phony receipts they supply.

In this way, money can be spent for other purposes than for the financing of a carnival society.

Here the article sidebars off into an interview with prominent anthropogist Roberto da Matta. The article dates from November 11 of last year.

Roberto da Matta: What does Carnaval say about Brazil?

In an indirect confession, the president of LIESA, Jorge Luiz Castanheira, admits to practices akin to money laundering.

During a public audience held last Wednesday, when asked to explain the allocation of public funds to Carnaval, Castanheira hinted that the samba schools buy materials all year long with money not duly accounted for. Only after receiving funds from the city government do the samba schools begin to issue notes to justify their expenses.

Castanheira deu a entender que as escolas de samba compram material ao longo do ano com dinheiro não declarado. Somente depois de receber os repasses da prefeitura é que as escolas vão atrás de notas para justificar seus gastos.

In an indirect confession, the president of LIESA, Jorge Luiz Castanheira, admits to practices akin to money laundering. During a public audience held last Wednesday, when asked to explain the allocation of public funds to Carnaval, Castanheira hinted that the samba schools buy materials all year long with money not duly accounted for. Only after receiving funds from the city government do the samba schools begin preparing receipts to justify their expenses.

Castanheiro would not, however, say where the money to support the samba schools in the interim comes from. “This year’s budget will not go into affect until the second quarter. We will receive the money before the end of January. In January, we have at least a month of Carnaval. How am I going to get a proper receipt for wood, carpentry services, fabrics, and all the other stuff we are currently buying? I must tell the truth,” said Castanheira, who was unaware that an ÉPOCA reporter was in atttendance.

Sought out after the hearing ended, Castanheira said he had misspoken and that he defends the allocation of municipal funds to the samba schools several months before Carnaval begins. He says that Liesa is no longer associated with the bicho bankers and has taken steps to audit its finances.

Castanheira is a relatively unknown quantity whose election in 2007, however, ended the run of a bicho-controlled leadership that began in 1984. LIESA continues to list legendary bicheiros as members of its advisory council:

1. Ailton Guimarães Jorge
2. Aniz Abrahão David
3. Luiz Pacheco Drumond

Capitão Guimarães was a notorious torturer during the dictatorship.

Castanheira added, however, that the samba schools should be questioned individually about the issuing of false receipts.

The LIESA Web site is not exactly a Vesuvius of financial forthrightness. Neither is the Rio Junta Comercial — roughly equivalent to the corporation registry of a U.S. state where you can look up corporations. In Brazil, you most often have to go to where the dusty boxes are stored, it seems to me.

State prosecutors are categorical in stating that Carnaval is being used to launder dirty money.

With that in mind, it recommends that the public administration take the proper precautions before joining the festivities.

“The public and notorious fact, that the bicho-bankers fund the samba schools in order to launder money, draws attention to the fact that millions allocated by the Rio city government to Carnaval were used to purchase goods and services at commercial establishments belonging to persons with ties to the rackets,” the state prosecutors said, in a joint communiqué.

Castanheiro would not, however, say where the money to support the samba schools comes from. “This year’s budget will not go into effect until the second quarter. We will receive the money before the end of January. In January, we have at least a month of Carnaval spending. How am I going to get a proper receipt for wood, carpentry, fabrics, and all the other stuff we are currently buying? I must tell the truth,” said Castanheira, who was unaware that an ÉPOCA reporter was in the audience

Sought out after the hearing ended, Castanheira said he had misspokien and that he defends the allocation of municipal funds to the samba schools several months before Carnaval begins.

He says that Liesa is no longer associated with the bicho bankers …

He has three of the biggest bicheiros ever on staff in an advisory capacity!

and has taken steps to audit its finances. Castanheira added, however, that the samba schools should be questioned individually about the issuing of false receipts.

The state prosecutor is categorical in stating that Carnaval is used to launder dirty money. He recommends that the public administration take the proper precautions before joining the festivities. “The public and notorious fact that the bicho-bankers fund the samba schools in order to launder money draws attention to fact that millions allocated by the Rio city government were used to purchases goods at commercial establishments belonging to persons with ties to the rackets,” the state prosecutors said, in a joint communiqué.

Rio | The PPP of Pistolagem

Patricia Acioli, a Rio de Janeiro state lower court judge known for her uncompromising opposition to death squads, was gunned down in Niterói in 2011.

Patrícia was driving her Fiat Idea when she was surprised by men wearing ski masks, traveling in two cars and two motorcycles. At least 15 gunshots from .40 and .45 pistols struck the judge, who died on the scene.

The judge had handed down prison sentences to state military police troopers (PMs) from São Gonçalo, in the greater Rio metro area. The men were charged with kidnapping drug dealers, murdering them, and then demanding a ransom for their safe return.

Patrícia also remanded to custody PMs accused of staging crime scenes involving armed confrontations to conceal the summary execution of criminal suspects.

The judge’s name figured on the “blacklist” of Wanderson Silva Tavares, aka “Gordinho,” arrested in Espirito Santo in January 2012 and accused of heading up a death squad in São Gonçalo that had killed at least 15 persons in three years.

The troopers also face adminstrative punishment for privatizing the armory of the battalion — replacing rounds fired with fresh rounds in order to eradicate evidence in shooting cases.