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.
I am surprised not to read more about this issue in the mainstream press. Carnaval is something of a sacred cow, obviously, despite worrisome ties to the underworld.
Kátia Abreu is a federal senator (PSD-TO) and leader of the rural benches of the Brazilian congress. She serves as president of the lobbying group CNA, the Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil. She writes a weekly column in the Saturday edition of the ’Market’ section.
As the Brazilian culture industry begins to respond to government subsidies and incentives, it would be neat if someone took up the challenge of making a biopic on Paulo Salim Maluf or PFL Senator Antônio Carlos Magalhães.
A Jersey court has ruled on the amount that current federal deputy Paulo Maluf (PP-SP) must return to the city government of São Paulo in a case involving the diversion of between 1997 and 1998 of public funds: US$28.3 million, equivalent to R$ 57 million at current exchange rates.
The sentence ordering the repayment was handed down on Friday, January 18, in Jersey, a Channel Island off the English coast.
When the court found Maluf guilty on November 16, 2012, the only pending issue was the original value of the assets misued: US$ 10.5 million
Caption: Paulo Maluf photographed at the headquarters of Eucatex, his family business.
The court found that this was the sum of money misappropriated as of February 1998 and corrected the sum as of the date of Maluf’s conviction, on November 16, 2012. Interest was set at 1% above prime, using T-Bills as a reference.
Maluf was also ordered to repay the plaintiff’s legal costs. Estimates are that these costs could run as high as R$9 million, but the city has not yet produced an official calculation of legal fees spent on British solicitors since February 2005.
Maluf himself was ordered to return the funds because the court concluded that he and his son Flávio controlled two offshore companies, Durant International and a Kildare Financial. that received a total of US$10.5 million.
Maluf denies controlling these firms. The Jersey court possesses documents signed by Maluf.
According to the Jersey court, the money was misappropriated during the construction of Àguas Espraiadas Avenue (later renamed for Globo chief executive Roberto Marinho) between 1997 and 1998, when Celso Pitta, on Maluf’s recommendation, was at the helm of the city government. In its ruling, the court took special note of the fact that the scheme was executed when Maluf ran the city, between 1993 and 1996.
A Jersey court has ruled on the amount that current federal deputy Paulo Maluf (PP-SP) must return to the city government of São Paulo in a case involving the diversion of between 1997 and 1998 of public funds: US$28.3 million, equivalent to R$ 57 million at current exchange rates.
The sentence ordering the repayment was handed down on Friday, January 18, in Jersey, a Channel Island off the English coast.
Jersey court holds Maluf responsible for siphoning off US$ 22 million.
When the court found Maluf guilty on November 16, 2012, the only pending issue was the original value of the assets misued: US$ 10.5 million
[Photo caption] — Paulo Maluf photographed at Eucatex, his family business.
When Maluf was governor, he had a highway built especially to ease his commute between the rural Eucatex and City Hall.
The court found that these funds were misappropriated in February 1998 and ordered that they be corrected as of the date of its ruling — November 16, 2012. Interest rates were set at 1% above prime, using T-Bills as a reference.
Maluf was also ordered to repay the plaintiff’s legal costs. Estimates are that these costs could run as high as R$9 million, but the city has not yet produced an official calculation of its legal fees spent on British lawyers since February 2005.
Maluf himself was ordered to return the funds because the court concluded that he and his son Flávio controlled two offshore companies, Durant International and a Kildare Financial. that received a total of US$10.5 million.
Maluf denies controlling these firms. The Jersey court is in possession of documents signed by Maluf.
According to the Jersey court, the money was misappropriated during the construction of Àguas Espraiadas Avenue (later renamed for Globo chief executive Roberto Marinho) between 1997 and 1998, when Celso Pitta, on Maluf’s recommendation, was at the helm of the city government.
Maluf is legendary for his «pharaonic» public works projects, the most infamous of which is the Big Worm — Minhocão, an elevated throughway that, in the words of local motorists, mostly serves as a congested bridge between one giant pool of traffic congestion and another.
In its ruling, the court took special note of the fact that the scheme was executed when Maluf ran the city, between 1993 and 1996.
Lula and Haddad of the PT suck it up: Grip and grin with Maluf is price of PP support in municipal elections. Opposition parties also sought the Malufist imprimatur
BTG Pactual, the investment bank led by André Esteves, has dropped out of the running for Brazilian telephone company GVT, controlled since 2009 by the French communications and entertainment groupo Vivendi.
At the outset, the company was pursued by four suitors, but that number fell to three when BTG, due to a combination of factors, including … price, as Valor discovered. BTG has no comment on the story. It is believed that Esteves could rethink the company’s offer and rejoin the fray.
The sale of GVT is in its “data room” phase, opening its books to interested parties. Binding offers are expected in February, but in the meantime, the company’s data has undergone constant, though minor, adjustments.
The three groups still in the running are (1) the consortium comprising the American fund KKR, the Brazilian asset manager Gávea — founded by former Brazilian central bank chairman Armínio Fraga — and Cambuhy Investimentos; (2) Apax, a Brazilian private equity partnership; and (3) the American DirecTV.
GVT has been valued at some R$16 billion. When it decided to sell off its Brazilian holdings, Vivendi decided to offer between €7 billion e €9 billion for GVT. As soon as bidding began, Vivendi showed signs of a willingness to accept R$19 bilhões, or €6.3 billion.
The value of GVT as estimated by the interested parties places it above its competitor, Oi, with its R$15 billion in market capital. The Telefonica-Vivo group has a market value of R$55.7 on the São Paulo Stock Exchange | Bovespa.
I wish it were easier to call up share price data from the Web site of the BMF-Bovespa.
Brazilian blog Fusões e Acquisições has been tracking the deal since June of last year.
Vivendi began to consider divesting itself of GVT after a failed attempt to sell off Activision Blizzard, its digital gaming unit. Sources say, however, that the company was not willing to pay the offer price. “Selling off GVT is no longer a taboo subject and is being discussed internally,”said one source. But Vivendi has not yet hired an investment bank to sell the company off.
Vivendi, a conglomerate whose holdings range from telecom to entertainment, is reviewing its internal structure in order to shore up its falling share price. Investment banks have submitted investment plans that provide for the sale of business units or the complete dismembering of the Vivendi group.
Valued at [?]20.5 billion, Vivendi is led by board chairman Jean-René Fourtou, 72, who took over after former CEO Jean-Bernard Levy announced he was leaving last month, citing a falling out among board members over how best to restructure the group.
Vivendi’s share price has recovered somewhat in the meantime, from €13.63 to €17.
PCdoB journalist Altamiro Borges complains of a disinformation scheme designed to spread false rumors about the former Brazilian president.
Borges is probably right: the digital strategy and the rhetorical tactics in play here are similar to those used by Vlademiro Montesino and J. J. Rendón to assassinate the character of targeted adversaries in Peru and Colombia, respectively.
It gets so that you can start to recognize campaigns of this kind by recognizing its playbook..
In an article published on December 10 in the Estado de S. Paulo, journalist and consultant Carlos Alberto Di Franco, a founder and senior leader of the fascist sect Opus Dei in Brasil, reinforces arguments in favor of the recent crusade against ex-President Lula.
In doing so, he does not hesitate for a single moment to use arguments of a moral nature — the typical ploy of phony moralists.
In his editorial, which calls for an end to the privacy of public figures, di Franco states that it can no longer be concealed that Rosemary Noronha, former chief of staff of the presidency in São Paulo, was ”Lula’s lover.”
Facts not in evidence. There is actually very little coverage of the fact assumed but not in evidence here: That a long-time Lula aide and the ex-president were romantically involved.
The ESP does not, however, draw a single conclusion about the nature of the relationship between the two. It writes,
The federal police recorded 122 phone calls between the ex-president and Rose between March 2011 and October 201, according to a story reported by the daily Metro. There were 5 such calls a day on average.
Based on a quick googled tour through the turbulent waters of this meme, the impetus of the rumor appears comes from heavy, SEO-enhanced blogging by the likes of Veja. Augusto Nunes leads the way.
Di Franco relies on such sources to reason consistently as though the love-affair trope were established fact:
Frequently insinuated in the press coverage of the case, the love affair between Rosemary Nóvoa de Noronha, former presidential chief of staff for São Paulo, and her former boss, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has finally been brought out into the open in a recent edition of the Folha de S.Paulo: «Aide’s power flowed from initimate relation with Lula», ran the front-page headline.
Journalist Suzana Singer, ombudsman of the Folha, provided a fitting analysis of the case: While avoiding the term “lover,” the Folha reported on the 23 international events in which Rosemary accompanied Lula, whose wife never came along. According to the Folha, a special scheme was in place that gave Rose access to the presidential suite during these visits. It was a relationship going back 19 years, to when she was a bank union member and he a defeated presidential candidate. “Did the Folha invade the privacy of Lula? Yes. Did it need to? Yes.” I agree whole-heartedly with Suzana’s analysis.
Not entirely. Singer recommends giving the story its proper weight and notes that the facts assumed as evidence by Di Franco are unproven. She writes:
The work is not finished yet. It was relevant to show the reader where Rosemary acquired her influence, but from here on out, bedroom episodes, tempting as they are, and not interesting any longer.
What matters is to investigate whether Lula was involved in an alleged influence-peddling scheme created by his aide.
If nothing is found, it is time to let the small fish go … and focus attention on the major companies investigated in the Porto Seguro case. As Deep Throat advised to Woodstein, “Follow the money.”
Unlike U.S. papers, for example, the Brazilian press tends to spare the private life of public personalities. The hijinks of ex-presidents Juscelino Kubitschek and João Figueiredo were well-known and often discussed among journalists of the day,
The same might be said of the press in its relation to Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who had a son out of wedlock. The media knew about the affair but chose to remain silent. The incident was reported by the Folha de S.Paulo when Cardoso, now a widower and ex-president, recognized the boy as his own. Such episodes can therefore be “interesting” to the public — they awaken curiosity — without speaking to “the public interest.” Public funds were not involved. All of these episode could be considered “interesting” to the public — they provoke curiosity — but not necessarily “in the public interest.”
The Lula case is quite different. Polícia Federal say that Rosemary was able, among other things, to place corrupt friends in the federal government and that these friends sold technical certifications and legal opinions favorable to certain business owners.
While still president, Lula — although he may not have been aware of the fact –afforded favors to the group led by Rose, who used her influence to name the brothers Paulo and Rubens Vieira to direct the National Water Agency (ANA) the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC). Once inside the government, the brothers sold favors to business owners whose fate depended on federal action.
Rose, boasting of her intimate relation with Lula, exerted influence over the Banco do Brasil (BB). She lobbied for the appointment of BB CEO Aldemir Bendine and nominated bank directors.
How was it possible for the former PT secretary to accumulate such power, to the point of touching upon such extremely sensitive questions? All of this is unquestionably a matter of public interest, and received the proper profile thanks to the work of the press.
These facts alone would be sufficient to invade the privacy of ex-president Lula. The right to privacy cannot be used to impeded a criminal investigation and the publication of facts of significant public interest. …
Di Franco goes on — and on, and on — to compare the current state of Brazilian journalism with the Republican ideas of Rui Barbosa. I skip over that part.
The ideas of Rui Barbosa and the current customs of Brazilian public life could not be farther apart. Important journalistic information is often considered abusive or absurd. … public figures invoke the right to privacy as a means to escape from public scrutiny, but as I see it, that right is not absolute. … Aspects of private life affecting the public interest in a prominent figure should not be censored on grounds of right to privacy.
But should they not be banned from publication for being untrue or unproven? I want to hear genuine pillow talk between Lula and Rose before I buy into this cockeyed theory.
There can be no schizophrenia between private and public life. Actions performed in private may be predictors of conduct in the public sphere. The reader and the voter have the right to know what these are. … And there is private information – the Rose-Lula love affair is is emblematic — involving both private and public information. The press has not only the right but the duty to invade the private life of the public man. It is a clear case of the public interest.
Borges saves his big guns for the alleged influence of Opus Dei over the current scandal. It is a fact, on the record, that di Franco is an Opus Dei prelate and spiritual adviser to the S. Paulo state governor, Alckmin.
The leader of this shadowy sect believes Lula should have his personal life completely open to the media. …
Now that he is so concerned with transparency, the Opus Dei leader might agree to reveal its own masochistic and medieval practices, and who among politicians, judges and journalists are its members. What sort of masses are said in the Governor’s Palace with Geraldo Alckmin? How did this organization participate in the 1964 coup? As di Franco himself says, “there is information on private life that demonstrate a direct relationship between the public and the private.
Argentine media group Clarín announces a stay of execution.
It says it will not be required to comply with the 2009 Ley dos Medios until all appeals have been exhausted.
As soon as [the court] extended the stay in the case challenging the constitutionality of certain provisions of the media law, Clarín issued the following statement:
The Grupo Clarín has just been informed that the injunction has been extended until a definitive ruling on the constitutionality of provisions of the Media Law has been arrived at.
As it has throughout the process, Grupo Clarín will follow the law, respecting the Constitution, the law, and the findings of the courts.
Eric Nepomuceno of Brazil’s Observatório da Imprensasummarizes the case, below.
As it happens, and contrary to the image of a deeply polarized debate, there is internal disagreement among shareholders in the Clarín group over compliance — I will translate that, too. But first, (more…)
This quick note is a sign that my network of cultural references is shifting hemispheres.
«Brand journalism» is apparently a hot but not so smoking hot new topic from Faith Popcorn’s Dictionary of the Futurte, but I had to read it in the Observatório da Imprensa
It is more or less as though a Microsoft public relations man presented himself as “a reporter for Microsoft,” assuming the same professional identity as a reporter for the Folha de S. Paulo or the New York Times.
Hypothesis: It matters to me. Am I alone on this one?
By: Carlos Castilho
Partial translation: C. Brayton
Another adjective is being pinned on journalism, this time with controversial connotations.
My favorite example of a Faith Popcorn-style semantic rebranding is «innovation journalism» — its autohagiographical Wikipedia entry defines it tautologically as «journalism about innovation.» Which is, of course, ridiculous. (more…)
The balck-box recording equipment used to capture a bribe paid to a Brazilian post office official in 2005 — a case that mushroomed into the «big monthly payola» scandal. This and other tapes were recorded and used by Carlinhos Cachoeira to blackmail potential political, business and criminal rivals.
Imagine if I were one of Nixon’s men — say, chief of staff and unofficial treasurer of the Bebe Rebozo memorial slush fund.
Substitute Abramoff or Duke Cunningham or whatsoever smooth political operator you recall with fondness.
The point is that for my alleged misdeeds, in the worst of cases, under U.S. law, I would be dragged before a court and made to explain myself to a jury of my peers.
Fortunately for me, these fine fellow citizens would be sworn to come to a unanimous agreement as to my guilt before the uniforms are allowed to haul me off to jail. Even there, I would still have an opportunity to appeal up the ladder, possibly even to the Supreme Court
Today, an official statement by Brazil’s ruling PT — Workers Party — makes a similar comparative point regarding the ongoing mensalão trial. (more…)
Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista may enter partnership with Rupert Murdoch to buy a TV broadcaster in Brazil.
Excellent: Brazilians will now know what it is like to have a foreigner with deep pockets, murky motives, and Machiavellian methods attempting to influence public opinion in someone else’s country.
Seriously, though: if true, the deal for the SBT network could represent a further erosion of the Globo-Record TV duopoly. In recent years, SBT has overtaken Record on occasion in the ratings but tends to lose share.
Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch recently approached Eike Batista to propose a TV partnership in Brazil, according to Veja magazine’s “Radar” column, dated September 30.
According to the Veja columnist, Murdoch would take a 30% share.
This represents the maximum stake a foreign company may take in a national media group, by law. (more…)
In a nicely illustrated Folha de S.Paulo Sunday magazine package on elder care options in the greater Sambodian metro megalopolis, I discover an inconvenient truth: The older I get, the more like Grandpa Simpson I become.
Recall Abe’s outraged complaint to the FCC and advertisers in Season One, Episode Five, «Bart the General».
Dear Advertisers,
I am disgusted with the way old people are depicted on television. We are not all vibrant, fun-loving sex maniacs. Many of us are bitter, resentful individuals who remember the good old days when entertainment was bland and inoffensive. The following is a list of words I never want to hear on television again. Number one: Bra. Number two: Horny. Number three: Family Jewels.
More specifically, in the Folha‘s poll of São Paulo senior citizens shown above, I discover that I share many of the same gripes as folks of my mother-in-law’s generation, such as,
Insecurity and urban violence
Inadequate street lighting
Inadequate street and road signage
Sidewalks in poor condition
Lack of public restrooms
Lack of accessible cultural and sporting activities
Seniors comprise some 8% of voters, a number that has doubled in recent years. The importance of this demographic is reflected in the campaign messages, such as the item above from Serra’s TV time.
An interesting aside: one of the seniors interviewed in the campaign video — the guitar-strumming Cassiano dos Santos Neto, 66 – also turns up as an interview subject in the Folha’s coverage of programs for the elderly. Are political marketers and journalists working hand in hand on these pautas?
Against that backdrop, consider the most recent electioneering videos aired by two of the three front-running candidates, Serra (PSDB) and Haddad (PT), who appear to be slugging it out for a spot in the runoff election with TV personality Celso Russomanno.
Serra’s pitch tends to minimize the sensation that anything is lacking in our beloved city, piling up numbers of cinema screens and business events and commercial outlets and so on.
But how do these numbers compare with other cities, prorated by population? How do transportation and education stats, in particular, compare with what voters feel and experts say is needed to make the system easier to use and the city more open to free flows of human beings?
It would take a complete fact check to be able to comment on the numbers marshalled here, but one example might be the progress made toward the goal of expanding the subway system.
Building 2 km of subway and 5 km of commuter train trackes per year, as a matter of historical average, São Paulo state will have to build 8 km of subway and 10 km of CMPT per year in order to meet its goal for 2012-2015. The state had foreseen building 32 km of subway and 40 km of commuter rail in that time period.
Serra and his party also presided over the Great Smoking Hole of 2006 — the collapse of a huge excavation at the new Pinheiros station on the Yellow Line. The turnkey contracting model was questioned by engineers and experts.
«I, Meme, Me My
In short, the basic meme of the pro-Serra campaign is something like «São Paulo is already great, we love it the way it is and we owe it all to Serra».
If I were the specter of Mário Covas, F.H. Cardoso or Geraldo Alckmin — founding figures of the PSDB — I might feel slighted by this claim.
I cannot help feeling that Serra is beating a dead horse by adopting the discourse of autohagiographic moral integrity in this piece, which feels anachronistic and tired.
It is too soon to forget the downfall of PSDB political ally Demóstenes Torres, a self-proclaimed champion of public morality who fell hard from grace in a case not disimilar to the Tom DeLay affair.
The ethos appeal of Serra’s «my humble origins» speech recalls Nixon’s invocation of a dog named Checkers. Serra would do better — IMHO — to stick to past accomplishments and the need for continuity in technical policy areas and public works projects.
I would take Piauí magazine’s August report on the PSDB’s involvement in the «big monthly allowance» scandal as an indication that hip, informed young voters no longer view the affair through the lens of a Manichean allegory.
It is generally admitted, even in the pro-opposition press, that the PSDB and PT were simply two consecutive passengers in the black-market Tijuana taxi of the Marcos Valério money laundering scheme.
Take the one-woman polling sample who wakes me when I snore: A dyed in the wool petista, she still reacts positively to the Serra who dealt with AIDS and generic medicines during his time as federal health minister.
The problem Serra is having, according to reliable local political handicappers of various creeds, is voter rejection of the municipal administration formed by Serra’s deputy when Serra ran for governor. Kassab was a municipal secretary in the crooked, post-Malufist PSDB City Hall of Celso Pitta.
The Haddad Express
The PT has outspent the PSDB by a factor of two in spending on the current campaign, and that whole amount is reflected in its Web site and social media campaign — even if its viral videos are not racking up the volume of likes and twitteds an election manager might wish.
Seriously, the Haddad site is actually more sophisticated in its information architecture and wealth of churn-generating strategies than those of Obama and Romney. João Santana is in charge of the campaign — he would make an interesting interview for a PR industry trade magazine like O’Dwyer’s.
I believe I read that the party had recorded up to 2,000 mini-spots with ex-president Lula endorsing local candidates from across Brazil.
I think the Haddad piece speaks for itself, and its central thesis is provided by a back-slapping Lula when he says, «Dilma was an unknown but I got her elected based on her accomplishments; the same will happen with Haddad.»
Haddad himself is something of a mirror image of ex-governor Neves of Minas Gerais: Youthful, technocratic, wonkish. The «him and her» hosts of both messages mirror this age category, with Serra appealing directly to the black community.
The soundtrack appeals to current trends in youthful musical genres — rap, in particular, with a message from Emicida, and new directions in samba. Production values are remarkable.
The Russomanno Factor
Russomanno remains an unknown quantity to me, although local media heads explain that his years as presenter of the rabble-rousing Balanço Geral SP explain his name recognition.
Curiously, one reads very little in the way of explanation for the man’s leadership in the polls.
The «Power» page of today’s Folha reports on evidence of a link between the Russomanno campaign and IURD — the politically powerful, national TV network-owning Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
As in the States, churches may not engage in electioneering and risk losing tax-exempt status if they do.
In this case, the Folha team observed the comings and going of Russomanno sound vans and «sticker trucks» from a IURD parking structure, and were even offered a job: US$ 75 per six-day week by campaign workers emerging from a religious service.
Since Russomanno has only declared a tenth of the donations as reported by the PT, it makes sense to wonder whether the Israelites are not being fed by manna from heaven.
