| 词条 | Mensalão scandal | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 释义 |
The Mensalão scandal ({{lang-pt|Escândalo do Mensalão}}, {{IPA-pt|isˈkɐ̃dɐlu du mẽsɐˈlɐ̃w̃|IPA}}) was a vote-buying scandal that threatened to bring down the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2005.[1] Mensalão is a neologism, a variant of the word for "big monthly payment" (salário mensal or mensalidade). The scandal broke on June 6, 2005 when Brazilian deputy Roberto Jefferson told the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that the ruling Workers' Party (PT) had paid a number of deputies 30,000 reais (around US$12,000 at the time) a month to vote for legislation favored by the ruling party. The funds allegedly came from state-owned companies' advertising budgets, funneled through an advertising agency owned by Marcos Valério. The investigation has since uncovered members of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, DEM, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and seven other political parties also involved. Many key advisers to Lula resigned, and several deputies were faced with the choice of resignation or expulsion from congress, though the president himself went on to be re-elected in 2006, and in 2010 Brazil elected his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, as president.[2] Much of PT's leadership was affected in some way, with many resigning or failing to win re-election. Brazil's economy was widely perceived as not having been substantially impacted by the scandal.[3] Roberto Jefferson, who initially sparked the scandal, was expelled from the Chamber of Deputies on September 14, 2005 for ethical violations determined by the Congressional Council of Ethics. Despite continued additional resignations, in October the scandal died down somewhat as Brazil held a contentious referendum on a banning gun sales, an initiative soundly rejected by voters.[3][4]OriginsOn September 18, 2004 Brazilian weekly magazine Veja printed a cover story entitled "Scandal: PT's buyout of PTB". The article described an alliance between the Workers Party (PT) and the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB). According to Veja, PT promised to pay R$150,000 to each PTB deputy if they would support the executive branch {{when|date=July 2017}}. Allegedly because these promises were not kept, a storm of corruption allegations against PT began in May 2005.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} On September 24, 2004, the Rio de Janeiro newspaper Jornal do Brasil published an article citing Veja which also said that former Minister of Communications Miro Teixeira had revealed the monthly payments to the Ministry of Public Prosecution. Jornal do Brasil then published another story saying that the president of the Chamber of Deputies João Paulo Cunha (PT) promised to fully investigate the claims and quoted president of the Popular Socialist Party (Brazil) Roberto Freire saying: "This subject has been circulating for months in Congress but nobody has the courage to approach it." The scandal emergesOn May 14, 2005, Veja published a new story describing an apparent corruption scheme in the Brazilian Postal Service, describing a 110-minute video recording, made with a hidden camera, that showed former Post Office Chief {{ILL|Maurício Marinho|pt}} apparently receiving a bribe from a businessman. The full bribery scheme involving government contracts was allegedly administered by Post Office administrative director Antônio Osório Batista and by Jefferson, a Post Office manager as well as a federal deputy. On the tape, Marinho receives then pockets R$3,000 (about $1,259 US) in cash. The recording was aired by the major Brazilian television stations. Agents from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) investigated. As the scandal developed, it was argued{{who|date=April 2017}} that this was linked to an attempt to destroy PT's former allies without the scandal exploding upon the government. However, a major political battle began when the government tried to systematically obstruct the creation of a Parliamentary Commission of Investigation (CPI) to investigate the growing corruption scandal.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} On June 3, 2005 the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo published a story saying that the government was tying funds for various projects to support for the creation of the CPI.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} Because of these allegations, part of the government's base joined the opposition to support the creation of a Parliamentary Commission of Investigation. Abandoned by his allies, Jefferson began to counterattack. On June 6, Folha de S.Paulo published an interview with Jefferson claiming that Delúbio Soares, treasurer of the Workers' Party, made monthly payments of R$30,000 to certain Congressional deputies, to influence them to vote with the government. Jefferson said that those who received the monthly payment called it mensalão, derived from the Portuguese word for a monthly payment. "Mensalão" quickly became the adopted popular label for the scandal, now identified as the "escândalo do mensalão." According to Jefferson, businessman Marcos Valério, owner of the advertising agencies {{ILL|SMPB|pt|SMP&B}} and DNA, which had large government contracts, operated the scheme. After the investigative commission was set up, the government allegedly tried to control it by installing government allies Senator Delcídio do Amaral (PT) as president of the commission and Deputy Osmar Serraglio (PMDB) as the key rapporteur, responsible for writing the final report. Although the investigation of the Post Office scandal was officially restricted in scope to irregularities in Post Office's administration, it began to investigate the expanding monthly payment claims because of apparent connections between the cases. An additional commission was created to investigate the broader scandal on July 20. Allies of the government occupied key posts. The president of the CPI was Senator {{ILL|Amir Lando|pt}} and the rapporteur was Deputy Ibrahim Abi-Ackel. Abi-Ackel was minister of justice in the government of João Baptista Figueiredo, and was also accused of involvement in the corruption scandal. José Dirceu, once a leftist student leader who organized against the right-wing military dictatorship after it took power in a 1964 coup, was arrested in 1968, then released at the demand of the kidnappers of the US ambassador.[5] He was exiled to Cuba. Later, he secretly returned to Brazil, under a false identity and had plastic surgery to disguise his face. He hid in Paraná and opened a shop. During this time, he became involved as a student union leader. He married but did not reveal his true identity even after he had a son with his wife. Only after 1979, when political amnesty was declared, did he openly return to political life, campaigning for democratic elections and the end of the dictatorship regime. As a consequence of the mensalão scandal, Dirceu resigned in 2005 as chief of staff to President Lula.[3] The scandal developsIn early July 2005, an advisor to a Congressional deputy and brother of Workers’ Party President José Genoíno, was stopped at an airport with $100,000 in his underwear and additional funds in his luggage. The wives and secretaries of key figures testified in the numerous and overlapping Congressional panels, including Valério's secretary, {{ILL|Fernanda Karina Somaggio|pt}}, and the ex-wife of Valdemar Costa Neto, Maria Christina Mendes Caldeira, who later fled to the United States with nothing but her clothes and a support animal. She applied for asylum under a secret identity.[6] Congressional hearings were often marked by fiery rhetoric and emotional outbursts, including numerous incidents of crying by witnesses and Workers' Party deputies. Although still murky and unclear, reported links between the scandal, its key figures, the murder of Santo André's mayor Celso Daniel and various mafia and criminal figures only intensified its sensational tone and societal impact. One key event that broadened the scandal into a more general investigation of the Workers' Party history as whole was the testimony of Duda Mendonça, public relations specialist and campaign manager for Lula's 2002 campaign, on August 11. He said he was paid using off-shore bank accounts and possibly illegal funds connected to Valério. The scandal, which had at that time not yet involved Brazil's finance minister, said to be popular with the international finance community,{{cn|date=July 2017}} threatened Antonio Palocci's standing after lawyer and former advisor {{ILL|Rogério Tadeu Buratti|pt}} testified that Palocci was involved in corrupt activities while he was mayor of Ribeirão Preto in the mid-90's. Lula's popularity waxed and waned, but no definite proof emerged that he orchestrated or had knowledge of the payments.[7] Much of PT's leadership was affected in some way, with many resigning or failing to win re-election. Brazil's economy was widely perceived as not having been substantially impacted by the scandal. Roberto Jefferson, who initially sparked the scandal, was expelled from the Chamber of Deputies on September 14, 2005 after the Congressional Council of Ethics determined that he had committed ethical violations. Despite continued resignations of those implicated, in October the scandal died down somewhat and Brazil had a referendum on gun sales that resulted in a loss for the government's position. At the end of October, Veja published a new story claiming that the Workers' Party had received illegal campaign funds from Cuba—threatening to re-intensify the scandal once again, though that was not ultimately the case.{{what|date=July 2017}} First joint preliminary CPI reportThe investigations into Post Office corruption and vote-buying unanimously approved their first joint preliminary report on September 1, 2005. The report accused 18 Brazilian deputies of involvement in the corruption scandal:
The report accused them of misdeeds ranging from illegal campaign finance activity, placing cronies in strategic positions in government-owned businesses in return for kickbacks, to taking cash payments for voting with the government in the Brazilian Congress. The report states that as to the charges initially made by deputy Roberto Jefferson (PTB):
The report added that several documents had been identified and validated which proved that large sums of money were withdrawn from agencies of the Rural Bank in Brasilia and Belo Horizonte, as well as from the bank accounts of the enterprises {{ILL|SMPB|pt}} and DNA. According to the documents, the beneficiaries were federal deputies who received funds in person or through relatives, advisers, or individuals chosen by Marcos Valério. Some payments were made monthly, and others either more or less frequently. The report called the defense made by some parliamentarians that the funds were used to settle debts from electoral campaigns a "lame excuse". Congressional Committees of Investigation (CPIs)The following CPIs were involved in investigating issues related to the cash-for-votes scandal.[9]
Members of the opposition also wanted a fourth CPI to investigate off-book accounts held by all parties in during the most recent elections. Due to serial allegations of this kind of operation in many campaigns in 2002, including President Lula's, many believed this CPI could result in a legal and concrete reason to start his impeachment process. However this process was aborted. Ethics' CouncilThe Council of Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum of the House is responsible for processing and disciplining members for behavior not in concordance with parliamentary decorum. To expel a deputy, 257 votes out of 513 are needed. Expelled deputies lose their seats and also their parliamentary privileges and immunity. Members can also be barred from holding public office for eight years. Jefferson for example cannot run for office again until 2015. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051201154936/http://www2.camara.gov.br/conheca/eticaedecoro/index.html] Supreme Court indictmentOn August 24, 2007, the Supreme Federal Court, responsible for criminal proceedings against parliamentarians due to parliamentary immunity, accepted the indictments of 40 individuals related to the Mensalão scandal, most of them former or current federal deputies, and all of whom were or are allies of former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.[10] Supreme Court trialThe trial began in August 2012. In the first 23 sessions{{what|date=July 2017}} of the trial the Supreme Court found that misuse of public money and bank loans did occur. Ten of the 37 defendants received sentences, including Marcos Valério, a ringleader. Three were acquitted.[11]{{update inline|reason=Are these figures still correct?|date=March 2016}} On 15 September 2012 Veja published a new story alleging that Valério had told friends that former president Lula masterminded the corruption scheme. José Dirceu's allies called this a lie and said Valério was out of his head and desperate, a convict facing prison.[12] On September 17 the court began to examine the primary accusation, which included allegations that Dirceu led of the vote-buying scheme which laundered and then disbursed millions in public and private money to secure votes in Congress from 2003 to 2005.[13] The rapporteur found clear evidence that such activities occurred, saying "there is no doubt that this scheme existed."[12] On 9 October 2012, the court found Dirceu, José Genoino and Delúbio Soares guilty of bribery (Corrupção Ativa). On 15 November 2013 the STF president ordered them imprisoned. This coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic so there was much debate about Barbosa's{{who|date=July 2017}} reasons for waiting until then. Some days later Genoino was transferred to house arrest out of concerns about his health. Timing of key withdrawals and votesDocuments from the Conselho de Controle de Atividades Financeiras (COAF) indicate that between July and May 2003, withdrawals of 27 million reais were made from the accounts of businessman Marcos Valério. According to deputy Roberto Jefferson, the money for the mensalão came from Banco Rural and the Banco do Brasil. Documents from COAF validate the withdrawals from Banco Rural; the withdrawals from the Banco do Brasil have not yet been traced. The table below shows a side-by-side description of some of the withdrawals and allegedly connected votes in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
Source:Reuters. Principal figures in the scandalWorkers Party
Allied figuresThe following members of other parties that gave political support to the Workers' Party before the scandal: PTB, PP, PL, and the PMDB.
Others
Major businesses involvedBrazilState companies
Private companies
Financial institutions
United States
Timeline of key events{{main|Timeline of Mensalão Scandal}}Figures who lost their posts
References1. ^{{cite news |author=BBC |title=Q&A: Brazil's 'big monthly' corruption trial |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19081519}} 21 November 2012. Retrieved on 10 March 2013 2. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/11/economist-explains-14|title=What is Brazil's "mensalão"?: A votes-for-cash scandal that touched some of the country's most senior politicians - and sent some of them to prison| author= |publisher=The Economist|date=November 18, 2013 |accessdate=April 12, 2017|work=The Economist Explains|language=en}} 3. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/79366e3a-4298-11da-94c2-00000e2511c8.html?ft_site=falcon&desktop=true#axzz4e6CaOmAg|title=Brazil's gun ban referendum misses its target|author=Jonathan Wheatley|date=October 22, 2005|accessdate=April 12, 2017|language=en|publisher=Financial Times}} 4. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4969877|title=Brazil Holds Contentious Vote on Gun Control Law|publisher=National Public Radio|author=Julie McCarthy}} 5. ^{{cite news|last1=Rohter|first1=Larry|title=Behind Brazil's Leftist Leader, a Kindred Spirit Thrives|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/16/world/behind-brazil-s-leftist-leader-a-kindred-spirit-thrives.html|accessdate=15 September 2015|publisher=NYTIMES|date=July 16, 2003}} 6. ^{{cite news|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2017/01/1847917-ex-mulher-de-deputado-do-mensalao-pede-asilo-politico-nos-estados-unidos.shtml|date=January 8, 2017|accessdate=April 17, 2017|title=Ex-mulher de deputado do mensalão pede asilo político nos Estados Unidos|author=Wálter Nunes|publisher=Folha de S. Paulo|language=pt}} 7. ^1 2 {{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/11/economist-explains-14|title=What is Brazil's "mensalão"?: A votes-for-cash scandal that touched some of the country's most senior politicians - and sent some of them to prison| author= |publisher=The Economist|date=November 18, 2013 |accessdate=April 12, 2017|work=The Economist Explains|language=en}} 8. ^{{cite news|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2016/03/1746724-citado-no-mensalao-ex-deputado-professor-luizinho-reaparece-e-defende-pt-no-aeroporto.shtml|publisher=Folha de S. Paulo|date=May 3, 2016|accessdate=April 12, 2017|title=Citado no mensalão, ex-deputado Professor Luizinho reaparece e defende PT no aeroporto|author=Bruno Fávero}} 9. ^ 10. ^Q&A: Brazil corruption scandal. BBC News. September 4, 2007. Retrieved on October 14, 2007. 11. ^{{cite web|url=http://brazilportal.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/stf-launches-core-policy-of-the-mensalao-trial/|title=STF launches ‘core policy’ of the mensalão trial|publisher=Brazil Institute|date=17 September 2012|access-date=20 March 2016}}. Brazil Portal. September 17, 2012. Retrieved on September 17, 2012. 12. ^1 {{cite web|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/especial/2012/ojulgamentodomensalao|title=O julgamento do mensalão|language=Portuguese|publisher=Folha de São Paulo|date=15 September 2012|access-date=20 March 2016}} 13. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/201281510245048115.html|title=Brazil's 'trial of the century'|publisher=Aljazeera|date=17 September 2012|access-date=17 September 2012}} 14. ^1 {{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-24967116|publisher=BBC|title=Brazil Mensalao trial: Former chief of staff jailed|date=16 November 2013|access-date=July 26, 2017}} 15. ^{{cite news |url=http://archive.boston.com/business/articles/2004/08/18/brazilians_attack_money_laundering/ |title=Brazilians attack money laundering: Warrants issued for 120 people |agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Boston Globe|date= August 18, 2004}} External links{{Commons category}}
5 : Political history of Brazil|2005 in Brazil|Political scandals in Brazil|Corruption in Brazil|2005 scandals |
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