The farce and the truth

By Eric Nepomuceno, for 247

In less than a month we will have elections in this devastated country. The just over 156 million voters – one and a half times the population of Mexico, more than three times that of Argentina – will elect a president, senators, federal representatives, governors, and state representatives.

Polls continue to indicate Lula as the clear favorite, but they also show that the chances of a first-round victory have diminished. They also indicate that neither Jair Messias nor the others, especially Ciro Gomes and Simone Tebet, have much room to gain momentum.

So now more than ever, it's time to remember one aspect – and only one – of the great farce that our poor country is living through.

Jair Messias and his gang have always said that there was no corruption in his government, nor would there ever be. Suddenly, the unbalanced leader has begun to admit that occasionally a case might occur here, another there, but that everything would be combated.

So let's delve into the past and focus on the present.

Memory, some memory:

A scoundrel named Ricardo Salles, when he was Minister of the Environment, was denounced – not here, but in the United States – as being complicit (and what complicity!) in the export of illegal timber precisely to that country, in exchange for "illicit benefits".

The complaint was formally filed, and nothing happened to him. He's still there, all smug, a candidate for federal deputy for São Paulo.

There was the case of a charge of one dollar for each dose of Covid vaccine sold to the government. Jair Messias was duly informed, and did nothing. The purchase ended up not happening, and the bribe was not paid, but not due to government action: due to a complaint from the opposition.

In other words: if it depended on Jair Messias, everything would be fine, the bribe given, the vaccine paid for, and it wouldn't be received, because the one who asked for the bribe couldn't even remotely guarantee its delivery.

More? Well, there's much more.

Exploiting the misery and suffering of others, self-appointed evangelical pastors entrenched in the Ministry of Education demanded bribes ranging from the purchase of thousands of Bibles to outright cash in exchange for releasing funds legally mandated for municipalities. And the then-minister stated that these pastors had been "suggested" by Jair Messias to act on his behalf within the ministry, even though they had not been officially appointed.

It's best not to even mention the so-called "Secret Budget," which distributes millions and millions without any control whatsoever in exchange for electoral support not only for Jair Messias, but for the gang that makes up one of the most filthy and despicable Congresses of all time, starting with Arthur Lira.

And now the farce of Jair Messias and his family's so-called "honesty" has finally exploded. Either the gang (including children, brothers, sisters, ex-in-law and even the deceased mother of the vermin) paid for properties in cash, or when it was by bank transfer the declared value was much lower than the market value.

Up until now, at least to my knowledge, only smugglers, militiamen, drug traffickers, and tax evaders roamed around doing business with cash.

Because the Bolsonaro gang's real estate agency also does that.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: never, for a single minute of my life, did I even imagine that I would end up where I am today, seeing my country mired in such filth, and having such garbage in the presidency.

The most serious thing is seeing, according to polls, that at least 30% of Brazilians are capable of voting for such filth.

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