Will Cunha and his 200 thieves govern Brazil?

The fable Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, originating from pre-Islamic Arabia, is called Eduardo Cunha and the 200-odd thieves in Brazil, free as a bird. Several characters confirm the script, but the Justice system is only in a hurry when it comes to the Workers' Party (PT).

Everyone knew and talked about it, but now the truth is obvious. Only those who don't want to see it and don't act against it fail to see it.

Facing Cunha, who was also present at the hearing, the executive businessman of the company Toyo Setal, Júlio Camargo, spoke frankly in testimony to the 6th Criminal Court of the Federal Justice, in São Paulo, on August 8th.

According to Camargo, to justify charging those amounts, Eduardo Cunha told him that he had a bloc of more than two hundred deputies to support.

So, for those who still didn't believe the coup version, will they now understand the impeachment vote against Dilma?

A whistleblower in the Lava Jato corruption scandal, Camargo stated that in 2011, he was pressured and extorted by Eduardo Cunha into paying a bribe of US$5 million, out of a total amount of R$10 million. The video and audio of his testimony are available online for anyone who wants to verify them.

The businessman confirmed previous information regarding bribes paid to Eduardo Cunha related to the contracting of a shipyard for the construction of two drillships by Petrobras' International Directorate in 2006 and 2007.

What more is needed for Eduardo Cunha to be arrested? Brazil has been waiting for over 300 days to see him out of the Chamber of Deputies and in jail.

However, Brazil's most famous crook, prosecuted by the Chamber of Deputies' Ethics Committee and the Supreme Court, remains unpunished, living in a luxury apartment in one of Brasília's most prestigious superblocks and receiving his full salary. Surreal.

It has been more than proven by documents sent to Brazil by the Swiss government that Eduardo Cunha has millions in secret accounts abroad.

His connection to the Petrobras scandal as well.

His distribution of bribes to 200 congressmen... his participation, along with Temer, in the plot to overthrow Dilma. What more will be needed?
A simple internet search about lawsuits against Eduardo Cunha will lead to the following conclusion: the man has always had a close relationship with the justice system. Not the best kind, of course.

In more than 20 lawsuits/investigations, he is accused of crimes against the tax system; falsification of documents; administrative misconduct; illegal vote buying; abuse of economic power; in addition to those that have recently come to light, for corruption, racketeering, money laundering, etc.

Responsible for the plea bargain that first implicated the former Speaker of the House of Representatives in Operation Lava Jato, businessman Júlio Camargo expressed surprise in an interview with Carta Capital in July at the fact that the Lava Jato investigations against members of the opposition to the Dilma government were not progressing.

"What surprises me is the slowness. There is no doubt that the PT's system was simply a continuation of what already existed before. Public opinion is suspicious of the lack of information about the processes concerning the other parties," Camargo argued.

Ever since I was little, I've never liked informers, snitches, or tattletales. To me, that's not something honorable people do.

However, in the transition we are experiencing, we must acknowledge a positive side to the whistleblowers' actions: it became clear to the public the nature of corruption practices in the business and political spheres, and the fact that these practices were not created by the PT (Workers' Party) but rather have been repeated and refined over centuries.

Brazilians have seen the rotten inner workings of power.

He saw the dynamics of distributing positions across the three branches of government, the illegal process of financing elections at all levels, and the subsequent presentation of invoices for payment—that is, I finance you, and you pay me back later with favors that will, obviously, result in new profits.

Yet another piece of evidence of the coup has just been exposed: the process to remove Cunha from office is ready to be taken to the plenary session before the parliamentary recess in July.

However, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rodrigo Maia, preferred to schedule the voting session for September 12th – well after the completion of Dilma's impeachment, which was scheduled for August 29th.

His argument that he needed to discuss the date with party leaders to ensure a high quorum at the session is meticulously distilled hypocrisy.

Who wants to guarantee a quorum by scheduling a session on a Monday, when most representatives will be in their states participating in the campaign for municipal elections across the country?

Given the evidence – that Temer, Cunha, and their 200 thieves will now be in charge of the country – Brazilians will have to take a stand, learn how to do politics, how to participate, and how to mobilize around important causes.

We will have to fight, and fight hard, to prevent the social, political, and economic gains of the last 13 years from being destroyed. The fight for human rights and democracy is not an old, outdated struggle. It is current and essential in Brazil as of August 2016.