Geddel was thrown to the wolves. Will he rat him out?

Last week, the new Attorney General of the Republic, Raquel Dodge, stated that former minister Geddel Vieira Lima, who is imprisoned in Papuda, “appears” to be the true “leader of the criminal organization” that is shaking the national scene. The statement was seen by several analysts as a cunning attempt to save the usurper Michel Temer, who had been pointed out by the former head of the PGR, Rodrigo Janot, as the main leader of the gang. But it may have the opposite result, accelerating the feared plea bargain of the prisoner. A small note in Época magazine, posted this Thursday (19) confirms this danger: 

“At a dinner attended by 20 deputies on Wednesday night (18) in Brasília, one subject persisted in the conversations: will former minister Geddel Vieira Lima testify? The topic becomes more sensitive because next week the Chamber of Deputies will decide whether President Michel Temer can be investigated by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) based on a complaint from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR)”. If the PMDB bully understands that he has been thrown to the wolves, he may tremble completely and open his “crocodile mouth”. The Attorney General’s unusual statement would serve as a strong impetus. 

As Janio de Freitas pointed out in an article published in Folha this Sunday (22), “unless Raquel Dodge presents proof, or at least acceptable evidence, of the new information she provided, the assumption that she is coming to save Michel Temer takes on a new dimension. It can no longer be seen as hasty or self-serving. Amidst the reasons against the release of Geddel Vieira Lima, arrested in Brasília, Dodge points to him as the leader of the criminal organization that is currently central to the news. The verbal form 'seems' to act as a leader does not alter the novelty of the qualification. Nor does it diminish the beneficial effects of this new information for Temer: identified as a leader, Geddel frees his hierarchical superiors from such an accusation.” Always lucid, Janio de Freitas explains:

“Geddel was never considered 'the boss.' Even the idea of ​​organization, which prosecutors readily resort to because it helps explain the crime and increases penalties, is incorrect in this case. Each of the incriminated members of the PMDB, their money launderers and intermediaries, is a free agent who, for certain scams, joined with others, but the objective of gain was individual... With a different style, only Michel Temer. Using intermediaries is his typical method. José Yunes, Eduardo Cunha, Lúcio Funaro, Geddel Vieira Lima, Rocha Loures, Moreira Franco, Eliseu Padilha, and others, already identified or still in the shadows, are cited in the investigations as people contacted by Temer to reach third parties, with a defined mission.”

The new head of the Attorney General's Office, handpicked for the position – disregarding the list of the prosecutors themselves – may have tried to protect the usurper. But this help could increase the desperation of Geddel Vieira and his family – including his brother, who is also imprisoned. A sign of this possibility has already been given by the prisoner himself. In a statement given to the Federal Police, "the former minister stated that he was nominated in 2011 for the position of Vice-President of Corporate Banking at Caixa Econômica Federal by then Vice-President Michel Temer (PMDB)." Could this nomination have any connection to the R$ 51 million found in his "bunker" in Salvador? Who gave the money? In exchange for what favors? Who was the head of "the largest criminal organization in the country's history"?