"Petrolão," "mensalão 2," or "caixão dois"?

 

The campaigns of Marina and Dilma understood the anticipated impact of the leaked but not yet-rewarded testimonies of Paulo Roberto Costa and want access to the full content of the statements. The whistleblower will be rewarded if his accusations are proven, but that will take time; the first round will have passed, and the electoral lynching will have been carried out.

Something rotten definitely exists in the realm of private sector business dealings with Petrobras. The web is vast and extends beyond the PT, PMDB, and PSB parties, targeted by the whistleblower. But what is this business that Aécio Neves is calling "mensalão two" and the media has decided to call "petrolão"? As reported by the 247 portal, Aécio was going to use this label but found the comparison with the mensalão more effective, a scandal that severely damaged the PT, although it didn't remove it from central power. Was this mensalão intended to buy the vote of whom? Renan and Henrique Alves? Vaccari, the PT treasurer, who isn't even a congressman? Eduardo Campos, who didn't vote in Congress and isn't here anymore to explain himself? The "petrolão" looks and feels like a "big box," a massive slush fund that benefited politicians from various parties, including the opposition PSDB-DEM, as Costa has stated on other occasions. Its operation was the same as always. To the major businesspeople who did business with the company (and with the state in general), the operator would point out politicians (usually their protectors) who were to receive donations for their political activities. Did some of it go into their own pockets? It always does, but the bulk of it funds the political activity that we stubbornly allow to be financed by private donations.

That doesn't make it any less serious. Nor am I advocating leniency. The case requires investigation and punishment, but now it has become an electoral tool, which also doesn't deserve applause. It's an attempt to win through underhanded tactics, like what happened in 2006 after the so-called mensalão scandal, which also had the snout of an alligator but was a different animal, although it has already gone down in history as an alligator.

Other terrible creatures will continue to appear, preferably during election periods, frightening citizens and voters, and demoralizing politics, regardless of who is in power. This will continue as long as the political elite, which includes all of them, from all parties, does not confront political reform. And more particularly, the wound of campaign financing. Business dealings between the private sector and the state will always exist, but with public funding, when suppliers pay "bribes," it will truly be a case of classic corruption and merciless punishment.

How will political reform come about? We've already seen that constitutional amendments proposed by Congress won't happen. Government initiatives – although no government has seriously taken them on – are unlikely to succeed. It will only happen if the people demand it, and they can only do so through a plebiscite, clearly stating that they no longer accept the system we have.