The awkward life in the kingdom of Cachoeira

Goiás 247 – The subject matter is certainly not a laughing matter. Between the victims, like the people of Goiás, and those involved, no one in their right mind should find the list of revelations from the Federal Police's wiretaps, revealed through Operation Monte Carlo, amusing. This operation exposed to Brazil the extensive volume of business dealings Carlos Cachoeira conducted within Brazilian politics through Delta Construções.

However, through the intimacy of relationships – always denied at first – it is indeed possible to find passages that, while touching on humor, also hit the mark with embarrassment in the unblemished careers of politicians who have always presented themselves to the public as references of integrity and honesty.

Goiás 247 lists some of the numerous passages in which telephone conversations reveal, beyond the truth, what politicians are like and how they act with the racketeer Cachoeira, directly or indirectly.

1. Leréia in Paris

Few politicians enjoyed such intimacy and informality in their personal relationship with Carlos Cachoeira as federal deputy Carlos Alberto Leréia (PSDB-GO). After acknowledging his friendship and knowledge of the activities of his friend, who has been imprisoned since February 29th, Leréia was read and heard in several wiretaps by the Federal Police. Some were truly amusing. The most notorious of these was certainly his official trip to Paris, alongside another deputy involved in the case, the Goianian actor-deputy Stepan Nercessian (PPS-RJ).

Leréia, strolling through the city of lights, decides to call Cachoeira. To set the tone of where he is and to joke with his friend, instead of saying the traditional telephone 'hello' or a good morning, he goes further, choosing Sartre's language to greet the lawbreaker. "Bonjour, monsieur," says a sophisticated Leréia.

Cachoeira, knowing that his friend isn't one for these kinds of things, retorts in a mocking tone, already imagining why there's so much French on the line: "You're on fire, Leréia," says Carlinho, implying that at that hour Leréia was drunk while on an official mission.

2. Knife to the Neck

The city councilman from Goiânia, Santana Gomes (PSD), appears twice on this list. He is the author of, at the very least, curious incidents in his relationship with the racketeer. In a conversation conducted via radio, Cachoeira doesn't understand what his interlocutor is saying. Santana jokes with the racketeer and adds: "You don't understand properly, do you? Are you deaf?". Cachoeira retorts: "Look at the knife to my throat, little guy. Keep your finger on the thing (regarding the radio)...".

Whether or not he had a knife to his neck, even the Federal Police couldn't reveal.

3. The World of Crime

Another conversation with Santana Gomes. In a new dialogue with Carlos Cachoeira, the racketeer asks Santana Gomes not to go around commenting on what they are secretly discussing. This refers to Demóstenes' candidacy, the shady dealings with construction companies, and even attracting politicians to Marconi and Demóstenes' group, aiming for the 2012 municipal election. The councilman then reassures Cachoeira with the following gem: "I've survived in this world of crime until today because I know how to preserve important situations."

That's all.

4. The Mouth of Hell

Gregório de Matos, a poet from Bahia considered the greatest of the Brazilian Baroque poets, was nicknamed "Mouth of Hell." This was due to his satirical poetic style, which unleashed criticism on politicians and personalities of his time. No one escaped Matos's scathing wit in 17th-century Salvador. Associated with erudition, Senator Demóstenes Torres (independent), one of the most deeply involved in the Cachoeira scheme, can be considered a re-edition of Gregório de Matos. This is because, in the Federal Police recordings, simply no one escapes Torres's sharp tongue. Especially one of the main targets of comments between him and Cachoeira: Governor Marconi Perillo.

To force the group to carry out projects and business deals with the government through Delta, Demostenes Torres makes unflattering comments about Perillo. Among them, he asks Cachoeira to "give him a beating" because he is a "swindler," an "unreliable person." On another occasion, lacking new adjectives, he resorts to Christian sacrilege, and considers Perillo an "excommunicated" person.

It's worth remembering that this isn't the first time Torres has aimed his insults at Perillo. In 2006, in an interview, Marconi described the senator as "untrustworthy, lacking character, a traitor, frivolous, and with a sick mind." Demóstenes then responded, calling Perillo "illiterate, a bum, a hoodlum, and a thief." At least, eight years later, Demóstenes can't be called inconsistent: he continues to think the same things about Perillo.

5. Little Party

By categorically denying any close relationship with Carlos Cachoeira, the governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, was betrayed by his own informality. In recordings made by the Federal Police regarding Cachoeira's birthday party, Perillo greets the, according to him, "non-friend" of "Liderança" (Leadership). And later on, he reveals the true nature of his relationship with Cachoeira when he asks him: "Hey, you guys throw parties and don't invite your friends?"

Quick wipe.

6. Refrigerator and stove. That's all.

Demóstenes Torres was the first victim of the so-called selective wiretapping. At the first sign of trouble, when it was said that he had been caught in suspicious conversations with a gambling operator from Goiás, Torres preemptively stated in the Senate, as well as in various interviews, "I only received a refrigerator and a stove. And even that was a wedding gift, there was no way I could return it." Less than two months later, reports based on the same recordings suggest that Torres may have forgotten to mention the R$ 3,1 million set aside for him for services rendered in the scheme.

7. Clueless

A trip by Cachoeira's advisors to the United States. A chance for a wine enthusiast like Demostenes to acquire good labels at more affordable prices. More affordable, meaning a bottle that costs on average R$ 30 here would cost R$ 25 there. Gleyb Ferreira is in the US and finds the Torres label. He informs him that he has five bottles in the store and hears from the senator to buy them all. "Use our friend's card and we'll see later," he adds. Gleyb makes the million-dollar wine purchase and later comments to Geovani da Silva, "Man, each bottle costs R$ 30 there. These guys have lost their minds..."

8. Who put Marconi there?

A heated debate ensued between Cachoeira's protégé and then-president of Detran, Edivaldo Cardoso, and his godfather. The topic: the agency's advertising quotas. Cachoeira wanted the newspaper O Anápolis (which, according to him, opposed Marconi) removed from the media plan, and the quota for another newspaper, Tribuna de Anápolis, reduced, with its surplus funds being directed to his own newspaper in Anápolis, "Jornal do Estado de Goiás". To justify his order, Cachoeira was emphatic with his protégé at Detran: "Look, we're the ones who put Marconi there. More money needs to come to us."

9. The boss? Who? The governor?

Attempts persist by some involved to deny their close ties to the Cachoeira scheme. Among them are the governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, and the owner of Delta, Fernando Cavendish. However, in one of the revealed dialogues involving the former director of the company in the Midwest, Claudio Abreu, both appear being referred to as "the boss".

Cláudio, facing a deadlock in defining some organizational strategy, asks Cachoeira: “So, do you want to talk to the boss then?”. The racketeer, in turn, not understanding which of the two bosses Abreu is referring to, replies: “Who, the governor?”. Abreu corrects himself: “No, Fernando”.

10. Franciscan Conversations

It is no coincidence that to close this list is the statement of federal deputy Sandes Junior (PP-GO). Right at the beginning of the investigations, initiated after Cachoeira's arrest, the deputy, who was caught asking for money for various situations, including for an electoral poll, categorically states in an interview: “I had several conversations with Carlinhos. He is very fond of politics. But in all of them, we had an analytical tone. I can even consider them to have been Franciscan conversations.”

Six months later, with his name involved in several less-than-Catholic negotiations and relationships, the congressman adds another comment about his participation: "It's all a joke."

If that's really the case, the Brazilian people haven't found any humor in any of this so far.