Valdemar opened the doors of government for Cavendish.
The owner of Delta couldn't get into the billionaire Dnit, but his friendship with Congressman Valdemar Costa Neto (PR/SP) guaranteed him billions in various projects; in return, the two went to Roland Garros together in 2005 and became close friends.
247 - On the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris, where Guga had already reigned, Rafael Nadal won his first title in 2005. He defeated Swiss player Roger Federer in the semi-final and crushed Argentinian Mariano Puerta in the final. From the VIP box, the Spaniard's performance was closely watched by two figures: Congressman Valdemar Costa Neto (PR/SP), an amateur tennis player, and businessman Fernando Cavendish, owner of Delta.
Cavendish did everything to court the congressman. Valdemar was the "owner" of the Ministry of Transport and, consequently, of the billionaire DNIT, the agency responsible for road works in all states of the country. He was the one who opened the doors of the federal government to the contractor who, years later, would become the largest recipient of funds from the Growth Acceleration Program, the PAC. Last year alone, Delta received R$ 884 million.
Cavendish now finds himself embarrassed by statements he made at a Delta meeting, in which he said that giving R$30 million to a politician or R$6 million to a senator would get you "a whole lot of stuff." In a statement, he said he was just making a boast and affirmed his deep respect for Brazilian institutions and representatives of the political class.
But his company, Delta, seems to have its days numbered. This Monday, Cavendish's video, which had already been shown on 247, was also broadcast on Jornal Nacional. Senator Álvaro Dias (PSDB-PR) guaranteed that the contractor will be one of the first people summoned by the CPI that will investigate the activities of Carlos Cachoeira, a likely partner in Delta. And the federal government will have no choice but to declare the company ineligible, as was done in 2007 with Gautama, the target of another Federal Police operation, Navalha.
Cavendish will likely be banned from future bids. But will Valdemar Costa Neto be punished this time? He is living proof that there may be a direct connection between the Mensalão scandal and the Carlos Cachoeira case – even if the protagonists of one scandal accuse the stars of the other of trying to create smokescreens.
Could this be the match point for Delta?