Hypocrisy and guilt

Former President Lula is driven by an unbridled ambition for power and is a victim of the hatred that dominates his soul. Hatred leads to selfishness, and selfishness blinds its bearers.

The so-called Cachoeira CPI, depending on Lula, will be an instrument of persecution against political adversaries and protection for allied criminals, never a sincere search for the truth. Its objectives, in fact, are twofold: to take revenge on the governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, who committed the "crime" of telling him that there was a criminal organization within the federal government to buy off deputies and systematically plunder public funds. And, undoubtedly, to try to disrupt the Mensalão trial, which should take place this semester.

Regarding Marconi, I state calmly: I have not yet seen anything concrete that incriminates him. In contrast, for example, to the Workers' Party governor of the Federal District, Agnelo Queiroz, who will hardly escape impeachment. Therefore, I maintain my belief in my party colleague not because of this, but because I have not yet read or seen anything that would put him in the position of a defendant.

Lula is mistaken if he thinks he can control the course of the investigations, sparing some and fabricating blame for others. With the free press and democracy we have, the truth will come out, despite shock troops and parliamentary majorities. Your Excellency, the facts will speak louder than artificialities and spurious and dishonest gestures.

Whoever is guilty must pay, regardless of their political affiliation or the company they run. That is what an honorable Brazilian expects from its legislative representatives.

If Lula were acting in good faith, he wouldn't lie and say there was never a mensalão scandal. After all, he himself, at the time of the scandal, went on television to apologize to the nation. There was even talk of refounding the PT (Workers' Party). Lula was courting the opposition with the proposal not to run for reelection, in exchange for not being impeached.

José Dirceu, Silvinho “Land Rover” (who even served an alternative sentence to avoid prosecution), Delúbio, João Paulo Cunha, and others of the same ilk will not escape scrutiny of their actions by the highest court in the country. And, at the same time, I continue to expect Fernando Cavendish and Carlos Cachoeira (who pays R$15 million to the brilliant and biased PT lawyer Marcio Tomas Bastos to defend him) to tell everything they know about the “Republic of the guilty.” Everything, without omitting anything or anyone. Without lying, without inventing, without equivocating.

Let's wait and see if the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry will be – or will not be – yet another fraud in the extensive list of fake dossiers, systemic corruption, and deceptions. Society will soon realize whether sincerity or perfidy will preside over the investigation.

One thing, however, is certain: the trial of those involved in the Mensalão scandal must be thorough. I hope that, soon, they will be punished as much as those who were actually involved in the Cachoeira and Delta Construções scheme, the preferred contractor of the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program).

Enough with the hypocrisy! 

Arthur Virgílio is a diplomat and was the PSDB leader in the Senate.