Will Congress collude with the Cachoeira mafia?
The question is posed by columnist Dora Kramer in her article "Cosa Nostra," regarding the mafia-like methods of the Goiás-based illegal gambling boss.
247 - In recent days, Brazil has been intensely debating whether the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) into the Cachoeira case has already turned into a cover-up. If this is the case, the National Congress will have colluded with one of the most audacious mafias ever established in the country. This is the argument of columnist Dora Kramer, from the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. Read more:
“Cosa Nostra” - DORA KRAMER
An organization with criminal foundations that becomes more sophisticated, invests in training "cadres," and infiltrates institutions to give its business a legal appearance. Over time, it establishes itself within the State by co-opting public and private agents susceptible to the allure of corruption.
What appears to be the network set up under the coordination of Carlos Augusto de Almeida Ramos?
The already known recordings made by the Federal Police during Operations Vegas and Monte Carlo show the establishment of a structure that already included the participation of parliamentarians to influence even amendments to the Union Budget. Based on the facts already revealed, it is precisely an organization that originated in the illegal operation of bingo and slot machines, which perfected itself by investing in activities of a legitimate nature while expanding its tentacles, forming relationships and establishing influence in the police, the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Executive branch and, with particular ease, in the Legislative branch.
He foresaw the "purchase" of a political party, orchestrated the election of Senator Demóstenes Torres to the Goiânia City Hall, encouraged his rapprochement with the federal government in the hope of one day seeing him as Minister of Justice. He infiltrated an "agent" into the Comptroller General's Office, used espionage to monitor investigations by the Federal Court of Accounts, and relied on informants in the upper echelons of the police.
It is against this backdrop of distinctly mafia-like characteristics that the "Cachoeira" Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) is confronted. Its task is to reveal to society what this organization did, who participated in it, how it operated, and why it managed to grow.
It's still too early to say whether the commission has completely collapsed or if there's a chance of it succeeding, but one thing is clear: it's losing momentum, floundering, and going through a bad patch.
He has already spent almost one of the six months planned for the investigations, and so far all that has been seen is dispersion and wasted time with discussions about summoning a journalist, the Attorney General of the Republic, and the confidentiality of documents.
Testimonies are postponed, investigation targets are restricted, but, well, it may be part of a strategy that will prove to be correct later on.
It does not contribute to the seriousness of the work for a PT (Workers' Party) deputy (Cândido Vaccarezza) to issue a written acknowledgment – literally – that there is a possibility of protection being offered within the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, by sending a text message to a PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party) governor (Sérgio Cabral Filho) to reassure him about a possible summons.
Much less so in the terms used. The phrase "you are ours and we are yours," besides being an idiomatic insult, refers to the existence of "something of ours" whose exact nature is unknown.
There is an expectation that the congressman will be questioned or will voluntarily leave the committee. The question remains whether the intention is to preserve the credibility of the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry Commission or merely to temporarily salvage appearances.
In any case, the essential question remains: Will the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) take off or fall apart?
In the second scenario, Congress will have missed the chance to rehabilitate this instrument, which has been so weakened in recent times, and worse: it will have colluded with the mafia that it set out to investigate and preferably dismantle.
Sourness
When Cândido Vaccarezza warned Governor Sérgio Cabral Filho that the PT's relationship with the PMDB would "sour" in the CPMI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry), he did so after the failed attempt to obtain support from the PMDB members to approve the summoning of journalist Policarpo Júnior, from "Veja" magazine.
The Workers' Party member sent several text messages pressuring part of the PMDB leadership, which was meeting that same day (Thursday) and believed that the party should not give in for two reasons: so as not to lose its discourse of defending freedom of the press and because it had no reason to pick a fight that wasn't its own.
More specifically, Lula, on whose behalf, according to the PMDB members, Vaccarezza would be acting.