Globo's fine by the tax authorities explains its hatred of the PT (Workers' Party).

* Originally published in Citizenship Blog

For at least ten days, it's been the only topic of conversation on social media and in the political blogosphere. And now, even in major newspapers and on television. The Globo media group has been fined by the Federal Revenue Service for tax evasion related to a bizarre operation concerning the broadcasting rights for the 2002 World Cup.

Globo's debt to the tax authorities reaches six hundred million reais (!), an assessment has been made and, so far, there is no confirmation of payment.

Everything was investigated by the Rio de Janeiro-based blog Cafezinho, linked on this page. It was then intensely discussed on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook and, to some extent, by Folha de São Paulo, which reported the news based on events that internet users had already been discussing non-stop for days before the major newspaper published anything.

A reminder: those who pay for a newspaper to stay informed should perhaps rethink the practice, because, as we have seen, the internet can go many steps ahead of corporate journalism. Especially since the documents leaked by the Cafezinho blog are public. If the corporate media did not investigate this information, therefore, it was due to an absolute lack of interest.

Television, however, moved even more slowly than the print media. So far – and quite belatedly – ​​Rede Record, within the context of its particular war with Globo, has broadcast a report on the whole affair and, moreover, a demonstration by citizens of Rio de Janeiro in front of the headquarters of the Marinho family's company in Rio de Janeiro, protesting the discovery that the network, which constantly denounces scandals involving politicians it opposes while minimizing or hiding those of allied politicians, doesn't have much moral authority to speak of ethics, since such a wealthy company evading taxes is equivalent to any corruption by politicians, including in terms of value, as Globo's tax evasion is exorbitant, reaching almost a billion reais.

However, what people don't seem to have realized, up to this point, is that this whole case clearly explains the reason for Globo's intense hatred of the PT governments, a hatred that seems to have been growing year after year since the Mensalão scandal broke in 2005.

It should be noted that the conclusion of Globo's investigation by the Internal Revenue Service dates back to 2006, when an infraction notice was issued resulting in a multimillion-dollar fine. In that election year, Lula was recovering from the shock of the Mensalão scandal the previous year and would be re-elected president of the Republic.

The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service, which audited the broadcaster that year, was acting under the orders of the Lula government. At this point, we must consider one fact: it is obvious that Globo's practice in 2002, using a company in a tax haven to expatriate funds in order to pay for the rights to the World Cup that year without going through the Brazilian tax authorities, could not have been the first or only time the broadcaster resorted to such a stratagem.

What people fail to notice is that never before in the history of this country has Globo been so severely penalized for practicing what, in the business world, is euphemistically called "creative accounting."

The Lula government did what, I repeat, has never been done before in the history of this country: bother the powerful Marinho family with "minor" issues like paying their taxes like any other citizen. After all, when the name Marinho is mentioned in this country, it's not about just anyone, but about a dynasty that has hovered above the nation for decades.

However, it remains to be seen why there is still no irrefutable confirmation of payment of the fine imposed by the tax authorities. Globo acknowledges the existence of the debt, but does not prove that it has paid. It does not show the tax payment slip, as internet users have been requesting for weeks.

And why doesn't the tax office collect?

What is the status of this case?

When will the Treasury be reimbursed?

Why has the wait for the return of resources belonging to society already been approaching seven years?

The Internal Revenue Service and the Dilma government itself also owe the country an explanation. The discovery of this case shows that the global fury against the current government may even be an attempt to intimidate it, so that it "controls" the Internal Revenue Service.

It remains to be seen whether this was done, because almost seven years is a very long time for a tax debt of such magnitude to have gone unpaid. In addition to Globo's unacceptable conduct, therefore, there is an equally reprehensible stance from the tax authorities and, by extension, from the federal government, which is responsible for the agency and which, certainly, is aware of a scandal of this magnitude.

Now that we know why Globo attacks the PT governments so much – apparently because they went where no Brazilian has ever gone before in terms of treating it like any other taxpayer, even if only to a certain extent – ​​we need to know how long a public concession will continue to be used with impunity to blackmail politicians.