Waterfall brings down Chief of Staff of Goiânia City Hall

247 - Illegal gambling operator Carlinhos Cachoeira claimed another political victim this Thursday. After ruining the reputation of Senator Demóstenes Torres (DEM-GO), Cachoeira's shadow brought down physician Cairo de Freitas from his position as chief of staff for the mayor of Goiânia, Paulo Garcia (PT).

The departure comes after opposition councilors revealed that he requested a meeting regarding the works at Mutirama Park (read more). here), which Cachoeira acted as mediator. Councilors Santana Gomes (PSD), Maurício Beraldo (PSDB), Geovani Antônio (PSDB) and Elias Vaz (PSol) revealed the episode in a press conference held last Tuesday (27) to deny that they were members of the “Cachoeira bloc” in the City Council. Read more at G1 report.

Here is the full text of the letter in which Freitas announces his resignation:

Today, March 29, 2012, I am resigning from my position as Chief of Staff at the Goiânia City Hall. I am doing this transparently in light of the incident reported yesterday regarding my meeting with opposition council members at Councilor Santana Gomes's house in August 2011, when we were discussing a political solution to the impasse in the Mutirama Park construction project. Regarding this meeting, it is necessary to state:

I participated in the meeting with the sole purpose of politically debating a solution for Mutirama; I met with the opposition councilors on my own initiative and determination. At no time did I receive orders or was I instructed to participate in this meeting by anyone.

I was naive not to realize that they could use this episode politically against the city hall and its mayor. I am resigning so that this scheme does not harm a productive and transparent administration like the one being carried out by the Goiânia City Hall.