Marconi abandons his defensive stance and attacks Época magazine.

Goiás 247 – Beset by a whirlwind of accusations that intensified in recent days, the governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, decided to go off the defensive. The last straw was a report this weekend in Época magazine, called "The Three Friends," about business deals that Demóstenes Torres and Carlos Cachoeira allegedly handled on behalf of the governor (read more). here).

In a statement released late Saturday afternoon (21), the government claims that Época magazine is lying when reporting new telephone conversations intercepted by the Federal Police in Operation Monte Carlo. “Based especially on the imagination of its editors and on recordings that are selectively leaked to it with clear political intentions, the magazine mystifies the facts, weakens the press’s commitments to democracy and, even more seriously, lies,” the statement says.

The note interprets the report published on Friday (20) as “a campaign against Governor Marconi Perillo”. The magazine, according to the government of Goiás, “attempts, in an erroneous and inconsistent way, to involve his name in suspicious, irregular or illegal activities”. For this, “Época selects fragments from more than 30 hours of recordings and, with these cherry-picked conversations, tries to construct situations that would be, at the very least, embarrassing for the governor, if true”.

Under the title “The Three Friends,” Época magazine, in a report, makes available the full transcripts of conversations – 5,9 gigabytes of information – which are under seal in the 11th Federal Court of Goiânia. According to the magazine, Governor Marconi Perillo “ordered the awarding” of a contract to Delta that could yield R$ 1,2 billion – the construction of a light rail vehicle that was never even put out to tender. The publication “cannot prove even a single benefit granted immorally or illegally by the governor,” counters the Palácio das Esmeraldas (the state government headquarters). Below is the full text of the statement.

Note from the Government of Goiás

In what appears to be a campaign against Governor Marconi Perillo, Época magazine once again publishes a report on Operation Monte Carlo in which it attempts, erroneously and without substance, to implicate his name in suspicious, irregular, or illegal activities. To this end, Época selects fragments from over 30 hours of recordings and, with these cherry-picked conversations, tries to construct situations that would be, at the very least, embarrassing for the governor if true.

The magazine cannot prove even a single benefit granted immorally or illegally by the governor or his government to anyone. In the previous edition, it tried to establish a connection between him and the Delta company, and the entire story was debunked by the facts and information released by the government. Now, in edition number 740, it repeats the strategy. Therefore, we have the following to inform you:

1. Época magazine omitted an important part of the transcript of the response it requested and received from the government. Therefore, we are transcribing here what the magazine asked and what was answered:

Question: Why did the governor instruct Edivaldo Cardoso to meet with representatives from the company Politec in March 2011? How did this company help him in his campaign?

Answer: All businesspeople who seek out the governor are referred by him to the appropriate agencies so they can learn about government projects and matters. This is done transparently. Information is provided by those responsible for each area of ​​government, always adhering to the principles of ethics, integrity, and transparency. Proof of this is that in Marconi Perillo's three terms, there has never been a scandal or challenge to any bidding process. This argument is reinforced by the fact that the national and local press has been trying, since the beginning of the disclosure of Operation Monte Carlo, to find any act by the governor or his government that may have irregularly or illegally benefited individuals or companies. And absolutely nothing has been found.   

2. In the current report, Governor Marconi directs Mr. Barros to the Detran (Department of Motor Vehicles), and in the recordings released by Época magazine, he only asks that the head of the agency receive him. There is no request from the governor to hire the company. Época should have bothered to verify how contracts are made by this government, the level of interference or participation of the governor in bidding processes and contracts. The article itself contradicts its own basis, which would be the governor's alleged relationship with Mr. Cachoeira. From what can be heard in the recordings, the hiring of Politec goes against Mr. Cachoeira's interests. If the report itself publishes recordings in which the individuals complain about the governor and Politec, where did it find evidence of favoritism or involvement of the governor with the Cachoeira group?

3. Época magazine does not point to a single deal or contract made during the current administration with the participation or interference of Mr. Antônio Perillo. It only suggests, based on dialogues that it itself cunningly selects and strings together, a link between the government, Mr. Antônio, and Mr. Carlos Cachoeira. There is a lack of evidence or consistent indications that there was actually favoritism or even participation by Mr. Antônio Perillo in any contract signed during the current administration. Once again, the inconsistency of the report is evident.

4. Regarding the VLT (light rail vehicle) project, the absurdity is even greater. How could a government with only two months in office, grappling with enormous problems of all kinds, promise a project to anyone? At the beginning of March 2011, the date of the recording on which Época magazine bases its report, the VLT was not even being considered. Today, more than 15 months later, the government is still developing projects and studies for a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) to implement the VLT. A project of this size, when completed, will be contracted through a bidding process, which will be widely publicized and, we believe, also highly competitive. How could the governor order a project that didn't even exist on paper to be awarded to some company? This is further proof that Época failed to identify at least one deal or benefit from the current government for Mr. Cachoeira and Delta. In fact, in the vast majority of the recordings released, one always hears some of them complaining about the way they are being treated by the state government. And it's worth remembering that Mr. Wladmir Garcêz stated in his testimony to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry that he invented business deals and improperly used the names of the governor and secretaries to strengthen his position with his bosses.

 4) If Época magazine were to investigate Mr. Edvaldo Cardoso's management at Detran and the relationship between him and the governor, it would conclude that the then-president did not exert any influence, outside of his regular duties at the agency, on the governor or other members of the team.

Based primarily on the imagination of its editors and on recordings selectively leaked to it with clear political intentions, the magazine distorts the facts, weakens the press's commitment to democracy and, even more seriously, lies.

Government of the State of Goiás