After Dilma, will Brazil keep up its massive corruption case?
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| Workers repair a tank of Petrobras oil company in Cubatao, Brazil, on April 12. |
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| Dilma Roussef , Brazilian President |
An average political conversation in Brazil these days invariably goes something like this:
Person 1: Brazil’s a mess, isn’t it.
Person 2: Yeah, what a mess!
Person 1: And how about this impeachment thing?
Person 2: Oh, I [loathed/loved] Dilma. I’m [happy/sad] that she’s gone.
Person 1: But the “Car Wash” investigation … that’s really important.
Person 2: Oh yeah. Whatever happens, we can’t shut that down. That would be a disaster for the country.
Person 1: You got that right!
Brazilians are divided over the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.
But if there's one thing the vast majority agrees on, according to polls, it's this: The two-year corruption case known as Operacao Lava Jato, or Operation Car Wash — the alleged multibillion-dollar bribery scheme ensnaring politicians and Brazil's major oil and construction companies — cannot be neutered or slowed down by the change in government.
There is a real threat that it could.
The new president, Michel Temer, himself is accused of requesting campaign funds linked to the illicit corporate kickbacks. Temer denies it.
A couple weeks after Temer took over from Rousseff in May, his new anti-corruption ministerresigned along with another cabinet member after leaked private recordings suggested they wanted to oust Rousseff and derail the Car Wash investigations. Soon a third minister quit over allegations he was linked to the oil company scandal.
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