Bolsonaro: “I Put an End to Lava Jato, Because There’s No More Corruption in the Government.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Yesterday afternoon, October 7th, President Jair Bolsonaro said he had put an end to Operation Lava Jato because, according to him, “there is no more corruption in the government“.

The statement came during a ceremony to launch the ‘Voo Simples’ program (Simple Flight – designed to simplify civil aviation and promote sector growth), at the Planalto Palace in Brasília.

“It’s with pride and satisfaction that I have to tell this wonderful press of ours that I don’t want to end lava jato… I ended up with Lava Jato because there is no more corruption in the government,” said the President, applauded by officials present at the event. “I know that this is not a virtue, it’s an obligation. We have an open government,” he then added.

Despite Bolsonaro’s statement, the prerogative to shut down Lava Jato does not rest with the Executive Branch, but with the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR). The prospect of shutting down the task force in Curitiba in January 2021, as planned by the PGR, casts uncertainty over the future of a number of investigations still in progress and has mobilized the team’s prosecutors to call for the operation to be continued.

Lava Jato prosecutor Roberson Pozzobon said in an interview with CNN Brasil in September, that “it is impossible” to complete the more than 400 ongoing operation investigations by January.

76th Lava Jato stage took place yesterday

With 76 stages triggered since 2014, the Lava Jato operation often uses evidence gathered during investigations to put the puzzle together by submitting new reports and calling for further investigation of its ramifications.

In September, deputy prosecutor Maria Caetana Cintra dos Santos, of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office Higher Council, prolonged the operation Lava Jato task force in Curitiba for a year, in a preliminary decision that conflicts with the Prosecutor General’s Office leadership.

Yesterday morning, the Federal Police launched a new stage of Operation Lava Jato, named “Sem limites III” (Unlimited III). Officers served four search and seizure warrants in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The actions were intended to deepen investigations into alleged criminal practices committed by the Petrobras Supply Management, specifically in the executive management of Marketing and Sales, according to the corporation.

In six and a half years of operation, the list of people convicted under Operation Lava Jato was marked by prominent names such as ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Minister José Dirceu, entrepreneur Marcelo Odebrecht, ex-Chamber president Eduardo Cunha, ex-governor Sergio Cabral and ex-director of Petrobras Nestor Cerveró, among others.

Elected with open support for Lava Jato

Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 with a campaign plank promising full support for Lava Jato, and encouragement for the fight against corruption. In November that year, Bolsonaro wrote that “those who today oppose or relativize Lava Jato are also against Brazil and Brazilians. I fully support the operation that is pulling the country out of the hands of those who were destroying it!”

After the elections, the President invited Judge Sérgio Moro, who oversaw Lava Jato cases, to join his government as Minister. However, Moro announced his resignation in April this year following the dismissal by Bolsonaro of the PF (Federal Police) director-general Maurício Valeixo, a professional trusted  by the ex-judge.

At the time, Moro said that Bolsonaro wanted to interfere in the Federal Police. “The President wanted to have someone in his personal contacts, from whom he could obtain intelligence,” he said. “And it’s not really the role of the Federal Police to provide this kind of intelligence.”

Program launch

President Jair Bolsonaro took part in the launch of the ‘Voo Simple’ program, a set of measures to modernize rules and reduce costs in the general aviation sector. The Chief Executive was alongside other officials and entrepreneur Luciano Hang, owner of the Havan stores.

The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the Ministry of Infrastructure’s program comprises over 50 initiatives “in favor of the aviation industry, particularly for professionals, aircraft operators, and small-sized companies”.

Minister of Infrastructure Tarcísio de Freitas, Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes, and ANAC’s director-president Juliano Noman attended the ceremony at the Planalto Palace.

Source: UOL