51吃瓜

According to businessman Marcelo Odebrecht, former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff knew all about the illegal financing of her 2014 campaign.

In 2016, Dilma Rousseff lost her office as聽the Brazilian president after a highly controversial impeachment process.聽Officially, she聽was ousted for having doctored the federal budget and committing fiscal crimes. Her supporters, however, cried foul and wrote off the impeachment as the reaction of a聽corrupt political establishment against an 鈥溾�澛爓ho refused to play by the men鈥檚 rules.

There鈥檚 no doubt that the Brazilian political establishment is corrupt. But how much truth is there in calling Rousseff an 鈥渉onest president鈥�? It depends on what we consider honest.

According to businessman Marcelo Odebrecht, the former CEO of Brazil鈥檚 largest construction firm, Rousseff knew about the聽dirty money financing her re-election campaign. In a statement to Brazil鈥檚 superior electoral court, Odebrecht said that the former Brazilian president was aware of his company鈥檚 massive contributions. She also knew that the money wasn鈥檛 on the campaign鈥檚 books.

In聽Brazil, however, people try to separate a politician who benefited from corruption to finance his or her聽campaign from the one who puts dirty money into their pockets. Rousseff, as far as we know, does not belong to the latter group. Unlike former Governor S茅rgio Cabral, she didn鈥檛 receive an allowance from corrupt businessmen. Nor did she spend $1 million during a Paris trip, as did the wife of former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, the nation鈥檚 poster boy for corruption. But can we still say that Rousseff was an honest politician, with no nuance in that assessment?

Of course, there is a moral gap between聽those who use dodgy campaign funds and those who use bribes to pay for a lavish lifestyle. But considering any of those politicians as 鈥渉onest鈥� is dangerous. Elected officials shouldn鈥檛 be able to pick and choose which laws they will respect.

Brazilian President Under Threat

In addition, Odebrecht鈥檚 statement further complicates the situation of incumbent President Michel Temer. Odebrecht is a聽key witness in the case that is investigating whether or not the Rousseff-Temer re-election campaign of 2014 received money from corruption schemes. The case began immediately after the election and continued even after Rousseff lost her office.

If the court decides on a conviction for the campaign, the presidential race will be annulled. The result will be the impeachment of Temer and new, indirect elections for president.

Temer鈥檚 defense team wants to prove that the presidential and the vice-presidential committees had separate finances. His lawyers say that he didn鈥檛 benefit from any funding coming from the Workers鈥� Party.

However, as聽 2016, that defense strategy has major holes. A聽construction company donated $300,000 to the Workers鈥� Party National Committee back in 2014. According to the executive, that money was a kickback. But the check in question was not to the Workers鈥� Party, nor to Rousseff鈥檚 campaign committee. The check聽had Temer and his party, the PMDB, as beneficiaries.

*[This article was originally published by , a partner institution of 51吃瓜.]

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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