The document discusses threats to Brazil's future from the neoliberal economic policies of the Michel Temer government and corrupt politicians seeking impunity. It summarizes the impact and ongoing investigations of Operation Lava Jato, which has uncovered over $6.4 billion in corruption involving politicians diverting funds from Petrobras. Corrupt politicians are now trying to undermine the investigation and adopt measures that could lead to impunity. Overcoming Brazil's economic and political crises will require mobilizing civil society to demand reforms that establish greater transparency, accountability and prevent ethical issues among public officials.

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“LAVA JATO” OPERATION AND THE FUTURE OF BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
Brazil faces threats regarding its future originated from the neoliberal economic policy
of the Michel Temer government and the disastrous action of corrupt parliamentarians
who seek impunity for the crimes of corruption they perpetrate. The Michel Temer
government deepens the neoliberal model in Brazil with its criminal policies of fiscal
adjustment to ensure the primary surplus that benefits the financial system by setting the
“ceiling” for public spending for 20 years, social security reform that, in practice, will
do with which workers pay to have a retirement that they will not enjoy in life, a labor
reform that contemplates the flexibilization of the labor laws that will benefit the bosses
to the detriment of the workers and, finally, the privatization of the state companies and
of the public service in general which benefits, above all, foreign capital. In turn,
corrupt parliamentarians entrenched in the National Congress seek to adopt legislative
measures to counteract the consequences of “Lava Jato” Operation that could lead to the
loss of elective terms and imprisonment.
Regarding “Lava Jato” Operation, which establishes the diversion of public resources
from Petrobras and other organs of the federal administration, it is important to note
that, after 3 years, it has added 198 prisons, 120 condemnations with more than 1,200
years of punishment, 5 politicians became defendants in the STF (Federal Court of
Justice) and recovered R$ 10.1 billion resulting from corruption. The Paraná
prosecutor's investigation indicates that the amount paid in the scheme exceeds R$ 6.4
billion and the total damages can exceed R$ 40 billion. “Lava Jato” Operation arrives at
a crucial moment with Odebrecht's delations of 83 requests for investigation submitted
by the Attorney General of the Republic,, Rodrigo Janot, to the Federal Supreme Court
(STF) to investigate politicians allegedly involved in corruption and money laundering
crimes. Currently 23 people are held in prisons. Among them are the deputy impeached
and Former president of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), former
civilian minister José Dirceu (PT-SP), former governor of Rio de Janeiro Sérgio Cabral
(PMDB-RJ) ) and former Finance Minister Antônio Palocci (PT-SP). There are also 24
other people who left the jail, but are still monitored by means of an electronic ankle
bracelet. Among them, there are investigators kept under house arrest.
In an attempt to avoid be framed for the crime of corruption in “Lava Jato” Operation,
corrupt parliamentarians entrenched in the National Congress disfigured the popular
initiative project known as an anti-corruption package to inhibit the performance of
Republican prosecutors. The changes made to the anti-corruption package were "clearly
retaliatory". Another initiative of corrupt parliamentarians was the draft law on abuse of
authority, as well as proposals for amendments to the Resource Repatriation Act and the
law dealing with leniency agreements with companies. All these proposals by corrupt
parliamentarians would be to open the possibility of impunity and amnesty for serious
crimes of corruption and money laundering. The latest initiative by corrupt
parliamentarians is to annihilate them with crime of cash 2 in election campaigns, as
well as to make a false political reform to secure their reelections in 2018.
One fact is quite clear: the Michel Temer government and the National Congress are
allied in order to satisfy the interests of the financial system with the nefarious
neoliberal economic policy and to protect the corrupt ones entrenched in ministerial
posts in the government and in the National Congress. Meanwhile, we are experiencing
deep economic stagnation with the widespread bankruptcy of thousands of companies

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and state and municipal governments and the social crisis with 12.5 million
unemployed. The social conflicts are expected to grow in the coming months due to the
inability of the Michel Temer government to offer answers to the economic crisis and
also to the social crisis. This situation will pave the way for chaos in the political
environment with unpredictable consequences, putting in check not only this
government that is at the service of the financial banks and corrupts, but democracy
itself in Brazil.
In order to reverse the serious economic situation and avoid the emptying of “Lava
Jato” Operation, there is no other way than to mobilize organized civil society without
which the country's economic future will be compromised and corrupt parliamentarians
will go unpunished. In order to overcome the economic crisis and to avoid the impunity
of corrupt politicians, the Brazilian people should demand the resignation of Michel
Temer and the constitution of a provisional government presided over by the president
of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which would then convene a new National
Constituent Assembly Exclusive, without the participation of parliamentarians involved
in corruption processes, to reorder the national life on new bases. The new Constituent
Assembly would deliberate on the implantation of a new political system in Brazil that
would contemplate the substitution of the present unfeasible presidencialism by the
parliamentarianism, the substitution of the bicameral regime by the unicameral with the
end of the Senate, the institutionalization of the social control of the elect by the people
that should dispose of instruments to initiate processes of impeachment when
candidates' electoral campaign promises are not fulfilled and the population's
participation in government decisions through plebiscite and / or referendum, among
other measures.
After the Constituent Assembly, general elections should be held throughout Brazil
based on the new constitutional order. The new government elected after the
Constituent Assembly should draw up an economic plan that will contribute to the
retaking of Brazil's development that will give the population and the productive sectors
a perspective of economic growth. In order to overcome the crisis of public
management in Brazil, the new Constituent Assembly would deliberate on how to carry
out the reform of the State and Public Administration in order that the Brazilian State
efficiently and effectively carry out its constitutional functions and reduce its operating
costs to minimize tax burden on taxpayers. Only then will it be possible to correct the
current distortions in order to eliminate waste and reduce public expenditures to reduce
the tax burden for companies and workers. In order to overcome the ethical and moral
crisis in Brazil, it is necessary for the National Constituent Assembly to deliberate on
how to prevent ethical and moral deviations from public managers, to punish all those
who violate ethical and moral principles, and to adopt immediate measures aimed at the
transparency of the acts practiced by public managers, the monitoring of organized civil
society in the monitoring of public sector management and the fight against crime. The
continuity and success of “Lava Jato” Operation depends on the measures that lead to
overcoming the moral and ethical crisis in Brazil.
* Fernando Alcoforado, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e

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Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável-
Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do
Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social
(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática
Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015) and As Grandes Revoluções Científicas,
Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016).