The Brazilian National Congress significantly weakened a popular bill aimed at combating corruption. Of the original 10 measures, only 4 remained and were modified. Measures removed included leniency agreements, criminalizing illicit enrichment, rewarding whistleblowers, and recovering criminal profits. This leaves the population distrustful of politicians and weakens democratic institutions. The episode demonstrates that some politicians prioritize maintaining power over ethics, as Machiavelli claimed. Widespread corruption in Brazil is rooted in political parties accepting money from private organizations in exchange for favors, and the only way to change this is political reform after new elections.

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THE PUTREFATION OF POWER STRUCTURES IN BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
The Brazilian National Congress, through the Chamber of Deputies, gave on November
29, 2016 a clear and evident demonstration that it has no commitment with ethics and
dignity to disfigure a project of law of popular initiative aimed at perfecting the legal
system in order to repress corruption and impunity in Brazil. Of the ten original
measures, only four were maintained, and with modifications. From the original text,
only transparency measures to be adopted by courts, the criminalization of cash 2, the
aggravation of penalties for corruption and the limitation of the use of resources in order
to delay proceedings remained.
The proposals removed by the Chamber of Deputies were as follows:
- Leniency Agreements - The deputies rejected the proposal that leniency agreements (a
sort of prize-giving in which companies recognize crimes in exchange for a reduction in
punishment) were entered into by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
- Illicit enrichment of civil servants - The deputies rejected the part of project of law
removed that made illegal illicit enrichment of civil servants criminal and provided for
the confiscation of property related to the crime.
- Reporting of good - One of the most important items to the rapporteur of project of
law that were left out of the creation of the figure of the "good report" to encourage
citizens to report crimes of corruption in any body, public or not. As a stimulus, his text
provided for the payment of a cash reward to anyone who did so.
- Prescription of penalties - The changes were also overturned to make it more difficult
to prescribe sentences, which is when the case cannot proceed because the court was
unable to complete it in a timely manner.
- Extended confiscation - In order to recover the profit of the crime, the text provided
for the so-called "extended confiscation" in cases such as organized crime and
corruption so that the criminal would no longer have access to the products of crime and
also that he did not enjoy the products of crime. This proposal, however, was rejected.
- Agreements between defense and prosecution - Another point that did not happen was
what allowed the realization of agreements between defense and prosecution in the case
of less serious crimes, with a definition of penalty to be approved by the courts. The
goal was to try to simplify the processes.
- Responsibility of parties - The plenary rejected points in the report of project of law
that predicted the responsibility of political parties and the suspension of registration of
the legend for a serious crime.
In addition to withdrawing several proposals, the deputies included in the project of law
the proposal of punishment of judges and members of the Public Prosecution for abuse
of authority. The amendment lists the situations in which judges and prosecutors may be
prosecuted, with a sentence of six months to two years imprisonment. It should be noted
that current legislation already provides for the crime of abuse of authority. Among the
behaviors that would become crime would be the performance of magistrates with
political-partisan motivation and the MP's presentation of action of administrative

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improbity against public agent in a reckless way. In this case, in addition to
imprisonment, prosecutors would also be liable to indemnify the accused for material
and moral damages or to the image that he caused.
The points approved by the Chamber were as follows:
- Responsibility of political parties and typification of the cash 2- Candidates who
receive or use donations that have not been declared to the Electoral Court will respond
for the crime of cash two, with a penalty of two to five years in prison. The text
provides for fines for political parties. If the funds come from sources prohibited by
electoral or partisan legislation, the penalty is increased by one third.
- Abuse of responsibility to judges and members of the Public Prosecution Service -
Among the behaviors that would become crime would be the performance of
magistrates with political-partisan motivation and the MP's presentation of action of
administrative improbity against public agent in a reckless way. In this case, in addition
to imprisonment, prosecutors would also be liable to indemnify the accused for material
and moral damages or to the image that he caused. The penalty provided in the text
approved is from six months to two years' imprisonment.
- Prevention of corruption, transparency - Courts will have to disclose information
about the processing time of proceedings for the purpose of expedite procedures.
- Increase of penalties and insertion of types in the Law of Heinous Crimes - It increases
the penalty for several crimes, including stelionate, passive corruption and active
corruption. These crimes will be considered heinous when the advantage or damage to
the public administration is equal to or greater than ten thousand minimum wages in
force at the time of the fact.
- Popular actions - Reinforces the rules for the presentation of popular actions, which is
already provided for in Brazilian legislation. The text specifies that, if the action is
deemed appropriate, the author of the action will be entitled to a 10% to 20% fee to be
paid by the defendant.
- Resources - Establishes rules to limit the use of resources in order to delay processes.
The Republic Attorney General, Rodrigo Janot, criticized the changes made by federal
deputies in the original text of project of law which deals with the Ten Measures to
Combat Corruption, a popular project encouraged by the Federal Public Ministry
(MPF). According to Janot, the changes put the country "in reverse in the fight against
corruption". According to Janot, "the 10 Measures against Corruption no longer exist".
The measures adopted by the Chamber of Deputies that disfigured the Anti-Corruption
project of law dramatically increase the disbelief of the Brazilian population in relation
to politicians and political institutions in Brazil, which is a great mark of our time. This
disbelief may pave the way for the breaking of the ill-fated democratic process in Brazil
with the introduction of an exception regime in the midst of growing popular
dissatisfaction. Popular dissatisfaction with politicians results from the fact that most
candidates for elected office in Brazil are not driven by the public interest, that is, to
promote political, economic, and social changes for the benefit of the population. This
is evidenced in the acts of the Brazilian National Congress and members of the
Executive Power self-protecting from “Lava Jato Operation” which investigates
corruption crimes and the government Michel Temer and his allies in the Brazilian

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National Congress by approving measures such as PEC 241 / PEC 55 that threaten the
interests of the Brazilian population.
This episode demonstrates that Machiavelli was right when he stated in 1513 that what
the politician most desires is the conquest, conservation and expansion of power. To
achieve and conserve that power no matter the means. The Brazilian political world is
governed by unorthodox acts, adjustments and agreements, has its own rules, and does
not follow the logic of Ethics that governs the moral conduct of people in general. As a
rule the politician is in the midst of ambitious, corrupt, violent, or insolent people. If
you cannot behave "realistically", you lose your power. It is the mutual relations of
force and not the intrinsic ethical disposition that dictate the most appropriate political
conduct. Conquering and maintaining power is the essential purpose of politics. It is in
this sense that Machiavelli coined his famous and most controversial phrase: "The ends
justify the means". Machiavellianism thus became synonymous with a political practice
devoid of morality and good faith, a cunning and rogue procedure that is exemplified by
deplorable behavior of the political class in Brazil.
Ethical and moral disgrace sum at the moment to the endemic corruption that is strongly
present in Brazil. The practice of corruption reaches all levels of government and all the
powers of the Republic through corrupt networks set up by corrupt elected candidates.
This practice has its roots in political parties and corrupt candidates for the various
elective positions that, in the search for resources to finance the expenses of their
electoral campaigns including the purchase of votes, are articulated with private
organizations that, after the elections, obtain the return of the Investment made with
facilitated access to the demands of the public sector (procurement, services and public
works), especially if the parties and candidates supported by them ascend to power.
How to change this sad reality? There is only one way: the resignation of the Michel
Temer government, the convening of an exclusive National Constituent Assembly to
carry out an effective political reform that contributes to building a true representative
democracy in Brazil centered on ethical and moral principles and then the realization of
general elections in the country. From a true Constituent Assembly should not
participate the current members of the Brazilian National Congress but citizens who are
not committed to current political practice and who decide to contribute to the
reconstruction of the political life of the country.
* 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
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 (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 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) .