Corruption is Everywhere - Especially in the Narco State of Mexico, and It Goes Right to the Top

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Mexican authorities discover 113 bodies in Jalisco mass grave

By Daniel Uria

At least 113 bodies were found in a mass grave in Mexico's Jalisco state following a nearly two-month long excavation.

Photo by Francisco Guasco/EPA-EFE

Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Mexican authorities discovered at least 113 bodies in a mass grave in Jalisco state, state attorney Gerardo Octavio Solis said.

During a news conference Sunday, Solis said 30 of the bodies had been identified, including 28 men and two women.

The grave was located in the El Salto municipality, southeast of the state capital Guadalajara. 

Authorities also said an additional 25 bodies have been found at another mass grave at Ixlahuacan de los Membrillo, nearly 19 miles south of El Salto.

A spokesman for the state's attorney's office told CNN they began excavating the grave on Oct. 1.

Jalisco is the base of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration deemed one of Mexico's "most powerful and fastest growing" drug cartels.

Jalisco authorities have exhumed 897 bodies from mass graves from 2006 to Sept. 30, 2020.

Mexico arrests cartel mastermind of Mormon massacre

which killed nine

A total of 17 suspects have been arrested in connection with the slaughter in Nov. 2019

The Associated Press 

Posted: Nov 25, 2020 6:31 PM ET

Nine members of the LeBaron family were murdered in the Sonora mountains in Mexico last year and

the alleged mastermind was arrested on Wednesday. (Herika Martinez/AFP/Getty Images)

Mexico's army and federal prosecutors said Wednesday they have arrested the purported mastermind of the killings a year ago of three women and six children from a well-known Mexican-American family, the LeBarons, on a rural road in the northern state of Sonora.

The suspect was identified only by his first name, "Roberto," in line with Mexican law against incrimination.

Another source IDs the massacre suspect as Roberto González, the plaza boss of La Línea in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua

The agencies said the suspect was arrested Monday along with two other men near the town of Nuevo Casas Grandes in the northern border state of Chihuahua. They had two rifles, three pistols and marijuana in their vehicle, officials said.

The three men were described as members of a drug cartel, but the agencies did not say which one. However, in the past, officials have attributed the killings to the Juarez cartel or its offshoot La Linea gang.

A total of 17 suspects have now been arrested in connection with the November 2019 ambush killings.

Members of local Mormon communities and relatives of the extended Le Baron family attended the funeral in Le Baron, Mexico last year. (Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Landau wrote in his Twitter account that the arrests represented "excellent cooperation between the authorities of both countries," though he did not say what role the United States played.

"There will be justice!" Landau wrote.

The mostly bilingual American-Mexicans have lived in northern Mexico for decades and consider themselves Mormons, though they are not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

More corruption accusations fly as ex-minister tries to make a deal

Rosario Robles accuses ex-finance minister of masterminding huge fraud scheme

Published on Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Mexico News Daily

The previous federal government left office almost two years ago but some of the many corruption scandals that plagued it have life in them yet and could result in the imprisonment of former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s right-hand man.

Media attention this week has focused on the so-called “Master Fraud” embezzlement scheme in which government departments allegedly diverted billions of pesos to shell companies via public universities.

The highest-profile former official who has been arrested in connection with the scheme is Rosario Robles, who served as both minister of social development and minister of agrarian development in Peña Nieto’s 2012-2018 government.

Videgaray and Robles in better days

 

A lawyer for Robles, who remains in custody in a Mexico City prison, claimed this week that former finance and foreign affairs minister Luis Videgaray was in charge of the fraud scheme and used it to divert public funds to political campaigns of the then-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Sergio Arturo Ramírez said his client will cooperate with the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and provide details about Videgaray’s involvement.

His claims were met with a firm denial from the former finance minister, who also faces accusations of wrongdoing related to a corruption scheme involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

Good grief! Who isn't involved in corruption schemes with Odebrecht?

Peru's Ex-President Toledo Denies Taking $20M in Bribes

Peru's President Kuczynski Refuses to Resign over Corruption Allegations

Ecuador's Vice President to be Tried on Bribery Charges

Robles, who was jailed over a year ago, took to Twitter on Tuesday (going online is apparently not a problem in the Santa Martha prison) to announce that she had agreed to become a “collaborating witness” in the “Master Fraud” case.

“For now it’s the only thing I can say. … I’ve instructed my lawyers to abide by the legal process. What I must say is that I will speak the truth,” she wrote.

Is she suicidal? Will she live long enough to tell the truth?

Robles added that she had asked her lawyers to seek an agreement with the authorities, apparently indicating that she is prepared to talk in exchange for acquittal or a reduction in any jail sentence she might receive.

“There will surely be those who deny the facts but the proof will speak [for itself],” she wrote.

Robles’ decision to cooperate with authorities came after it was revealed that she would face organized crime and money laundering charges in addition to being accused of improper exercise of public office.

Perhaps complicating her attempt to get out of jail are claims made by Emilio Zebadúa Gonzále, who was a high-ranking bureaucrat in the Ministry of Social Development (Sedesol) when it was led by Robles.

According to the newspaper El Universal, Zebadúa – who is also accused of involvement in the “Master Fraud” – told the FGR that Robles met with colleagues every week to plot the diversion of public funds via the embezzlement scheme.

Emilio Zebadúa claims that weekly meetings were held to plot the diversion of public funds.

Zebadúa also told the FGR that Robles and former Sedesol chief Ramón Sosamontes personally received cash that shell companies had received from public universities that were awarded government contracts.

The former official said that Sedesol and the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Urban Planning, which Robles headed up in the second half of the previous government’s term, diverted more than 1.2 billion pesos.

Zebadúa said Robles told him that Videgaray had explained to her that Sedesol needed to divert resources to pay for debts incurred and arrangements made during Peña Nieto’s 2012 presidential campaign. Videgaray was the ex-president’s campaign manager.

Former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya, who also worked on Peña Nieto’s campaign, has accused the former finance minister of striking corrupt agreements with Odebrecht in order to obtain millions of dollars in funding for the 2012 presidential bid.

Videgaray rejected Lozoya’s accusations against him in August, and took to Twitter again on Tuesday to respond to the claims made by Robles’ lawyer.

“I deeply regret that Rosario Robles is baselessly choosing to accuse me to try to get out of her legal situation,” he said in a statement posted to his Twitter account.

Videgaray said that he understands the “extraordinarily difficult” situation Robles is in but asserted that “desperation cannot be justification for lying and incriminating innocent people. That mustn’t be the path to obtain her freedom,” he wrote.

“Rosario Robles can say many things but what she won’t be able to do is prove lies. I didn’t have any participation, direct or indirect, in the so-called Master Fraud,” Videgaray said.

“As a public servant I always acted within the legal framework and the only evidence that has emerged against me with respect to the alleged diversion of public resources are statements of people [Robles and Lozoya] who want to evade responsibility,” he wrote.

“I was never the boss of Rosario Robles. As cabinet colleagues we were equals – there was never a relationship of subordination between us. Neither her nor her co-workers received instructions from me.”

Despite his denials, government officials who spoke with the newspaper Milenio say the FGR already has sufficient evidence against Videgaray for him to go to jail. Information to be provided by Robles is only expected to strengthen the Attorney General’s Office’s case.

President López Obrador said earlier this month that the FGR had sought an arrest warrant for Videgaray in connection with the Odebrecht case but was blocked by a judge. It is currently preparing a new warrant request for the former cabinet minister, who – according to the statement he issued Tuesday – remains in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In a document that accompanied its first request for an arrest warrant for Videgaray, the FGR accused Peña Nieto of leading and personally benefiting from a criminal scheme within his government that paid bribes to lawmakers and committed treason.

However, it is not currently seeking to arrest the former president. There is a possibility that the FGR could seek to do so if a majority of citizens vote in favor of putting past presidents on trial for alleged wrongdoings at a referendum planned for next year.

Narco-submarine abandoned off Oaxaca coast

Published on Monday, November 23, 2020

Mexico News Daily

An anonymous tip led navy personnel to an abandoned makeshift submarine on the Oaxaca coast that is believed to have belonged to drug traffickers operating between South America and Mexico.

It is not known which criminal organization it belonged to and neither people nor drugs were found on the vessel, which had appeared near the town of Barra de la Cruz, located about 30 kilometers east of Huatulco.

Drug traffickers frequently use various marine routes to transport a myriad of drugs from Central and South America to destinations all over Mexico within five to 15 days. Authorities believe that in this case, traffickers were intending to transport cocaine or amphetamines on the submersible vessel.

Intending? Looks to me like they did.

It first became evident that cartels were building DIY submarines to transport drugs by sea in 2005. Authorities believe the submarines are built in Columbia, Ecuador or Guyana.

In December 2019, a submarine carrying over a tonne of cocaine bound for Mexico was caught off the coast of Peru with a Columbian, Ecuadorian, and a Mexican aboard. At the time, authorities said the vessel had been loaded in Ecuador near the border with Peru and that it was the first such drug-trafficking submarine ever caught in Peru.

According to the country’s anti-drug agency, the majority of Peru’s cocaine is exported via maritime routes.

Barra de la Cruz, MX

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Peruvian Presidential Politics - Suicide

Ex Peruvian president dies after shooting himself in the head moments before arrest

FILE PHOTO Former Peruvian president Alan Garcia © REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia has died after shooting himself in the head as police arrived at his home to arrest him. The ex-president was rushed to hospital, but doctors could not save him.

As police officers knocked on his door on Wednesday morning, Garcia shut himself in his room and shot himself in the head. The former leader was rushed to hospital, reportedly suffered multiple cardiac arrests during surgery, and died several hours later.

Peruvian president Martin Vizcarra confirmed Garcia's passing, sending his condolences to the late leader's family and loved ones.

The former leader sought asylum in Uruguay last November, after a judge barred him from leaving Peru for 18 months. The asylum request was denied, and a judge in Lima ordered his detention on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Garcia took bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for a lucrative public transport contract in Lima. Garcia denied the charge, and claimed he was being politically persecuted.

IMHO - people don't shoot themselves for being wrongfully accused; they fight to clear their name and reveal the truth.

Peru's Last 5 Presidents implicated

Peru’s last five ex-presidents have all served jail time or are under investigation for corruption. Garcia’s successor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, is also being investigated for his alleged involvement in the Odebrecht scandal. Prosecutors are currently seeking to extend Kuczynski’s detention until he can be brought to trial.

Colombia Officials Probe Cyanide Death of Corruption Witness' Son

Corruption is Everywhere 
Certainly everywhere in Latin America where Odebrecht is working

By Renzo Pipoli

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Edson Fachin has overseen a case in Brazil related to the multinational Odebrecht corruption scandal. File Photo by Joedson Alves/EPA

UPI -- The Colombian state attorney's office is examining why deadly cyanide was present at the home of a leading witness in a case related to Brazilian-based Odebrecht, a company involved in bribe-for-contracts schemes across Latin America.

The state attorney's office started investigating after Alejandro Pizano died last weekend after he drank liquid he found on the desk of his father, Jorge Pizano, a former comptroller in a highway construction project and key witness in the Odebrecht case who'd died three days earlier.

Tests showed Alejandro Pizano's death was due to "cyanide poisoning," the state attorney's office said. Investigators are now trying to figure out why the poison was even there.

Alejandro Pizano was in Colombia for his father's funeral. He died of a heart attack Thursday, El Colombiano reported.

At the time of this death, Jorge Pizano was a key witness against the former head of a state agency in charge of infrastructure projects, and was himself being investigated as part of a 2017 bribery probe related to Odebrech, LaFM media reported Tuesday.

Jorge Pizano, who was ill with terminal cancer, made news in recent days because of an audio recording he provided to news media. In the three-year-old recording was evidence he spoke with Colombian State Attorney Nestor Martinez when Martinez was a company official involved in a project involving Odebrecht. Pizano alerted him about his suspicions of irregularities by Odebrecht. Martinez never notified authorities.

The conversation occurred before the arrest in Brazil of Marcelo Odebrecht, when news of the company's corruption schemes led to a series of investigations in many countries.

After the audio was released last weekend, Martinez said he'd asked Pizano if he was "certain" the irregularities he found were "bribes." Pizano answered he was not, which Martinez said is why he didn't notify Colombian authorities.

When the recording was made in 2015, Martinez was a juridical adviser of Corficolombiana, a partner of Odebrecht, El Espectador reported Tuesday. He became state attorney general in 2016.

After the audio was made public, Martinez said the Brazilian company did not admit to illegal payments but was willing to pay for any questioned contracts.

Odebrecth has been involved in investigations in several countries that started after Brazilian authorities discovered schemes in which former company officials bribed government officers in exchange for infrastructure projects.

The Odebrecht-related investigations have affected leaders and former leaders across the region. The testimony of former CEO Marcelo Odebrecht, who's serving a 19-year sentence in Brazil, has led to detention and lawsuits against former presidents, political leaders and other high-ranking authorities.

Astonishing Corruption in South America and How to Clean it Up

Brazilian bishop ‘stole $600,000 from church collection plates’

Corruption is Everywhere - Catholic church, Brazil

A bishop and several priests in Brazil have been charged in connection with the theft of more than $600,000 belonging to parishioners.

Police arrested Bishop of Formosa José Ronaldo Ribeiro as well as a number of other clergymen Monday after police found large quantities of cash during a raid on Ribeiro’s home. They group are accused of pilfering funds, amounting to 2 million reais ($608,000), from various sources.

Ribeiro and four other priests allegedly stole money from collection plates, donations and fees paid for weddings and baptisms. The supposedly ill-gotten gains were then used by the group to buy a cattle ranch and a lottery ticket shop, according to Brazilian media Globo TV.

Ribeiro scored something of an own goal when parishioners became suspicious and reported him to authorities, who then opened an investigation in 2015. Prosecutors charged a total of 11 people with misappropriation of funds, money laundering, ideological falsehood and criminal association on Friday.

WikiLeaks lawyer talks corruption & more with

ex-Ecuadorian President

Corruption is Everywhere - South American  politics

Ex-Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa sits down with prominent Spanish judge and WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon. The two of them talk transnational, corporate “neocolonialism” and the fight against corruption.

Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa © Daniel Tapia ‘Telling the vain from the profound’: Ex-Ecuadorian president’s show to premiere on RT

Following in the footsteps of former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, the outspoken Rafael Correa is set to become the latest top-tier politician to host a program on RT. His weekly show, ‘Conversations with Correa’ (Conversando con Correa) mainly revolves around the major social and political problems gripping the world.

This time corruption, multinational corporations and smear campaigns against Latin America’s progressive leaders top the agenda of Correa’s show. His guest is Baltasar Garzon, a renowned Spanish lawyer and head of Julian Assange’s legal team.

“Turning the fight against corruption into an ideology issue is a very dangerous phenomenon,” the lawyer opines, citing the example of Brazil’s President Inacio Lula da Silva who was sacked from the post following a long corruption row.

“I think this is a gross injustice,” Garzon says, adding that Lula’s successor, President Dilma Rousseff, was also accused of being corrupt. Rousseff “as an honest person, should not have been removed from office through impeachment,” the WikiLeaks lawyer states. “This, from any point of view, is a shame.”

Recalling his experience as head of state, Correa remarks: “I can say there is a lot of ideological talk when it comes to combatting corruption.” According to Correa, who led the Ecuadorian government for over a decade, there is a myth that “corruption exists in state institutions only.”

"Normally, the state is neither better nor worse than the society it represents,” he posits. “People often think that the fight against corruption is the responsibility of the President, the head of state, but in fact it is the duty of the entire people.”

Correa stresses that fighting corruption has often been used in Latin America to target political opponents, and Garzon agrees. “Justice has become extremely prejudiced and biased against all those people who, in one form or another, were supporters of the previous government,” the lawyer says, recalling former Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner whose tenure was marred by several corruption scandals.

“It came even to the point that when a corrupt official is exposed, he is not condemned for the very fact of being corrupt, but for being caught in such a stupid way,” Garzon adds.

Almost a direct quote from something I wrote last year!

It was Correa who, in 2012, granted asylum to WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, despite harsh criticism from the UK. Assange is still exiled in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Cleaning Up: The Brazilian Judiciary Roots Out Corruption

By Vanessa Ruales | Harvard Political Review

In 2002, there was an air of excitement in Brazil as the Workers’ Party (PT) came into power. The new party, led by its exceptionally charismatic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, promised unparalleled change to the political establishment, among them reforms aimed at stamping out the country’s age-old problem of corruption. Now, the Workers’ Party—and Lula himself—is ironically decimated by its own graft: the Odebrecht scandal.

Odebrecht, Latin America’s largest construction firm, was one of various companies that paid millions of dollars in bribes to Brazilian officials in exchange for contracts with Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil firm. The investigation in response to the scandal, Operation Lava Jato, uncovered the systemic graft of the country’s most powerful executives and politicians. 

The investigation marks a momentous change in Latin America: governments have finally been forced to answer to corruption allegations at the highest levels of government and business, breaking a long tradition of the public’s tacit acceptance of corruption as simply the way the government works.

What led to this avalanche of governmental accountability in Brazil? What accounts for the sudden successful prosecution of so many figures in government and business? The answer lies within the unexpected but powerful force of the judicial reforms the PT made during its 13-year rule. These anti-corruption reforms have not only made corrupt leaders suffer the consequence of their actions, but have also begun the process of creating a culture among the populace of an intolerance towards corruption.

Imagine that! What a concept!

Brazil’s Jeitinho Culture

Brazilians have long been accustomed to a government riddled by corruption. In fact, Brazil’s judiciary has been plagued by a tacit cultural acceptance of corruption as a necessary evil. This belief is so deeply entrenched in Brazilian society that there is even a term for it: the jeitinho brasileiro, or the Brazilian way. The justification for this acceptance? A common expression among Brazilians regarding their public officials explains it simply—Rouba mas faz—The Brazilian politician steals, but gets things done. Consequently, instead of serving as a check on the power of Congress and the Executive, the judiciary was nothing more than a tool for Brazilian politicians.

Lula da Silva during his first presidential term, December 2002.

Prior to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration, the legal process was known for its misconduct and lack of political independence. The government deliberately overwhelmed courts with time-consuming, inconsequential cases. Because the 1988 Constitution granted citizens a seemingly endless right to appeal decisions, small cases languished in the system for years. The government often took advantage of this fact to avoid paying its debts. Similarly, instances of corruption by judges were also common; some judges were known to have sold more lenient sentences to convicted criminals. Therefore, Lava Jato took the world by surprise when the investigation exposed a legal system tremendously effective at rooting out corruption.

The Story of Lava Jato  

While the Lava Jato investigation originally began as a simple money laundering operation, the investigation soon uncovered evidence of corruption in the Brazilian government.  In February 2014, investigators were led to Posto da Torre, a popular gas station in the heart of Brasilia during an operation inspecting doleiros, or money launderers. There, the police unexpectedly found a currency exchange and money wiring machine in the gas station that allowed executives from Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company, to steal company money and move it to overseas accounts. These doleiros worked for Paulo Roberto Costa, a Petrobras executive who became the principal link to exposing dishonest public officials. He revealed to investigators that he and other Petrobras executives had routinely overpaid and provided extremely profitable terms to companies they hired for various contracts, such as the building of oil refineries. These companies would, in return, pay one to five percent of each deal back to Petrobras executives, amounting to about $3 billion in bribes.

Ultimately, the Lava Jato investigation not only implicated minor local officials, but even prominent figures in the national government. When whistleblower Delcídio do Amaral, leader of the Workers’ Party in the Senate, was jailed on corruption charges, do Amaral immediately turned on other politicians, providing to the police a testimony that implicated 74 minor officials. Within his testimony, do Amaral provided evidence that implicated corrupt politicians from all parties, flagrantly demonstrating to the Brazilian public and the world the extent of graft in the government. Most surprisingly of all, he contributed the accusations that placed scrutiny upon former President Lula da Silva and his hand-picked successor, then-President Dilma Rousseff.

The National Congress of Brazil

This corruption investigation entangled not only Brazil’s leading domestic politicians, but also powerful officials abroad with the discovery of Odebrecht’s involvement. Probes into these cases revealed that, in the same way, the company paid bribes to officials all over Latin America to secure lucrative construction contracts. Consequently, the Odebrecht scandal rocked the world with a staggering $800 million in payoffs, and $7 billion in settlements.  

Reforms Under Lula Begin Fight Against Jeitinho

Although Lula ran on a campaign of anti-corruption, numerous instances of graft in his administration prompted widespread protests; in response, Lula enacted a set of anti-corruption measures that later proved to be crucial in the Lava Jato investigation. The most important of these changes was to provide more power and more resources to federal police and prosecutors, according to Jonathan Watts, Latin American correspondent from The Guardian. In a recent interview, Watts told the HPR that “The key step was in allowing public prosecutors to vote for the attorney general.” Consequently, the ability for prosecutors to choose their own attorney general led to the appointment of  Rodrigo Janot, who was ruthless in his prosecution of corruption. Not only did Janot keep the Lava Jato investigation running despite major backlash from politicians left and right, but he also maintained the rule of law when he charged Lula and Rousseff with corruption, even though Rousseff had appointed him four years prior.

In addition to this change in electing the attorney general, Lula also enacted a set of laws fighting anti-corruption that profoundly improved courts’ efficiency, enabling them to process more corruption cases. Among these statutes were Law 11417, which allowed the Supreme Court to judge cases based on stare decisis, the legal principle which allows previous decisions made in similar cases to stand. This in turn allowed for the reduction of the Supreme Court’s massive caseload. The Court’s more than 11,000 judges were thus able to focus more resources on trying anti-corruption cases. Thee changes symbolized a crucial step in strengthening the judiciary and eventually weakening jeitinho culture.  

Lawmakers Unintentionally Root Out Corruption

When Brazilians saw that the Workers’ Party government had enacted legislation in response  to their original demands, the public took to the streets again in 2013. More than a million protested the government’s corruption as well as excess spending and an increasing scarcity of government services, which was caused by a deep economic downturn and made worse by preparations for the impending World Cup and Olympics.

After witnessing the satiating effect of anti-corruption legislation in Lula’s administration and whilst feeling the pressures of economic malaise, Rousseff enacted four anti-corruption laws: the 2011 procurement reforms, 2011 freedom of information law, 2013 Clean Company Act, and, most importantly, the 2013 organized crime bill. Andrew Spalding, professor of law at the University of Richmond (UR) School of Law and head of U.R.’s Olympic Anti-Corruption Research Team, discussed Lula’s legal reforms with the HPR. “The organized crime bill is by far the most important of the four major legal reforms in blowing open the Odebrecht bribery scandal. This is underappreciated, even among Brazilian lawyers.”

What lawyers and lawmakers did not appreciate, Spalding explained, was the two principal provisions of the bill: obstruction of justice charges and extended leniency agreements. The former referred to the stipulation that those who were charged with obstruction of justice were subject to the same punishment as if they had been accomplice to the crime or had committed the crime themselves. The latter referred to the greater ability of judges to grant plea bargains, or a reduction in a criminal’s sentence in exchange for providing information to the police that could aid them in arresting a more heinous criminal. Prior to the bill, judges could only reduce a sentence by two-thirds, but now had the authority of going as far as dropping charges.

Without the combination of these laws, the organized crime bill, and the reforms made under the Lula administration, Lava Jato could not have occurred. Freed up from trivial cases and an independent Attorney General, judges like Judge Sergio Moro took harsh stands on corruption, refusing bail from the arrested elite. This measure was enough to convince Nestor Cerveró, the Petrobras executive, to talk to the police about a plea deal and to provide the further evidence necessary to untangle the web of corruption. 

By spring of 2017, plea bargains implemented by the organized crime bill implicated 77 involved individuals. Furthermore, the obstruction of justice charge allowed for an added pressure on defendants, as they not only faced their own charges of obstruction of justice, bribery, and other crimes, but also implicated their families in the process. 

Brazilian federal judge Sergio Moro

Consequently, what started as a routine money laundering investigation led to billions of dollars in settlements for companies involved, brought executives like Marcelo Odebrecht to justice, investigated graft in more than 100 powerful politicians, and scrutinized even the makers of the reforms, Lula and Rousseff. The sentencing and impeachment of these two figures, although controversial, signals that Brazil’s judiciary has made great strides in effectively fighting corruption.

The Future of Corruption in Brazil

Although these reforms appear to have reduced corruption in Brazil, the current presidency of Michel Temer, an outspoken advocate of dismantling Lava Jato and the leader of Brazil’s most corrupt party, the PMDB, has led to concerns about the efficacy of  these reforms. Temer has been charged with racketeering and obstruction of justice, funneling federal money to key officials that could help him avoid a conviction.

However, Brazil’s judiciary may still prove to be resilient in the face of such challenges. Latin America expert and professor of government at Harvard University, Steven Levitsky, explained, “for a long time, Brazil’s judiciary has grown more independent, more sophisticated for decades.” Given this fact, and Brazil’s increasing economic development (thus creating a society more demanding of democracy), it is likely that this slow change will continue regardless of Temer’s presidency.

The idea of the resilient strength of Brazil’s judiciary is especially pertinent considering the upcoming presidential elections. As of January 2018, recently convicted ex-president Lula da Silva is the lead candidate at 35 percent, according to Reuters, while the Trump-like right-wing dark horse candidate Jair Bolsonaro is in second place. In a country where the two leading presidential candidates have either been convicted of corruption or criticized for charges of racism and sexism, Brazil’s political future appears to be bleak.

However, Levitsky’s analysis of the Brazilian people’s predicament provides hope: the judiciary system has strengthened for so long that it has changed Brazilians’ expectations of their leaders. Their probable choice of Lula as their next president is not a reflection of the continued approval of the jeitinho, but a reflection of the fact that the system is so corrupt that it is difficult to find a clean and capable candidate. Consequently, it will take time for the system to change along with this judicial and cultural shift. While Bolsonaro’s candidacy is worrisome and likely indicates growing political and economic discontent, the results of Lava Jato are clear. The people have changed their expectations and will continue to demand a clean government, thus slowly continuing to strengthen Brazil’s jewel: its judiciary.

Peru takes ex-president’s passport amid corruption probe

In this photo provided by Peru’s presidential press office, Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski waves to government workers and supporters outside the House of Pizarro government palace and presidential residence one day after offering his resignation in Lima, Peru, Thursday, March 22, 2018. Kuczynski announced his decision to resign in a nationally televised address, accusing opponents of plotting his overthrow for months and making it impossible to govern. Lawmakers are slated to debate whether or not to accept his resignation on Thursday. (Peruvian presidential press office via AP) (Associated Press)

By Associated Press 

LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Saturday barred recently resigned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from leaving the South American nation for 18 months while he’s investigated for money laundering.

The ruling came a day after congress accepted Kuczynski’s resignation and swore in Vice President Martin Vizcarra as his successor.

Kuczynski, 79, is being probed for some $782,000 in payments his consulting firm received a decade ago from Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant at the heart of Latin America’s biggest-ever bribery scandal. Some of the payments took place when Kuczynski was a government minister, raising questions about whether they were made in return for political favors.

The former Wall Street investor has denied any wrongdoing. He said the consulting firm, Westfield Capital, was then being managed by his business partner and that he paid taxes on all earnings from that era.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $800 million in bribes to officials across Latin America including $29 million in Peru.

At the same time the hearing was taking place, prosecutors carried out a search of Kuczynski’s home in Lima and another property outside the capital.

“Peru since the 19th century has watched the sad show as presidents and ex-presidents flee the country and justice,” said Hamilton Castro, the anti-corruption prosecutor who had requested Kuczynski be barred from leaving Peru. “This is the historical behavior that we seekers of justice have to take into account.”

Kuczynski’s lawyer promised his client’s full cooperation and said he would abide by the prosecutor’s request not to leave the country. Kuczynski was not present at Saturday’s hearing.

Kuzynski is the fourth former Peruvian president to be investigated for taking payments from Odebrecht. One is currently in jail while another, Alejandro Toledo, for whom Kuczynski served as finance minister, has refused to return to Peru from the U.S. to face charges.

Peruvian President Kuczynski Resigns Amid Corruption Probe

Corruption is Everywhere - President of Peru

The third President this week, and it's only Wednesday
2 Previous Presidents are also under investigation

By Danielle Haynes 

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski stepped down Wednesday after months of calls for his resignation. File Photo by Olivier Douliery/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced his resignation Wednesday amid an investigation into his connection to the Odebrecht corruption scandal.

Lawmakers have called on the president to step down for months after documents revealed Brazil-based Odebrecht paid $780,000 from 2004-07 to a consulting business set up by Kuczynski.

Last week, Kuczynski said he received a $700,000 payment from an Odebrect affiliate for contacts during a closed-door congressional hearing. The payment came between his time as prime minister and economy minister, and president, something critics said was a conflict of interest.

Even his prior supporters pushed him to resign in recent days amid allegations he attempted to reward members of Congress for their vote against his impeachment.

The 79-year-old is one of the highest-ranking politicians in Latin America to face downfall over the Odebrecht scandal. In a plea deal with the United States Justice Department last year, the construction firm acknowledged it paid nearly $800 million in bribes to secure infrastructure contracts, including $29 million to Peru during 2005 to 2014. The company was fined $2.6 billion over its role in the scandal.

Impeachment proceedings against Kuczynski were scheduled to begin Thursday.

Peru's President Kuczynski Refuses to Resign over Corruption Allegations

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Peru

Lawmakers said they have documents that prove Kuczynski was paid $780,000 from Odebrecht while he was a government minister

By Susan McFarland 

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru looks on during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House. Lawmakers on Thursday have called for Kuczynski to step down for his connection with a corruption probe but he refused to resign, denying the allegations. Pool Photo by Olivier Douliery/UPI | License Photo

See also:
Peru's Ex-President Toledo Denies Taking $20M in Bribes

UPI -- Despite lawmakers calling President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to step down for his connection with a corruption probe, he refused to resign on Thursday.

Lawmakers said documents received from Brazil-based Odebrecht prove that before Kuczynski became president, from 2004 to 2007 the company paid $780,000 to a financial-consulting business set up by Kuczynski, the company's sole director.

Kuczynski denies any contact with Odebrecht and refutes claims that he received money from the company while he was a government minister. The president also said he would allow investigators to examine his bank accounts.

During a video statement Thursday, Kuczynski acknowledged owning the company, Westfield Capital, but said a business partner dealt with Odebrecht contracts during that time.

"I'm not going to abdicate my honor, my values or my responsibilities as president of all Peruvians," Kuczynski said. "I won't run. I won't hide. I have no reason to do so."

In a plea deal with the United States Justice Department last year, Odebrecht acknowledged it paid nearly $800 million in bribes to secure infrastructure contracts, including $29 million to Peru during 2005 to 2014. The company was fined $2.6 billion over its role in the scandal.

Lawmakers from the Popular Force party said Kuczynski should immediately step aside; the Broad Front party said Congress should force the president out.

Ecuador's Vice President to be Tried on Bribery Charges

Corruption is Everywhere - Especially in South America

By Ed Adamczyk 

UPI -- Vice President of Ecuador Jorge Glas will face trial on bribery charges, the country's National Court of Justice ruled.

Of course, Brazil is involved

Glas is the highest-ranking politician indicted thus far in a widespread scandal involving Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company. The U.S. Department of Justice revealed in December that Odebrecht paid $788 million in bribes across 12 Latin American and African countries for preferential treatment in obtaining infrastructure construction projects. Over $33.5 million in bribes were paid in Ecuador, former Odebrecht executive Jose Conceicao Santos admitted in a plea deal. Prosecutors accuse Glas of talking $13.5 million, or about one-third of the money paid in Ecuador. Glas denies the charges.

As part of a plea deal, Jose Conceicao Santos, a former Odebrecht executive in Ecuador, admitted that the company had paid $33.5 million in bribes since 2007 to secure infrastructure contracts in the country.

Glas was arrested on Oct. 2, and has been in custody without bail since that date. He will be tried for illicit association and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Twelve others allegedly involved in the corruption scandal are also in custody in Ecuador. Politicians in Mexico, Peru, Panama and Brazil have been identified as involved in the corruption scandal.

With charges mounting against him, President Lenin Moreno relieved Glas of his government duties in August.

Glas has said he is a victim of political and media persecution. In a letter from jail to his children, released to the public immediately after the decision to try him, he wrote, "Your father is imprisoned because he was direct and for always standing up. Your father never flees. Someday you will understand all this. The example of my actions is the best legacy I can give you. Always remember that you never have to resign yourself to threats, hatred, and injustice."

Peru's Ex-President Toledo Denies Taking $20M in Bribes

Corruption in 3rd world countries is rampant, and arguably, not a lot better in developed countries. 

Cleaning up corruption, at least somewhat, is necessary if 3rd world countries are ever going to

emerge into the developed world.

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo allegedly took $20 million in bribes from the Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht. He denied the accusations following a raid conducted by Peru's Public Ministry on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Alejandro Toledo

By Andrew V. Pestano  

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo denied taking bribes as part of the Odebrecht corruption scandal after prosecutors searched his home.

Investigators raided Toledo's home in Camacho on Saturday as part of a Peruvian government effort to probe the extent Odebrecht's confessed bribery scheme influenced Peru's officials and businesses.

"Special prosecutor's team continues to work for more than five hours in raiding Alejandro Toledo's house in Camacho," Peru's Public Ministry said in a statement. "The documentation found in the house of ex-President Toledo will be evaluated by the Public Ministry."

Jorge Barata, Odebrecht's former executive director who is cooperating with authorities, accused Toledo of receiving $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht for a contract to build a highway between Brazil and Peru.

Politicians in several countries are accused of accepting bribes -- either personal bribes or bribes distributed to their political party -- in exchange for lucrative government contracts for Odebrecht and Braskem, another Brazilian firm.

Toledo dismissed the accusations as an unfair political attack against him.

"I express my deep concern about the politicization over the information of the cases handled by the Public Ministry," Toledo said in a statement. "I will appear before the court every time it is mentioned again, although I do not have supporters, comrades or ex-lawyers in the fiscal and judicial function."

Odebrecht in December agreed to pay at least $2.6 billion in criminal penalties over its role in the massive corruption scandal.

Brazilian Judge Heading Corruption Probe Dies in Suspicious Plane Crash

Teori Zavascki was leading Operation Carwash, a corruption probe 

that has already taken down several high-ranking government

officials and was expected to investigate several more

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki died in a plane crash Thursday night when the small plane he was in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Foul play was immediately suspected by many because of Zavascki's role in the Operation Carwash corruption probe, which already has brought down several high-ranking officials in the Brazilian government. Photo by Fernando Bizerra Jr./European Pressphoto Agency

By Stephen Feller 

(UPI) -- A Brazilian Supreme Court justice was killed Thursday in a plane crash, with some in Brazil suggesting the crash was not an accident because of his leadership in a corruption probe that has already taken down several powerful politicians.

Justice Teori Zavascki was killed when the Beechcraft King Air C90 went down in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Brazil between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Thursday night for unknown reasons.

Officials were still searching for much of the plane, but had pulled three bodies from wreckage and confirmed Zavascki was on the plane. With Zavascki on the plane was Carlos Alberto Filgueiras, owner of the Emiliano hotel chain, and the pilot, Osmar Rodrigues. News outlets also reported a woman died in the crash, but had not identified her.

Zavascki, appointed to the Court in 2012 by impeached former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff last year, was known for making bold moves against government corruption.

Acting President Michel Temer declared three days of national mourning to honor Zavascki as a "modest tribute to someone who has served the judiciary, the courts and the Brazilian people so well."

In Brazil, where the Supreme Court handles corruption cases involving government officials, Zavascki was leading Operation Carwash, an investigation into money laundering that involved the government-owned oil company Petrobras and the arrest of several high-ranking government officials.

Operation Carwash centered around billions of dollars in bribes paid to Petrobras for hiring specific construction firms at much higher rates than necessary. The probe already has led to the impeachment and arrest of Brazil's former speaker of the house Eduardo Cunha and led to Rousseff's impeachment. Temer and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (are also being investigated).

The investigation, involving at least 6.4 billion reais ($2.63 billion) in bribes for contracts with state-run enterprises, has led to the jailing of dozens of senior executives and threatens to batter the ruling coalition of President Michel Temer. Sydney Morning Herald

Recently, Zavascki was reviewing evidence from a $2.1 billion plea deal involving the construction company Odebrecht, which reportedly implicated dozens of Brazilian politicians as having been paid off -- fueling suspicion the plane crash was not just an accident.

Mr Zavascki's plane crashed into the sea in heavy rain. BBC

Lauro Koehler, who saw the crash, said the plane appeared to be making to sharp a turn just before it crashed, "but the plane kept curving, to the point that my wife screamed, 'It's going to crash!' Then the place dropped into the sea.

Sounds innocent enough. Where there is heavy rain there is often microburst winds which can flip a plane pretty quickly. It does, however, look awfully suspicious in its timing. It will be somewhat telling when we see who replaces Zavascki and how he/she conducts the investigation.

Roberto Veloso, president of the Association of Federal Judges, Marcio Anselmo, a federal investigator in the corruption probe, and Luciana Genro, leader of the Socialism and Liberty Party, all called for an immediate investigation into the crash. Genro noted it was suspicious that Temer, implicated in the probe already, will name Zavascki's replacement.

"This 'accident' needs to be thoroughly investigated," said Anselmo in a since-deleted Facebook post after Zavascki's death was confirmed.

Huge loss: Analysis by Daniel Gallas, BBC News, Rio de Janeiro

In Brazil's tumultuous times, where political divisions are running deep in virtually every institution, it is hard to find truly independent voices.

But Judge Teori Zavascki was arguably one such voice. The Petrobras investigation gained much credibility when he was appointed to oversee the case in the Supreme Court.

A few days from now, the court will start analysing the plea bargain deals struck with 77 executives from Odebrecht, a construction company that admitted corrupt deals with Petrobras.

This has the potential to be the most explosive moment in the long-running Petrobras case, as new revelations are expected to be made against top politicians.

Without Judge Zavascki at the helm of this process, Brazil's Supreme Court will have an extra challenge in convincing the public it can resist pressure from the powerful.

It just drives me crazy to think that billions of dollars are slipped under the table to already wealthy people when Brazil has hundreds of thousands of children who have to sell themselves to perverts in order to get enough money to keep from starvation. There will be a reckoning one day!