![]() ![]() Meanwhile, justice has been plodding and less fierce for politicians from the coalition of center-right and rightist parties now opposing the PT. The impeachment was based on questionable grounds formally related to minor fiscal mismanagement but was framed by her partisan opponents as part of a broader corruption scandal in which Rousseff was not in fact implicated.Ī year and a half later, Rousseff’s mentor and predecessor from the PT, Lula, was prosecuted and imprisoned on more serious corruption charges - yet the legitimacy of the prosecution was tainted by the fact that the (by Brazilian standards) speedy and non-exhaustive legal process appeared calibrated to disqualify Lula from the 2018 presidential election. ![]() For instance, in 2016, conservative Brazilian politicians succeeded in impeaching center-leftist President Dilma Rousseff from the Workers’ Party (known by its Brazilian initials, PT). With the new zeal for prosecuting corruption in Latin America has come the weaponization of corruption investigations. In Guatemala, President Jimmy Morales has for the past year been seeking to shut down the anti-corruption agency CICIG - an effort that in the past month gained traction with baseless allegations that the CICIG has been manipulated by Russia (see also recent events in Honduras).Įven more threatening to the rule of law, though, has been selective prosecution - often unintentional on the part of anti-corruption crusaders in civil society and accountability agencies of the state. Most obviously, this involves attempts to shut down entire investigations and dismantle agencies that prosecute corruption. These public officials are exploiting the tools of the law and an open civil society to subvert anti-corruption investigations and the rule of law. From Guatemala to Argentina to Honduras to Brazil, politicians are using their positions of power and control over legislative levers to weaken the rule of law, rewriting policy and manipulating investigations to shield themselves yet take down opponents. First, malfeasant legislators and executives - rightly recognizing this historical opening as an existential threat to their job security and freedom from imprisonment - are fighting back. Paradoxically, the current round of corruption investigations could ultimately undermine democracy in Latin America more than fortify it.Ĭorruption investigations in Latin America threaten democracy in two ways. The message that no one is above the law is hailed as a critical advancement for democracy. Indeed, independent judiciaries and legislatures, as well as media and civil society, are showing their willingness to hold powerful people to account for their bad behavior. When a top political leader is brought low, the process is often framed in the international media as a sign that democratic mechanisms and the rule of law are triumphing in Latin America. ![]() ![]() Radiating outward from this one city block, “Operation Car Wash” has become a sprawling web of allegations, indictments, and convictions that implicate top companies, businesspeople, and politicians throughout Latin America.Īmong the most significant people to fall in this scandal thus far have been Peruvian ex-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who resigned on March 23 to avoid impeachment, and Brazil’s leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was imprisoned on April 8. One of the most important stories in Latin American politics in recent decades begins with a 2014 Brazilian federal investigation into a Brasília gas station/laundromat where cars were washed and clothes and money laundered. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |