Posted on 06/14/2005 6:21:13 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - The politician who accused Brazil's governing party of paying bribes to win votes testified before Congress Tuesday that top presidential aides knew about the payoffs.
Workers Party officials distributed cash to congressmen, "often arriving at predetermined locations with two huge suitcases full of cash," said Rep. Roberto Jefferson.
Jefferson, leader of Brazil's Labor Party, said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's chief of staff and finance minister were aware of the bribes but did nothing to stop them.
The monthly "allowances" of more than $12,000 came to an end after Jefferson said he informed Silva, known popularly as Lula, about the corruption this year.
"The president was shocked and tears fell from his eyes," said Jefferson. "President Lula is innocent. He put a stop to the bribery."
Jefferson acknowledged that he had no independent proof to back up his claims, which have been denied by the chief of staff, Jose Dirceu, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci and other Workers Party officials.
"I have no evidence, but I am a witness to it," Jefferson said.
Jefferson's accusations gained credence when the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper published an interview Tuesday with opposition Rep. Raquel Teixeira in which she confirmed that she was offered money to consider changing parties.
Investors who have punished Brazilian stocks since the claims surfaced last week, handing the market-friendly Silva administration its worst-ever political crisis.
But after Jefferson's testimony, which offered no surprises, shares closed up 3.4 percent on Tuesday.
Jefferson alleges the Workers Party used the payoffs to congressmen to keep Silva's fragile governing coalition intact. The party does not have a majority in Congress and relies on support from a patchwork of other parties across the political spectrum to pass legislation.
During his testimony, Jefferson accused only one congressman by name of taking the bribes - Rep. Valdemar Costa Neto, the leader of the small Liberal Party. And Jefferson did so only after Neto repeatedly demanded the names of politicians who had received payoffs.
"market-friendly Silva administration..."
Wasn't this the guy the media told us was a socialist?
That seems to be the new deal with South American leaders, talk like a hard leftist to the people but otherwise do the opposite.
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