beyondbrics

Brazilian minister faces corruption scandal over alleged kickbacks on government contracts. Sound familiar?

Six of Brazil’s top ministers have been forced to resign since June, and it looks like it could soon be seven. This time we’re talking about Carlos Lupi, the labour minister (pictured).

An exposé in the Brazilian magazine Veja (often the first whiff of trouble), accused the ministry over the weekend of demanding bribes from non-governmental organisations contracted to provide training programmes.

Lupi immediately fired one of his advisers but denied any wrongdoing and said he still had the full support of President Dilma Rousseff.

“To get me out, you’d have to shoot me,” Lupi told reporters on Tuesday, adding: “it would have to be a big bullet because I’m a big guy.”

Unfortunately for Lupi, though, everyone who has found themselves in the firing line lately has invariably been shot.

Here’s a run-down:

1. June 7: Antonio Palocci, chief of staff, quits after allegations that he got rich by giving inside government information to companies.

2. July 6: transport minister Alfredo Nascimento resigns following reports his aides were charging companies a fee to win contracts.

3. August 4: Defence Minister Nelson Jobim (the odd one out) quits after getting into trouble for calling other ministers ‘idiots’.

4. August 17: agriculture minister Wagner Rossi resigns after allegations he accepted free air travel and bribes from agricultural companies.

5. September 14: tourism minister Pedro Novais quits after he is accused of misusing public funds, including claiming bills at a sex motel as official expenses.

6. October 26: sports minister Orlando Silva resigns following reports he arranged up to R$40m ($23m) in kickbacks to benefit himself and the Communist Party of Brazil.

7. Labour Minister Carlos Lupi?

Dilma’s so-called ‘spring cleaning’ may not be winning her many friends in Brasília but it certainly seems to be going down well with the average Brazilian. (Corruption allegations in the press are no new thing in Brazil – it’s just that the government hasn’t normally paid so much attention.)

In response to Lupi’s bullet comments, one Brazilian twitter user wrote: “Come on, then! Where’s BOPE?! (the elite police squad set up to tackle Rio de Janeiro’s drug gangs).”

Related reading:
Dilma sheds ministers like bananas, beyondbrics
Brazil: another minister bites the dust, beyondbrics
Rousseff continues spring cleaning, beyondbrics
Rousseff’s fiscal plans under threat as top minister quits, beyondbrics
Dilma’s popularity survives crisis, beyondbrics