A Brazilian expert in military coups against elected governments, Michel Temer -- a man who for many years was able to evade the hands of justice thanks to the immunity that afforded him a seat in Congress -- has finally been arrested for leading a criminal mafia. He was detained in Rio de Janeiro and flown under heavy security to the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, where he will be tried.
Even though he is in preventive custody, there is ample evidence that Temer received huge amounts of money from entrepreneurs in exchange for favors, usually in the form of juicy contracts with the Government that he then illegally headed.
One of the charges deals with an illegal payment of one million dollars supplied by Engevix, one of Brazil’s major companies, to Temer’s Minister of Mines and Energy Moreira Franco, in exchange for several favors that netted that company several millions of dollars in profits. Moreira Franco has also been arrested along with Temer.
This anticorruption sting is headed by Judge Marcelo Bretas, who has directed the arrests of several other officials and former officials also involved in the criminal scheme. By the way, Mr. Temer developed all this criminal activity after taking part in the plot that deposed the elected President of Brazil, Ms. Dilma Rousseff. Temer was appointed Provisional President by the Brazilian Congress, and was never elected by popular vote.
Now, the Brazilian judiciary has opened a legal process against Temer, who previously used his parliamentary immunity to avoid being arrested for many of the charges levelled against him. Not even Temer’s close association with the current Minister of Justice was able to save him from being arrested and charged with corruption.
It is evident that Mr. Temer has played his part and is now being thrown out like a rotten egg. The politician that now heads the Brazilian Government apparently considers Temer as a smelly piece that must be discarded.
Recalling The Godfather, the novel by the brilliant author Mario Puzzo, Mr Temer’s arrest is nothing personal. Just business. Mario Puzzo includes some of the tricks used by the Godfather and his clique to stay on top. However, Temer’s enemies should be hoping that the defendant keeps his mouth shut.
Otherwise, the perverbial human waste will hit the fan.
