Brazzil

{mosimage}The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) into the operation of the Brazilian Post Office has already produced one concrete result: It has perverted the politicians' coherence.

Those who were until 2002 contrary to the establishment of CPIs have been favorable to them since Lula took office in 2003. Those who were in favor before are now opposed.

It is still too early to know whether or not this CPI will exonerate the government. One thing is certain: The people will continue to be ignored and will ultimately lose, no matter what the results may be.

If a CPI is set up, we will learn whether or not part of the Post Office resources lined the pockets of some manager of the enterprise.

We will not, however, be calculating what part of the public resources is regularly diverted to satisfy the interests of the privileged class.

We create CPIs to investigate diversion of public funds by politicians and public employees, but we do not set up a CPI to examine the implicit diversion of the priorities of public policies.

We are not setting up a CPI to study the concentration of income: What policies, laws, and measures have, throughout our history, diverted money destined for the majority into the pockets of the minority and made Brazil one of the world's most unequal, unjust countries?

We are not setting up a CPI to investigate K-12 education and determine why and how Brazil abandoned the education of its people and compromised their future.

We are not setting up a CPI to study the poverty and social exclusion: Which public policies impeded the economic growth from spreading throughout Brazil and allowed 70 million Brazilians to remain in permanent misery, excluded from all the advantages of progress?

We are not setting up a CPI to investigate regional inequality: What created unequal regional development, accentuating the difference in the quality of life among our regions?

We are not setting up a CPI of the cities: What forced the abrupt migration from the countryside to the cities and provoked a demographic explosion that transformed our large cities into true urban chaos?

We are not setting up a CPI of the ecology: Who is responsible for the hideous crime of burning the Amazon, dirtying our water, polluting the air of our cities?

We are not setting up the CPI for the study of abandoned children: Why and how are there abandoned children in Brazil and who is to blame for the existence of these street children who commit petty crimes, engage in child labor, and are exploited sexually?

We are not setting up a CPI of all the corruption: What made us a country with so many corrupt people showing such disrespect for the public, with so many people so lacking in solidarity and patriotism, where the state and the people are constantly robbed, a country geared to favor personal interests?

We are not setting up a CPI of Brazil: Why did one of the Third World countries showing the most promise in 1970 enter the twenty-first century surpassed by dozens of others in terms of development and equality?

We are not setting up a CPI of the budget: Once again each member of the Brazilian Congress will receive a budgetary proposal for each city, for each state, and for the nation, this time for 2006.

Without taking into account the necessities of the people, of Brazil, of the future, they will again passively observe the diversion of public funds to satisfy the interests of the organized sectors, the groups of Brazilian who are already privileged, and the demands of the present.

The budget is the major center of the corruption of the nation's priorities.

Nearly 4.3% of the budget goes towards paying interest, 3.15% goes for the surplus, and merely 1.6% is destined for the actions of universalizing and improving education that are bringing about the transformations that Brazil so needs.

That is the greatest of the diversions. It comes about legally and with congressional approval.

Cristovam Buarque has a Ph.D. in economics. He is a PT senator for the Federal District and was Governor of the Federal District (1995-98) and Minister of Education (2003-04). You can visit his homepage - www.cristovam.com.br - and write to him at cristovam@senador.gov-br.

Translated from the Portuguese by Linda Jerome - LinJerome@cs.com.

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