Brazil has had in modern times citizens of the most varied tendencies occupying the presidency. It had a nationalistic civilian dictator (Getúlio Vargas), a developmentist (Juscelino Kubitschek), a lunatic (Jânio Quadros), a populist leader (João Goulart).

It also had several military dictators (Castelo Branco, Costa e Silva, Garrastazu Médici, Ernesto Geisel and João Figueiredo), a politician (José Sarney), an irresponsible (Fernando Collor), an intellectual (Fernando Henrique Cardoso) and now an union leader (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva).

Almost all the doctrinaire and political models were attempted, but none of them solved once and for all the serious social and economic matters that ravage us. Au contraire, the difficulties only become bigger.

Getúlio advanced in the social realm, Jango also tried but didn't get any place. Juscelino implanted the development bases, but his achievements started to be corroded by Jânio.

The generals kept the sovereignty, but banned freedom. Sarney behaved as a classical politician, neither meat nor fish, and Collor revealed the saddest side in the category.

FHC alienated the public patrimony, opened wide the doors for speculators and ruled for the top floor.

After so many frustrations, hopes turned to Lula. The devil is that the promises of change he made were not kept. Everything stayed the same, with the aggravating circumstances that corruption has reached unimaginable levels.

Faced with this, in one of his demolishing speeches, expressing the national conscience, senator Pedro Simon asked if we are going to try now the messianic experience.

All we need is a religious fanatic to start a political campaign proclaiming that God ordered that we vote for him. In this case, we'd all kneel and intone hallelujah songs, during the political rallies, fearful of the hellfire, that he himself will dispense.

This is an experience we haven't had yet...

Without Answer

A pronouncement that caught the Senate's attentions, on these Fridays that have already become traditional as center of political attention, was the one made by senator Cristovam Buarque, from Brasília's PT.

Brasília's former-governor preached about the urgency of creating a new PT, having in mind the failure of the current party. Otherwise, he said, pretty soon we will not have any PT at all.

The corruption accusations involving illustrious figures of the party, plus the campaign promises not kept by Lula, make the situation critical. The PT risks disappearing if it does not change, Cristovam added.

With regard to "mensalões" (the big monthlies), said the senator, that money used to buy votes opposing any changes, besides being immoral is innocuous.

The Brasília senator was referring to the charges that deputies from the PP, PL and PTB received 30,000 reais (about US$ 12,000) a month to vote in favor of projects committed to the preservation of the social, political and economic status quo. Or to abstain from voting in projects involving big changes.

He was scathing in the analysis of his party's behavior. He sustained that the PT from São Paulo treats the companions of other states as mere satellites.

They have a restricted vision, as if Brazil fit in the space between the ABC region of São Paulo and Paulista Avenue in downtown São Paulo.

He called for more energy from the PT, hoping that it stops putting so much effort into São Paulo's internal disputes and starts thinking more about the whole country.

The curious in this impassionate speech by Cristovam Buarque is that there was no reply from any petista (PT member) from São Paulo. Or any other state for that matter.

Lists

A day doesn't go by in Congress, without the surfacing of lists guessing who will be sacked for involvement in the "mensalões".

You cannot name names, because among other things you run the risk of committing injustices, but what can be heard in the House is that Roberto Jefferson will be sacked.

In the other hand, as a counterpart to the beheading rumors that circulate like wind through the congressional aisles say that there will be compensation: José Dirceu (House representative and former Chief of Staff) would also lose his mandate. There are others: leaders of the PL, PP and PTB. The names most mentioned by the press.

Do they want to stifle the scandal sacrificing just a few, when the mensalão was distributed to 60 or more congressmen? This hypothesis would make the demoralization of the Legislative even worse.

It will not be easy to sack so many, but if the accusations are true this is the only medicine that will work. And nobody dare to say that it is impossible to identify all of them, because each one walking to the scaffolding will not fail to suggest the name of others...

Carlos Chagas writes for the Rio's daily Tribuna da Imprensa and is a representative of the Brazilian Press Association, in Brasília. He welcomes your comments at carloschagas@hotmail.com.

Translated by Arlindo Silva.

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