Brazilian Adman Says Ex-President Cardoso’s Party Bilked Him of US$ 3.9 Million

Brazilian advertising executive, Marcos Valério, told Brazil’s Joint Parliamentary Investigation Commission that is probing charges of vote-buying in the National Congress (the CPI on vote-buying) that he was bilked to the tune of US$ 3.9 million (9 million reais) by the PSDB in 1998.

According to Valério, the campaign of the former Minas Gerais gubernatorial candidate, Eduardo Azeredo, incurred a total debt to him of US$ 4.84 million (11 million reais). Azeredo is now a senator and national president of the PSDB.


Valério recounted that he was repaid only US$ 881 thousand (2 million reais), leaving US$ 3.9 million (9 million reais) outstanding.


When asked what caused him to overlook the PSDB’s pending debt, he replied: “Let’s be honest. I wasn’t going to fight with the federal government at the time.” The president of the Republic in 1998 was Fernando Henrique Cardoso, of the PSDB.


The adman made public a list containing the names of 79 individuals who supposedly received campaign funds in 1998.


The loans, according to Valério, were negotiated with the current vice-governor of Minas Gerais, Clésio Andrade, who was president of the PFL in Minas at the time and candidate for vice-governor on Azeredo’s ticket.


Andrade used to be Valério’s business partner, and that is why he made the loans, Valério said. He didn’t provide any details on the origins of the funds that were transferred to Azeredo’s campaign.


The president of the PSDB, Azeredo, stated through his press office that he will not comment on the new declarations, since he already gave an explanation in the voluntary defense he submitted on August 2 to the Parliamentary Investigation Commission on the Post Office.


On that occasion Azeredo admitted that his treasurer, Cláudio Mourão, did not report all the funds used to pay for the campaigns of candidates who ran for deputy on Azeredo’s ticket.


According to the senator, Mourão asked SMP&B, one of Valério’s firms, to contribute financial support to the legislative candidates. He did not include these sums in the campaign expenses reported by Azeredo, because he believed that they should be reported by the legislators.


Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Suriname Identifies 18 Men Who Beat Up and Raped Brazilians

Suriname authorities say they have identified 18 men who led the aggression against Brazilian ...

What the US and Europe Can Learn From Brazilian Socialism

The crash of 2008 called the World Social Forum’s bluff. For years, the Forum ...

Can Brazil’s Gun Buy-Back Plan End Violence?

Marcelo Itagiba’s office is immaculate. His desk is a fine piece of furniture, built ...

10% Industrial Output Growth Brings Inflation Fears to Brazil

Industrial output in Brazil grew 9.7% in February, the highest in the last four ...

Brazil to Face International Crisis by Strengthening Domestic Market

In Brazil and Latin American in general stocks marked their own course on Wednesday ...

Uruguay Urges Brazil to Go Beyond Words and Take Action

Uruguayan Economy minister Danilo Astori said that relations with Argentina are "at their worst ...

English for Brazucas Tea, Cocoa, and Chocolate

Aiming at "simplifying," and to mark the difference, the English added nut to coco, ...

Norway’s Northern Oil Buys Offshore Oil Licenses in Brazil

Vancouver-based Naftex Energy Corporation announced yesterday that Norway’s Northern Oil, its parent company, has ...

Brazilians and Arabs Just Need a Few Adjustments, Says Minister

“Without knowing each another, we will be incapable of intensifying bi-regional cooperation,” said Brazil’s ...

Where is Lula? Not in Brazil.

By the end of 2003, Lula will have visited 38 countries during 22 international ...