In a ten-minute speech to the nation on radio and TV, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared that his administration is not “sweeping dirt under the carpet.”
He said that if ever a government was relentless in fighting corruption, it was his.
Lula compared fighting corruption to housecleaning. “Dealing with corruption is like cleaning up a house that has been dirty for a very long time,” he said.
The president went on to say that illegal money-making schemes set up before he took office were being dismantled.
“The police are breaking up gangs who have stolen billions and billions of reais. Some of these gangs have existed for many years but nobody did anything about them,” he said.
Lula pointed out that the sudden appearance of this “trash” could create the wrong impression.
“It might seem that there is more corruption, when, in reality, there is more corruption combat. We have increased the number of investigations and arrests. That is what people are seeing everyday on the TV and the newspapers,” he declared.
“Never before in Brazil have so many important and powerful people been arrested for corruption and malfeasance. There have been judges, police chiefs, politicians, policemen and high ranking civil servants arrested. In the past they engaged in criminal activities for years, sometimes for decades, with impunity,” said Lula.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br