The president of the Joint Parliamentary Investigatory Commission (CPMI) on the Post Office, senator DelcÀdio Amaral (PT party, Mato Grosso do Sul state), and the commission’s rapporteur, deputy Osmar Serraglio (PMDB, Paraná), delivered the CPMI’s final report.
The document was handed to the Attorney-General of the Republic, Antônio Fernando de Souza, and the president of the General Accounting Office (TCU), minister Adylson Motta. Both recipients promised to continue the investigations.
Motta assured that the report, based on 11 months of investigations by the CPMI, "will be useful for the TCU’s investigative efforts."
The Attorney-General praised the CPMI and emphasized that, "the larger the number of investigative mechanisms in a State, the more successful the efforts will be." According to de Souza, the report will contribute to the Public Defense Ministry’s ongoing probes..
The CPMI’s final report will also be distributed to the Federal Police and the Federal Revenue Department. It will be up to these organs to decide whether to proceed with the indictments suggested in the report and the requests for further investigations.
MP Indicts Absolved
Among the 40 people formally charged by the Federal Prosecution Office (Ministério Público) of participating in the corruption scheme known as the "mensalão", are six deputies that the Chamber of Deputies has already absolved in floor votes.
They are: João Magno (PT, Minas Gerais), João Paulo Cunha (PT, São Paulo), Romeu Queiroz (PTB, Minas Gerais), Professor Luizinho (PT, São Paulo), Pedro Henry (PP, Mato Grosso) and Wanderval Santos (PL, São Paulo). In five cases, the exception being Pedro Henry, the Ethics Council recommended expulsion.
Also on the list are four deputies who resigned to escape facing the Ethics Council and a floor vote: Bispo Rodrigues (PL, Rio de Janeiro); Valdemar Costa Neto (PL, São Paulo); Paulo Rocha (PT, Pará); and José Borba (PMDB, Paraná).
Finally, also on the MP list are three deputies who were expelled by the Chamber of Deputies: José Dirceu (PT, São Paulo), Roberto Jefferson (PTB, Rio de Janeiro) and Pedro Corrêa (PP, Pernambuco).
New Generals
Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in a traditional ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto, met and congratulated 43 recently promoted general officers from the Army, Air Force and Navy.
In a speech at the ceremony, minister of Defense, Waldir Pires, declared that he was certain "The Brazilian nation, civil society, our children, our young people, our senior citizens, all know they can count on the Armed Forces in the construction of a decent, free and just country that we all want so much."
ABr