What major political scandals and episodes of corruption have occurred in Latin America in recent decades?

Argentina. The resignation of President Fernando de la Rúa in December 2001, in the midst of a social outbreak that generated the implementation of a state of siege, with 27 deaths and thousands of injuries, and looting of supermarkets is the most dramatic moment. But the last 30 years of Argentine political history have been lavish in scandals of all kinds, such as the cause of the notebooks, the case of the sale of arms to Ecuador, Croatia and Bosnia (and the explosions of Río III in 1995), the Carrasco case, the case Yomagate, IBM-Banco Nación case, Antonini Wilson case, Ciccone case and the vip vaccination during the pandemic.

Brazil. The country went through two impeachment processes in three decades: Fernando Collor de Mello, the first president elected by direct vote after the end of the dictatorship, was denounced in 1992 for corruption by his own brother; while in 2016 Dilma Rousseff was also dismissed due to an open process in the Deputies based on a complaint by two lawyers with accusations of violations of the budget law (the so-called “fiscal pedals”) and the violation of the law of administrative improbity.

But the largest anti-corruption operation in the history of Brazil is the Lava Jato (Car Wash operation), which began on March 17, 2014 and ended last February. The investigation quickly turned into a gigantic scandal that affected some of the most important companies in Brazil, including the state oil company Petrobras and the Odebrecht group, and had consequences in almost all Latin American countries. The investigations landed powerful executives and politicians in prison. The most media arrest was that of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, although this year four convictions against him were overturned. Some of the prosecutors of the operation have been questioned for their alleged lack of impartiality in the investigations.

Chile. The most important corruption cases in the public sphere that have occurred in the last 30 years are: MOP Gate (payment of bonuses by the company Gestión Ambiental y Territorial Sociedad Anónima to officials of the Ministry of Public Works for work that had not been done, while the firm received unjustified payments for infrastructure concessions), Corpesca Case (financing of right-wing politicians, with the apparent objective of influencing their decisions within Congress), Caval Case (influence peddling to obtain funds for real estate deals , just after the 2013 elections; daughter-in-law and son of then-president Bachelet were implicated).

There is also the Penta Case (tax fraud and an illegal financing scheme for politics), SQM case (revealed illegal financing of politics through the same Penta mechanism involved politicians from the right and left), Armed Forces. (process for fraud in the Army to funds of the Reserved Copper Law by officers of the Chilean Army for their personal enrichment), Carabineros (one of the biggest frauds in the history of the Criminal Procedure Reform, in whose investigation high command was implicated of Carabineros). Meanwhile, the most important government crisis occurred in October 2019, with the social outbreak that led to changes in the cabinet and a constitutional reform agreement that would allow a plebiscite to be held on the possibility of writing a new Constitution.

Colombia. There are several historical cases: process 8,000 (through which the income of mafia money in Ernesto Samper’s presidential campaign was investigated), Agro Ingreso Seguro (delivery of resources to wealthy families with resources destined for farmers), Odebrecht, cartel de la toga (association illegal of judges to sell rulings), Reficar, Water Bonds and Yidispolitics.

Costa Rica. ICE-Alcatel (payment of gifts to officials for the award of 400,000 cell phone lines), CCSS-Fischel (loan for the purchase of medical equipment that involved important Costa Rican political figures, led by former President Rafael Calderón) and the Cochinilla case ( police investigation into alleged corruption in road works).

The Savior. One of the biggest political scandals was the dollarization of the economy and, 20 years later, the introduction of a new reform that turned bitcoin into legal tender, without prior study. The state truce with gangs can also be mentioned (for example, on September 3, 2020, a journalistic investigation by El Faro revealed that the Government of Nayib Bukele had been negotiating with the MS-13 for a year a reduction in homicides and electoral support) and the hybrid regime (in two years of government, Nayib Bukele has advanced with speed in his project to control all the institutions of the State). And the three presidents who ruled El Salvador between 1999 and 2009 were accused of corruption due to the diversion of public funds: Francisco Flores, Elías Antonio Saca and Mauricio Funes.

Mexico. The violation of the then head of the Federal District government, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (left) in 2005, promoted by then-president Vicente Fox (PAN). The master scam (case released in 2017, which outlines the triangulation of public money through universities and shell companies). Odebrecht (there is a line of investigation in the Attorney General’s Office to investigate bribes and company money in the presidential campaign of former President Enrique Peña Nieto).

Peru. The most memorable political scandals in these last three decades were the uncovering of corruption during the Fujimori era (whose government fell with the diffusion of the first Vladivideo) and the splash of the Lava Jato case in Peru, with the majority of its last presidents (Toledo, García, Humala, Kuczynski) investigated or detained, in addition to other former authorities. From the point of view of institutional breakdown, the closure of Congress in the government of Alberto Fujimori was experienced in 1992, without adjusting to the 1979 Constitution. Another case in the context of a pandemic was that of vaccinagate: in February 2020 it was learned that authorities and former state authorities, as well as others from the private sector, had agreed to doses of the Sinopharm vaccine for scientific personnel working directly on clinical trials.

Puerto Rico. The AIDS Institute case led to the arrest of an advisor to then-Governor Pedro Rosselló González, among other co-defendants. In all, a dozen government officials were charged with conspiring to steal more than $ 2 million of public funds that were supposed to be used in clinics specializing in treating patients with HIV or AIDS. In 2002, Víctor Fajardo and several of his assistants, who had been head of the Puerto Rico Department of Education, were accused of stealing $ 4.3 million dollars. Fajardo used part of the money to pay for the operations of the New Progressive Party (PNP). In 2008, the US authorities accused the then governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and 12 other people of conspiring to illegally collect funds to pay for the debts that the politician had maintained since 2000, when he aspired and obtained the public position of resident commissioner in Washington. And in 2019, the US government accused several close associates of then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares of embezzlement and of financially benefiting from the public functions they held.

Uruguay. Vice President Raúl Sendic resigned on September 9, 2017 when Tabaré Vázquez (Frente Amplio, left) was in power. This after expenses that he made with a corporate card of the state oil company Ancap were known, which included purchases in clothing, jewelry and electronics stores, among other places. The Court of Political Conduct of his party concluded that “Sendic had an” unacceptable behavior in the use of public money. ” He was also questioned because he presented himself as a graduate in Human Genetics received in Cuba and was not. One years later, the former Minister of Economy Fernando Lorenzo and the former president of the Banco República Fernando Calloia (during the government of José Mujica) were convicted of the crime of abuse of functions for their role in granting the bank guarantee to the Spanish airline Cosmo for that he could participate in the auction of the planes of the Pluna airline, in 2012. They did not go to prison. Meanwhile, in the mid-1990s there were reports of corruption against members of the government of Luis Alberto Lacalle (National Party, right). Presidential adviser Daniel Cambón and former Minister of Economy and former President of the Central Bank Enrique Braga were prosecuted. Lacalle said there was a “baguala onslaught” (an attack) against him.

Venezuela. An attempted coup in Venezuela was carried out by a group of soldiers on February 4, 1992 against then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez. The coup attempt did not achieve its objectives and the rebels surrendered. Just nine months later, a new attempt to remove Pérez from power occurred on November 27, 1992.

In March 1993, the Attorney General of the Republic, Ramón Escovar Salom, filed a request for a preliminary ruling on merit against President Carlos Andrés Peréz for the crime of willful embezzlement and embezzlement of 250 million bolivars -17 million dollars at that time. – from a secret game. This money would have been used to help Nicaraguan President Violeta Chamorro and Vice President Yesseany Medina Parra. As a result of this, the National Congress removed Peréz from the presidency. To date, he is the only Venezuelan president imprisoned with a final judgment for a corruption case.

On April 11, 2002, there was an attempted coup during the presidency of Hugo Chávez. It was preceded by a period of social and political instability in which the anti-government forces managed to unite after the success of the so-called civic strike, called for December 10, 2001, which managed to close a significant part of urban commerce, a strike 24-hour general convened by the Venezuelan Workers ‘Confederation and the Fedecámaras employers’ association, which began on April 9.

Also: the Antonini Wilson case, the Pdval case, the narco-nephews case, the Odebrecht case, the arrest of Alex Saab.

__________________