The video in which Emílio Odebrecht says the scheme is 30 years old and blames the press and the Powers

Brazilian media lobby

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Some days ago, Brazil is taking over the vision of the Odebrecht clan about Brazil and its structures of power. One of the phrases that has become famous is that the group's patriarch, Emilio, 72, blames the press and the "Powers" for an alleged omission regarding the public cash-strap that he says has been going on for decades.

"What we have in Brazil is not a five-year deal, ten years ago. We are talking about 30 years ago "to emphasize in his statement that the system created by the contractor to thrive in Brazil, based on bribery and corruption payments, is not today.

After describing his trajectory in the company, started around 1966, Odebrecht-pai says that the system of corruption of politicians with the company has existed for decades. That is, even before he joined the company, at the time presided over by his late father, Norberto Odebrecht.

"All that is happening is an institutionalized business, it was a normal thing," says the patriarch. "Because of that number of parties, where they fought, was it because of charges? No, everyone knew it was not "It was for fat budgets," he says, and explains the parties' way to get such budgets. "The parties then put their leaders to raise funds for the party, for politicians. That's been done for 30 years, "he repeats.

Odebrecht decided to make an award agreement only after its president, Marcelo Odebrecht, son of Emilio, had been sentenced to 19 years in prison by the Lava Jato in March last year. At that time, he had been bitter for almost a year in jail. Until then, the company insisted on denying any irregularities.

But the explicit scenes of corruption narrated by the informers in December and now published by the press, according to Odebrecht-pai's reasoning, should come as no surprise. "What surprises me is when I see all those powers, the press, all really like this is a surprise," he said. "It bothers me.

It does not exonerate our responsibility. However, living in this system for 30 years makes it "difficult" not to think it is normal, says the patriarch, making his deportation a couch.

Survivor of scandals

Além de afirmar que absolutamente todos os anos em que trabalhou na companhia foram regidos por essa política corrupta do toma-lá-dá-cá, Emílio Odebrecht culpa a imprensa por não ter noticiado o esquema antes.

"O que me entristece, inclusive eu digo aí a própria imprensa. A imprensa toda sabia de que efetivamente o que acontecia era isso. Por que agora estão fazendo isso? Por que não fizeram isso há dez, 20 anos atrás?", pergunta. "Essa imprensa sabia disso tudo e fica agora com essa demagogia", e diz que todos deveriam fazer uma "lavagem de roupa nas suas casas" para saber o que fazer a partir de agora.

"What surprises me, and I have tried to put it very clearly, but I want to have the opportunity to emphasize, what surprises me is when you see all these Powers and the press, as if this was a surprise. Look, it bothers me, "he continues.

It is not possible to know if the patriarch of the company, with vertiginous growth in the last 30 years, is referring to some specific corruption case supposedly muffled by the press organs of Brazil or not investigated by the Public Ministry or punished by Justice. There are those who wonder whether the informers did not talk about using the same methods to corrupt politicians to entice agents of justice or media owners.

Odebrecht has been scandalous for years, one of his most famous being the Dwarves of the Budget, of misappropriation of funds for works, in 1992. Still, he never lost his closeness to the political class. He continued to be a major advertiser and to invest millions in press office.

In his book Diaries of the Presidency , launched in 2015 by Companhia das Letras, former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), accused by the contractor of having received cash resources for his campaign, recounts his meeting with Emilio:

"I had lunch here with Emilio Odebrecht and Ruth [Cardoso]. Emilio came to bring suggestions, nothing to him, only on several subjects of national interest. It's curious. It has such a bad name for Odebrecht, and Emilio has always been correct for so many years. " Later, a new mention of the businessman and scandals involving the construction company: "Curious, the Odebrecht firm was so marked by the CPI of the Budget Dwarves, with the business of corruption, and yet Emílio is one of the most competent men in Brazil in business terms. "

In any case, the phrase was successful because it touched on an important discussion throughout the Lava Jato: the role of the media in the intricacies of the operation and in the selection of themes and characters to highlight in the course of the investigations . Critics see more exploitation in cases related to the PT and the former president by the researchers themselves, which they deny, as by the press. One of the most controversial cases was the disclosure by Sérgio Moro in 2016 of the auditions of Lula and former President Dilma Rousseff, later considered illegal by the Federal Supreme Court. Another critical aspect is that cases of the past should be publicized even if the crimes are already prescribed to put the scheme into context. The prosecutors of Lava Jato and Moro deny any bias and argue that mass disclosure is a weapon for the operation to be defended by public opinion.