Small public scandals
Notice: this post contains a list of several events. More recent events are at the top. The posting date is update whenever a new event is added.
- July 24th: Mangabeira Unger, who was recently appointed as Minister of Long Term Planning, parked his official car in a forbidden place (reserved for disabled).
Original text (in Portuguese) by O Estado de São Paulo
The photo was taken in a shopping mall in Brasilia at 9 pm. The Minister didn’t want to talk to the reporter. Shortly after, a chauffeur drove the car out, picked the Minister up and took him home.
Mangabeira Unger took office on June 19th following a controversy. In 2005, Unger, who’s a professor at Harvard School of Law, published a note (now gone) on his website stating that “the Government of President Lula was the most corrupt in History”, and that it was a duty of the Congress to declare the impeachment of the President. Notwithstanding, he accepted to become a Minister; on the day he took office, Unger said that he was wrong with his criticisms and that, by inviting him to join the Government, “Lula was magnanimous“.
- July 20th. A few days ago, Brazil faced their worst air accident ever, when nearly 200 people died. The Government was under pressure, because there were indications that several mis-actions or lack of actions by official agencies could have led to the accident. On July 19th, evening news Jornal Nacional reported that a technical problem with the aircraft had been confirmed; this could exempt the Government from responsibilites.
The video below shows Marco Aurélio Garcia, Advisor for International Affairs of President Lula, as he and his own advisor were watching the news at the Palácio do Planalto.
In Brazilian signals language, the gesture of Mr. Garcia means “they are f..”; likewise, his advisor acts like “we gonna f.. them”. Such gestures are common among populars, but uncommon among authorities, even less in moments of tragedy. Member of the Congress asked Mr. Garcia to resign or to be fired, but President Lula didn’t make any comments on the case.
