No Country for Honourable Men
São Paulo, Brazil. July 2008. Paulistas, the inhabitants of the State of São Paulo, have to vote for governorship. They HAVE TO because vote is mandatory in Brazil. One could say "alright, voting is a right of expression". I'd say it's not when you are compelled to.
But here is my point: Paulo Maluf is one of the candidates. He has a career spanning over four decades. He was elected governorship of the State of São Paulo, mayor of the city of São Paulo and he has run as presidential candidate as well. During these years he has been plagued with several accusations of corruption.
In July 2003, Paulo Maluf was arrested in Paris, trying to transfer [illegal] money into an [illegal] account. In early September 2005 he was arrested by the Brazilian Federal police, under the charge of intimidating witnesses of an ongoing investigation. Again, in July 2008 he gave in to police under the same charge. In all these arrests, he was incarcerated from one night to no more than a few weeks. He was really convicted on one charge in 2001, but due to the nature of the Brazilian judicial system, in which only final convictions are considered, he has been always released... What a shame!
So notorious is his reputation in Brazil that, sadly, a "verb" called "malufar" (something like "to maluf") was created, meaning "to steal public money". And those who vote for him say "he steals public money but does the job". There is a quotation attributed to him which says "Rape them, but don't kill them!", said to a journalist during a workshop, regarding to a raper who had killed the victim.
But the worst is that in the last poll, he ranked a third place for the governorship... So far, I tell you, Brazil is not the better place where ones would like to raise their children.
But here is my point: Paulo Maluf is one of the candidates. He has a career spanning over four decades. He was elected governorship of the State of São Paulo, mayor of the city of São Paulo and he has run as presidential candidate as well. During these years he has been plagued with several accusations of corruption.
In July 2003, Paulo Maluf was arrested in Paris, trying to transfer [illegal] money into an [illegal] account. In early September 2005 he was arrested by the Brazilian Federal police, under the charge of intimidating witnesses of an ongoing investigation. Again, in July 2008 he gave in to police under the same charge. In all these arrests, he was incarcerated from one night to no more than a few weeks. He was really convicted on one charge in 2001, but due to the nature of the Brazilian judicial system, in which only final convictions are considered, he has been always released... What a shame!
So notorious is his reputation in Brazil that, sadly, a "verb" called "malufar" (something like "to maluf") was created, meaning "to steal public money". And those who vote for him say "he steals public money but does the job". There is a quotation attributed to him which says "Rape them, but don't kill them!", said to a journalist during a workshop, regarding to a raper who had killed the victim.
But the worst is that in the last poll, he ranked a third place for the governorship... So far, I tell you, Brazil is not the better place where ones would like to raise their children.
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