‘ROUBA MAS FAZ’

When Brazil’s patent-phrase proves untrue

Translated into English, the headline reads “he steals but he gets things done”. The copyright of the phrase actually belongs to Brazil, where it was coined. It originally referred to Ademar Pereira de Barros, a Brazilian politician who was voted twice as Governor of Sao Paulo, first in 1947 and a second time in 1963. His supporters used the line — either candidly or ironically — to rebuke criticisms about his corruption.

Possibly, this tid-bit of information will disappoint many Argentines, as well as citizens from some other Latin American states who were convinced that the phrase had originated in their own countries. In fact, in these countries, there seems to be a feeling that “moderate” levels of corruption can be tolerated if they help to speed things up and do not cause lasting damage. An example of this would be the fact that, having to pay “under the table” to speed up a building permit, is accepted as a fact of life. Moreover, many cynics would argue that the permit will trigger employment opportunities for the workers of all the trades involved in that project.

However, recent information about the impact of the corruption crisis in Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras oil company are turning around the “rouba mas faz” phrase into exactly the opposite proposition.

In this case, corruption seems to be stopping things from happening. There are companies forced to delay or even cancel projects in which evidence of corruption is found. This triggers immediate lay-offs. Moreover, since many of these projects are concentrated in the specific areas where the hydrocarbons resources are located, the new jobless cannot find alternative opportunities.

In a way, what happened with Petrobras is that the corruption bubble burst in a way not dissimilar to the subprime mortgage or the Spanish real estate bubbles. The contagion effect jumped from company to company, from government official to government official. And it became a national problem, as well as a political headache for the government.

So, in fact, Brazil’s Dilma Rouseff is paying a double political cost for the Petrobras scandal. In addition to the rage about corruption, some of the unemployed (and their families) blame her for the consequences in terms of their joblessness.

Those which — with the pretext of realism — accept corruption as a fact of life offer several explanations/excuses. The first — and crudest — is that the whole issue is being magnified by the opposition press and politicians. But there is too much evidence about the Petrobras scandal to even take this idea into consideration.

A more sophisticated narrative will argue that “things got out of hand”. In other words, corruption is acceptable as long as it is “moderate” and “acceptable” and it does not jeopardize the final objective of a government’s project, decision or policy. So rouba mas faz is tolerable, provided it delivers more energy, enhanced economic growth or any other objective linked to the common, and greater good. It suggests that — what happened with Petrobras — is simply that, unfortunately those involved simply got irrationally greedy.

The latter is the really dangerous line of reasoning because — translated into plain words — it means that something should change, if we want things to remain unchanged. Consequently, the excessively greedy culprits of this particular scandal are crucified and allow the “rational and moderate” briberies to remain in place as part of the system.

Unfortunately, illegal payments cannot be monitored or regulated so as to keep them within a “reasonable” price range. Whatever “reasonable” means in terms of bribes. No matter what people have been led to believe, taking bribes -whatever their amount - is a criminal offense. If a petty robber gets away, he is likely to become a serious robber. The same happens with government officials as well as those who bribe them. They will try to get away with as much as they can. Until, of course, something crashes.

If — and perhaps it is a big if — Dilma Rouseff ever regains the political initiative, she will have a great opportunity. She can repeat what happened in other countries and take a tough “clean hands” campaign forward. Public opinion is angry enough to accept that the “rouba mas faz” line, is a short-term self-indulgent lie. And that “zero corruption” is a more than reasonable objective. Corruption will never disappear but it could become the exception rather than the rule.

Furthermore, given Brazil’s role in the region, it might encourage other countries, like Argentina, to follow suit.

@andresfederman

CREDITS: BUENOS AIRES HERALD