A Death in Brazil by Peter Robb

Author:Peter Robb [Robb, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2013-03-26T04:00:00+00:00

Rosane had no intention of being merely decorative as first lady. When she began to make her own way in the world, Globo’s viewing public was bemused to find a new soap playing in the news slot. It might have been called First Couple, or Rosane Takes Over. It was immensely popular, and as in other soaps the content of each new episode was decided by audience ratings for the one just shown. Earlier in 1990 Rosane had concentrated on shopping. Madame is spending a lot, PC said with professional awe. He wondered about the solid gold Rolex, a man’s model that nobody ever saw on the president’s wrist, when he released the funds to buy it. Sometimes PC sighed, Madame is spending too much. The first family’s personal expenses were far more than Fernando’s income. In two and a half years PC paid out $6.5 million dollars to Fernando, and also financed his private secretary and his press secretary, who was running up credit card bills for double his salary and lighting his Havana cigars with hundred-dollar banknotes. PC transferred the money discreetly from several accounts in the name of several imaginary people in several different banks. Fernando’s personal secretary used three different identities, holding three different accounts in three different banks to receive the money. Bandeira too invented another identity, who opened another account.

As first lady Rosane was president of the Legião Brasiliera de Assistência. The LBA was a government charity which spent a billion dollars a year. Its presidency had always been an honorary thing, but Rosane flew around Brazil visiting offices and projects and arriving home at night later than Fernando. Soon she was thinking of standing for Congress herself. Fernando was not pleased and made her promise to be home by seven-thirty every evening. She promised, but she hardly ever was. She was particularly active in Alagoas at election time. The October elections of 1990 for state governors, congressmen and senators was a busy time for Fernando and PC too, who wanted to build up a core of solidly indebted voting allies in Congress. PC raised and spent a lot of money and most of his people got up. The money came from Brazil’s big carmakers, banks, contractors and credit card concession holders, and not a cent of it from the $90 million he already had. Again PC pulled in far more than he spent. In Alagoas, the two candidates for governor were both allies of Fernando. One had played an important part in projecting Fernando on the Brazilian scene and was the leader of his party in Congress. The other was a friend married to a cousin of Rosane’s and backed by the whole Malta clan. PC spent $22 million on Rosane’s cousin’s husband, and maybe $1 million on Fernando’s old ally. Rosane’s cousin’s husband won. Maybe PC wasted the money, since Alagoas hadn’t changed all that much. An old colonel from one of the interior towns told a visitor up from the south, None of this TV stuff works at election time.

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