The Petrobras scandal is shaking Brazilian politics. Street protests have erupted following the release of a phone call between Dilma Rousseff and Lula that would suggest his appointment to the government was granted to shield him from arrest.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in several cities across Brazil to protest against the appointment of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — implicated in the bribery scandal surrounding oil group Petrobras — as minister in charge of the Casa Civil, the office of the presidency. The appointment — suspended by the judiciary as a precautionary measure — was conferred just a few hours after the release of a phone intercept suggesting that President Dilma Rousseff had designated her mentor precisely to shield him. The government, however, has announced its intention to appeal. As a minister, Lula would be entitled to special immunity that would protect him from potential arrest.
On the evening of yesterday, several thousand people blocked Avenida Paulista, the prestigious main thoroughfare of São Paulo, while similar demonstrations were held in Rio de Janeiro. The protests reached their peak of tension when, outside the parliament building in Brasília, law enforcement officers used tear gas to disperse the crowd, which was loudly demanding the arrest of the former president.
The standoff between the executive and the judiciary over the Lava Jato investigation — Brazil's equivalent of the Mani Pulite clean-hands inquiry — has reached a critical point: President Rousseff defended the appointment, explaining that she has no intention of favouring her predecessor and that it will, on the contrary, strengthen the government. Her office has already announced, however, that it will take the necessary measures against Sergio Moro, the magistrate leading the Petrobras investigation and responsible for releasing the intercepts.
For his part, the judge confined himself to explaining that he had lifted the secrecy order on the phone intercepts on the grounds that they were of "public interest".
Lula has repeatedly denied all allegations in connection with the Petrobras scandal — which in recent months has decimated the Rousseff government and its Workers' Party — denouncing a "conspiracy" aimed at blocking a fresh presidential candidacy on his part at the 2018 elections.