Brazil’s new prosecutor general takes office

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday said Paulo Gonet, the prosecutor general he named late in November, should not “submit” to headlines of newspapers and television channels — a reference to previous major investigations on corruption during his previous government and that of his successor, Dilma Rousseff.

“Make the truth, and only the truth, prevail above any other interest,” Lula said during Mr. Gonet’s inauguration. Mr. Gonet will serve a two-year term.

“Frivolous accusations do not strengthen democracy or institutions,” Lula added. “Often people are destroyed before they have a chance to defend themselves.”

A massive corruption scheme was uncovered by the now-defunct Operation Car Wash, a task force of prosecutors and Federal Police officers that started in 2014 and recovered billions of reais in stolen money and led powerful businessmen and politicians to jail — including Lula himself.

In 2021, the Supreme Court quashed all of Lula’s convictions on the understanding that the trial court where Operation Car Wash was headquartered, in the southern city of Curitiba, did not have jurisdiction to try the case and that then-Judge Sergio Moro (now a senator) was biased in his trial rulings. 

“There was a moment in this country when newspaper headlines spoke louder than court proceedings,” Lula said.

As The Brazilian Report has shown, Supreme Court justices and officials in the Lula administration have worked to overrule decisions under Car Wash and dismiss the entire operation as nothing more than a political hit job — regardless of the investigation’s findings.

Back in August, Sérgio Nobre, head of the major trade union federation CUT, criticized Operation Car Wash at the launch of the third edition of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), a package of public investment in infrastructure that left behind an extensive history of corruption and unfinished projects — several of which were investigated by Car Wash itself.

More recently, OEC, a civil construction company owned by Novonor (formerly known as Odebrecht), received the Pro-Ethics Award from the Comptroller General’s Office. Odebrecht was at the center of the Car Wash scandal.

Speaking before Lula, Mr. Gonet said the Federal Prosecution Office is “co-responsible” for the “preservation of democracy.” He said his office would not seek the limelight but that it must be faithful to its constitutional duties.

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