Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court announced yesterday that it will investigate claims that Orlando Silva, Brazil’s sports minister, embezzled millions of dollars in public funds. The court has demanded that Silva and his ministry hand over relevant documents within 10 days.
The allegations took form when the influential Brazilian magazine Veja published a report earlier this month in which a former military office accused Silva of embezzlement from a government program that promotes sports for low-income youth. The kickbacks, in turn, were purportedly dumped into the coffers of Silva’s party, Partido Comunista Brasileiro (Brazilian Communist Party), which belongs to President Dilma Rousseff’s coalition.
This charge of corruption comes at a particularly sensitive time as Brazil steps up preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The event kicks off in less than 1,000 days and the responsibilities for its smooth operation fall under Silva’s portfolio. This is not the first setback as Brazil plans for the mega-event; last month, a federal judge ordered a halt to construction of a new terminal at São Paulo-Guaralhos International Airport because Infraero, Brazil’s airport authority, did not institute a formal bidding process for the contract. Also, in July, Alfredo Nascimento, then-minister of transportation, resigned from office due to alleged corruption although he denied culpability.
Since Rousseff took office in January 2011, Nascimento and other cabinet officials—the chief of staff, minister of agriculture and minister of tourism—have been forced to resign. Nevertheless, Rouseff enjoys a 71 percent popularity rating.
