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Corruption in Brazil
巴西的腐败
Worth the wait
值得期待
The supreme court makes graft riskier
若想受贿，最高法庭将让你面临更大风险
Sep 29th 2012 | SÃO PAULO | from the print edition
Blind justice at last in Brasília
巴西利亚的法官终于蒙住了双眼——“六亲不认”、公平正义了
A HUSBAND follows his wife and another man to a hotel room. Through the keyhole he sees the pair embrace. As they fling off their clothes his wife’s underwear catches on the doorknob, blocking his view of what happens next—and leaving his faith in her fidelity intact.
丈夫跟着他的妻子和另一名男子，来到一家旅店的房间门口。透过锁眼，他看到那“一对”拥抱在一起。正当他们脱掉衣服、到处乱扔时，妻子的内衣不巧挂在了门把手上，挡住了丈夫的视线，下一幕是什么就不得而知了——这样，丈夫就可以继续相信妻子是忠诚的了。
Brazilians tell this tale to describe the naivety of the cuckold who is unwilling to make obvious inferences that lead to unwelcome conclusions. It could also stand for their legal system’s traditional leniency towards politicians accused of corruption. The slightest ambiguity in overwhelming evidence lets wrongdoers walk free.
巴西人讲这个故事，是为了形容这些男人有多天真：被戴了绿帽子，却不愿做最明显的推理，生怕得出令人难以接受的结论。它也指巴西的法律制度对被控贪污腐败的政客一向宽容。即便证据确凿，只要制度上含糊一点，做坏事的人就可逍遥法外。
Until now: in recent weeks Brazil has been transfixed by the sight of its most senior judges on live television, sweeping aside legal manoeuvres in what has become known as the “trial of the century”. The mensalão (“big monthly stipend”) scandal erupted in 2005 when a politician claimed that the ruling Workers’ Party (PT) was buying his and other politicians’ votes in Congress. The cash was alleged to have come from fraudulent loans at state banks and padded advertising contracts arranged by state-controlled firms.
但现在也许不同了：最近几周，电视直播了著名的“世纪审判”。当看到最高法官全然不顾法律程序时，整个巴西都惊呆了。2005年，一名议员声称执政的劳工党（PT）贿选，购买他和其他国会议员的选票，mensalão（“大型月补贴丑案”）因此曝光。据说，贿金来源是国家银行的欺诈性贷款及国有企业虚报的广告合同预案。
Even after the supreme court finally set a date for the trial earlier this year (holders of high office in Brazil cannot be tried for crimes in lower courts), few expected much from it. In August, after the hearing started, pollsters found that though four-fifths believed the accusations, only a tenth thought any of those on trial would end up in jail. Judging by their insouciance, the defendants thought the same. João Paulo Cunha, a PT congressman charged with embezzlement of public funds, even accepted his party’s nomination for mayor of Osasco, a suburb of São Paulo, in municipal elections on October 7th.
今年年初，最高法院终于确定了审判日期（在巴西，低级法院无权审理高官）。即便如此，几乎无人抱太大希望。8月，听证会召开之后，民意调查者发现，尽管4/5的人相信他们被指控的罪行确实存在，但只有1/10的人认为他们中会有人锒铛入狱。被告人满不在乎，由此可见，他们也认为自己不会入狱。劳工党议员若昂•保罗•库尼哈（João Paulo Cunha）虽被指控挪用公款，但还是接受了他所在政党的提名，将于10月7号参加圣保罗（São Paulo）郊区奥萨斯库（Osasco）的市长竞选。
Such complacency was misplaced. Though the trial still has many weeks to run, Mr Cunha has already been found guilty. He may escape jail: sentences will be decided only at the end of the case. Another defendant knows he probably will not. Marcos Valério, an advertising man, has been found guilty of funnelling dirty money to the PT. His crimes attract a stiff minimum sentence.
这种自满太不明智。虽然还要审好几周，但库尼哈已被认定有罪。他也许不用坐牢：案件结束之际才会宣判。另一名被告则心知肚明，知道自己可能逃不掉。广告制作人马科斯•瓦莱瑞欧（Marcos Valério），因向劳工党提供赃款而被判有罪。他的刑判得很严，但却是最低的。
Senior managers from Banco Rural and Banco do Brasil, two state-controlled banks, have also been convicted of fraud and money-laundering. That sent shivers down bankers’ spines: Brazilian bosses have always assumed that without evidence linking them directly to wrongdoing, it was enough to feign ignorance.
两个国家控股银行——巴西农业银行（Banco Rural）、巴西银行（Banco do Brasil）的高管也被控参与欺诈、洗钱。这让银行家不寒而栗：因为巴西老板总是认为，只要没有直接证据证明他们从事违法行为，就足以继续“装傻”下去。
The trial has now moved on to the politicians accused of buying and selling votes in Congress. Some are closely linked to the former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. They include José Dirceu, his chief of staff when the scandal broke, and José Genoino and Delúbio Soares, the PT’s former president and treasurer.
现在，调查的对象已转移到涉嫌收购、出售国会议员选票的政治家身上。有些人和前总统路易斯•伊纳西奥•卢拉•达席尔瓦（Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva）关系密切。丑闻曝光时，涉案人员包括他的前幕僚长约瑟•迪尔塞乌（José Dirceu）、劳工党的前任主席琼斯•加诺伊诺（José Genoino）和劳工党的前财务总管德努比奥•苏亚雷斯（Delúbio Soares）。
Already, the supreme court has changed the rules of Brazilian politics by making graft riskier, says Mario Coelho of Congresso em Foco, a watchdog in Brasília. But if it deals as harshly with powerful politicians as with the businesspeople who funnelled money their way, that will amount to a “revolution”, he adds.
巴西利亚监督机构——“聚焦国会”（Congresso em Foco）的马里奥•科埃略（Mario Coelho）说，若想受贿，最高法院将让你面临更大风险，这样巴西利亚的政治规则就改变了。他补充道，商人要是这样筹集资金，下场会很惨；但如果用同样严苛的处理方式对待有权有势的政治家，那可是就是一场“革命”了。
Will the trial do further damage to the PT, the party of Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president today? It is doing badly in the municipal campaign for some big cities, but largely for local reasons. The mensalão hurt the PT back in 2005, says Carlos Lopes, a political consultant. Before that, voters had regarded it as comparatively graft-free; afterwards, it lost its claim to an ethical monopoly. It has not recovered it. But no other party has seized that banner.
“世纪审判”会进一步危害巴西现任总统迪尔玛•罗塞夫（Dilma Rousseff）所在的劳工党吗？他们（劳工党）在一些大城市的市长竞选活动上表现得很差，但主要是因为地方上的一些原因。政治顾问卡洛斯•洛佩斯（Carlos Lopes）说，早在2005年，“大型月补贴丑闻”就危害到了劳工党。在此之前选民一直认为，相对而言，劳工党出现贿赂的几率会小一些。可那之后，劳工党再也无法垄断道德的操控权了。到现在，它还没恢复自己的信誉。但别的政党也都还没扛起这面大旗。
There are votes available for any party which can claim convincingly to have cleaned itself up, Mr Lopes thinks. By making corruption riskier, the supreme court makes it more likely that politicians will compete for that vacant space.
洛佩斯认为，任何政党，只要能让选民相信它已对内整顿肃清，还是会有人为它投票的。最高法院增加了贪污的风险，政治家争夺那块“空地”的可能性应该就更大了。
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