Lava Jato: Advances judicial pact with Brazil for bribes of Odebrecht

Argentine justice was very close to, finally, l & # 39; access to the evidence that they sleep in


Brazil
about
bribes


Odebrecht
has paid Argentine officials over the last decade. So close that the prosecutors of this country have officially announced yesterday, while from Buenos Aires they specified that only the "details" remain for this to happen, which could happen "in a few days".

The information that will begin comes from Brazil, in particular, against the former Minister of Federal Planning,


Julio de Vido
to his immediate circle of collaborators – among them, to his right, Roberto Baratta-, to the former president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction between 2004 and 2012, Carlos Wagner, and to lobbyist Jorge "Corcho" Rodríguez , among others, as revealed
THE NACION in recent months

Brazilian expulsions, however, go beyond the targeting of former officials and intermediaries. They will also show how Odebrecht participated in a cartelized distribution of


public works
in Argentina for years, with some of the most important companies in the country, whose leaders would have taken a leading role in
Local bribes

The dispatch of this material now depends on formal issues that need to be settled in Argentina. But the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) has already taken it for granted. So much so, that yesterday an official notice went on its web page to inform that "Argentina has sealed an agreement with the MPF and will be able to use the information received in Brazil as part of the program." operation Lava Jato ".

In practice, this means that Argentine prosecutors will be able to access everything that Marcelo Odebrecht and some of his senior lieutenants, such as Luiz Antonio Mameri and Marcio Faria, have confessed about the bribes of at least $ 59 million that the Brazilians have invested in Sarmiento train, extend pipeline trunk networks or build a water treatment plant for AYSA in Paraná de las Palmas.

"The courts of the neighboring country can use the Brazilian tests to
accuse former officials involved in irregularities, "said the MPF in its statement, which states that" Argentina was reluctant to grant immunity to informants [brasileños] in exchange for information, but this point was overcome thanks to the direction of the SCI ", in reference to the Secretariat of International Cooperation of the MPF itself.

From Buenos Aires, they were a little more cautious:" We are very close, but we still have to close some details. "Attorney General
THE NACION to call later a metaphor of rugby. "Let's say the ball in the end we still do not support it," they explained.

More formally, since the Proxy, in charge of Eduardo Casal Acting since the departure of Alejandra Gils Carbó, statement They specified that a new meeting had been held on Friday with prosecutors investigating on the Argentine chapter of Lava Jato and officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (OA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "advance cooperation" with Brazil.

keep in mind that the work done is a delicate task, as it aims to ensure that the commitment to sign is adapted to the legal frameworks of each country and to the international agreements that both parties have signed ", said the Argentine Prosecutor in his statement." At the same time, the collaborative or clemency frameworks celebrated in Brazil must be respected, while it is essential to prevent the exchange information that hinders or impedes other actions that could be carried out in the country, "he added.

In this sense, the lawyer advanced on the line advanced by the MPF Brazilian and announced that the current agreement "would imply a commitment for local authorities not to use the information voluntarily provided by collaborators in Brazil against them, in the cases that they deal with in Argentina." [19659012] In practice, this agreement implicates that Argentine prosecutors have agreed not to advance against Brazilian informants for crimes that they can confess by detailing how they paid bribes for the works in Argentina. they acknowledged that they were already condemned for these acts in Brazil.

Since Odebrecht, they have welcomed the possibility of bilateral agreement. On the one hand, because they claim to want to collaborate with the Argentine justice and reorient their relationship with the state to, in this way, come back to compete for new contracts in the country. On the other hand, because they believe that the evidence that will arrive from Brazil will show that they were part of a way of doing Kirchnerism that included other companies that remain silent. until today, while earning new contracts with the current government.