¡Qué pena, Peña! – Money in politics is not just a Latin American problem
Former president Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico is under investigation as the Mexican government continues its probe into Emilio Lozoya. Lozoya was the former head of the Mexican state-run oil corporation, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Lozoya has been accused of corruption by prosecutors, as he allegedly took money from Brazilian construction group Construtora Norberto Odebrecht S.A. and Mexican metals company Altos Hornos de Mexico. In exchange for the bribe, Lozoya would theoretically sway future Pemex business actions in favor of Odebrecht and Altos Hornos.
This is not the first time that Odebrecht has gotten its hands dirty. In Brazil, one of the largest political scandals in recent history directly involved Odebrecht in the same way. The government investigation that followed, known under its pseudonym “Lava Jato,” meaning “Car Wash” in Portuguese, brought chaos and unrest to the Brazilian legal and political systems.
Odebrecht, the largest engineering and construction company in Latin America, was chasing after contracts for different Petrobras projects – an easy cash cow for any firm in the market. Petrobras is a nationalized oil company that has a monopoly on Brazilian reserves. Odebrecht coerced Brazilian politicians into securing future business deals that were not in the vested interest of the Brazilian public. Odebrecht was found offering bribes for guaranteed Petrobras deals, illegally rigging the system. By doing this, the company could inflate its stock value and trick investors. It was a clear-cut case of corruption.
The Odebrecht construction scheme caused an extreme shift in the Brazilian electorate, prompting the election of Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist often characterized as the Brazilian Donald Trump. The ousted Dilma Rousseff and the Brazilian political left were scapegoated as responsible for the rise in crime and the slowing of the Brazilian economy. The consequences of Lava Jato’s findings upended the sitting government and stoked public frustration with the liberal Worker’s Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores). It was the perfect vehicle for a proto-fascist swing in Brazilian politics.
The financial strings of the Odebrecht scandal could be tracked outside of Brazil, as international groups had also joined in on the cohort – hence, the alleged involvement of Peña Nieto via Lozoya. The corrupt influence of megacorporations can bleed into democracies all over the world, and sadly, Latin America’s history of conflicts involving oil and other natural resources is another example of Big Money corrupting politics.
The Lozoya probe did not find evidence of direct involvement from Peña Nieto, asserting that there is no clear connection between Lozoya’s actions and Peña Nieto during his presidency – yet. However, because of the extent to which Odebrecht had influence over Pemex, there is no doubt in my mind that corruption stemmed further than just the figurehead.
As Americans, we often separate ourselves from what we call “developing” countries like Brazil or Mexico. The very identity we claim becomes an asset to claim superiority toward supposed global deplorables. We think that our own political system is above scandals like Lava Jato or the recent developments of the Lozoya probe, but it is not. Additionally, media cycles suggest that Donald Trump’s extreme behavior is unprecedented and far from the altruistic norms of the American political system.
The thing is, those norms do not embody the stability and integrity that people think they do. The politics of Lava Jato and the Lozoya scandal are not something that originated in Latin America. The practice of Big Money influencing politics has always been apparent in American democracy, especially since Citizens United v. FEC in 2010. I fear that Odebrecht-like behavior will thrive under the continued growth of the megacorporate American economy.
There is hope for the future, and the first step is demarcating clear lines that show where the private sector ends and the public sector begins. Super PACs and billionaire donors should not be the priority of political campaigns. There is hope for democracy in the Americas, but democratic systems cannot flourish with companies like Odebrecht blurring the path forward.
Daniel Cody is a freshman journalism major from Pennsylvania who writes about politics.
