O que é este blog?

Este blog trata basicamente de ideias, se possível inteligentes, para pessoas inteligentes. Ele também se ocupa de ideias aplicadas à política, em especial à política econômica. Ele constitui uma tentativa de manter um pensamento crítico e independente sobre livros, sobre questões culturais em geral, focando numa discussão bem informada sobre temas de relações internacionais e de política externa do Brasil. Para meus livros e ensaios ver o website: www.pralmeida.org. Para a maior parte de meus textos, ver minha página na plataforma Academia.edu, link: https://itamaraty.academia.edu/PauloRobertodeAlmeida;

Meu Twitter: https://twitter.com/PauloAlmeida53

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulobooks

domingo, 25 de dezembro de 2016

Academia.edu: textos PRA mais acessados em 30 dias até o Natal

Nos 30 dias precedendo o Natal de 2016, este é o volume de acessos aos trabalhos mais requisitados pelos visitantes à minha página na Academia.edu.
De forma não surpreendente, depois de ter sido incluído como leitura recomendada num curso online sobre relações internacionais, o meu trabalho de 12 anos atrás, contra os altermundialistas, ou antiglobalizadores, e suas ideias malucas, continua sendo o campeão de downloads, não absolutamente, mas relativamente, pois ele ainda perde para o campeão absoluto, que é o meu livro de resenhas de livros de diplomatas e outros, "Prata da Casa" (edição de 2014).
Mas constato com satisfação que os trabalhos mais recentes, sobre a nova política externa brasileira pós-companheira ascenderam nas estatísticas de acesso, assim como meu depoimento pessoal sobre a minha longa travessia do deserto -- ou seja, o ostracismo no Itamaraty -- durante toda a gestão lulopetista no governo, o que pode até passar por uma marca de distinção: não tive o desprazer, nem o terrível dilema de servir a um governo que eu condenei (conhecendo muito bem a natureza mafiosa dos companheiros) desde o início, praticamente, embora ainda depositasse alguma confiança nos colegas diplomatas que ficaram nos postos-chave da diplomacia lulopetista (confiança que depois se esvaiu, ao constatar que eles aderiram inteiramente às esquizofrenias lulopetistas em geral.
A esse propósito, posso oferecer um outro depoimento pessoal, anterior a este, que foi recusado por uma revista acadêmica gramsciana provavelmente porque os ditos gramscianos devem ter ficado horrorizados com o que eu disse da diplomacia companheira. Imagino que, com as últimas revelações sobre os crimes comuns cometidos pelos mafiosos, seu grau de adesão aos mafiosos deve ter diminuído.
Em todo caso, o texto é este:
“Auge e declínio do lulopetismo diplomático: um depoimento pessoal”, Brasília, 22 junho 2016, 18 p.; revisto: 26/06/2016: 19 p. Disponível na plataforma Academia.edu (link: https://www.academia.edu/26661272/Auge_e_declinio_do_lulopetismo_diplomatico_um_depoimento_pessoal) e em Research Gate (link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304351768_Auge_e_declinio_do_lulopetismo_diplomatico_um_depoimento_pessoal?ev=prf_pub). Divulgado na revista Amálgama (2/07/2016, link: http://www.revistaamalgama.com.br/07/2016/auge-e-declinio-do-lulopetismo-diplomatico/). Postado  no Diplomatizzando, com nova introdução, em 15/08/2016 (link: http://diplomatizzando.blogspot.com.br/2016/08/auge-e-declinio-do-lulopetismo.html).
Ainda vou escrever um balanço completo do show de horrores da governança lulopetista -- que deve chamar-se "Crimes Econômicos do Lulopetismo" -- e um outro dedicado especialmente à política externa esquizofrênica por eles praticada -- que espero chamar de "Miséria da Diplomacia: tempos sombrios na política externa brasileira".
Estas são as estatísticas de acesso a Academia.edu nos últimos 30 dias.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida


 Período: 25/11 a 25/12/2016:
Title
30 Day Views
30 Day Uniques
30 Day Downloads
All-Time Views
All-Time Downloads
270
210
65
2,030
385
187
112
26
187
26
72
63
34
72
34
55
43
7
3,662
352
41
5
0
1,331
30
35
29
12
35
12

Homilia do Papa Francisco sobre a familia e o papel do perdao

O que o Papa Francisco chama de perdão, eu chamo de tolerância, que vale não só no interior das famílias, mas sobretudo entre as pessoas, entre os povos, entre as religiões.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida 

FAMÍLIA, LUGAR DE PERDÃO...

*Não existe família perfeita. Não temos pais perfeitos, não somos perfeitos, não nos casamos com uma pessoa perfeita nem temos filhos perfeitos. Temos queixas uns dos outros. Decepcionamos uns aos outros. Por isso, não há casamento saudável nem família saudável sem o exercício do perdão. O perdão é vital para nossa saúde emocional e sobrevivência espiritual. Sem perdão a família se torna uma arena de conflitos e um reduto de mágoas.*
*Sem perdão a família adoece. O perdão é a assepsia da alma, a faxina da mente e a alforria do coração. Quem não perdoa não tem paz na alma nem comunhão com Deus. A mágoa é um veneno que intoxica e mata. Guardar mágoa no coração é um gesto autodestrutivo. É autofagia. Quem não perdoa adoece física, emocional e espiritualmente.*
*E por isso que a família precisa ser lugar de vida e não de morte; território de cura e não de adoecimento; palco de perdão e não de culpa. O perdão traz alegria onde a mágoa produziu tristeza; cura, onde a mágoa causou doença.*
Papa Francisco

Smithnianos de todo o mundo, uni-vos, para um coloquio em Palermo (julho 2017)

Recebido via Associación Latinoamericana de Historia del Pensamiento Económico (http://www.alahpe.org/):

Date: 2016-12-21 17:20 GMT-05:00
Subject: FROM SCOTLAND TO THE SOUTH OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. THE THOUGHT OF ADAM SMITH THROUGH EUROPE AND BEYOND
International Conference History of Economics Society and University of Palermo, Sicily (Italy) 6-7 July 2017
From: Fabrizio Simon

​​FROM SCOTLAND TO THE SOUTH OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. THE THOUGHT OF ADAM SMITH THROUGH EUROPE AND BEYOND 
International Conference History of Economics Society and University of Palermo, Sicily (Italy) 
6-7 July 2017 
CALL FOR PAPERS
Adam Smith is one of those authors who have left a significant mark on the history of ideas. His influence has not only contributed to shaping the culture but also the institutions and the policy of modern society, and this can be seen in the international spread of his thought, which rapidly reached every corner of the world.
Yet, the reception of Smithian ideas was not a unique or uniform process, equal to every country, because different regional contexts conditioned them. Smith's works entered through institutional, cultural, linguistic, religious, and political filters, which were not neutral and affected the reading, understanding and use of them.
Europe and the Mediterranean are two geographical areas – but not the only – to observe the spread of Smithian thought because of the rich pluralism characterizing their regions and nations.
Bearing this in mind, the University of Palermo – supported by the History of Economics Society (HES New Initiatives Fund) – invites proposals for papers and/or sessions along the lines listed below or on other relevant matters on the topic.

The thematic directions suggested are: 
•    Adam Smith, the Scottish Enlightenment and the European Enlightenment: similarities, differences in methods and analysis, influences, intellectual disagreements;
• The intellectual link between Smith’s teaching and the development of a national style of economics in the various countries from the 18th to the 20th centuries;
•    The reception of Smithian thought in different religious frameworks: Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish;
•    Smithian liberalism as an intellectual source of the liberal revolutionary phase that changed the political and economic face of Europe and the Mediterranean in the 19th century;
•    The works of Adam Smith: language, style, translations.

Official language: English 

The Scientific Committee: Christopher Berry (University of Glasgow) Giovanni Iamartino (University of Milan) Maria Pia Paganelli (Trinity University) Sandra Peart (University of Richmond) Fabrizio Simon (University of Palermo) Craig Smith (University of Glasgow)
The Organizing Committee: Fabrizio Simon Anna Li Donni Cristina Guccione

Scholars planning to participate should submit a 500-word abstract for a paper or a 1000-word abstract for a session, specifying: the title of their presentation and the conference theme, their full name and institutional affiliation, and an e-mail address for correspondence.
Please submit the abstract by e-mail.

Deadlines to remember:
Submission of abstracts: No later than 8 January 2017
Notification of acceptance: 28 February 2017
Registration: No later than 30 April 2017
Sending of paper: No later than 31 May 2017

For further information on the conference (venue, registration, accommodation) see the conference website at http://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/seas/SmithConference/
Email: fabrizio.simon@unipa.it

21 December, 2016

Retratos sul-americanos: um empreendimento exemplar, em 4 volumes

Tive o privilégio, a chance e a honra de participar de todos os quatro volumes publicados de ensaios diversos sobre a América do Sul, sob a iniciativa de Elisa Sousa Ribeiro Pinchemel e Camilo Negri, agora com todos os livros disponíveis em formato digital.
Basta clicar aqui ou acessar a página  https://brasilia.academia.edu/ElisaRibeiroPinchemel. É necessário se inscrever gratuitamente no site para completar os downloads e receber automaticamente outras publicações de temas do seu interesse, caso deseje.
Reproduzo abaixo das chamadas para os 4 volumes, os índices de cada um deles.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida


BOOKS

COORDENADORES:
CAMILO NEGRI
ELISA DE SOUSA RIBEIRO

VOLUME I

A AMÉRICA LATINA NA ORDEM ECONÔMICA MUNDIAL, DE 1914 A 2014
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

AS ESTRATÉGIAS DE ORGANIZAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS PARA A AMÉRICA LATINA
Sonia Ranincheski e Henrique Carlos de Oliveira de Castro

“CLÁUSULAS DEMOCRÁTICAS” E TRANSCONSTITUCIONALISMO NA AMÉRICA DO SUL: UMA ANÁLISE BASEADA NA RUPTURA INSTITUCIONAL NO PARAGUAI
Carina Rodrigues de Araújo Calabria e Felipe Neves Caetano Ribeiro

O DESAFIO ESTÁ LANÇADO: O BRASIL EM BUSCA DA INTEGRAÇÃO ENERGÉTICA SUL-AMERICANA (2000-2010)
Helen Miranda Nunes

PARADIGMAS DA ATUAÇÃO BRASILEIRA NO MERCOSUL
Elisa de Sousa Ribeiro e Felipe Pinchemel

RECOMPENSA, HONRA, SUBMISSÃO: VERSÕES DA ENTRADA DO BRASIL NA SOCIEDADE DAS NAÇÕES
Mariana Yokoya Simoni

DA HESITAÇÃO À AFIRMAÇÃO: A POLÍTICA EXTERNA BRASILEIRA PARA A REGIÃO PLATINA NA 2ª CHANCELARIA DE PAULINO JOSÉ SOARES DE SOUZA (1849-1853)
Hugo Freitas Peres

A INTERVENÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE 1851 NO URUGUAI: CONDICIONANTES, OBJETIVOS E RESULTADOS
Rafael Braga Veloso Pacheco

INTEGRAÇÃO E DIREITO AO DESENVOLVIMENTO NA AMÉRICA DO SUL
Alex Ian Psarski Cabral e Cristiane Helena de Paula Lima Cabral


VOLUME II

A GRANDE DIVERGÊNCIA NA ECONOMIA MUNDIAL E A AMÉRICA LATINA (1890-1940)
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

MEDIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA EM CONFLITOS SUL-AMERICANOS NA DÉCADA DE 1930: A QUESTÃO DE LETÍCIA E A GUERRA DO CHACO
Vinícius Fox Drummond Cançado Trindade

OS PROJETOS SUL-AMERICANOS DE INTEGRAÇÃO REGIONAL: A “IMPLOSÃO” DO PROJETO DA ÁREA DE LIVRE COMÉRCIO DAS AMÉRICAS E AS ALTERNATIVAS EM CONSTRUÇÃO
Marco Antônio Alcântara Nascimento

A DIFÍCIL ARTE DE ENTENDER O QUE O OUTRO QUER DIZER
Luiz Eduardo Abreu

ENTRAVES CONSTITUCIONAIS BRASILEIROS A UMA INTEGRAÇÃO REGIONAL
Carolina Nogueira Lannes Gonçalves

DEZ ANOS DE CRIAÇÃO DO PARLAMENTO DO MERCOSUL: HÁ ALGO QUE COMEMORAR COM A PARTICIPAÇÃO SOCIAL MERCOSULINA?
Alex Ian Psarski Cabral e Cristiane Helena de Paula Lima Cabral

INTEGRAÇÃO REGIONAL E SOLUÇÃO DE CONTROVÉRSIAS: ADEQUAÇÃO ENTRE MEIOS E FINS
Patrícia Cristina Orlando Villalba

TELEVISÃO, DOMINANTES CULTURAIS E DISCURSOS HEGEMÔNICOS NA CONSTRUÇÃO DA BRASILIDADE E DA ARGENTINIDADE EM PERSPECTIVA COMPARADA
Li-Chang Shuen

PRIVATIZAÇÃO DA VIDA URBANA E RESTRIÇÃO DO ESPAÇO PÚBLICO NAS METRÓPOLES LATINO-AMERICANAS
Rafael de Aguiar Arantes


VOLUME III

MIGRAÇÃO INTERNACIONAL, REFÚGIO E TRÁFICO INTERNACIONAL DE PESSOAS NA AMÉRICA DO SUL: ESCLARECENDO, CONTABILIZANDO(!), DESCORTINANDO E PROTEGENDO
Alline Pedra Jorge Birol

RETRATOS GEOGRÁFICOS E HISTÓRICOS SOBRE OS DIFERENTES PARADIGMAS APLICADOS NA FAIXA DE FRONTEIRA DO BRASIL (1872-2010)
Eloisa Maieski Antunes

AMAZÔNIA: UMA ANÁLISE SOBRE A SOBERANIA E A DEFESA ESTRATÉGICA DO ESTADO BRASILEIRO
Maria Elizabeth Guimarães Teixeira Rocha e Romeu Costa Ribeiro Bastos

CONSEQUÊNCIAS ECONÔMICAS DAS CONSTITUIÇÕES BRASILEIRAS, 1824-1946
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

O PRIMEIRO EMBAIXADOR, À SOMBRA DO BARÃO
Luigi Bonafé

AS CENTRAIS SINDICAIS NO MERCOSUL: ENTRE UM COLABORACIONISMO CRÍTICO E UMA CRÍTICA COLABORACIONISTA
Paulo Afonso Velasco Júnior

O PAÍS DE ORIGEM DE UMA EMPRESA MULTINACIONAL IMPORTA? LÓGICAS
INSTITUCIONAIS EM CONFLITO E EM COOPERAÇÃO NA RESPONSABILIDADE SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL
Annie Lamontagne

ANOTAÇÕES SOBRE OS INSTITUTOS DO MATCHING CREDIT E TAX SPARING NOS ACORDOS INTERNACIONAIS
Patrícia Cristina Orlando Villalba


VOLUME IV

TOCQUEVILLE REVÊ A AGRURAS DA DEMOCRACIA NA AMÉRICA DO SUL
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

O PAPEL DA UNASUL NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DA DEMOCRACIA NA AMÉRICA LATINA: A POSSIBILIDADE DE APLICAÇÃO DA CLAÚSULA DEMOCRÁTICA
Diaulas Costa Ribeiro e Júlio Edstron S. Santos

A ESTRUTURA DE OPORTUNIDADE POLÍTICA E CULTURAL: A CRIAÇÃO DA REDE BRASILEIRA DE INTEGRAÇÃO DOS POVOS (REBRIP)
Edélcio Vigna

A CORTE INTERAMERICANA DE DIREITOS HUMANOS COMO FONTE DE INTEGRAÇÃO DOS ESTADOS SUL-AMERICANOS: OS CASOS DE DECLARAÇÃO DE INCONVENCIONALIDADE DAS LEIS DE AUTOANISTIA NOS PAÍSES DO CONE SUL
Liziane Angelotti Meira, Júlio Edstron S. Santos e Hadassah Laís de Sousa Santana

ELEMENTOS DE CONTINUIDADE E RUPTURA DA POLÍTICA EXTERIOR VENEZUELANA: DO PUNTOFIJISMO AO CHAVISMO
Carolina Silva Pedroso

A COOPERAÇÃO ENTRE O BRASIL E A UNIÃO EUROPEIA: UMA ABORDAGEM A PARTIR DA ARGUMENTAÇÃO DE MORAVCSIK
Almeida Falcão e Lucas Ribeiro Guimarães

ESTRATÉGIAS DE COOPERAÇÃO SUL-SUL: A EXPERIÊNCIA DO BRASIL COM A GUINÉ BISSAU
Maria do Carmo Rebouças dos Santos, Richard Santos e Umberto Euzebio

A REFORMA POLÍTICA BRASILEIRA DE 2015 SOB AS ÓTICAS DO NEO-INSTITUCIONALISMO
Robson Rael

A EXPORTAÇÃO DE CARNE BRASILEIRA PARA OS MERCADOS KOSHER E HALAL APÓS O PLANO REAL
Bruno Henrique Faria Cabral

CONSTRUCCIÓN HISTÓRICA DEL ESTRUCTURALISMO LATINOAMERICANO
Laura Emilse Brizuela

sábado, 24 de dezembro de 2016

Ideias da economista Deirdre McCloskey debatidas no Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics

The latest issue of the Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics (EJPE) is now available online at http://ejpe.org.

ARTICLES

Symposium on Deirdre Nansen McCloskey’s Bourgeois equality: how ideas, not capital or institutions, enriched the world

The open society as a rule-based order
Gerald Gaus
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-1.pdf

Either / Or - why ideas, science, imperialism, and institutions all matter in the “rise of the west"
Jack A. Goldstone
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-2.pdf

A place at the table: low wage workers and the bourgeois deal
Jennifer Baker
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-3.pdf

Dialectical libertarianism: the unintended consequences of both ethics and incentives underlie mutual prosperity
S.M. Amadae
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-4.pdf

The bourgeoisie and the scholar
Joel Mokyr
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-5.pdf

Not saving or psychology, or science, but a new liberalism: a reply to Gaus, Goldstone, Baker, Amadae, and Mokyr
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-6.pdf

Original articles:

Axiomatic and ecological rationality: choosing costs and benefits
Patricia Rich
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-7.pdf

Hayek’s “Scientism” essay: the social aspects of objectivity and the mind
Diogo Lourenço
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-8.pdf

The mismeasure of Capital: a response to McCloskey
Steven Pressman
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-9.pdf

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Reflections on the 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize for contract theory (Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström)
Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-art-10.pdf

Justice, markets, and the family: an interview with Serena Olsaretti
Huub Brouwer and Isabella Trifan
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-int.pdf

BOOK REVIEWS
Review of Paul Anand's
Happiness explained
Tim E. Taylor
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-br-1.pdf

Review of Jason Brennan and Peter M. Jaworski’s
Markets without limits: moral virtues and commercial interests
J. Alden Stout and Amy Carothers
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-br-2.pdf

Review of Fred Feldman’s
Distributive justice: getting what we deserve from our country
Teun J. Dekker
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-br-3.pdf

RECENT PHD SUMMARIES
Keynes, Keynesian economics and the political economy of power and the postwar world
Danielle C. Guizzo Archela
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-ts-1.pdf

The language of Max Weber. A sociological enquiry
Achim Seiffarth
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-ts-2.pdf

An incrementalist approach to political philosophy. The case of heterogeneous rationality assumptions in theories of distributive justice
Alexandru Volacu
http://ejpe.org/pdf/9-2-ts-3.pdf

ABOUT THE JOURNAL
EJPE is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the methodology, history,
ethics, and inter-disciplinary relations of economics. Thanks to funding
from the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics, EJPE operates on a
completely non-commercial basis: We are entirely and permanently free to
both readers and authors.

Our call for papers can be found here: http://ejpe.org/call-for-papers/

Details about our Mark Blaug Prize for Young Scholars can be found here:
http://ejpe.org/mark-blaug-prize/

quinta-feira, 22 de dezembro de 2016

Odebrecht: duas decadas pagando milhoes em propinas para lucrar bilhoes - NYTimes

Photo
The Braskem chemical plant in Camacari, Brazil. Braskem and Odebrecht, a construction giant, pleaded guilty to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. CreditPaulo Fridman/Bloomberg
At Latin America’s biggest construction company, bribing government officials around the world became so common that a division was created devoted to tracking and facilitating kickbacks.
When wire transfers were inconvenient, workers in this division at Odebrecht of Brazil would organize deliveries of cash-stuffed suitcases to secret locations.
The scheme lasted more than two decades and involved bribes to government officials in a dozen countries across three continents, but eventually it came undone. On Wednesday, Odebrecht and its affiliated petrochemical firm, Braskem, pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Brooklyn to charges that they paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. Together the companies will pay at least $3.5 billion in penalties in a case brought by authorities in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland.
It is the biggest penalty for a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, surpassing a $800 million penalty paid by Siemens in 2008 to authorities in the United States. American officials said on Wednesday that their investigation was continuing and that individuals could also be prosecuted.
Continue reading the main story
The settlement followed a broad investigation in Brazil into corruption at Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, that plunged the country into political crisis and spurred protests that led to the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff. While not implicated — Ms. Rousseff was convicted by Brazil’s senate in a separate matter — the plunge in popular support paved the way for her impeachment in August.
Odebrecht, which built the Miami International Airport and has operations in 27 countries including the United States, China and Venezuela, has been accused of colluding with Petrobras executives and other contractors as well as Braskem to take more than a billion dollars in kickbacks from the oil company. Under the terms of the agreement with prosecutors, Odebrecht has said it will pay $2.6 billion, while Braskem has agreed to pay $957 million.
The Brazilian investigation into Petrobras, called “Operation Carwash,” a reference to a service station that laundered money, has shaken the political establishment to the core. The authorities there have secured 112 convictions of 83 people ensnared in the investigation, including executives of Odebrecht. The scandal has left Brazil’s oil industry bereft of investment during the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Odebrecht built a secret internal group it called the Division of Structured Operations, where workers facilitated bribery payments through offshore entities as far-reaching as Antigua, prosecutors said. Sometimes, cash was delivered in packages or suitcases. The division included a separate communication system to hide its activities. Payments were made to members of Brazil’s congress, officials at Brazil’s two leading political parties and government officials in 12 countries including Angola, Argentina, Colombia, Panama and Mozambique.
In all, the company benefited to the tune of $1.4 billion, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
In Angola, for example, Odebrecht paid $50 million to local government officials to secure public work contracts. These projects resulted in profits of $261.7 million, prosecutors said. In Argentina, the company made $35 million in corrupt payments to intermediaries related to three infrastructure projects, knowing that some funds would be given to government officials. Its profits related to these payments were $278 million, prosecutors said.
“Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit — a ‘Department of Bribery,’ so to speak — that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents,” said Sung-Hee Suh, the deputy assistant attorney general of the criminal division of the Justice Department.
“Such brazen wrongdoing calls for a strong response from law enforcement, and through a strong effort with our colleagues in Brazil and Switzerland, we have seen just that,” Ms. Suh said.

DOCUMENT

‘Odebrecht, Together With Its Co-Conspirators, Paid Approximately $788 Million in Bribes’

Odebrecht, the construction company that built Miami International Airport, settled bribery charges in a case stemming from a global investigation.
 OPEN DOCUMENT
Odebrecht published a statement on Dec. 1 apologizing for its “participation in illicit activities.” William Burck, a lawyer who represents Odebrecht at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, on Wednesday said: “Odebrecht has cooperated fully and will continue to do so. The company is glad to be turning the page and focusing on its future.”
Odebrecht’s power has reached across political ideologies in Brazil and beyond the country as it made an aggressive push in Latin America and Africa.
“Everyone is involved,” said Gil Castello Branco, founder of Contas Abertas, a transparency watchdog in Brazil. Mr. Branco added that even in the huge “Operating Carwash” scheme that has touched so many business executives and politicians, Odebrecht’s actions stand out.
“Odebrecht’s behavior is without precedent” in Brazil, said Mr. Castello Branco. “I’ve never heard of anything even close.”
Founded in 1944 by Norberto Odebrecht, the firm employs more than 250,000 people.
Marcelo Odebrecht, its former chief executive, was convicted of corruption and money laundering in March and sentenced to 19 years in prison. While president, Mr. Odebrecht fostered close ties with Ms. Rousseff and her mentor and predecessor, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
As an indication of the favor it has been able to curry with the government, from 2007 to early 2015, more than 70 percent of the financing that Brazil’s national development bank, BNDES, provided to Brazilian companies for infrastructure projects overseas went to Odebrecht, according to Contas Abertas. That was about 8.2 billion reais (or $2.5 billion based on current exchange rates) over that period of taxpayer subsidized financing, the group estimated.
Braskem, which is controlled by Odebrecht, also used Odebrecht’s bribery division to pay $250 million to politicians, government officials, and an official at Petrobras, according to a civil order filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. In exchange, officials intervened on behalf of the company on several occasions. In one instance, officials influenced Petrobras to ensure more favorable pricing on its supply of a crude oil byproduct that Braskem used for its petrochemical production. In exchange for this intervention, Braskem paid more than $20 million in bribes, the S.E.C. said.
Government officials were also bribed to pass a law allowing a tax credit for the purchase of that crude byproduct and other raw materials.
Braskem, in a filing on Wednesday with Brazil’s securities regulator, acknowledged it had completed an agreement with authorities and had “concluded the last stage of the global settlement negotiations.”
It also said that under the terms of the agreement, the company “will continue to cooperate with the competent authorities and improve its governance and anti-corruption compliance practices.“ It noted that it will be subject to external monitoring for about three years.
United States authorities said on Wednesday that Odebrecht had agreed to pay a $4.5 billion penalty but said it could only pay $2.6 billion. The final amount will be decided at a hearing on April 17.
Authorities have focused on Odebrecht’s bribery scheme that took place over more than 20 years, but the company became most brazen as investigators in Brazil were drawing closer in 2014. Brazilian law enforcement had just announced their Operation Carwash investigation into Petrobras, and Odebrecht employees began to destroy documents, American prosecutors said.
In 2015, an Odebrecht employee arranged a meeting in Miami with an Antiguan consular official. At the meeting, the employee requested that a high-level official in Antigua refrain from sending international authorities banking documents that would show illicit payments were made on behalf of Odebrecht. The employee offered to pay $4 million for the favor, prosecutors said. In the end, 3 million euros in payments were transferred to the official.
Continue reading the main story