only. a country in freefall its people impoverished. brazil's young democracy is floundering. half of the congress is being investigated by i love my job and all the auto a corruption scandals a culture of graft and corruption has taken hold extending all the way into the highest ranks of government. many brazilians have taken to the streets calling down with demands. i will not step down. now they are going shouting a small team of courageous prosecutors has taken up the fight against corruption for ordinary brazilians they are the new heroes of democracy. yes it's the biggest anti corruption investigation in the history of brazil and the word of my what is this item with all. the investigation has been dubbed lava shot to operation carwash brazil's powerful elites are doing everything in their power to derail it. they get a it's basically a war between investigators and the politicians so far the investigators have refused to be deterred him safety i mean can we hear all five minutes of the investigation has reached the very highest levels from the current president to former presidents. if you go if you do you lease investigate as a young people who believe in the messiah and believe they must save the world and go from before they understand nothing of politics no he not anybody. it all began in just ordinary looking gas station in brasilia the capital of brazil it's also where the name of the investigation and lava shot till car wash comes from this gas station was at the center of an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme that supplied the country's elite for years. to see. the gas station also features live music a snack bar and a laundry service that's opened late into the night but it's the corruption scandal that's made it famous all of us on the love of jato investigations have destroyed off faith in the government they've shown that oppositions are only interested in filling their pockets because we kiss. i mean a full tilt us well it's a chaos president a man has to go politically on not on the left on the right we need new elections true democracy is the solution let the people must decide who they want but it shouldn't be off a dozen rich and powerful people calling the shots and up i me at do is it going on i'd. like carlos aviv chahta the owner of the gas station was the first person to end up behind bars he spent two years in prison on charges of money laundering now on day release he's back at his gas station. the love of john so investigations on hurting us they obscure the fact that we do a lot of honest work here but i don't like that my gas station is now linked to this scandal. the investigators stumbled on carlos chahta almost by chance they were on the trail of a small ring of money launderers as part of a routine operation they monitor charges mobile phone that's how they found out that the gas station was doing double duty as a kind of a.t.m. for brazilians corrupt political elite at the center was a dollar later a man who obtained u.s. dollars on the black market and organized kickbacks. have a jihad old battle yousif lent me money when the time came to pay him back he told me who i should give the money to but i never gave it to politicians only to drive us to show foods i never knew who the money was intended for the east as it will said he would be steamed this egypt when i'll better yossef was arrested and realized he could end up behind bars for years he decided to name names what yousef revealed rocked the investigators to their core it was a story of political intrigue and corruption rivaling anything that's ever come out of hollywood. del town delane you're all the lead prosecutor in operation carwash was appalled over the last we already knew that brazil was riddled with corruption . knowing that a monster exists is one thing but looking not monster in the face is something else it was shocking use facets of what. investigators uncovered an insidious web of bribes and backroom agreements. at first the investigators were astonished at how deeply the country's political and business elite were implicated in the dealings. s.l. but also into it's the biggest anti corruption investigation in the history of brazil and the world we're talking about repayment obligations that's unprecedented or the british investing so these repayments on the largest that have ever been incurred in a corruption trial so in terms one of potus. the repayments and fines incurred by politicians and corporate executives embroiled in the investigation already total some three billion euros she's. just lost the scandal has revealed how the country's political elite have for years fed at the trough of corruption and enrich themselves. just as the sheer scale of the corruption scandal is what has shaken brazil to its core there are more than five hundred members of parliament and two thirds of them are under investigation for corruption and obstruction of justice. because the former president of the chamber of deputies one of the state's highest representatives has been sentenced on charges of corruption i think that's. the trail from the gas station in brasilia soon led investigators to petro bus a semipublic petroleum multinational brazil's biggest company it is at the heart of the scandal. investigators netted a particularly big fish early on must sell or divest c.e.o. of a major construction conglomerate had set up his own bribery division it's slush fund paid hundreds of millions of euros in bribes to politicians and political parties. we're. i don't know of a single brazilian politician who was elected without black money at best some might claim to have. been unaware of it in the final analysis though the campaign funds they received from their party also came from these illegal accounts this is how it works in brazil it's a vicious circle. your group. or depression is the principal witness in the corruption scandal and his testimony has struck fear into the heart of brazil's political elite he's been sentenced to ten years in prison. his construction conglomerate also reaped huge profits from the world cup and the summer olympic games for instance during the renovation of the maracana stadium. but why is corruption and demick in brazil. and why was corruption tacitly accepted and regarded as normal for so long. so our colonial heritage this was a country where exploitation was the norm it was always has always been like that a pact between the economic elite in the political elite these only garcon facts this was always the norm so it's perhaps lava shot is the first time that we have a shake a big shake on this oligarchic facts. centuries of backroom deals among brazil's elites gave rise to a political culture in which self enriching corruption was the norm. is the elected officials in brazil don't primarily regard themselves as representatives of the people of the people's interests as focus often although not always the primary motivation for going into politics and standing for election is the quest for privilege and of course for wealth for financial benefits what. however the corruption unearthed in the law to shuttle scandal was unprecedented even for brazil it worked like a well oiled machine. first and foremost the network of corruption served to keep the ruling parties in power they used the slush funds to finance their election campaigns in exchange political operatives were given executive posts with public companies like the oil company petro but us these executives then saw to it that inflated contracts were awarded to a cartel of the biggest construction firms in brazil headed by odebrecht it was fraud according to clearly defined rules each construction firm paid three percent of the contracts value into a slush fund some of the. backs went straight to the ruling parties others flowed to money launderers delayed rows and then on to petro bras executives and influential politicians. many brazilians feel they no longer recognize their own country. they are no longer willing to accept corruption as a fact of life and turn a blind eye to the fact that their politicians are for sale. they are refusing to accept the old by word of robot must fight he steals but he gets things done. this way as on a gang of five people used to say that a lot but over the course of the lava jato investigation these past three years it's died out these days i no longer run across any brazilian who still believes in this saying instead much of the population no longer accepts this or obama this faffed this corruption in politics. as anti-government demonstrations grew increasingly vehement president michel to mad deployed troops in brasilia to defend the government buildings against protests the move rekindled memories of brazil's military dictatorship which ended in one nine hundred eighty five new revelations in the corruption scandal emerged on an almost daily basis. along with the hundreds of deputies under investigation the scandal has also implicated a majority of senators eight cabinet ministers and the president himself now and i shall not step down i repeat i shall not set down. that made i thought he would step down but he refused our country is going crazy it's a political war. with an approval rating of less than five percent michelle to matter is now regarded as the most unpopular president in the country's history in two thousand and seventeen brazil's prosecutor general accused of being the head of an enormous machinery of corruption the indictment was based on secret recordings of meetings with the president and on testimony of top executives seeking immunity from prosecution. as this length mean this is now far more than a corruption scandal it's a system wide crisis and brazil's and tire political system is infected. one solution could be if the political parties cleaned house but they show no signs of any willingness to do so and so again. instead the country's political elite is using every means at its disposal in its fight for survival instead a pact with a parliamentary majority in the national congress is keeping michele to meddle in office. in moment take the at the moment the coalition is supporting him partly because many of the deputies sitting in the same boat maybe they're hoping this will allow them to survive unscathed till the end of the legislative period in late two thousand and eighteen. the president is fortunate that brazil's constitution provides him with special protection a two thirds majority vote in the chamber of deputies is required for to mad to stand trial while in office to mare's opponents have fallen well short of this majority party even think. investigators have meanwhile seized boxes of cash following a trail that leads all the way to close associates of the president but the impasse remains some of to mayer's political associates have even been caught with suitcases full of money brazil's parliament has shrugged it off. only a handful of deputies seem interested in putting an end to the corruption one of the best known is alessandro malone for fifteen years he belonged to the workers' party of former president luis in us you led the selva which is deeply implicated in the law to shuttle scandal two years ago malone switched to the asia sustainability network a center left environmentalist party now as part of a congressional justice committee he is fighting for greater honesty in politics. that you will be. the confidence in the government is diminishing day by day the country and congress need a new an incumbent president who is not facing such a serious indictment just for the time being though brazil's government remains deeply divided several attempts to start impeachment proceedings against the president or to put him on trial have failed even though judges and public prosecutors have presented substantial evidence against him. i know vide of another round in a protracted attempt to impeach to met the congressional justice committee is discussing whether the accusations put forward by the judiciary are serious enough to warrant charges against the president in time and so the decision about whether action can be taken against a politician is in the hands of politicians themselves for going and getting caught . so far however brazil's political elite have maintained a united front they want to put an end to investigations that could further expose the widespread corruption they're preparing legislation that could threaten overeager public prosecutors with prosecution themselves and they want and the city for the illicit funding that's flowed to political parties. the judges and public prosecutors who are under siege are counting on popular support so far mass protests have been able to shield judicial authority against political attack the next general elections in brazil are scheduled for october two thousand and eighteen but many ordinary brazilians don't want to wait that long and are demanding that elections be brought forward they've received support from local artists like caetano veloso and milton nasi mental the yearning for a fresh start is strong. much of their hope rests. on the lava shot to a task force the investigation has even served as inspiration for a feature film for many brazilians the lava shot to investigators are the true heroes of democracy. thought you know what i'm this story is tailor made for a film. and. there's no end to it something new emerges every day you could say the script was written by the real life players and they're more creative than we could ever be thought is always the g.o.p. . one of the heroes of the investigation is federal judge sanders you know morrow who is widely regarded as relentless and incorruptible moto has issued lengthy prison sentences for a remove politicians and billionaires who until recently were deemed untouchable judge morrow and the lava shot to investigators are based in goody chiba in southeastern brazil the city has built its reputation on its modern public transportation system and environmental policies and now on its anti-corruption squad travel agents even offer a lava shot to a tours. first stop the public prosecutor's office. prison is also a popular tourist attraction it's where numerous politicians and entrepreneurs are doing hard time the local saying too rich to jail no longer holds true. this is where they're being softened up wealthy captains of industry and political leaders accustomed to a life of luxury here including tiva far from their families they spend the chilly night scooped up three to a cell the goal is to get them to turn state's evidence and give testimony against their accomplices who are still on the loose. even the rich and powerful are forced to remain in prison while awaiting trial in. passed they could post bail and remain free pending court proceedings now that's only possible for people who are prepared to cooperate with the investigation lawyers representing the accused say this is tantamount to blackmail. at this but he is the people being held here want to be released so they start to give statements they say all sorts of things things that never happened just to obtain their release or. a physical cd. that's what we believe is wrong page don't. destroy. the final stop on the quality of a tour is the renowned oscar niemeyer museum some of the two hundred seventy works of art seized by the investigators is on display here they include a painting by cottle an artist joan mito. been landed up a piece of it out bush to the federal police instructed us to exhibit the works and people are coming to see them they're very curious my. at first a lot of them were shocked and appalled outraged almost that these works were bought with slush money for him saying that the sum. the exhibition is part of love a shot to strategy investigators want to generate as much publicity as possible as the best defense against political interference. it's a tactic that was employed to good effect in italy during the anti corruption investigations of the one nine hundred ninety s. back then the money police or clean hands investigation rocked the country the money police the investigation also centered on kickbacks and political corruption judges and public prosecutors uncovered a nationwide network of bribery. and graft and made it all public not public prosecutor until an e.o. di pietro became a national hero industrialists and politicians from nearly every political party were indicted they included socialist betty no cox and christian democrat gilleo under the law to both of them former prime ministers in the end the italian political system collapsed paving the way for outsiders silvio berlusconi. brazil's judges and public prosecutors are also taking on the rich and powerful they're investigating former presidents luis industrial lula da silva and dilma rousseff both from the leftist workers' party during their years in power corruption flourished in two thousand and sixteen dilma rousseff was accused of breaking budgetary laws she was impeached after brazil's senate voted in favor of removing her from office in september two thousand and seventeen corruption charges were filed against rousseff here love a shot to investigators have also kept her predecessor former president lula da silva in their sights they regard him as the godfather of a wide ranging network of illegality designed to maintain hold on power charges that lula denies. not have that bookie step would be that i've that the real aim of this witch hunt is to prevent me from being reelected as president in two thousand and eighteen that they are trying to set up every possible and impossible legal barrier to prevent lula from standing as candidate in two thousand and eighteen stock was voted to pull lula no fiqh and he ducked into. a former union activist and founder of the workers' party lula believes he's the victim of a conservative conspiracy he says operation carwash is politically motivated and compares its investigators to religious. that piece that caught their finger misty what we are experiencing here is the author a tarion claim to power of a small group of public prosecutors and one judge these young people often not sick in their belief that the responsibility for saving the world rests on their shoulders they understand nothing is going to city police. has effectively joined ranks with the campaign being what they claim is politically motivated and exceeding his judicial authority. most of lula supporters agree with the former president's. transparency international disagree just out of which isn't true i think judge moore is a brave judge i think he's doing the right thing is leading his work according to the law and he's going to be criticised by doughs that are being investigated and and prosecuted of course but if you take his decisions most of his decisions are being confirmed by the upper appeal courts. e.c. the war he's doing he's very quiet he doesn't give interviews. in july twenty seven teen former president lula da silva was found guilty of corruption. a court of appeals upheld the conviction and increased his sentence from nine to twelve years. lula remains free for now pending a possible appeal to brazil's highest court and to the outside chance that his verdict will be overturned. theobald it's a sign that there is justice in brazil and that no one not even an ex-president is above the law anyways those are. the conviction notwithstanding lula remains the country's most popular politician under his tenure from tooth. thousand and three to two thousand and twelve brazil enjoyed years in which the price of petroleum and other raw materials hit record highs during those years brazil became the world's fifth largest economy unemployment and poverty fell dramatically but the boom was built on shaky ground. it was even predicted that brazil would soon overtake germany as an economic power if the collapse of commodity prices played a major role but it wasn't the only reason this never happened the main cause was the mistake made by the leftist government primarily lula da silva and the workers' party that they should have used the boom years to institute important structural reforms so. when the price of crude oil and other raw materials collapsed it spell the end for lula's model the social welfare state financed by commodity revenues the brazilian economy was plunged into a deep crisis. rio de janeiro has been particularly hard hit the city had hoped that it would reap enormous benefits from the world cup and the summer olympic games but that never materialized the olympic park is deserted in twenty sixteen many olympic events took place here today it's arenas are taking. pollo mellow is the president of brazil's olympic governance heritage authority the plan to privatized the olympic venues has failed virtually nothing has gone according to plan not even the scheduled this assembly. dallas it's a mall the sports hall was supposed to be dismantled and then reassembled in pots and for schools but the city of rio which is responsible for the project doesn't have the funds and i'll see if i see it as. rio did derives some benefits from the games for example the modern light rail system the expansion of the subway network and the new express bus system but the expected tourist boom never materialized after the olympics the number of tourists coming to rio plummeted. by sound bassy hotel occupancy in rio now stands at only fourteen percent what they don't go tells a trying to adapt to this new reality by offering discounts rio is not only a beautiful city it also has a great deal of new infrastructure which was built for the olympic games so rio now has even more to offer tourists and at an even more favorable price. but the state of rio de janeiro is nearly bankrupt in two thousand and sixteen the iconic mada cannot stadium hosted the glamorous closing ceremony of the ill. vic games today it lies in ruins the pitch is covered in weeds thousands of seats are missing football matches are a rare event the city seems to have washed its hands of the stadium. in front of the shuttered entrance marcio pele still hopes a tourist might stop by. its boss the football is finished it's totally corrupt no one loves sports any more just money. cash strapped rio has been left with huge debts much of rio's political and economic elite and its building contractors ruthlessly lined their own pockets. well the games they just brought more money to the system a rotten system already rotten by corruption and you only bring more field to the fire you bring more money to a rotten system it's residents call rio the sea dodging mud of the u.s. the marvelous city but today it is sinking into poverty rio's new poor survive on the streets many are trying to keep their heads above water as launching a street vendors like yai acosta who sells fruit in the copacabana district he lost his job as a cook more than a year ago that isn't what i want to many stores here in rio have had to close because of the crisis. or they've been forced to lay off most of the stuff you want to say now i sell fruit on the street or ice cream on the beach. but when i say the price of each homeless people aren't every corner they live in deep poverty in two thousand and seventeen unemployment was the highest in decades with some fourteen million brazilians officially out of work but the true figure is much higher the economic decline has now reached virtually all segments of society real estate agent clovis gomez is also feeling the pinch and the veins in me a little at the moment no one is buying or renting an apartment not even sure turn there are no prospects for improvement no light at the end of the tunnel no one can claim that the country is functioning normally so that's just not true. nobody died congress is also in crisis nothing's working as a chit not a phocion the biggest out of it they're going to be where you're going to be yeah you agree on weekends he sells ice cream on the beach there are fewer and fewer tourists here instead most of the beach goers are cutting jocose as the people of rio are known a day at the beach is a respite from the crisis. yeah you is sick and tired of corrupt politicians who cheat the people who voted for them but even with the crisis he says one thing has improved the guilty are ending up behind bars when i was a child the rich never went to prison it was only ever blacks the poor and prostitutes not of the law applies to everyone it's good that the nation is recovering the money that was stolen from it as well as his dignity so that children can have school lunches and hospitals are supplied with medicines. in two thousand and sixteen the state of rio de janeiro declared a financial emergency several state hospitals have already closed at the time of filming this university hospital was still open almost out of medicine and with only a handful of doctors. at this hour and the staff numbers have shrunk. many doctors no longer turn up for work because often they don't get paid and there is no food. the university hospitals neurological unit is where denise santos used to work due to the lack of money and staff it's been closed. from teachers to civil servants and police officers many have developed their own strategies to survive crowds of people wait patiently at distribution centers for emergency supplies of food and toiletries many here agree corruption is a big part of the reason why rio is struggling today which will be awful my governor is in prison as a result of numerous charges resulting from the lava jato operation and other investigations of course we see a direct link between that and what's happening here today doubt that. since the olympic games crime of violence has soared clashes between the police. and drug gangs have escalated many police vehicles are unusable. the military deployed thousands of troops to rio de janeiro to help combat organized crime but that's done little to help. alessandro malone from that rages sustainability network says for all intents and purposes the city is in a state of war as a congressional delegate malone lives in brasilia but he's a native of rio he says the brazilian government has not done enough to stem the violence will be able to put the government would rather use state funds to buy off congressional deputies in order to keep president from being put on trial to support him to benefit they do that with the money instead of protecting people's lives he and the put their son i fear the disposition. an hour's drive from rio lies another lost dream. compares is one of the single largest investment projects in brazil's history the petrochemical complex commissioned by the petro but us well conglomerate was never completed like so many other abandoned projects it's a symbol of the rise in steep fall of brazil's economic fortunes. the nearby city of boat i was already being touted as the new capital of brazil's oil miracle the mayor now says those promises were worthless. a populist on the win timeline is this a cheap way to put people can no longer stomach these politicians with their empty promises that killing people rio is now brazil's most violent federal state the lava jato investigations are very important it's our opportunity to build an. new reality for ourselves as you wish that all my mother had it died. on tonio coddles is a welder he came here eight years ago like tens of thousands of other workers he hoped to benefit from the coming boom. colace gave us a tour of the city its abandoned business district. empty luxury apartments shuttered at high tech traffic lights above nearly empty streets. that i sat by about my troubles began with the lava jato investigations the judges forced petro bras to stop all construction work as it is that's when the layoffs began the crisis then took hold of the entire city when i go and. what on twenty zero carlos doesn't mention is that this coincided with the steep drop in the price of crude oil and with it the fortunes of petro bras began to run dry for the operation carwash task force that was of little concern petro process was brought to its knees over three years the oil conglomerate posted losses in the billions of dollars. brazil's future is under threat widespread corruption has depleted public funds and the cost of fighting this corruption is also high the federal government in brasilia has come to a near standstill the president and many of his ministers are devoting all their energy to defending themselves against the judiciary brazil is virtually paralyzed urgent reforms have been postponed ordinary citizens have less and less faith in their government. many are resting their hopes on general elections scheduled for october two thousand and eighteen but transparency international is skeptical. there is no assurance that what comes next is going to be better than what we have now and the problem is that we haven't developed. a political culture or an i read new off our political culture we haven't three new of our political leadership we create these void and then what's going to fulfill it is populism out or a tear in ism and this back wall in this. type of politics this type of politics could benefit brazil's evangelical movement evangelicals are the countries fastest growing religious group for some years the movement has been seeking an ever greater foothold in brazil's political institutions many evangelicals believe the time is ripe for taking over the reins of government was anyone who governs in the name of god will always give their best for the children of god that's why we hope that our religious parliamentary group will gain in strength i'll mention around a quarter of all brazilians now identify as evangelical in two thousand and sixteen and evangelical pastor was elected mayor of rio de janeiro brazil second largest city marcello crewe bella once described roman catholics as demons and he has called homosexuality a terrible evil most of his support comes from the residents of the huge favelas in the north of rio bangkok evangelical and evangelical congressional group now has more than ninety deputies in brasilia and they intend that number to grow. i believe the forthcoming elections will change our countries a god fearing president will be a way forward for our nation and the souls that are. as and then we will be the fatherland of the gospel and once again and the world's respect. must get we believe that beginning in two thousand and eighteen a got fearing person will rule our country will gain them into their will very mende up by the. one of the leading contenders. is right wing nationalist yeah you have both son otto who is also an evangelical he's currently polling second in the upcoming presidential elections many call him the brazilian donald trump yet they're not going to do business they. even a military coup seems within the realm of the possible an army general has stated that if the political crisis is not resolved the military would consider overthrowing the government his statement was widely applauded on social media and by many of his colleagues. the lava shot to investigators are placing their faith in the people they know their operation can succeed on its own. justice and i think that i don't want to put it all depends on the next elections people must vote for candidates who am not corrupt themselves and be committed to the fight against corruption so much this difficult to goes. down we'll see the changes we need to function as a nation system because they can last this is almost hopeless he starts on the prosecutors on the lava shot to a task force see the remarkable success of their investigation as the first important step toward a more honest and better brazil and we're not doing it up but they know political reforms are urgently necessary especially in combat in the corporate slush funds used to finance election campaigns at present though this seems unlikely. former president luis inacio lula da silva who was found guilty of corruption by two courts has a commanding lead in the polls he seems to be rolling the dice either prison or the presidency a supreme court decision will determine whether his sentence stands or whether he can continue his candidacy feel better think again if i stand in two thousand and eighteen i will win and prove that it is possible to liberate brazil from this situation for a bucket believe there is only one way to achieve this through. high incomes for the poor and more jobs. he's been able to face. carlos chahta the man who set the lava shot the scandal in motion does not believe that brazil's culture of corruption can be ended so easily before he was arrested and jailed had run his gas station as a money laundering operation that's all in the past he promises the days of such brazen corruption are over. it give a have more more due flava jato through a harsh light on corruption not a new forms of bribery will be found unfortunately most of all it will be a long time before corruption in brazil is extinguished he had to tackle some of it as you. might brazil still find a solution to what's dilemma many powerful and corrupt elites have been indicted dozens are already in prison most ordinary brazilians are desperate for change to fail lect a new honest generation of politicians they could spark a sea change brazil could still reinvent itself and shed its long history of corruption right now the chances seem better for that than ever before. good jobs and the heavy metal free school girls from indonesia are living their dream against all odds live they sing about the problems faced by young people the world over but they also want to show how contemporary and open islam can be pleased our topic in honor of international women's day on limitless. movement in fighting potentates to take you seriously in the world of what here's what's coming up women's tone. the superhero smart smart talks smart state and legend frank recently dangerous time the total me for my leg climate change. which to lead pollution. isn't it time for good news eco africa people and projects that are changing elements are meant for the better it's up to us to make a difference listen to splutter. for cook environment magazine play. d.w. . happy birthday in good shape return in ten this year and you can leave this amazing fitness backpack if you want to know what's inside it isn't on when i'm going. to turn into a most favorite whole movement until like some coffee oh maybe a little bit of a chance to do so call me let me play good play u.s. president donald trump but north korea's kim jong un has agreed to hold the. every meeting between leaders of the two countries discussions 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