Only. A country in freefall its people impoverished. Brazils 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 its 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 brazils powerful elites are doing everything in their power to derail it. They get a its 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 president s. 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 its 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 countrys elite for years. To see. The gas station also features live music a snack bar and a Laundry Service thats opened late into the night but its the Corruption Scandal thats made it famous all of us on the love of jato investigations have destroyed off faith in the government theyve shown that oppositions are only interested in filling their pockets because we kiss. I mean a full tilt us well its 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 shouldnt be off a dozen rich and powerful people calling the shots and up i me at do is it going on id. 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 hes 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 dont 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 thats 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 ill 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 thats ever come out of hollywood. Del town delane youre 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 countrys political and Business Elite were implicated in the dealings. S. L. But also into its the biggest Anti Corruption investigation in the history of brazil and the world were talking about repayment obligations thats 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 shes. Just lost the scandal has revealed how the countrys 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 states highest representatives has been sentenced on charges of corruption i think thats. The trail from the gas station in brasilia soon led investigators to petro bus a semipublic petroleum multinational brazils 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 its slush fund paid hundreds of millions of euros in bribes to politicians and Political Parties. Were. I dont 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 its 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 brazils political elite hes 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 its perhaps lava shot is the first time that we have a shake a big shake on this oligarchic facts. Centuries of backroom deals among brazils elites gave rise to a political culture in which self enriching corruption was the norm. Is the elected officials in brazil dont primarily regard themselves as representatives of the people of the peoples 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 its 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 antigovernment demonstrations grew increasingly vehement president michel to mad deployed troops in brasilia to defend the government buildings against protests the move rekindled memories of brazils 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 its 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 countrys history in two thousand and seventeen brazils 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 its a system wide crisis and brazils 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 countrys 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 theyre 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 brazils 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 mares 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 mayers Political Associates have even been caught with suitcases full of money brazils 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 brazils 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 brazils political elite have maintained a united front they want to put an end to investigations that could further expose the widespread corruption theyre preparing legislation that could threaten overeager Public Prosecutors with prosecution themselves and they want and the city for the illicit funding thats 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 dont want to wait that long and are demanding that elections be brought forward theyve 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 im this story is tailor made for a film. And. Theres no end to it something new emerges every day you could say the script was written by the real life players and theyre 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 anticorruption squad travel agents even offer a lava shot to a tours. First stop the Public Prosecutors office. Prison is also a popular tourist attraction its where numerous politicians and entrepreneurs are doing hard time the local saying too rich to jail no longer holds true. This is where theyre 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 states 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 thats 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. Thats what we believe is wrong page dont. 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 theyre 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. Its 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 ch