After Lava Jato scandals, Lula resumes ties with Angola

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is on a trip to Africa this week. After passing through South Africa, the PT member fulfills his agenda in Angola and then leaves for São Tomé and Príncipe, where he participates in the Meeting of Portuguese Speaking Countries. In Angola, without mentioning the past of corruption scandals revealed by Lava Jato involving both countries, the PT announced a series of commercial and strategic agreements.

In his passage through Angolan territory, Lula was accompanied by a delegation of businessmen, including representatives of the construction company Odebrecht – which is currently called OCE. During the Lava Jato operation, the company was one of those targeted in money laundering schemes, kickbacks and was even accused of subjecting workers to conditions analogous to slavery in African countries, including Angola. Lula was also accused at the time of Lava Jato of making lobby for the construction company in the country.

In an extensive statement signed by Lula on the resumption of relations with the African country, the Brazilian representative announced cooperation between the two countries involving health, sustainable tourism, trade, agriculture, livestock and technology transfer.

“Coming to Angola symbolizes Brazil’s return to Africa. In recent years, Brazil has treated African countries with indifference. For the first time since redemocratization, we had a president who did not visit Africa at all. Brazilian embassies were closed. cooperation was abandoned. We stopped acting together in international forums”, said the PT during his agenda in the country.

Amidst criticism of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Lula also committed to “correcting mistakes and raising the strategic partnership to a new level”. This movement and approximation, however, has been observed with caution, mainly due to the history of scandals in the country.

Scandals involving Brazil and Angola

The corruption scandals involving the two countries were discovered during the Lava Jato operation. According to the investigations, the construction company Odebrecht paid bribes to politicians in Angola to benefit from agreements and government decisions in the country.

In addition, the company was also accused of defrauding contracts and using Lula’s influence in Angola to gain an advantage in public works bids. According to the investigation, part of the money that should have been allocated for these works was diverted to pay bribes inside and outside Brazil.

Brazil exported goods and services to African countries through financing from the National Bank for Social Development (BNDES). Angola is pointed out as the country that received the most resources from the organization, around US$ 3 billion.

The money was destined for works in the country, like the Cambambe hydroelectric plant. Lula was accused of being responsible for doing the lobby of this endeavor – investigations revealed that the then president of Odebrecht, Marcelo Odebrecht, pressured the PT member to “unroll” the release of BNDES resources for the work.

According to Lava Jato, Lula would have benefited from these agreements and received millions of dollars for it. In addition, a nephew of the Brazilian representative would also have benefited from the scheme organized by the construction company on African soil. The company Exergia Brasil, owned by Taiguara Rodrigues dos Santos, Lula’s nephew, allegedly received millions of dollars in contracts to “provide services” to Odebrecht in the country.

In addition to the accusations of corruption and bribery, the construction company also had to sign a R$10 million agreement with the Brazilian courts for subjecting workers to conditions analogous to slavery in Angola. The case would have happened during the construction of Biocom, a sugar and ethanol factory in the African country.

At the end of the investigation, Lula was acquitted of part of the investigations and the process ended up being locked. The petista has always denied the accusations.

Brazil-Angola trade and BNDES financing

Despite the turbulent past, the current Brazilian government is still interested in resuming negotiations of this type in the African country. The desire comes from both the BNDES and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil. According to diplomats from the portfolio, “Angola has a good record of paying with Brazil”.

As an example, the country would have settled, in 2019, a debt with the Brazilian government that would expire only this year. For the president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB), José Augusto de Castro, this is a negotiation that makes sense given Angola’s history of being a good payer, despite having already delayed some “installments”.

“Angola has never defaulted on Brazil. There was a time when it delayed payments, but I believe that because I saw that all the others [países] they did that. Angola has this history of paying because there is a resource to generate income for the country: oil”, opines the expert. With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 67.4 billion (R$ 328 billion), Angola is the second largest producer oil from sub-Saharan Africa.

Regarding the possibility of resuming financing for the country through the BNDES, the president of the AEB assesses that there are benefits. “In addition to taking exports, jobs are generated. Without this financing, nothing is generated”, he defends.

In search of greater food security, the country also expressed the desire to intensify food trade with Brazil. Currently, this is the largest market between the two nations. According to the 2022 Brazil-Angola trade balance, pork, beef and chicken were the main products exported by the Brazilian market to the African country.

The president of the AEB also suggests a deeper inspection of the agreements involving the two countries, in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. “I don’t see the need to create more norms, there are already many and follow international criteria. But there are efforts that can make these negotiations less lax. If it is to make these negotiations safer, I believe that the path would be to create new controls”, he says .

Bilateral agreements also target Angolan Defense

In an attempt to resume bilateral relations with Angola, the two countries signed a series of agreements this Friday (25). The African country also showed interest in Brazil in addition to financing for goods and services.

During Lula’s visit to the country, the Angolan president, João Lourenço, spoke of his interest in buying KC-390 military transport aircraft, produced by Embraer, and revitalizing the fleet of Tucanos and Super Tucanos that the country already has. .

“Angola has conditions to become an Embraer Defense hub in Africa. The acquisition of aircraft such as the KC-390 and the revitalization of the Tucanos and Super Tucanos fleet would bring technology transfer”, said the PT candidate.

In addition, the two countries also signed agreements in the area of ​​Defense, with the aim of strengthening the Angolan Navy and troops for the United Nations (UN). “We are working on a cooperation that involves training Angolan troops in Brazil for the first rapid deployment forces in Angola at the service of the UN”, said the Brazilian ambassador in Angola, Rafael Vidal.