Delúbio is honored and says he will act for Lula’s re-election – 04/17/2023 – Politics

Free from criminal actions since March 28, former PT treasurer Delúbio Soares received a tribute at the end of that month and stated that he will work for the re-election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, going wherever he is invited.

“I want to talk to people. I go everywhere. Medium-sized cities, small towns. I have time now,” said Delúbio on the night of the 30th, when he was honored by supporters during a debate at the PT’s national headquarters, in Brasília.

The former treasurer was a central figure in two scandals that shook the PT, the monthly allowance and Lava Jato. He was even expelled from the party in 2005, being reinstated in 2011. Today he works as an advisor to the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores).

In court, Delúbio was denounced and convicted in criminal actions related to the monthly allowance (the scheme to buy support in Congress during Lula’s first term) and Operation Lava Jato.

At the event on the 30th, Delúbio recalled having insisted over time to return to the party, which only happened in 2011. But he claimed that it is necessary to distinguish the party today from its leaders at the time of expulsion.

“I don’t hold grudges, I don’t have anger. They thought that by expelling me, by giving my meat to the lions, the lions would calm down,” he said.

Regarding the argument that justified his expulsion —that of reckless management—, the former treasurer claims that he structured the party for the 2004 elections, obtaining a loan from Banco do Brasil.

Guided by the president of the PT in the Federal District, Jacy Afonso, Delúbio promised to work tirelessly for the PT project. He also said that one cannot be ashamed of defending Lula’s re-election, according to him, a victim of hatred due to his humble origins.

“I will work from here until the first Sunday of October 2026 for the re-election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to continue the government.”

About 60 people participated in the debate, including former governors Agnelo Queiroz (DF) and Ricardo Coutinho (PB). At the entrance to the PT auditorium, copies of the booklet “Delúbio Soares, o defendant sem crime” were available.

In addition to Jacy, lawyer Pedro Paulo Guerreira Medeiros gave a presentation on the lawsuits to which Delúbio responded, describing the actions as an attempt to remove PT exponents from circulation. According to the lawyer, today “something is being gestated somewhere”.

In the debate, Delúbio’s trajectory was praised by militants, including for “honoring the causes he supports” and not having signed an award-winning agreement with the Federal Public Ministry. The former treasurer recalled difficult moments in prison, when it was necessary to be sensible and “obey the [agentes] in black”.

When commenting on the recent acquittals, he said that the situation today, once “very bad”, is even good. “When I settle the [processos] civil cases will be fine”, he says.

In the case of monthly allowance, Delúbio was sentenced by the STF (Federal Supreme Court) for the crime of active corruption to 6 years and 8 months in prison initially in the semi-open regime, a system in which the prisoner can go out during the day to work and return to prison at night.

The execution of the sentence began in November 2013 and he later moved to the home regime, with electronic monitoring. He served his sentence in full until he received, in May 2018, recognition of his extinction by the Supreme Court.

From the monthly case, he would still respond to a criminal action in the Federal Court on the charge of money laundering. He was acquitted of this on the 28th.

The MPF accused him of having concealed, from November 2003 to March 2004, amounts arising from the commission of crimes against the public administration and the National Financial System, allegedly committed by a criminal organization investigated in the scope of the criminal action of the monthly allowance.

For Judge Marcelo Duarte da Silva, of the 2nd Federal Criminal Court of São Paulo, the criminal action records demonstrate “that the accused intended to receive the money to use it in the commission of active corruption [compra de apoio político no Congresso, crime pelo qual foi condenado no STF]and not transform it into a lawful asset or with the appearance of a legitimate good”.

In other words, according to the magistrate’s conclusion, Delúbio did not commit the crime of money laundering.

“He himself did not practice or participate in the laundering acts, which were carried out by the publicity and financial centers of the monthly allowance scheme”, stated Silva.

The Lava Jato task force also investigated him for the crime of money laundering.

In early March, the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) annulled a conviction imposed on the former treasurer by former judge Sergio Moro and sent the case to the Electoral Court. The preliminary (provisional) decision was taken by Minister Ribeiro Dantas.

The case involved an alleged loan of BRL 12 million taken from Banco Schahin by cattle rancher José Carlos Bumlai.

Lava Jato claimed that the real recipients of the money were the PT and its allies. Delúbio had been sentenced by Moro to five years in prison, a sentence later extended to six years by the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region.

Another charge of the task force, also related to the loan, was extinguished by the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo in 2021, after understanding the prescription of the accusations imputed to the PT, which means that he could no longer be punished. There was no merit analysis.

This Sunday (16), Delúbio and also former treasurer João Vaccari Neto participated in an event that featured the duo, talks about slush funds in campaigns and even cheers for Moro to be arrested.

The debate had a few dozen militants and was held in Carapicuíba (Greater SP), in a club of the Trade Union of Osasco and Region (Secor).

The event entitled “When Politics is Worthy of Justice” had as its motto the version of both PT members, who declare themselves innocent about the monthly allowance and Lava Jato. The tone was one of argument that both cases were about attempts to reach the PT and Lula.