Mayor Posted Selfies as She Ran Maranhão Town via WhatsApp

08/31/2015 - 10h00

Between parties, social events and the gym, Mayor Lidiane Leite, 25, of the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), ran the town of Bom Jardim with her two thumbs from a distance of 170 miles away, in Maranhão state capital São Luis.

She communicated with her secretaries through a WhatsApp group called "Task Force", using the same cellular phone she used to take selfies.

Leite has been on the run for a week, since the beginning of the Federal Police's Operation Éden, accused of siphoning off R$15 million (USD $4.2 million) of the town's education budget. Schools in the town have been holding classes beneath trees.

Leite became mayor by chance. Just days from the elections in 2012, she took over the candidacy of her boyfriend, the landowner Beto Rocha, who was prevented from standing by the Lei da Ficha Limpa ["Clean Slate Law"].

Once elected, she named her boyfriend as secretary of political affairs. It was Rocha who was responsible for day-to-day running of the city, according to local politicians. He was arrested last week by the Federal Police.

Leite used to sell milk door to door and helped her mother in a clothes shop. But she left her middle-class life after meeting Rocha, whose personal fortune is estimated at nearly R$14 million (USD $3.9 million), according to the courts.

During her time as mayor, Leite was repeatedly accused of corruption. She was removed from the position three times, but always managed to return supported by provisional court decisions.

She is accused of cutting teachers' salaries, failing to adhere to the school calendar and failing to ensure a regular supply of food at the town's schools. On Thursday (27), the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Maranhão requested her removal as mayor.

The under-fire mayor received a personal and political blow at the start of the year when she split up with Beto Rocha, who also quit his job as political secretary.

THE OTHER SIDE

On petitioning habeas corpus for Leite, lawyer Carlos Barros said that she assumed the position at "a tender age" and delegated authority to her boyfriend through "inexperience and trust". Barros said that Leite "is suffering" and that she fled on an "impulsive" decision.

Folha was unable to make contact with the lawyer of landowner Beto Rocha last week.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Mayor Lidiane Leite, 25, of the PRB, ran the town of Bom Jardim via WhatsApp