Brazil's New Prosecutor General Takes Office and Does Not Mention Operation Car Wash

09/19/2017 - 09h57

Without mentioning the investigation dubbed Car Wash (Lava Jato), Raquel Dodge, 56, took up her new position as Prosecutor General on Monday (the 18th) in Brazil, taking over from Rodrigo Janot.

"The Prosecutor General's Office [PGR] stands next to the citizens in its responsibility to comply with the Constitution to ensure that all are free and equal, have the right to due process, and that harmony exists between the branches as a prerequisite for the nation's stability", she said in her speech.

For Dodge, "the country is going through a period of cleansing". "The entities of the judicial administration system have the role of guaranteeing justice as a cornerstone balancing the respect and harmony between institutions."

According to people who are close to Dodge, she didn't cite the Car Wash investigation as part of a strategy to avoid protagonism in the ongoing operation.

The presence of prosecutors from Janot's inner circle at the ceremony created an uncomfortable atmosphere.

The Operation Car Wash is a signature of Janot's administration. Dodge and Janot were adversaries at the PGR, and he wasn't present at the event.

At the ceremony, the new Prosecutor General sat beside President Michel Temer (PMDB party), Justice Cármen Lúcia, President of the Supreme Court, and both Presidents of Congress, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ party) of the lower house and Eunício Oliveira (PMDB-CE party) of the Senate.

Among these, Cármen Lúcia is the only one who isn't the target of investigation. In addition to Temer, who has already been charged twice, Maia and Oliveira are both under investigation.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
	President Michel Temer is seen near new prosecutor general Raquel Dodge during her inauguration, in Brasilia