Rousseff Is Guilty of Decrees, but not Fiscal Pedaling, According to Investigation

06/28/2016 - 10h48

An investigation carried out at the request of the Senate's impeachment commission finds that suspended President Dilma Rousseff acted directly to liberate supplementary credits without the approval of Congress.

However, at the same time it also finds that no fiscal pedaling actions were identified.

The decrees and fiscal pedaling - late transfers from the Treasury to the Banco do Brasil for the Plano Safra - both of which occurred in 2015, are the basis of the denunciation arguing for the PT Leader's definitive removal from the Presidency.

Since the finding determines Rousseff's guilt in one point but not the other, Senators on both sides, adversaries and allies, are citing different parts of the document as vindication.

"The denunciation is coming apart all by itself", said Vanessa Grazziotin (PC do B-AM). "This investigation, which was supposed to be an instrument for the defense, is turning into a tool supporting the accusation", pushed back the PSDB Party leader, Cássio Cunha Lima (PB).

The investigation's finding is signed by three Senate technicians and serves an instructive purpose in the overall process. The final judgment will take into consideration other elements as well, including testimony and statements, from the accused herself (Dilma, in this case), as well as other factors.

Within the commission, the finding is unlikely to alter the voting composition of 15 to 5 against Rousseff, but serves as a weapon for each side in the full house where the dispute for votes continues. The final vote is set for August.

According to the finding, three of four executive orders for supplementary credit investigated compromised fiscal targets by promoting "alterations in budgetary programming incompatible with its objectives".

In reference to fiscal pedaling, the finding didn't identify any actions by Rousseff, but explained that it would have been up to the Finance Minister to authorize transfer of resources from the Safra Plan.

For José Eduardo Cardozo, Dilma's lawyer on the commission, "this proves that there was no deceit in the decrees nor any tortious actions in the pedaling".

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

Read the article in the original language

	Ronaldo Bernardi/Agencia RBS/Folhapress/Folhapress
	Suspended President Dilma Rousseff