The second season of the "The Mechanism" series debuted this Friday (10) on Netflix, with a storyline bearing strong similarities to the accusations against Odebrecht construction company and the ex-president Dilma Rousseff's (PT) impeachment. The Lava Jato corruption scandal (Operation Car Wash) that ensnarled Brazil starting in 2014 serves as an inspiration for the series' storylines.
When the show debuted last year, director José Padilha received criticism from leftists who felt that he distorted historical facts to increase animosity toward the Worker's Party. People also thought that he represented Dilma and ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in a caricature way. Lula was arrested just two weeks after the series came out.
The series is fiction, but any person who has accompanied the Lava Jato news will recognize the characters and real situations that inspired the filmmaker and screenwriter Elena Soarez.
FICTION: While completing his sentence in house arrest, the "moneyman" Roberto Ibrahim (Enrique Diaz) gets rid of the anklet and goes to Foz do Iguaçu to smuggle cigarettes.
REALITY: "Moneyman" Alberto Youssef left the jail in November 2016 and is serving time at home.
FICTION: Contractor Tom Carvalho (Carlos Meceni) reveals that the OSA financed reforms in a triplex and a site for former President Gino.
REALITY: Former president of OAS Léo Pinheiro, now imprisoned in Curitiba, made revelations about the triplex that incriminated Lula.
FICTION: Judge Paulo Rigo (Otto Jr.) decides to release a recording of a conversation between President Janete (Sura Berditchevsky) and former President Gino (Arthur Kohl).
REALITY: In 2016, then-judge Sergio Moro disclosed a conversation by former President Lula with then-President Dilma.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon