BRAZIL
Hand to Heart, Hand to Till
A Brazilian court suspended Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel over the weekend as part of a corruption investigation into alleged kickbacks that involve the state’s chaotic response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported.
Prosecutors said that the governor was at the “top of the pyramid” of a corruption scheme of bribes and kickback for government contracts including projects to fight the outbreak that has infected more than 3.8 million and killed more than 120,000 people as of Sunday.
One of the suspected schemes was the construction of seven field hospitals and the procurement of supplies of ventilators and protective medical equipment. Only two hospitals were constructed and much of the equipment never materialized, or arrived too late.
The accusations are another blow for Brazil’s leadership which is struggling to contain the outbreak amid mounting accusations that officials are exploiting it to get rich.
Worldwide, corruption has grown into one of the “most nettlesome obstacles,” the Washington Post wrote. Officials from South Africa to Colombia have been accused of stealing money as their countries swelled health care budgets to meet the crisis.
Meanwhile, Witzel denied the accusations and said that the investigation was an attack orchestrated by his political rival President Jair Bolsonaro, who is also under investigation for corruption.
The two leaders have clashed on the pandemic response: Bolsonaro has urged people to go back to normal, while Witzel shut down all but nonessential businesses.
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