The plea bargain of JBS owners, Wesley and Joesley Batista, together with several recordings revealing a series of crimes by Temer, Aécio [Neves], Lula and Dilma, among a total of 1829 politicians, put the current government on the spot and cause a true political tsunami.
 By Editorial Team of Opinião Socialista – PSTU.
 
The biggest meat company of the world was always, just like Odebrecht, one of the main electoral funders. Everyone knew that what was behind the vertiginous growth of the company over the last few years was much more than just the PT “development” policy of boosting national companies to dispute the international market. What was behind was the old “give-and-take”: JBS received money from one side and paid through the other, under the table.
The slaughterhouse was, in 2006 –last year of Lula’s first mandate,- a company of R$ 4,3 billion [US$ 1,315 billions] in revenues. After the billionaire on-lending by the BNDES [National Bank for Economic and Social Development] during the PT governments, the JBS became the international giant it is today, making R$ 170 billion [over US$ 52 billions] in 2015.
The Batista brothers saw themselves wrapped in the Lava Jato scandal when the former vice-president of the Caixa, Fábio Cleto –associated with Eduardo Cunha, and Joesley’s right-hand man in Congress- was detained during the Operation Catilinárias (investigating the former president of the Chamber) and decided to declare.
Now the JBS is Free of Charge…?
The plea bargain of JBS foresees that the owners of the company will not be arrested or even wear an ankle monitor. The Batista brothers, as well as other five Executives of the company, will have to pay R$ 225 million [US$ 68,845] in fines. The Public Ministry, on its side, charges a fine to the company of R$ 11,2 billion [US$ 3,5 billion], but the group will only have to pay R$ 1 billion [US$306 million]. Both values are derisory considering the company’s income.
As if this was not enough, the JBS billed a lot with the scandal. Knowing that the declaration and denounces would undermine Brasilia as much as the financial market, the group bought dollars hoping for a devaluation of the Real, as it happened: once the scandal was public, the dollar rose 8%, strongest high since the crisis of 1999. With this, the company had a millionaire income much higher than the fine it has to pay.
Meanwhile, Joesley [Batista] was watching all of this on TV, in New York.
Jail, Seizure of Good and Nationalization
It is not possible that after everything that happened and everything that became public, the owners and executives of the JBS are unpunished and enjoying the money the stole, in New York. It is not possible that the company signs a “leniency agreement” just like Odebrecht’s, to continue working as if nothing happened.
The caught politicians must go to jail and their goods should be confiscated, but the corrupting ones should also pay. Joesley and Wesley Batista should go to jail immediately, and because of their scam, their goods should be confiscated too. JBS, just like the Odebrecht, “inflated” with public money, should be nationalized under workers’ control.