Rousseff Urged by Opposition to Clean Up Agriculture Ministry

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is dealing with corruption allegations inside the Agriculture Ministry differently from the way she did at the Transportation Ministry for political reasons, an opposition Senate leader said.

Last month, Rousseff forced Transportation Minister Alfredo Nascimento and more than two dozen other officials to resign amid allegations of kickbacks and overbilling at an agency whose budget is the size of Paraguay´s $18 billion economy. Nascimento’s Party of the Republic withdrew its support for the government in the Senate on Aug. 2.

Stories published in Veja magazine on July 30 and Aug. 6 alleged that Agriculture Minister Wagner Rossi, a member of the Democratic Movement Party of Brazil, or PMDB, has been leading a corruption scheme inside the ministry. Milton Ortolan, the ministry’s executive secretary, resigned Aug. 6 amid the allegations of kickbacks and embezzlement. The PMDB is Rousseff’s largest ally in Congress.

“The president’s reaction to this case is different because now we are talking about the main party in her coalition,” said Senator Alvaro Dias, leader of the opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party in the Senate, in a telephone interview. “The government is adopting a strategy of deflecting accusations rather than acting.”

Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Rossi today said he has asked the country’s comptroller to investigate the allegations. He has also denied knowing of or taking part in corruption schemes, according to a statement published on the ministry’s website. Ortolan denied all accusations in his resignation letter, published on the ministry’s website.

Rousseff reiterated her confidence in Rossi, who she believes is taking all the necessary measures regarding the accusations, a spokesperson from the presidential press office, who cannot be named due to internal policy, said Aug 6.