José Dirceu (; born March 16, 1946), in full José Dirceu de Oliveira e Silva, is a former Brazilian politician. His political rights were suspended by the Brazilian House of Representatives and he was found guilty by the Brazilian Supreme Court of active corruption and conspiracy in two separate lawsuits. He participated in an armed revolutionary group after the

1964 Brazilian coup d'état The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état ( pt, Golpe de estado no Brasil em 1964), colloquially known in Brazil as the Coup of 64 ('), was a series of events in Brazil from March 31 to April 1 that led to the overthrow of President João Goulart by membe ...

, and was exiled in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. He returned in 1980 and was politically active, culminating in a post as chief-of-staff to

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Party ...

's administration from 2003 until his resignation due to corruption charges.

Early life

Dirceu moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

in 1961 and in 1966 joined the ''Ala Marighella'', later called the ALN, a revolutionary armed group linked to the

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista Brasileiro), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil founded on 25 March 1922 which makes the disputed claim of being the oldest political party sti ...

. In 1968 Dirceu, known as "Daniel", was the leader of the State Union of Students (UEE). As a consequence, Dirceu was arrested on October 12, 1968, during the 30th Congress of the National Student Union (UNE), in

Ibiúna Ibiúna is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba The Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba ( pt, Região Metropolitana de Sorocaba) is an administrative division of the state of São Paulo ...

. In 1969 Marxist revolutionary groups

MR8 8th October Revolutionary Movement (''Movimento Revolucionário 8 de Outubro'', MR8) was a Marxist political organization that took part in armed struggle against the Military dictatorship in Brazil. It was formed in 1964 among college students i ...

and ALN abducted the US ambassador to Brazil,

Charles Burke Elbrick Charles Burke Elbrick (March 25, 1908 – April 12, 1983) was a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. During his career, he served three ambassadorships: in Portugal, Yugoslavia and Brazil, in addition to numerous minor pos ...

. The revolutionaries demanded the liberation of fifteen prisoners, including José Dirceu. This incident is the basis of the film ''

Four Days in September ''Four Days in September'' ( pt, O Que É Isso, Companheiro?) is a 1997 Brazilian thriller film directed by Bruno Barreto and produced by his parents Lucy and Luiz Carlos Barreto. It is a dramatized version of the 1969 kidnapping of the United ...

''. After that he travelled to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. While in exile, Dirceu worked, received military training and studied on the island. According to him, he changed his appearance through plastic surgery. Dirceu returned to Brazil in 1975 under the

false name A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of "Carlos Henrique Gouveia de Mello". He married his first wife and lived in Paraná in total secrecy, with his true identity unknown even to his wife, until 1979, when he returned to Cuba. His official exile ended in 1980, after

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

. Separated from his first wife, he married again, to the psychologist Ângela Saragosa, and assumed his real identity. The marriage to Saragosa came to an end in 1990. In 1991 he married his current wife, Maria Rita Garcia Andrade, an old friend from his militant days. He has three children. Dirceu played an active role in the movement to grant

to those tried for and convicted of political activities, as well as in the coordination of the

Diretas Já Diretas Já (, ''Direct (Elections) Now'') was a civil unrest movement which, in 1984, demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil. Participants of the movement The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participa ...

campaign in 1984 in favor of direct presidential elections.

Political career

With a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of

, he served as assemblyman from 1987 to 1991 ( SP-PT) and congressman from 1991 to 1995 (SP-PT) and, again, from 1999 to 2003 (SP-PT). He was elected president of the PT in 1995 and re-elected in 1997. Dirceu held numerous posts in the

Partido dos Trabalhadores The Workers' Party ( pt-BR, Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Brazil. Some scholars classify its ideology in the 21st century as social democracy, with the party shifting from a broadly socialist id ...

(PT), of which he is a founder, including the presidency of the National Executive between 1995 and 1997. In 1989 he coordinated first presidential campaign of

. He exercised various parliamentary activities in municipal councils, state legislative assemblies, and the legislative chamber of the Federal District. Among them, he was a member of the Finance and Budget Commission and vice-president of the Public Safety Commission. From January 1, 2003 to June 16, 2005, Dirceu was Lula's chief-of-staff. In Brazil, the chief-of-staff has a ministerial status similar to the British Cabinet Office, and Lula's presidential decree putting him in charge of all government appointments gave him more power still.

Mensalão corruption scandal

Dirceu's departure as Lula's chief-of-staff is attributed to a massive corruption scheme in the legislature, the

Mensalão scandal The Mensalão scandal ( pt, Escândalo do Mensalão, ) was a major parliamentary vote-buying scandal by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration that threatened to bring down his government in 2005. ''Mensalão'' is a neologism, a variant of ...

. Upon leaving the government, Dirceu resumed his roles as an elected congressman for the state of São Paulo. He was expelled from the Congress on November 30, 2005, accused of breaching the parliamentary decorum due to his involvement with the

, and barred from holding any executive or legislative positions until 2015. As of 2006, he was practicing in a law firm in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. He was prosecuted and convicted by the Attorney General, charged with being the leader of the mensalão. He charged with of corruption, embezzlement, racketeering and money laundering, among other charges, by the Supreme Federal Tribunal in August 2012, and found guilty in October 2012. He is currently serving a 7-year sentence at the Papuda prison.

Petrobras corruption scandal

On August 3, 2015 he was again arrested on suspicion of corruption and money laundering as result of the

Operation Car Wash Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...

investigation. On May 18, 2016, he was found guilty and sentenced to 23 years and three months in prison. He had previously been sentenced to more than ten years' imprisonment in connection with the ''mensalão'' scandal. On May 3, 2017 an appeal court granted him bail pending appeal, which had previously been denied. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation called the decision "incoherent" and said that Dirceu's liberty posed "real risk to society". Prosecutors charged Dirceu the same day with diverting R2.4 million from Petrobras contracts with and UTC.

Early life

Political career

Mensalão corruption scandal

Petrobras corruption scandal

References

Further reading