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 () was the overthrow of Brazilian president João Goulart by a military coup from March 31 to April 1, 1964, ending the Fourth Brazilian Republic (1946–1964) and initiating the Military dictatorship in Brazil, ...

, and was exiled in 1969. 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 Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

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

Early life

Dirceu moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in 1961 and in 1966 joined the ''Ala Marighella'', later called the

ALN Aln, ALN, or AlN may refer to: Organizations Paramilitary * Ação Libertadora Nacional, a Brazilian Marxist–Leninist guerrilla movement * Armée de Libération Nationale, the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front of Alge ...

, a revolutionary armed group linked to the Brazilian Communist Party. 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. In 1969

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

revolutionary groups MR8 and ALN abducted the US ambassador to Brazil,

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

. The revolutionaries demanded the liberation of fifteen prisoners, including José Dirceu. This incident is the basis of the film '' Four Days in September''. After that he travelled to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. 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 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 () 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 officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

. 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 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 (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 The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

, 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 (, ) was a major parliamentary alleged vote-buying scandal by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration that threatened to bring down his government in 2005. ''Mensalão'' is a neologism, an augmentative variant of the w ...

. 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 A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

in Rio de Janeiro. 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 Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

as result of the

Operation Car Wash Operation Car Wash (, ) was a landmark anti-corruption probe in Brazil.Kurtenbach, S., & Nolte, D. (2017). Latin America's Fight against Corruption: The End of Impunity. GIGA Focus Lateinamerika, (03). Beginning in March 2014 as the investiga ...

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