Rousseff: link Lula to probes for Operation Car Wash is "insinuation"
President Dilma Rousseff 
President Dilma Rousseff considered to be an "insinuation" the evaluation that the new stage of Operation Car Wash is getting closer to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In an interview Wednesday (Jan. 27) in Ecuador, where she attended the 4th Latin American and Caribbean Summit (CELAC), the president has questioned again the leak of information from the investigation and said she would not answer questions about Lula's connection with the operation.
"I refuse to answer this question. I refuse because it raises accusations, insinuations, and does not tell me why, how, when, where, and in exchange of what? If anyone talked about any of us here, saying that 'the new stage of Operation Car Wash aroused suspicion about you,' and you are not aware of the nature of the suspicion, wouldn't you find it very incorrect, from the point of view of respect?" she questioned.
The new stage of Operation Car Wash probes money laundering for the purchase of apartments along São Paulo coast. Three people were arrested and the Federal Police investigates whether the apartments that belonged to Bancoop cooperative and were transferred to the constructing firm OAS were used as bribes in a corruption scheme.
According to Rousseff, it is necessary to have evidence to accuse someone. "The burden of proof is for the accuser. Therefore, we have all the inquiry, all the investigation process."
When asked if the corruption scheme investigation involving Petrobras may adversely affect the Brazilian economy, Rousseff stated that this is as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) evaluates it, not the government. "The IMF believes [this]. I think you should ask the IMF," she said. Last week, the president said she was "appalled" at the worse forecasts of the organization for the country's economy.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: Rousseff: link Lula to probes for Operation Car Wash is "insinuation"
