Brazil Senate Expected to Convict Collor

Impeached President Fernando Collor de Mello, suspended from office since Oct. 2, faces final judgment Tuesday by the Brazilian Senate, which is expected to hold him responsible for massive corruption and permanently remove him from office.

The Senate trial will end an anguishing constitutional process, unique in Latin American history, that has disrupted Brazilian public life and delayed attempts to solve the country’s pressing economic problems.

A two-thirds majority of the Senate’s 81 members is needed to convict Collor, 43. Straw polls published by newspapers over the weekend indicated that at least 58 senators intended to vote for conviction, four more votes than are needed. Earlier this month, the Senate voted 67-3 to proceed with the trial, based on articles of impeachment from the lower house of Congress.

Collor reportedly has been offering Cabinet posts, control over federal funds and other benefits to senators who vote against conviction or abstain.

In an interview published Sunday, Collor predicted that he will be returned to office. “I am absolutely certain that, in an impartial and fair trial by the Senate, I will be thoroughly absolved,” he said.

Sidney Sanches, chief justice of the Supreme Court, is to preside over Tuesday’s trial, which may run over into Wednesday.

Sanches told reporters that if lawyers representing Collor failed to show up Tuesday, the trial would be delayed and a public defender would be appointed. But Etevaldo Dias, Collor’s press spokesman, said Saturday that the lawyers will be at the trial.

If convicted, Collor will not only be permanently ousted from the presidency but also barred from holding any public office for eight years. It would seal the downfall of a flamboyant young politician who rose to office promising to fight official corruption and abuse of power.

Collor took office in March of 1990, the first popularly elected president since a 1964 coup began 21 years of military rule in Latin America’s most populous country.

He is accused of receiving millions of dollars in graft collected by Paulo Cesar Farias, his former campaign treasurer. A congressional investigative committee said that checks for at least $6.5 million, signed with false names, were deposited in accounts used for Collor’s family and household expenses.

The committee linked the “phantom” checks to Farias, who allegedly was shaking down businesses that wanted to win lucrative government contracts. In recent weeks, more than a dozen corporate executives have told police that they paid millions of dollars to Farias’ influence-peddling ring.

Collor has denied any knowledge of such graft. His lawyers say money used for his household expenses came from a $5-million loan made to his 1989 presidential campaign by a Uruguayan broker.

In addition to the political charges against Collor in the Senate, Brazil’s independent attorney general has filed criminal charges against him for corruption and racketeering.

Since Collor’s impeachment and suspension, Vice President Itamar Franco has been acting president. Under Franco, inflation has continued at more than 20% a month and the economy has remained in a deep recession.