The PT candidate for President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated during the first debate of the second round of elections on the open TV channel this Sunday (16) that “thefts could have taken place in Petrobras” during the PT government.

“When a guy confesses to a crime, it’s because he committed the crime. People went there and reported it. That there was theft at Petrobras could be,” Lula said. The PT member recalled that whoever stole from Petrobras was arrested because an investigation was underway and there were no secrets in the government’s actions.

Bolsonaro and Lula do not dispute intentions to vote for Brazil – Photo: reproduction

PT then concluded that there was no need to shut down companies to fight corruption. “Samsung was not closed in Korea, Volkswagen was not closed in Germany. In other words, the owner of the company was arrested, and the workers continued to work, the company continued to produce,” Lula said.

Speaking of this, Bolsonaro said that Petrolão was “the biggest corruption scheme in human history” and that it caused Petrobras “debt” by diverting resources. Bolsonaro also said that the former president “shared corruption money with friends.”

The Petrobras scandal, known as “petrolão”, was a money laundering scheme at Petrobras during PT’s rule that involved taking bribes from contractors, evading foreign exchange, money laundering, and inflating the prices of works. This scheme was investigated by the federal police during Operation Lava Jato.