1st Edition
Corruption and the Lava Jato Scandal in Latin America
Corruption and the Lava Jato Scandal in Latin America brings together key international and interdisciplinary perspectives to shine new light on Lava Jato, or Operation Car Wash, Latin America’s largest corruption scandal to date. Since 2014, this scandal has unfolded in surprising ways to expose collusion between construction companies and state officials in Brazil and 11 other countries. The corruption uncovered amounts in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and billions of dollars in stolen state funds.
The volume features evidence that the main construction company at the center of the scandal was—apparently—deliberate about seeking business in corrupt markets. It also evaluates the ambiguous role played by the media, whose members often relied uncritically on classified information released by the authorities. The volume further contributes to our understanding with studies on a number of other relevant topics, including: the overlap between corruption and the planning of the Rio Olympics; Mexico and Peru’s contrasting responses to Lava Jato; the policy reforms needed to avoid a similar scandal in the future; and the roadmap for how Lava Jato should end. Across 15 chapters by leading and emerging scholars and practitioners, this book engages with these issues from a balanced and unbiased perspective, including interviews with key stakeholders on both sides of the case.
As one of the first book-length studies to deal with Lava Jato in the English language, this ground-breaking volume is a compelling reading for advanced students and researchers in areas including Corruption Studies, Public Ethics, Political Science, and Latin American Studies, as well as for practitioners working to make governments more accountable.
PART 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO LAVA JATO 1. Introduction by Paul Lagunes & Jan Svejnar 2. Lava Jato in Perspective by Albert Fishlow 3. Competing to be Corrupt: The Multinational Dynamics of Public Procurement Bribery in Latin America by Connor Wahrman PART 2. BRAZIL’S EXPERIENCE WITH LAVA JATO 4. Urban Planning Legacies and Corruption: Evidence from the Rio Olympic Games and Lava Jato by Márcia R. G. Sanzovo & Karla Y. Ganley 5. Captured Media? Examining Brazilian Coverage of Lava Jato by Daniela Campello, Anya Schiffrin, Karine Belarmino & Debora Thome 6. Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant: Investigative Journalism in the Age of Lava Jato by Beatriz Bulla & Cortney Newell 7. Lava Jato and Brazil’s Web of Accountability: A Turning Point for Corruption Control? by Ana Luiza Aranha 8. An Interview with Deltan Dallagnol by Paul Lagunes 9. An Interview with Sergio Moro by Paul Lagunes PART 3. LAVA JATO BEYOND BRAZIL 10. Comparing Peru and Mexico in the Lava Jato Corruption Scandal by Raquel de Mattos Pimenta & Catherine Greene 11. Fighting Corruption in a Hostile Environment: Peru’s Lava Jato Special Prosecution Team by Denisse Rodriguez-Olivari PART 4. WHERE TO FROM HERE? 12. An Interview with Glenn Greenwald by Karla Y. Ganley & Paul Lagunes 13. Corruption in Brazil: Beyond the Criminal Law by Susan Rose-Ackerman & Raquel de Mattos Pimenta 14. How Should Lava Jato End? by Jessie W. Bullock & Matthew C. Stephenson 15. Lava Jato’s Lessons, Leaks, and Lasting Impacts by Karla Y. Ganley and Paul Lagunes
Biography
Paul Lagunes is an Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, USA.
Jan Svejnar is the James T. Shotwell Professor of Global Political Economy and Director of the Center on Global Economic Governance at Columbia University, USA.
