Brazil: The Political Cost of Corruption

In the wake of Brazil's oil corruption scandal, the country's ruling political coalition has all but fallen apart. The ongoing investigation of corruption charges against state-owned energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro has the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), a long-time ally of the ruling Workers' Party, distancing itself from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Even more troubling to the ruling party is the possibility that Congress could vote to impeach the president. Rousseff, after all, headed the Ministry of Mines and Energy throughout the period Petrobras suppliers and subcontractors were allegedly bribing executives in return for inflated contracts. And even if Rousseff does retain her office for the next three years, her party will still be weak going into the 2018 elections.