What appeared to be a case of money laundering done through a network of laundromats and car washes (in Portuguese, lava jato means “pressure washing”), turned out to be the largest corruption network in Brazilian history that ultimately extended to at least 12 countries. It has brought businessmen to justice and has shaken more than one government.
A political scandal that transcends borders, such as Operation Car Wash –the network of corruption and money laundering that originated in Brazil and involves politicians and businessmen from several countries– requires cross-border, collaborative and persistent journalistic work.
Operation Car Wash, known as Lava Jato in Brazil and considered the biggest corruption case in that country’s history, has provoked the indignation of many citizens. For this reason, journalist Luiz André Alzer gave Brazilians the opportunity to seek "revenge" and punish corrupt politicians and businessmen through a card game he created that is inspired by real characters and situations of the scandal.
A young Peruvian journalist who had been reported missing since Oct. 24 has been located in good health. Convoca, the news site where he works, said Aramís Castro Ramos' temporary disappearance was unrelated to his journalistic work.
Javier Duarte de Ochoa, governor of Veracruz, Mexico who has been the subject of widespread criticism for the high levels of violence against journalists in his state, has resigned from his position as he faces unrelated corruption charges.
Brazilian journalist Maurício Campos Rosa, owner of the newspaper O Grito, died on Aug. 17 after being shot five times. The murder occurred in Santa Luzia, in the metropolitan region of Minas Gerais' state capital. He was the fourth journalist killed in Brazil this year.
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) was acquitted of crimes against the public administration in the case of the “diarios chichas,” or yellow press, by a Supreme Court panel presided over by controversial Judge Javier Villa Stein, reported El Comercio.
Documents obtained by judicial order show that the company JBS, one of the largest food company in the world, and another company contracted by it in 2015 sponsored a smear campaign against Brazilian journalist and founder of the nonprofit organization Reporter Brazil, Leonardo Sakamoto. The information was published by Folha de S. Paulo on April 8.
After a TV crew was taken hostage in Paraná, a station invaded in Goiania and eight reporters beaten in São Paulo, on March 10, UNESCO and representatives of Brazilian media corporations delivered a letter to the country’s Minister of Social Communication calling for action to protect journalists and to ensure the media can work safely during the coverage of corruption investigations in the country.
Latin American journalists gathered in Colombia last week to commemorate Gabriel García Márquez’s impact on the profession and share how their reporting is fighting corruption in the region.