Given the scale of the mensalão cash-for-votes scheme, and the fact the Brazilian media is largely hostile to the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), it is perhaps unsurprising that the fallout from the scandal continues to dominate the press. Last week the PT stalwart and former president of the Banco do Brasil, Henrique Pizzolato, was arrested in Italy after fleeing Brazil on a false passport following his conviction. This week a row between supreme court justices over the prison conditions imposed on José Dirceu, the former chief-of-staff of ex-President Lula da Silva (2003-2010), dominates the headlines. But steadily the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB)’s own proto-mensalão scandal is starting to creep up the news agenda, as the supreme court prepares to rule on the case later this year. End of preview - This article contains approximately 728 words.
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