Discourse about plea bargaining in the written press and its impact on Brazilian politics: "Operação Lava-Jato" in the pre- and post- electoral campaign.

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the impact that plea bargaining has had on the Brazilian political sphere since the emergence of "Operação Lava-Jato". To do so, we analyze the discourse that the press created concerning this topic in the period before and after the presidential campaign of 2014. Plea bargaining in Brazil is regulated by Act No. 12.850/2013, which addresses criminal organizations, evidence obtaining and criminal procedure. This law has had a great repercussion on national politics because it has encouraged the revealing of the links between politicians and organized crime in exchange for criminal and procedural benefits. As a hypothesis, we question whether the current Brazilian crisis is more a political/institutional issue or a legal/criminal one.

Keywords

• política brasileña
• organización criminal
• colaboración premiada
• “operación lava-jato”