Letters: BNDES
Author: André Franco Montoro Filho
Source: O Estado de S. Paulo, 28/05/2008
If there are institutions in Brazil that deserve the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, the BNDES will certainly be one of them. During its more than 55 years, under various democratic and authoritarian, civil and military political regimes, the BNDES has built a reputation for competence, honesty and patriotism that cannot be lightly tarnished. That is why I was surprised by the statements contained in the editorial The 'BNDES scheme' (27/5, A3), which denounces the “infiltration of influential dealers in the second largest investment bank in the world”. There is only one answer, in the form of a question: why would city halls pay a “commission or success rate of 1,95% on the amount released”? There are several answers to this that do not imply complicity in the BNDES. One is the ignorance of city halls, influenced by news that in Brazil everyone is corrupt; another is that within city halls there are those who participate in these commissions.
ANDRÉ FRANCO MONTORO FILHO,
former president of BNDES
São Paulo