REVISITING CORRUPTION IN BRAZIL AND RORAIMA: THE GRASSHOPPERS SCANDAL

Abstract

Brazil has a long history of corruption. It is estimated that hundreds of billions of reais are diverted from public coffers each year, taxpayers' money mainly earmarked for health, security and education. In this vein, this book aims to discuss and characterize corruption, taking as a case study the "Grasshopper Scandal" in the state of Roraima during the administration of Governor Neudo Campos from 1995 to 2002, which was characterized by the presence of schemes to divert federal public funds orchestrated by politicians from the executive and legislative branches, as well as advisors to the Court of Auditors. The case study of the "Grasshopper Scandal" in Roraima illustrates the complexity and extent of institutionalized corruption. The methodology combined exploratory, descriptive and explanatory approaches, using both primary data, obtained through interviews and observation, and secondary data from scientific and non-scientific sources. On the one hand, in the data collection, the documentary research and the bibliographic review aimed to situate the study in the existing context, while the field research provided a detailed understanding of the phenomena investigated. The integrative review critically synthesized evidence from different studies, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the topic. This work brought significant contributions regarding the understanding of the phenomenon of corruption, both from a historical-conceptual perspective and from a diagnostic perspective through the assessment of publications carried out on the subject over time, with a geohistorical, legal, epistemological and sociological outline regarding this practice in Brazil, and with the observation of the positive and negative effects caused by the developments of the locust scandal in Roraima, revealing that, despite normative advances, corruption persists, highlighting the importance of continuous efforts to combat this phenomenon.