Brazil investigates BNDES’ bankrolling of Mariel
The Brazilian Minister of Transparency, Monitoring and Control, Torquato Jardim, has revealed that he is investigating why Brazil helped finance construction of the Cuban Port of Mariel. Explaining the reason for the investigation, he noted: “It generates no market for the Brazilians.”
The Special Mariel Development Zone was one of the most iconic projects undertaken by the government of Dilma Rousseff, especially as construction was carried out by Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which has since been linked to an alleged serious case of corruption.
A loan of $682m was awarded to Odebrecht by the National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in 2009.
While BNDES is able to lend money for overseas development, this is only done when there is a clear commercial opening for Brazilian business. However, Mr Jardim queried whether this was the case, pointing out that “the island is [a] closed [market]”.
Nevertheless, at the moment, authorities in Brazil are stressing that the investigation is “a routine procedure”.
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