Rousseff: Hello.
Lula: Hello.
Rousseff: Lula, let me tell you something.
Lula: Tell me, my love.
Rousseff: It's this, I am sending Messias [Jorge Rodrigo Araújo Messias, deputy head of legal affairs at the cabinet office] round with the papers, so that we have them, just in case of necessity, that is the terms of office, right?
Lula: Uh-huh. Ok, ok.
Rousseff: That's all, wait there, he is heading there.
Lula: OK, I'm here. I'll wait.
Rousseff: Right?
Lula: OK.
Rousseff: Bye.
Lula: Bye, my love.
That was the transcript of a phone call between former president Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva and his successor President Dilma Rousseff, tapped by the Brazilian police on the 16th of March, 2016.
The short, yet explosive and scandalous phone call between the two profiles caused angry mass protests in Brazil. In The Guardian's report, the call suggested that the former president's appointment to a ministerial position was motivated merely by a desire to avoid prosecution in Brazil's biggest corruption scandal.
Chaos was seen in the Sao Paulo's main avenue the night after the release of the recording. The Financial Times reported that thousands of protesters clamor for Rousseff's resignation. Other mass protests were formed at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach and cities in at least 15 other states.
The protests lasted through the night, which forced the military police to throw tear gas and stun grenades at more than 5,000 demonstrators outside the presidential palace and Congress building. According to The Guardian, the protesters waved banners that saying Lula should be arrested.
Lula is currently facing investigations for corruption and money-laundering with Petrobas, state-run oil company, but his appointment as Cabinet Chief of Staff could salvage him from prosecution. According to investigators, there were construction companies that conspired with Petrobras executives to overbill the oil company amounting $2 billion. They also allegedly paid huge bribes to politicians and parties, as reported by AFP.
50 other recordings were presented by the police for the investigation which served as additional evidence to the national scandal.
But the presidential palace denied the allegations during the night of the protestings, stating that the release of the wiretaps was a violation of the constitution. The presidential spokesperson said that the tapped conversation simply explained that "Ms Rousseff was not sure if Mr. Lula da Silva would attend his own swearing-in ceremony so was sending him the document to sign," as reported in The Financial Times.
