Brazilian President Bolsonaro's Anti-Corruption Campaign Tarnished By The Case Of Rio Mayor Marcelo Crivella

JAKARTA - Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella was arrested on charges of corruption. Analysts see these arrests as a stain on the anti-corruption campaign that is being called for by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

In politics, Crivella is an ally of Bolsonaro. Crivella even became an anti-corruption campaigner for the Bolsonaro government.

According to Reuters on Wednesday, December 23, Crivella was arrested just nine days before the end of his term. Upon the arrest, Crivella maintained that he had done nothing wrong, and that Crivella was simply a victim of Brazilian politics.

"I am innocent and I don't know what is going on," Crivella told reporters after his arrest.

It is known that the investigation of Crivella was carried out as a follow-up to the alleged bribery involving his name as the mayor of Rio de Janeiro.

About Crivella, he is the nephew of a wealthy evangelical pastor named Edir Macedo. Thanks to the support of Crivella's uncle, Bolsonaro got a vote so big that he won the 2018 Brazilian elections.

In return for gratitude, Bolsonaro has also supported the re-election of Crivella, who lost the second round of mayoral elections last November. These political matters linked Crivella to Bolsonaro, who was widely known by promises and rhetoric about cleaning up dirty politics in Brazil.

Not only Crivella. Rio de Janeiro State Governor Wilson Witsel left office on August 28 after being investigated for involvement in a corruption case.