Brasília - The chairman (presidente) of the Chamber of Deputies' Ethics Council, deputy Ricardo Izar (PTB-SP), has released a note stating that he sees "strong evidence, beyond indications, that there were payments and withdrawals of money to and by members of Congress and that the money came from Marco Valerio, via the Banco Rural and other places." The Ethics Council is investigating charges that Valerio ran a payoff scheme in Congress which made monthly payments ("mensalão") to some congressmen in parties allied with the government so as to ensure that they would vote with the government.

Izar's note goes on to say that "some of the withdrawals were cyclical, strongly suggesting the existence of a systematic payment scheme to members of parties allied with the government."

However, Izar adds that without individual confessions, something he calls improbable, it will be hard to prove the existence of the monthly payment scheme.

"The facts speak for themselves.... The Ethics Council will do its work serenely, calmly and with a sense of justice. We shall not deceive Brazilian public opinion," concludes the note.

Translator: Allen Bennett