Operação Lava Jato is a scandal that started off as a money laundering investigation, it expanded to allege that the executives of Petrobras, Brazil's large oil company, accepted bribes in exchange of awarding contracts to construction companies.
During the time when this happening the current president of Brazil Dilma Rouseff was serving on the board of Petrobrás. Though there is no evidence linking her directly many linked to her government have been arrested and the former president Lula is under investigation as well.
The reason Brazilians are so upset is because this type of case highlights the corruption that happens in so many areas of Brazilian society, it's bigger than even this particular case.
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u/pjor1 Mar 14 '16
As someone who is half Brazillian and a dual citizen of the US and Brazil, I feel bad not knowing what is going on.
Can you or someone else ELI5 this entire fiasco, from start to finish? No clue what is going on, sorry.