O Caso Celso Daniel

2022 marks 20 years of the mysterious kidnapping and murder of Santo André's mayor Celso Daniel (of PT, the Workers Party), a crime that shook society and the political world of Brazil for several years and still haunts the people involved (directly and indirectly) in it due to its lack of proper solution. Some people got arrested, others died or were killed along the way but the main figures responsible for it are still out there living their lives. GloboPlay decides to revisit the case by interviewing family members, politicians, attorneys and people who were familiar with the case and their thoughts about the man, the mayor and also the tragic circumstances of his brutal death.

"O Caso Celso Daniel" is a long yet detailed project where not a single moment is wasted and it keeps viewers intrigued and in suspense all the time. From my small recollections of the events surrounding Daniel's death I remember how the case was presented in the media back in 2002 and some years after when several men were arrested as being part of the group who kidnapped the mayor and how some think-tanks kept insisting this wasn't a political crime when in fact there were plenty of rumours and speculations that Celso knew too much about a corruption scheme going on in the town hall and he was about to denounce it. Let us refresh some memories: back in 2002, the Workers Party was on a big rise when several mayors were in charge of great cities and the presidential election for the year's end was about to include Lula for his fourt nomination as Brazil's president, of which he'd finally win and lead the nation in two successful terms; and this Santo André scandal along with Toninho do PT's murder around the same time Daniel was killed was light years before the Mensalão and corruption charges involving the political party break out in 2005. Therefore, corruption cases against the party weren't common place as people think to claim they were involved, so it's quite obvious that some intrigued minds will think that a political crime was commited against the mayor.

Back to the documental series. Here, we have plenty of detail about the night of the kidnapping when the mayor was having a dinner with a friend and associate, and they were followed for several miles until they got surrounded by a group of armed men who took the mayor out of the car and left the friend behind even though he was armed and even shot at their direction. A few days later Daniel's body was found on a dirt road several miles away, found severely beaten and shot. A big commotion took over Santo André (since he was a popular figure there) and soon the investigation started. The big questions raised to family, people who knew the man and viewers relates to the mayor's friend, a suspicious figure who gave conflicting testimonies about the events of that fateful night and for quite some time he was considered as suspect of being part of the plot to kidnap Daniel - but nothing was proved.

In this series, during the re-enactments of events before and after the kidnapping/murder actor Tuca Andrada plays that friend, and there's also recreation of events presented through animated sequences (a little distracting, they could actually use actors for it). The documentary presents such a high level of evidences that really made me think that the guy was involved in the plot in some way.

But it didn't stop with the man's murder. Several key witnesses or people involved in solving the case started to get killed or die in suspicious ways, no trace could be left behind, such as the waiter who served the duo at the restaurant who got killed while going back home and had his motorcycle crash into a post; and the main coroner who confirmed that Celso was beaten and tortured before death, who suddenly commited suicide after some months of the case resolution; and lots of other people. Deeper and powerful forces were behind the crime and we still wonder who and where they are. In the subconcious of many people out there (and they don't say that, or maybe they did but it was probably quieted down by the media) they probably think the mayor's own party had their participation on everything, they tried to commit the perfect murder at the same time they were supressing the corruption charges that would bring their house down - and it worked a little since almost nothing came out afterwards since most of the evidence gathered were in the possession of Celso, hidden in his apartment.

It's a complicated and complex story and investigation that resulted in lots of confusion, mystery, threats to the man's family, torture of people who claimed to have nothing to do with the case and the enigma remained.

I was thrilled with this gripping project, found it very informative and thrilling but like one journalist published a while ago I too think the timing for such release was out of touch despite the 20th year of the case; it was out of line because it got broadcast on a year where the Workers Party is trying to reconnect with its base in order to re-elect Lula and by reliving the murder case all over again seems a way to hurt the man's chance to get elected - as if it isn't bad enough the current political status of Brazil, and Globo network also doesn't want a return to the past, it seems an inclination to support the so-called "Third Way" (which hasn't defined a true candidate yet). A sort of biased view of theirs but maybe I'm overreacting even though it's possible to see it that way since they hurt this guy in the past back in his previous elections.

For those who follow Brazilian politics and are truly interesting in knowing facts about this mysterious case, this is a must-see series. One of the year's greatest so far. 10/10.