Celso Daniel

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Celso Augusto Daniel (April 16, 1951- January 2002) was the mayor in 2002 for the third time (72% of votes) of the city of Santo André in São Paulo state as a representative of the Workers' Party when he was kidnapped and assassinated. He was a civil engineer, who graduated in 1973 from the Engenharia Mauá School, in São Caetano do Sul city, São Paulo state. He followed an academic career and had a master's degree in Public Administration from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV-SP) and a degree of a doctor in Political Science from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-SP). He acted later as a teacher in both universities. As mayor he was connected to the United Nations Urban Management Programme.

The people who kidnapped Celso Daniel have been arrested but theories about the motivation for the crime vary from suggestions that it was only a misunderstanding that led to the kidnapping of the mayor or to theories that the killers were paid by figures of Daniel's own political party. Since the beginning of the investigation, seven witnesses have been found dead.

1 The assassination
- 1.1 The investigation
- 1.2 Hypothesis of a political crime
2 International Prizes received as a Mayor
3 See also
4 References

[edit] The assassination

Mayor Celso Daniel, aged fifty, was kidnapped on January 18, 2002 while leaving a restaurant late at night in the neighborhood of Jardins in the central part of São Paulo city.

The mayor get out of the restaurant and he traveled along his former body-guard Sérgio Gomes da Silva, also known as "the Shadow" (o Sombra), who was the driver. They traveled in an armored Pajero.

The mayor's car was followed by kidnappers in other cars, and at Antônio Bezerra street, near the number 393, in the neighborhood of Sacomã, the cars blocked the mayor's vehicles. Shots were fired against the tires and the glasses.

"The Shadow", who was the driver, said that at that moment the brakes and the transmission didn't work.

According to the Shadow, the armed criminals opened the door of the car and grabbed the mayor and took him away. The businessman Sérgio Gomes da Silva remained in the area and nothing happened to him at all.

In the morning of Sunday January 20, the body of Celso Daniel, with 11 gunshot entries, was found in the Estrada das Cachoeiras in the neighborhood of Carmo in the highway Régis Bittencourt (BR-116), in Juquitiba.

[edit] The investigation

The São Paulo police concluded their investigation on April 1, 2002. According to their final report, presented by Armando de Oliveira Costa Filho of the Department of Homicide (DHPP), six individuals of a gang from the southern São Paulo favela Pantanal committed the crime. One of the accused, a minor, confessed to having shot the mayor.

The political investigation concluded that the criminals had kidnapped the mayor for profit and had confused him with a different person, a businessperson whose identity was not revealed, but was supposedly the true target of the kidnapping.

The member of the gang were identified as: Rodolfo Rodrigo de Souza Oliveira ("Bozinho"), José Édson da Silva ("Édson"), Itamar Messias Silva dos Santos ("Itamar"), Marcos Roberto Bispo dos Santos (“Marquinhos”), and Elcyd Oliveira Brito (“John”). The leader of the gang was identified as Ivan Rodrigues da Silva, also known as "Monstro" (The Monster).

The area of his captivity was chosen by Édson, who had rented a spot in Juquitiba for this purpose. Two cars were stolen for the kidnapping, a Blazer and Santana.

The gang had gathered on January 17, 2002 and decided that the kidnapping would take place the following day.

In the afternoon of January 18, 2002 the operation began. "Monstro" and "Marquinhos" left in the Santana and the other members were in the Blazer. "Monstro" coordinated the operation with a cellular phone. The members in the Blazer began to pursue the businessman who they hoped to detain, but lost sight of his vehicle. The leader of band, Monstro, then ordered them to abort the planned action and seize the passenger of the first expensive foreign car they encountered. The criminals continued to drive through the area and Monstro chose the Pajero of Celso Daniel and Sérgio Gomes as their target.

The band began to pursue the vehicle and the Blazer crashed into it. Itamar and Bonzinho exited the Blazer and shot at the Parjero and then grabbed Celso Daniel from the car. He was then taken to the favela Pantanal, located in the area between Diadema and São Paulo. In the favela, the criminals took Daniel out of the Blazer, placed him in the Santana and drove him to their planned captivity spot in Juquitiba.

On January 19, the gang learned through the newspaper that they had kidnapped the mayor of Santo André. They were shocked and resolved to give up. Monsto told Edson that the victim had to be "dispensed with". According to the other members of the gang, Monstro intended to communicate that the mayor should be freed. However, Edson interpreted this remark as meaning he should be killed.

Edson told a minor named "Lalo" to kill the mayor. Edson, Lalo, and Celso Daniel were at the estrada da Cachoeira in Juquitiba when Edson gave the order to kill the mayor. Two days later, the body was found with eight gunshot entry wounds.

Celso Daniel's family was not satisfied with the determination of the initial inquiry, and they believed that the crime had a political motivation. An analysis of the car revealed that it did not have any electrical or mechanical faults, and they didn't not accept Sérgio Gomes da Silva's story that these faults prevented an escape.

After the death of Celso Daniel, six other individuals were assassinated in an apparently mysterious manner, including the individual who found the body and the waiter who had served Celso Daniel the night of the crime.

One of public prosecutors had also showed the minor alleged to have fired the shot a photo of Celso Daniel whom he apparently failed to recognize.

The family continued to press the authorities to reopen the case, and on August 5, 2002, the public prosecution minister agreed to launch a reopening.

[edit] Hypothesis of a political crime

Many members of the family continue to believe the crime had political motivations. According to the Celso Daniel's brother, doctor João Francisco Daniel, he was murdered because he had prepared a report on corruption in the local district of Santo André.

João alleged that his brother was a part of a corruption scheme in Santo André used to divert funds to the Brazilians Worker's Party. The supposed scheme involved members of the municipal government and businesspeople in the transportation sector, and even involved key Workers' Party figures like José Dirceu and Gilberto Carvalho, current Lula's personal secretary.

According to João, some members of the scheme began to divert funds illegally marked to the Workers' Party to their own personal accounts. When Celso Daniel discovered this change, he supposedly prepared a report revealing the scheme. Because of this action, his brother claims he was assassinated and the report disappeared.

The convict José Felício, also known as "Geleião", told the police that he had heard about this report and the accompanying threat to the mayor's life.

Sérgio Gomes da Silva was later indicted and accused of being the mastermind of the assassination in connection with the corruption scheme. He is currently in custody and denies any involvement in an assassination.

[edit] International Prizes received as a Mayor

- 2002 Dubai International Awards for Best Practices (http://dubai-award.dm.gov.ae)

 Granted by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme
 Status of the premiation: Selected between 10 best practices in the world in a total of 550  
 subscriptions.

- 2001 Habitat - UN Conference on Human Settlements - Istambul

 Granted by the United Nations - UN
 Status of the premiation: One of the sixteen best experiences in the world from an 800 projects 
 subscribed.

- 1999 Mayor friend of Children Programme

 Granted by - Abrinq Foundation, supported by The United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF   
 Status of the Premiation: Highest award from 180 subscriptions.

There are also several awards received by Brazilian institutions and organizations.