International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Fernando Rodrigues, Brazil, has been a senior reporter for the São Paulo daily Folha de S.Paulo since 1993 and served as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.

Fernando Rodrigues, Brazil

He has reported on numerous scandals, including a 1994 investigative series, “Managua Connection,” exposing the relationship between the kidnappers of Brazilian millionaire Abílio Diniz and several guerrilla groups in Central America. Rodrigues’ 1997 series, “Vote Market,” revealed a vote-buying scheme in the Brazilian Congress in which certain congressmen sold their support for a re-election amendment to the constitution that allowed President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to run again in 1998. The series won the Prêmio Esso de Jornalismo, Brazil’s top journalism prize. A 1994 book, The Owners of the Congress – The Farce in the Budget Inquiry Committee, revealed illegal operations conducted by several congressmen responsible for the country’s federal budget. The book was awarded the prestigious Prêmio Jabuti de Livro Reportagem prize. Rodrigues has a graduate degree in international journalism from the City University in London and taught journalism at the Methodist University of São Paulo for five years.