Limits to Negotiated Accountability of Economic Accomplices: The Case of Volkswagen do Brasil

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the agreement signed in 2020 between Volkswagendo Brazil and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which marked theclosure of previous civil claims filed by a group of employees who werevictims of gross violations of their human rights and alleged the complicityof the company during the dictatorship in Brazil. The conclusions challengethe triumphant story provided by both the State and the company itself andhighlight the dark side of using negotiated agreements in the context ofcivil litigation as a way to achieving guarantees of justice, truth, memory,reparation, and non-repetition.