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Honestly I don't think most people need a "fixer" - just any local friend. Either they will know the expected bribe amount or they can figure it out. Also you might be able to get them to do stuff for you where all of the sudden the bribe is 1/10 the amount because they are local.

Maybe if you are doing more serious stuff like business or real estate it makes sense.

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In specific countries, like Brazil, “fixer” is a real job (it’s called “despachante” there) and it’s supposedly someone that knows the bureaucracy and how to navigate it.

Most of the time when you need to deal with a government agency you’d go through one of them. They don’t advertise that they’ll bribe people to get it done but that’s how it works.

Their services are well worth it, bribes or not. The less you interact with brazilian bureaucracy, the happier you are.

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