Brazil: the answer to Jair Bolsonaro | Opinion

From Rio de Janeiro

After the clearly putschist demonstrations led by Jair Bolsonaro last Tuesday (Photo), this Wednesday tension persists in Brasilia and in several Brazilian provinces.

The truckers, obeying their bosses, the big agricultural entrepreneurs, closed roads in at least six provinces and, in Brasilia, tried to approach, in a clearly aggressive stance, both Congress and especially the Federal Supreme Court.He, the highest instance of Justice, harshly attacked by the far-right president in his statements. Until the beginning of the night, they were contained by the security forces.

Bolsonarists

As expected, politicians’ backlash has fluctuated between calls for an impeachment trial in the Chamber of Deputies and low-key comments from Bolsonaro’s closest allies, who have acknowledged two things. The first, that in the demonstrations there were a lot less people than expected. And the second, that the far right has stretched even more a rope that is about to break.

They also recognized that in the end, Bolsonaro hears no one beyond the inner demons who torment him.

At Congress

As expected, the reaction of Artur Lira, The president of the Chamber of Deputies, in the drawer of which lie more than a hundred requests for the opening of such a trial, was lukewarm.

Leader of a group of right-wing parties which have a tradition of praising themselves to any president – they were with everyone, including Lula – he was ambiguous. He tried to show a certain rigor, he launched a “stop” to the escalation of the president’s attacks, but it has come to sea miles to put pressure on Bolsonaro with the possibility of accepting a criminal liability complaint following the presidential announcement that he did not intend to obey the decisions of the Supreme Court.

Yes the Attorney General of the Republic, according to the Constitution, it is up to him to denounce the crimes committed by the authorities, the president among them, chose to insinuate a certain harshness in his remarks, but maintained his submission to the putschist.

In class

He referred to the problems that arose during a “civic celebration” forgetting that in reality it was an incitement to break between the three powers, that is to say a coup.

It comes precisely from Luiz Fux, president of the Federal Supreme Court, the harsher and more forceful reaction.

Aside from his twisted language and full of samples of his very high legal knowledge, Fux has been clear in his criticisms.

He denounced that the president’s threats to the courts constitute an act “Anti-democratic, illicit, intolerable“, he declared the obvious – that not to obey the determinations of a member of the Supreme Court constitutes a” crime of responsibility “-, and in a forceful tone he assured that” no one will close ” the institution he chairs.

In short, he categorized what happened on Tuesday as what it really was: pure coup.

He referred to the tragic situation experienced by Brazil, with inflation, unemployment, mortality caused by the government’s inertia in the face of the pandemic, water shortages and the consequent threat of a blackout, to make people understand that there is no government.

And he ended by saying that in the case of a “crime of liability”, that is, if Bolsonaro does indeed disobey any decision of the members of the Supreme Court, It will be up to the Chamber of Deputies to move the process forward.

This is what the Constitution provides. And this is indeed what the President of the Chamber refuses to do, the only one authorized to receive a request for dismissal, in exchange for more and more posts and budgets to be distributed among your allies.

Pressure

In any case, the pressure on Bolsonaro has increased a lot. Businessmen from a wide variety of sectors have strongly criticized his coup declarations. The São Paulo Stock Exchange collapsed, the dollar and the euro appreciated strongly against the real.

None of this, if anything, will be enough to contain Bolsonaro’s creeping earthiness.

We know that when they are harassed with increasing intensity, a psychopath tends to react more and more aggressively.

This is what is expected. AND the only antidote to this picture would be that the President of the Chamber and his allies hired by Bolsonaro finally understand that enough is enough, who are starting to lose their electoral bases.

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It would be: there is no indication that this will happen in the short or medium term.

And so the country will continue to be crushed by Bolsonaro and the most fanatic wing of his supporters, who make up about 15 percent of the 210 million Brazilians.

All the others will continue to suffer, helpless, the growing effects of the country’s collapse.