Surprisingly Sergio Moro, the superminister of Justice and hero of the Lava Jato operation (the green-gold Mani Pulite) resigned yesterday morning. Bolsonaro has thus lost a big part of the government. Which now, also thanks to the economic and health difficulties imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, is starting to falter.
According to Moro, the vase overflowed with the Brazilian president's decision to replace the head of the Federal Police, Marcelo Valeixo, his trusted man from the time he led the Lava Jato operation which led to heavy convictions of politicians and entrepreneurs, including former president Lula.
The farewell press conference of the Minister of Justice it was not a smooth transition of deliveries. Moro took the opportunity to remove several pebbles, indeed boulders, from his shoes, starting with the denunciation of pressure and attempts by Bolsonaro to interfere in the work of the police forces. In fact, it seems that the president fears the legal troubles of his three sons involved in politics.
Senator Flavio is being investigated with the charge of embezzlement of public funds at the time he was a deputy in Rio de Janeiro. While the deputy of São Paulo Eduardo and the municipal councilor of Rio Carlos would head the so-called "cabinet of hatred", a propaganda machine that spreads fake news and attacks on social media. The "virtual beast" is also at the center of a parliamentary commission of inquiry.
The most serious accusation, however, is the one that arose this week when the Supreme Court launched an investigation into who organized it the demonstrations that praised the military coup and which were held last Sunday in Brasilia. Bolsonaro also attended the event, which took place in front of an army barracks, even haranguing the crowd.
The suspicion is that direct threats to democracy – with the closing request of Congress and the Supreme Court – started from the group headed by Carlos and Eduardo. The penalties for the crime of attacking the democratic state reach 15 years in prison.
Suspicions also hang over Carlos for a possible connection, never proven so far, in themurder of Rio city councilor Marielle Franco, killed in March 2018 by gunshots while in the car. A death whose instigators have not yet been discovered.
After Moro's farewell, Bolsonaro said he was "disappointed and surprised" and denied pressuring the investigation and the police. The fact is that Moro's words have triggered a further inquiry by the Supreme Court into possible interference by the president.
Moro's departure from the scene it is the second heavy farewell in a few days after the ouster of Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, guilty of defending strict social isolation measures against the coronavirus. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, is known to push so that the country's economy does not stop.
Both Moro and Mandetta leave the scene with high approval ratings among the population, higher than those enjoyed by Bolsonaro. The former judge was considered one of the jewels of the Bolsonaro administration, together with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, who remains in his place for now.
Moro made himself loved and hated, depending on the political vision, as a hard-fisted judge who sentenced bigwigs in Brazilian politics between 2014 and 2018 and who sent Lula to prison, putting him out of the last presidential election.
At the end of 2018, after the election of Bolsonaro, Moro has been invited to occupy the position of superminister of Justice and the Interior. Under his management, Brazil has experienced a significant reduction in homicides. In 2019 there were 41 victims, a very high number, but 19% less than the previous year.
