Brazilian Minister of Justice Sergio Moro on April 24, 2020. – Eraldo Peres / AP / SIPA
Politically, the sequence is very complicated for the Brazilian president. His very popular Minister of Justice Sergio Moro resigned loudly on Friday, citing the President’s “political interference” Jair Bolsonaro in court cases. The serious charges of the former anti-corruption judge aroused strong political reactions to the Brazil, some even consider that they could motivate a dismissal of the head of state.
Jair Bolsonaro strikes back
As you would expect, Jair Bolsonaro did not show himself down. The far-right president immediately counterattacked at the end of the day, saying that these accusations were “unfounded” during a speech delivered with a group of ministers, standing behind him, shoulder to shoulder and all without mask, except that of the Economy, in full pandemic of coronavirus. The head of state said his ex-minister was “only concerned with his ego, not Brazil”, including “a seat on the Supreme Court”.
The government is therefore shaken by a fresh start, eight days after the dismissal of the Minister of Health Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also very popular and favorable to the containment, unlike the president. After months of tension with Jair Bolsonaro who had promised to give him “carte blanche”, Sergio Moro finally left the ship when the head of state ousted one of his trusted men, the chief of police Federal, Mauricio Valeixo.
Above all, the now ex-Minister of Justice left by launching a bomb. He said that the president wanted to replace Mauricio Valeixo with “someone with whom he would have personal contact, whom he could call to obtain information on the investigations” under way.
The stock market plunges
Despite the head of state’s denial, the attorney general announced on Friday the opening of an investigation into Sergio Moro’s accusations. These statements are “very serious, indicating possible crimes committed by the President of the Republic,” said Felipe Santa Cruz, president of the Brazilian Bar Association. “Our country must fight two viruses, the coronavirus and another virus that is in the presidential palace of Planalto,” said the governor of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria.
Welcomed by a concert of saucepans in several Brazilian cities, the resignation of Sergio Moro aroused market concern, the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange falling 5.45% at the close, while the Brazilian real was breaking new ground, at 5.66 per dollar. Many analysts fear that the government will lose another key minister, that of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, whose relations with President Bolsonaro have greatly deteriorated. To be continued…
–
