After a long week involving a public exchange of barbs between the government’s Secretary-General, Gustavo Bebianno, and Rio city Councilor—and the president’s son—Carlos Bolsonaro, the former has been axed. The first cabinet firing comes after only 48 days, one of the quickest in history. Instead of putting an end to a political crisis, the firing has left several loose ends.
Why did it take so long for President Bolsonaro to fire Gustavo Bebianno?
Last week, the press reported on accusations that Mr. Bebianno siphoned money from a publicly-financed electoral fund during the 2018 campaign. He was at the time serving as chairman of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and used dummy candidates to divert money to companies connected to party leaders.
On February 13, Mr. Bebianno told reporters that there was no crisis within the administration—saying he had spoken with the president (who was still in the hospital at the time, recovering from surgery) three times that day already. Hours later, Carlos Bolsonaro called Mr. Bebianno a liar via social media, publishing an audio clip of his father telling Mr. Bebianno...
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