Good morning! Supreme Court preparing to go toe to toe with Bolsonaro over president’s attacks on democracy. Chinese investment in Brazil plummets. U.S. security officials trying to tempt Brazil into banning Huawei from the 5G auction.
Supreme Court hangs out the flag of war
After President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to step outside the bounds established by the Constitution, Supreme Court Chief Justice Luiz Fux canceled a meeting between the heads of all government branches. He had originally organized the encounter as a way to diffuse institutional tensions.
- The chief justice is set to meet with Prosecutor General Augusto Aras to discuss the president’s recent attacks on democratic institutions. Mr. Aras — hand-picked by Mr. Bolsonaro — has been nothing but docile toward the Executive branch.
Context. Earlier this week, electoral courts began an investigation into the president’s disinformation campaign about the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system and included him in another probe on illegal fake news rings. Speaking about Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees the latter investigation, Mr. Bolsonaro said “his time will come.”
- Speaking to his peers in court, Chief Justice Fux said Mr. Bolsonaro “does not keep his word” after promising to tone down his...