Good morning! Bolsonaro makes a huge climbdown after Sep. 7 aggression. Brazil’s inflation is stuck in a vicious cycle. São Paulo raises the alarm for a rise in Covid hospitalizations.
Bolsonaro’s non-apology-apology
Just two days after calling Justice Alexandre de Moraes a “scumbag” and threatening to disobey Supreme Court rulings, President Jair Bolsonaro published a statement to the nation in which he claims harmony between the branches of government is a constitutional imperative, even praising Justice Moraes’ “qualities as a legal scholar.”
Why it matters. The political establishment and markets reacted very positively to the news, believing that Mr. Bolsonaro might have gotten to the banks of the Rubicon, but stopped short of crossing it.
Yes, but … This is not the first time we’ve seen this kind of behavior from the president. Since taking office, Mr. Bolsonaro has engaged in a push-and-pull routine, almost on an endless loop. He attacks democratic institutions, gives a token act of moderation — and is praised for it — and then starts the process all over again.
- Every time, however, he moves the goalposts of what is acceptable in Brazilian democracy a bit further.
- As columnist Beatriz Rey wrote in an August...