Good morning! Today, the split between Supreme Court justices. The stalemate between the government and states on fuel taxes. And climate-related agricultural woes.
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Bolsonaro’s man in the Supreme Court
In two separate decisions, Supreme Court Justice Nunes Marques (appointed to the court in 2020 by President Jair Bolsonaro) struck down two rulings by the Superior Electoral Court and favored two impeached pro-Bolsonaro lawmakers.
- The first saved former Paraná state lawmaker Fernando Francischini, who used social media to question the security of Brazil’s voting system. The October verdict against him was considered a landmark precedent for the courts to deal with misinformation in this year’s election.
- The second revoked the impeachment of Valdevan Noventa of Sergipe for illegal campaign funding.
Reaction. President Jair Bolsonaro praised Justice Marques for his decisions and used the opportunity to once again attack the voting system, which he claims is rigged. In 2022, Mr. Bolsonaro has publicly bashed electoral authorities at a frequency of once every four days, on average.
Track record. In less than two years,...