Back from the Carnival break, we bring you a fresh institutional crisis in Brazil, as the Supreme Court arrested a pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker. And how Brazilian companies stumbled at the beginning of 2021.
A new institutional crisis has been unleashed
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest of Congressman Daniel Silveira on Tuesday night. The lawmaker had published a slew of insults against the court and its members, reigniting an apparently dormant investigation into the use of fake news targeting justices. In his decision, Justice Moraes called Mr. Silveira a “recidivist criminal” and cited an investigation against him for “inciting the subversion of public order.”
Who is Daniel Silveira. A rookie congressman and former military police officer, Mr. Silveira rose to prominence during a public rally in 2018 when he destroyed a placard honoring Rio de Janeiro City Councilor Marielle Franco — who had been assassinated earlier that year. A radical supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro, he has been involved in numerous controversies and acts of violence.
- In June 2020, he used Twitter to threaten anti-fascist protesters, saying he would “unload [his] gun clip” on them, in case of a confrontation.
Context. The case which culminated with Mr. Silveira’s...