Bolsonaro’s desperate play echoes Collor’s last stand

Thirty-two years ago, a dark cloud hung over the Brazilian presidency. Corruption accusations swirled around President Fernando Collor de Mello, the first head of state to have been directly elected since 1960, implicating him in a bribery scheme involving close associates. 

Facing growing calls for impeachment, the embattled president went on national television to decry the “calumnies, defamations, and injustices committed against me” and to urge his supporters to take to the streets in the colors of the national flag. This symbolic act of patriotism, he argued, would demonstrate their unwavering support for his presidency — and, implicitly, Brazil’s new democratic order. 

What followed is well known. While Mr. Collor sought to mobilize his base, large raucous counter-demonstrations appeared, reflecting the level of public discontent and disillusionment with his administration. 

The tide of public opinion turned decisively against him. Faced with the prospect of a Senate trial...