Explaining Brazil #106: Moro puts Jair in the corner

Photo: Marcos Corrêa/PR

The latest crisis in the Bolsonaro administration unfolded on April 24, as former Operation Car Wash judge-turned-Justice Minister Sergio Moro resigned from the cabinet, accusing his boss, President Jair Bolsonaro, of trying to meddle with federal investigations and illegally requesting confidential police reports.

Political observers are left dumbstruck as to how the president has managed to turn his administration into the dumpster fire we have witnessed for the last 16 months. Especially as Mr. Bolsonaro took office with an advantage almost none of his predecessors had: a wounded opposition that was reduced to near irrelevance.

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On this episode:

Claudio Couto is a political scientist, head of Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Master’s program in Public Policy and Administration. He also writes as a columnist for The Brazilian Report. Claudio has conducted research on how Brazilian democracy works – and has written numerous papers on Brazil’s 1988 Constitution.
Benjamin Fogel is a regular contributor to The Brazilian Report, he also writes for Jacobin magazine and Africa is a Country. He is conducting a Ph.D. on the history of Brazilian corruption at New York University.

Background reading:

What does the future hold for Sergio Moro? Benjamin Fogel tries to answer the question.
Is the era of Jair Bolsonaro’s “superministers” over?
Sergio Moro might be the most influential Brazilian in the 2010s, having helped put one former president behind bars and get another impeached. Could he bring down yet another president?
Listen to episode #64 to understand Sergio Moro’s worst scandal: the Car Wash leaks.
Mr. Moro’s tenure in the Justice Ministry represented a toughening of many policies. His anti-crime bill granted immunity to cops who kill civilians and his immigration policy was hard on foreigners.

Explaining Brazil is made by:

Gustavo Ribeiro, editor in chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
Euan Marshall, editing. Euan is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.

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