Explaining Brazil #148: Bolsonaro fighting on multiple fronts

In recent years, the speed of the Brazilian news cycle has been intense. But not much can compare with the current moment. In the coming days and weeks, news editors will have to deal with the resolution of the 2021 budget — which should have been approved four months ago — the climate summit organized by U.S. President Joe Biden, and the start of the Senate’s newly-created hearings committee to investigate the Jair Bolsonaro administration’s pandemic response.

And, as a side dish, we have a Supreme Court trial that could cement former President Lula’s place in the 2022 election, as well as a change of command in Brazil’s Army.

Uncertainty is the rule in Brasília, but one thing seems clear: the Bolsonaro administration won’t be the same after all these battle fronts are cleared.

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Guest:

• Euan Marshall is an editor at The Brazilian Report and also hosts the Explaining Brazil podcast in the absence of Gustavo Ribeiro.

Background reading:

• Jair Bolsonaro’s pandemic response will be under the microscope. Whatever the probe’s outcome, it is unlikely to be positive for the president, writes Brasília correspondent Débora Álvares.
• Parliamentary hearings committees rarely produce concrete results, but can be used to boost or destroy the image of public figures.
• Brazil’s Congress held its most famous and consequential hearings committee to date nearly full three decades ago. And the president who was struck down by that committee told The Brazilian Report he sees parallels between his ousting and the current moment.
• President Jair Bolsonaro is trying to make the world believe he will commit himself to curbing deforestation. That will be a tough sell, considering that his Environment Minister was recently accused of colluding with illegal loggers.

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• #biden
• #climateChange
• #congress
• #crisis
• #jairBolsonaro
• #supremeCourt