Explaining Brazil #251: Bolsonaro banned for good?

Jair Bolsonaro faces no shortage of charges.

They range from deliberately boycotting Brazil’s response to a pandemic, to gutting the country’s environmental agencies, to inciting violent riots against the democratic order … to trying to smuggle in jewelry gifted by Gulf states.

But his comeuppance may have come from a type of transgression that’s rarely punished in Brazil: electoral crimes.

Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of abusing his office to sow distrust in the electoral system and pit his tens of millions of supporters against democratic institutions — laying the groundwork to challenge the 2022 election results.

This week, we’ll explore what went against Mr. Bolsonaro in court, what the conviction means for him — and what it means for the country’s political system as a whole.

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In this episode:

• Cedê Silva is The Brazilian Report’s Brasília correspondent.

Background reading:

• Five of Brazil’s seven electoral justices voted to convict the country’s former far-right president for abusing his office to discredit the electoral system. He will be banned from running for public office until 2030.
• But, as Amanda Audi writes, ineligibility could be just the beginning for Jair Bolsonaro. It’s open season on the former far-right president, who faces more than 600 lawsuits — ranging from anodyne complaints to criminal investigations.
• Listen to Episode #238: Bolsonaro trial nears verdict. As the electoral trial of Jair Bolsonaro neared, Cedê Silva explained in detail the case against him.
• In a July 2022 event, President Jair Bolsonaro tried to use foreign diplomats as a way to legitimize his red herrings about the electoral process. It is that meeting that led to Mr. Bolsonaro’s ineligibility for office.

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