Jair Bolsonaro’s true “super minister”

When mapping the Jair Bolsonaro administration, one could broadly define a few clusters. There are the ideological zealots, invested in staging cultural wars. Then come the ultraliberal Chicago Boys, led by Economy Minister Paulo Guedes. Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina represents big agro’s interests within the administration. And we can’t forget the “Bolso-kids,” the president’s sons—who have cast a big shadow over the last major power-brokers, the military wing.

In most cases, it is easy to identify to which cluster a cabinet member belongs. For example, a man dedicated to “fighting cultural Marxism,” Education Minister Abraham Weintraub could only possibly be one of the zealots. One name, though, has been hard to define: Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas.

A product of Agulhas Negras Military Academy, he studied at the Army’s Engineering Institute (IME) and rose to the rank of captain—just like the president. But he is not exactly in the same group as, say, Vice President Hamilton Mourão—a former general. His praise for privatizations could also earn him a ticket into Mr. Guedes’ group, but unlike the latter, Mr. Freitas does want to keep some state-owned companies opened and running. Oh,...