Politics

What’s at stake in the fight for Brazil’s prosecutor general job

bolsonaro raquel dodge prosecutor general vale brumadinho
President Bolsonaro and Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge

After last year’s general elections, the new members of Congress barely had time to decorate their offices before maneuvers for the 2020—and even 2022—elections got underway. However, before all that, there is another highly consequential race on the horizon which is currently flying under the radar. Raquel Dodge, Brazil’s prosecutor general, will see her two-year term run out on September 17. It will be up to President Jair Bolsonaro to give her another term or pick her replacement, a decision he will announce within the coming days.

Ms. Dodge was the first woman to become the country’s top prosecutor, but is now bending over backwards to try and get a second term. She is the outsider in this race, having long lost the support of those she was supposed to lead, who now see her as an opaque boss.

She is accusing of not maintaining a constant dialogue with prosecutors, and her feud with Operation Car Wash has not helped her case. But Ms. Dodge is also being burned by prosecutors in Brasília for not acting as a union leader and championing the demands of prosecutors who want their already-hefty salaries to be inflated further.

Her cause is also...

Don't miss this opportunity!

Interested in staying updated on Brazil and Latin America? Subscribe to start receiving our reports now!