Bolsonaro goes after center-right opponents with one eye on 2022

Last week, President Jair Bolsonaro published a list of 134 subsidized loans granted by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) between 2009 and 2014 for the purchase of private Embraer jets. The move came as part of one of Mr. Bolsonaro’s campaign promises, to open the BNDES’ “black box,” but it also served a more practical purpose for the president: attacking two potential rivals for the 2022 election. Among the beneficiaries of the subsidized loans was São Paulo Governor João Doria, who took out a BRL 44 million loan with the bank by way of a property management company in his name. Another recipient of favorable financing conditions was TV presenter Luciano Huck, who received BRL 17.7 million through his company Brisair, to purchase an Embraer eight-seater aircraft.

Both men are seen as potential presidential candidates for the 2022 elections, and Mr. Bolsonaro was quick to single them out for criticism. “If [Mr. Huck] bought a jet,” said the president, “he’s part of the chaos.”

Messrs. Doria and Huck deny any irregularity in taking out the BNDES loans, stating that repayments were “transparent, fully paid, without delays,” while Mr. Doria blamed “opportunists” for trying to link the loan to any form of wrongdoing.

Ally turned enemy

In the 2018 election campaign, João Doria sought to attach himself to the image of Jair Bolsonaro, even branding an informal “Bolsodoria” slate on the ballot, urging the electorate to vote for João Doria as São Paulo governor, and Jair Bolsonaro as president.

This, despite the fact that Mr. Doria’s Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) already had its own presidential candidate, the governor’s mentor-turned-rival Geraldo Alckmin, who ended up with only 4.76 percent of the vote.

The perceived alliance with...