Sex, drugs, and gospel music: Brazil’s madcap soap opera politics

A lawmaker accused of assassinating her adopted son-cum-husband is just the latest in a long list of bizarre scandals in Brazilian politics

flordelis house politics brazil — Congresswoman Flordelis. Photo: Lucas Tavares/Folhapress

Aug 29, 2020 11:16 4 min read (Updated: Aug 29, 2020 11:43)

This week, Brazil has been engrossed by a true crime soap opera that would make Game of Thrones screenwriters blush. Flordelis de Souza, a federal lawmaker and former gospel singer, has been implicated in the assassination of Evangelical pastor Anderson do Carmo, her adopted son-turned-son-in-law-turned-husband. Nine of Ms. Souza’s 55 children — of which 51 are adopted — were arrested this week, and she only remains at liberty thanks to her parliamentary immunity.

Besides the sordid details of the case, including a bizarre number of failed assassination attempts and the morbidly on-the-nose Google searches of one of Ms....

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Sex, drugs, and gospel music: Brazil’s madcap soap opera politics

A lawmaker accused of assassinating her adopted son-cum-husband is just the latest in a long list of bizarre scandals in Brazilian politics

Access all of The Brazilian Report

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