Barring a wild twist, Brazil’s Senate is set to hand Prosecutor General Augusto Aras a new two-year term this week, without major fuss. The rapporteur of Mr. Aras’s nomination, Senator Eduardo Braga wrote that the prosecutor general used his time in office “to mediate conflicts” and carry out “dozens of moves to curb wrongdoing.”
But there are many in Brazil who would disagree with Mr. Braga’s glowing review of the current head of the prosecution service. Since being given the job two years ago, Mr. Aras has shown an unprecedented level of subservience to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who initially appointed him.
While prosecutors general being friendly to the sitting government is hardly new in Brazil, often turning a blind eye to corruption cases and sitting on potentially harmful investigations for years, Augusto Aras has gone out of his way to please Mr. Bolsonaro — behavior which many believe is a ploy to secure a Supreme Court seat from the head of state when the next vacancy opens up.
Obeying his master’s voice
Mr. Aras has issued requests for the Supreme Court not to investigate far-right social media disinformation rings and moved to permit in-person worship during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Above all, he has refused to take action against Mr. Bolsonaro’s litany of pandemic-related transgressions...
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