Moro courting military officers upset with Bolsonaro

After multiple twists and turns, Jair Bolsonaro has now officially joined the Liberal Party (PL), which he will represent in next year’s presidential election. To use an analogy Mr. Bolsonaro himself employs frequently, this is a marriage of interests. The PL wants to use the president’s political capital to boost its congressional bench in the coming election — hoping to become a central power broker regardless of whether Mr. Bolsonaro wins another term — while the head of state needs access to the party’s structure to help in his uphill battle toward four more years in office.

The move also marks a shift in the Bolsonaro coalition between 2018 and now. The PL is part of the “Big Center,” a federation of conservative for-rent parties which Mr. Bolsonaro promised to oppose during his victorious presidential campaign. Where before he vociferously rallied against “old politics” — read: establishment cronyism — he is now an integral part of the very forces he campaigned against, in a barefaced maneuver for political support.

But his embrace of cronyism is not the only dramatic shift from 2018. Mr. Bolsonaro has also lost the support of many of the high-ranked generals who stood by him during his entire political career.

After taking office in January 2019 and filling his government with military personnel, Mr. Bolsonaro’s relationship with the Armed Forces top brass slowly began to sour, largely thanks to his impetuous and crass personality.

Among the most high-profile fallings-out came with retired Army General Carlos Alberto Santos Cruz, brought in as a highly-respected ally to Jair Bolsonaro. Mr. Santos Cruz was a member of the cabinet...