Bolsonaro accuses Supreme Court of wanting to “bankrupt” Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Friday, March 10, President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court‘s (STF) decision to review an appeal to overhaul pension law, accusing them of wanting to “bankrupt” the country.

Asked by one of his supporters at one of his regular meetings outside the Alvorada Palace, Bolsonaro put the possible cost to the state at R$300 billion (US$59 billion) if the Supreme Court accepted the review.

“I won’t go into details. About R$300 billion. They want to bankrupt Brazil,” replied Bolsonaro, who acknowledged that “the life of a pensioner is not easy,” reported ‘O Globo’ newspaper.

“I’m not against a revision, no,” said Bolsonaro, who then asked who would pay for such an expense. “Is there money to pay? I’m not going to talk about this subject because the debt is over R$300 billion,” he said.

The so-called “lifelong review” is an appeal to Brazil’s Supreme Court. Social security contributions made by workers before July 1994 through the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) can now be taken into account, and the benefits they currently receive can be increased.

The case was being heard in the virtual plenary of the Supreme Court, which had voted to declare the appeal constitutional. However, its voting and debate will have to resume in person after Judge Kássio Nunes Marques requests it.

It’s a legal dispute dragging on for at least two decades when a new way of calculating pensions was initiated under former President Henrique Cardoso in 1999.