RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The protests that broke out in Brazil over the past two weekends in reaction to anti-democratic flags, such as the closure of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and Congress, are a testament to the resilience of society and crucial to protecting democracy from the authoritarian trends of President Jair Bolsonaro, said STF Justice Gilmar Mendes in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday evening in his office.
“We are being constantly tested. Society is becoming aware of this. There has been a certain numbing, but the institutions have shown resilience, the street demonstrations are very important in terms of stating that there is a limit to all this,” said the Justice.
Mendes said he understands Bolsonaro’s “annoyance” with the STF and Congress, which have suspended several of his measures, but that this is because the president has limited powers. “The group advising him has a notion of an imperial presidentialism. So much so that he uses the expression ‘they’re emptying my pen, the STF took my pen’ very often, as if it were enough to issue a decree.”
The Justice recalled that all governments in recent history have coexisted comfortably with the system of checks and balances, but that the court is more active now in the Bolsonaro government because there are “provocations,” including threats to disable the institutions.
“The institutions are up and running and they have been reacting. Several measures that have been taken by the government have been stopped in Congress and the Supreme Court.”
Mendes specifically gave as examples the STF’s suspension of the “school without political parties” project; the appointment of Alexandre Ramagem as director-general of the Federal Police; the sharing of names, phone numbers and addresses of people by telephone companies to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics); and the launching of the fake news inquiry that affects Bolsonaro’s allies.
Mendes described a meeting he had with Bolsonaro in March to explain the need for greater coordination between states, municipalities, and the federal government to fight the coronavirus pandemic. He says he found an extremely concerned President with the post-pandemic economy and possibly his chances of reelection.
“I see him as an anguished soul, a tortured soul,” he said, adding: “I see the President always looking out for enemies or culprits. He crossed a line between his office and the Supreme Court, as though the STF was the culprit because it reinforced the social isolation measures,” he said.
Despite seeing an authoritarian escalation in the country, the outspoken Justice says he doesn’t fear a 1960s-style military intervention: “I see this military generation as democratic. What I fear, and what we have to pay close attention to, is this digital militia, the size of which we don’t know well. It’s a criminal organization with ties to the police.”
Source: Infomoney