Military Ministers Sought to Prevent Moro’s Departure After Latest Clash With Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ministers in the Planalto Palace were seeking to reverse a potential resignation of the Minister of Justice, Sérgio Moro, on Thursday afternoon, April 23rd, after President Jair Bolsonaro advised him that he would change the Federal Police (PF) command, currently held by Mauricio Valeixo, a close ally of Moro.

According to the President’s interlocutors, Moro has not resigned, but stated he did not agree to the switch and would reassess his permanence in the cabinet.

By the end of the meeting on Thursday morning, the Minister of Justice left the Planalto Palace with no definition of his future. The military top brass is trying to find a solution to the stalemate.

Bolsonaro would like to name a new head of the Federal Police, but Moro insists on keeping Valeixo, with whom he has worked since the time of the Lava Jato operation, while having no say in one of the top positions in his own Ministry.

However, behind the scenes, the threat to resign is perceived as pressure from Moro, the most popular government Minister. On the other hand, during the crisis with the ex-Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, Bolsonaro said no Minister is “undismissable”.

On yet another occasion, he said he would use the stroke of his pen against people in the government who “have become stars”. According to the President’s interlocutors, the message was directed not only at Mandetta, but also at Moro, who had been the object of complaints from Bolsonaro for not committing himself to defend the government’s positions.

This is the second time the President has threatened to enforce a new name on the police leadership. Valeixo was chosen by Moro for the position during the 2018 transition. The detective inspector then commanded the Federal Police Directorate for Fighting Organized Crime (DICOR) and was the Superintendent in Paraná, in charge of Lava Jato, until he was invited by the Minister, to take over the General Directorate.

Although the appointment to the Federal Police command is the President’s remit, traditionally it is the Minister of Justice who makes the choice.

Valeixo’s people say that the attempt to replace him has been ongoing since the start of the year, but it is not related to last year’s events, when Bolsonaro first tried to replace him with another name. At the time, the President was forced to back down in light of the negative repercussions that interfering with the investigating authority could generate.

Last year, after Bolsonaro announced the removal of the police superintendent in Rio de Janeiro, the Minister and President engaged in a tug-of-war over the PF’s command.

In August, the President announced Ricardo Saadi’s removal from office, arguing that it would be a change based on “productivity” and that there would be “problems” in the Superintendency. The statement came as a surprise to the PF leadership which, hours later in a statement, rebutted the President by stating that the change had already been planned and was “unrelated to performance”.

Over the next few days, Bolsonaro raised the tone. He stated that “he was in charge” and that, if he so wished, he could replace the PF Director-General.