Barroso calls Pacheco after talking about Bolsonarism – 07/13/2023 – Politics

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), revived a clash with allies of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), was criticized by the president of the National Congress and became the target of impeachment requests from the opposition after saying “we defeated Bolsonarism”.

The statement was made by the magistrate at a UNE (National Union of Students) event on Wednesday night (12) and led to wear and tear on the Supreme Court, which mobilized to explain the statements with the release of two official notes in less than 24 hours, on behalf of the court and on behalf of the minister, to refute the accusations of political and partisan activity.

When speaking at the 59th Congress of the UNE, in Brasília, Barroso was booed by a group of students and responded by citing Bolsonarism, the fight against the military dictatorship (1964-1985) and the defense of democracy. “We defeated censorship, we defeated torture, we defeated Bolsonarism to allow democracy and the free manifestation of all people,” he said.

At the UNE event, Barroso stated that being there meant rediscovering his own past of confronting authoritarianism and intolerance.

“Only dictatorship closes Congress, only dictatorship revokes mandates, only dictatorship creates censorship, only dictatorship has political prisoners”, he said in one of the passages in which the speech was not drowned out by the sound of boos.

Faced with the students’ protest, the minister defended the right to demonstrate and stated that “screaming instead of listening” and not putting arguments on the table is Bolsonarism.

Already this Thursday (13), after the speech reverberated on social networks and Bolsonaro’s allies criticized the minister, the STF, in an unusual attitude, released a statement to say that Barroso’s speech “referred to the popular vote and not to the performance from any institution”.

After the first demonstration, the temperature rose, with Barroso being criticized by the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who, despite being critical of Bolsonarism and maintaining good relations with the STF, suggested retraction when citing Barroso’s presence in an event of a “political nature” with an “unfortunate, inappropriate, inopportune” speech.

After Pacheco’s speech, the minister released a note in his name in which he said that he did not want to offend Bolsonaro voters and that he was referring to “coup-mongering extremism”.

“I never intended to offend the former president’s 58 million voters or to criticize a conservative and democratic worldview, which is perfectly legitimate. I have the utmost respect for all Democratic voters and politicians, whether conservative, liberal or progressive “, he said.

Before releasing a new note retracting the previous night’s speech, Barroso spoke with Pacheco on the phone. In the call, he said that he committed a slip, that he wanted to refer to “extremism” and not “bolsonarismo”. The president of the Senate was to take the explanations to the leaders of the House to improve the climate with the parliamentarians, who threatened to ask for the impeachment of the minister.

Behind the scenes, members of the Judiciary also criticized the minister’s trip to the opening of the UNE event and the magistrate’s statement on the defeat of Bolsonarism.

For members of superior courts, Barroso made a mistake by accepting to go to the event, which has political characteristics. Mere participation in the congress has already been considered an unnecessary exposure, assess Supreme Court judges.

Barroso’s statement also received criticism from peers for giving rise to complaints that the judiciary acts partially in relation to Bolsonaro.

At the end of June, the former president was tried at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), which sentenced him to ineligibility for eight years for attacks on the electoral system during a meeting with ambassadors in 2022.

STF ministers, however, consider that Barroso did not speak on behalf of the Supreme Court and that, if understood in the correct context, the phrase implied that democracy won in the face of authoritarian advances by the former president.

The criticism that Barroso received, says a minister, is the price he pays for agreeing to go to the UNE event.

The speech by the president of Congress took place after pressure from parliamentarians linked to the former president, who resumed their clash with the STF and defended the minister’s impeachment request.

As provided for in article 52 of the Federal Constitution, it is the Senate that has the exclusive competence to process and judge these requests for impeachment against ministers of the STF.

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), son of the former president, was one of those who demanded a response from Congress to Barroso’s speech.

“That he voted for Lula, everyone already knows! Now as a minister of the STF, since when and in what way did he work to remove Bolsonaro? Barroso made a mistake and he made a big mistake! We need answers and we will take the appropriate measures”, wrote the senator on social networks .

Flávio’s brother, deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), also attacked the speech and said that it is “further proof that today, in Brazil, the law boils down to the desires and particular interests of some”.

“In a solid democracy, this type of conduct would not go unnoticed. But we are in the era of relative democracy, where the “good guys” are above the rules of the game and can do anything,” he said.

The leader of the opposition, Senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), released a note and on video stated that he repudiates Barroso’s speech.

“We believe that it is necessary for the judiciary in Brazil to respect the Constitution and its express determination that magistrates do not exercise political activity, because this collides with the issue of impartiality,” he said.

Federal deputy Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ), a supporter of Bolsonaro, said that the opposition will file an impeachment process against the magistrate “for committing the crime of ‘exercising party-political activity'”.

Stage of Barroso’s speech, the UNE Congress received, also on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, and this Thursday President Lula (PT) made a speech at the event.

The presence of ministers Márcio Macêdo (General Secretariat of the Presidency), Luciana Santos (Science and Technology) and the former president of Uruguay Pepe Mujica were also expected.