Bolsonaro’s two rounds – 03/31/2023 – Demétrio Magnoli

The introductory act brought no surprise. From the Brasília airport emerged a miniaturized Bolsonaro: the leader who fled while his idiot devotees suffered the consequences of the coup act engendered by his speeches. The reception had the contours of a political funeral procession, with the somber presence of a Valdemar and a Braga Netto and solid absences of former allies, in the frame of the din of a small crowd of zombies dressed in yellow T-shirts.

Hence, the novel bifurcates into different fictional hypotheses. I baptize the first as “Police case” and the second as “The myth of the Phoenix”.

1. Police case

The night before landing, a discreet, restricted meeting at Alvorada outlined the government’s stance. Someone, perhaps a Padilha or a Dino, set the tone for the official response: a deafening silence. Lula, himself, sent the orientation to the PT president. In the agreed line, a secondary spokesperson for the party declared to the press that “Bolsonaro is a matter for the police, not for politics”.

The strategy called for a resignation: Lula and his people would give up the rhetorical polarization intended to warm up the militant base. You lose on one side, you gain much more on the other. The government would not be distracted from its economic, social, environmental and diplomatic priorities. In addition, it would preemptively empty the Bolsonarist narrative about an alleged political persecution conducted from the Planalto: Bolsonaro would not have the privilege of playing the character of the martyr.

Lula’s circumspection surprised both Greeks and Trojans. Without Lula’s counterpoint, Bolsonaro missed the easy targets, reducing himself to the role of an anachronistic buffoon.

In this fictional version, the court system has decided to follow the law. The Public Prosecutor’s Office gave up playing politics, concentrating on its constitutional functions. The Federal Police gathered the missing pieces of the accusation. Judges without a party accepted complaints of crimes against public health, violation of indigenous rights and multiple attacks against democratic institutions.

In the end, Bolsonaro became a defendant in different lawsuits, shrinking to his true stature. Finally, it was proved that the “law of the people” is valid for all people.

2. The myth of the Phoenix

In the alternative fictional version, the meeting promoted by Lula was not so restricted. In it, a Teixeira or a Costa inspired the strategy of resuming polarization. “The genocide has returned to give direct orders to that citizen of the Central Bank who sabotages our economy”, roared the president, to the jubilation of the circle of Bolsonarist operators.

The phoenix, immortal bird of Greek mythology, perishes in flames, but is periodically reborn from its ashes. Jair replied, in his usual tone, mentioning the “ex-convict who returned to the scene of the crime”. Political theater followed the most predictable script. Lula took the opportunity to connect Bolsonaro to Moro and Lava Jato to the evil US Department of Justice, giving way to his personal vendetta. A certain Gleisi, happy as ever, saw the opportunity to associate him with Roberto Campos Neto, the BC and the Selic rate, sabotaging Haddad’s plan to bring fiscal and monetary policies closer together.

The verbal war escalated in the (anti)social networks of the undead Carlos, Michelle, Bia, Damares and Deltan. While the street fight distracted the public, the gears of the justice system remained stagnant. Bolsonaro only had to explain about the Saudi pampering. Some third-party vandals received punishment on January 8th. The words “genocide” and “terrorism” continued to be circulated like the embellishments of a hoax. The clock of history has turned backwards: Bolsonaro was born again, at the head of an extremist opposition.

I’m rooting without much hope for the first version. Reason tells me that the latter will prevail.

PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscriber can release five free hits of any link per day. Just click the blue F below.