Is Tarcísio de Freitas a moderate? – 04/29/2023 – Celso Rocha de Barros

Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) seems to be able to easily win the three easiest championships in the world: the “Better than Bolsonaro” trophy, the “Best ex-Minister of Jair” cup and the “Better than the New Party” tournament “.

That makes him, at the moment, the favorite to lead the Brazilian right in 2026. Would it be enough to say that Tarcísio de Freitas is a good candidate, or that he would make a good president?

Easy there, son.

I know reasonable people who had a good impression of Tarcísio when he held positions in the governments of Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer. His relationship with the Lula government has been republican, reflecting the attitude that Lula has maintained towards opposition governors.

Although this courtesy is rarely extended to Lula, it is still too early to know whether Tarcísio will be a good governor; but his management so far has been, on the whole, what one would expect from a normal right-wing administrator, who would not think of declaring to the Federal Police that he attempted a coup d’état because he was high.

That is, if Tarcísio were a candidate for president in 2018, before he was Bolsonaro’s minister, it should be considered a perfectly reasonable voting option.

Unfortunately, this is not the case: Tarcísio was there when Jair killed a minimum of 100,000 people for lack of vaccine, he was there when Jair attempted a coup d’état. Even if his results as ministers were good —and I imagine that this will be evaluated much more rigorously in the coming years— he was there, he rode behind Jair in a motociata, he was elected by that same political machine.

We all criticize Lula when he is condescending to Maduro or Ortega, and we rightly criticize him. But one cannot forget: after the last few years, it is the Brazilian right that has a reputation as a democrat to rebuild.

In a mature democracy, it would be reasonable to discount Tarcísio’s past with Jair, as the governor of São Paulo shows respect for institutions. In general, it is a good sign when the best cadres of an authoritarian movement convert to democracy. And some elements that made up Bolsonarism, such as its organization in civil society through evangelical churches, will certainly survive. This all better be led by reasonable people.

The problem is that we are not in that position of stability. Bolsonaro’s radicals are free, with a mandate and participating in public debates as if they were normal politicians in a democracy. They even intend to intensify the coup speech in the CPMI of the coup.

How will Tarcísio behave in the face of the coup leaders in the CPMI? Are you going to defend the Bolsonarist conspiracy theory of the “PT infiltrators”? Will you oppose it when the coup leaders —including those with a mandate— begin to be impeached and arrested? Are you going to defend that they are? What will be your speech about the coup of 64? What will be your relationship with the Bolsonaro family?

Perhaps the character “Tarcísio moderate” is just an idealization, the wishful thinking of former toucans who miss a right wing that knows how to watch the clock. If, on the other hand, the governor of São Paulo is indeed a moderate, he will have to hope that Bolsonarism, as a political movement, is soon replaced by a democratic right. After all, “moderate Bolsonarism” makes as much sense as “Rabbi Adolf Hitler”.

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