Tried the coup, left the ballot box – 7/1/2023 – Celso Rocha de Barros

Last Friday (30), the Superior Electoral Court stripped Jair Bolsonaro of the right to try to destroy Brazilian democracy from within by 2030. If he wants to try a coup by then, let him do so without public office.

Bolsonaro’s ineligibility was a giant victory for Brazil. It was only possible because the opposition won last year’s election, and because the military was not willing to risk a coup by a defeated party. Or do you think that Friday’s trial would have taken place if Bolsonaro was still on the Planalto?

Obviously not. Until he left power, Jair suffered the exact number of zero sanctions for his crimes. He bribed Congress with a secret budget, the economic elite with Paulo Guedes, the military with government positions. He broke Brazil to buy his impunity, and he lost it when he had no more budget, economic policies or positions to bribe.

If he had won the elections, Bolsonaro would have doubled his coup bet. Half of the TSE ministers present on Friday would already be in prison, as would any members of the judiciary who tried to force Bolsonaristas to comply with the law. The coup military would have received an extra dose of courage from the polls.

The fragile broad front that elected Lula would have already dissolved: the centrists who supported democracy in parliament, the media and the elite would have been persecuted by supporters. In the event of a coup escalation, the rational strategy for the left would have been radicalization, before any resistance became impossible. I would have to apologize to the left for recommending moderation all these years.

The institutions were strong enough to survive until the election, but they would not have lasted six months if less than 1% of the electorate had voted differently. The institutions managed to guarantee Brazilians the right to vote in 2022. From then on, Brazil protected its institutions against Jair Bolsonaro, defeating him in the presidential election.

Jair Bolsonaro tried to steal the 2022 election in every way possible and tried a coup when he lost. He set up the institutions without any limits. He changed the Constitution three months before the election so he could spend more money. On polling day, his government put the road police on the street to prevent northeasterners from voting. On Christmas Eve 2022, three of his followers, one of whom held a commissioned position in his government, tried to blow up Brasília airport.

And after sending everyone to the coup, Jair fled to Disney.

No, the guy who threatened the judge with death and tried to convince the PM to beat up the opposing team should not have another chance to dispute the championship.

So that’s it, Jair. You were convicted, you are ineligible, and now you will live under shared custody of Michelle, Valdemar and the PCO. But this is not the time to throw out all our anger at the deaths caused by the pandemic, the persecution of the press, the rigging of institutions, the aggression against indigenous people, people reduced to fighting over bones at the supermarket door or the attempt to establish a dictatorship that would have robbed us of all our money and all our rights.

The time to do this will be on the day of the arrest.

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