Institutions should not fear Bolsonaro and the far right

Following the opinion of the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, decided that Jair Bolsonaro’s two-day stay at the Hungarian embassy in Brasília does not constitute a violation of the precautionary rules to which the former president is subject. , and which prevent him from leaving the country.

Moraes explained that, although the locations of diplomatic missions have special protection, under the terms of the Vienna Convention, they are not considered an extension of foreign territory. Therefore, there was no violation of the precautionary measure prohibiting absence from Brazilian territory.

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The Public Ministry alleged that Bolsonaro spontaneously left the embassy after those two days in February, during Carnival. The Attorney General’s Office argued that there are no concrete elements that indicate that Bolsonaro intended to obtain diplomatic asylum to escape the country and, consequently, harm the ongoing criminal investigation.

Moraes’ decision ends the episode, but in doing so only highlights the unusual nature of the situation.

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The investigated president discreetly entered, not to say stealthily, an embassy in a country governed by an extreme right-wing ally and friend of his.

As we know, the former president is being investigated for organizing a coup that included the recruitment of generals, camps in barracks, invasion and vandalization of palaces. This conspiracy envisaged the arrest of Alexandre de Moraes himself, which did not happen. Furthermore, the explosion of a fuel truck at Brasília airport narrowly missed. There were, however, roadblocks and the knocking down of dozens of electricity towers, which were effectively attacked in series, to create widespread blackouts. In other words, chaos.

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The absurdity of this plot also raises an obvious question to which the investigation should not turn a blind eye: after all, what did Bolsonaro, forging a vaccine certificate to enter the United States, do at the embassy during Carnival?

What is most worrying, however, is considering that Moraes’ decision and the PGR’s opinion express fear in the face of threats from the extreme right against the magistrate inside and outside the country. The intimidation campaign exists in the eyes of everyone, being hateful and fascist. It is therefore even more important that institutions assume the immense responsibility placed upon them and do not back down from it.

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Therefore, the Carnival episode is not a sign of conciliation or amnesty for anyone involved in the attempts, especially for their boss, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.