Former President Jair Bolsonaro suffered the heaviest blow of his long political career this Friday: his eight-year disqualification for systematically attacking the fundamentals of Brazilian democracy with “vile lies” as dictated by the electoral judiciary.
(Also read: Former President Jair Bolsonaro will be banned from holding public office for eight years)
The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) decided by five votes in favor and two against to convict the leader of Brazil’s far right for abusing political power in the 2022 elections. in which he tried unsuccessfully to remain in power and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wonand strip him of his political rights by 2030.
The 68-year-old retired captain can only run for elected office or hold positions in public administration at the age of 75.
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His desire to stand as a candidate in the 2026 presidential election, as he had expressed at the trial, has vanished for the time being, as there is still an appeal to overturn the verdict.
Evangelicals, military officials, gun advocates and extreme economic libertarians have remained associated with Bolsonaro under his motto: “God, Country, Family and Liberty”. A motto adopted from that of the “green shirts”.Fascists trying to imitate the teachings of Benito Mussolini in Brazil in the 1930s.
Inspired by his “friend” Donald Trump, Bolsonaro links ideologically to other conservative leaders such as Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Chile’s José Antonio Kast or Spain’s Santiago Abascal.
(Also read: “It was a stab in the back”: Jair Bolsonaro reacts to his political disqualification)
Deep-seated hatred of “communism”, rejection of “gender ideology”, lack of commitment to the environment, denial of the Covid-19 pandemic and his unfounded suspicions about the electoral system sparked controversy in his mandate (2019-2022 ). .
Nostalgic for the dictatorship (1964-1985), the far-right leader applauds and smiles at his supporters when they call for him to shut down Parliament and the Supreme Court, demonstrations he protects within the framework of freedom of expression.
His silence after the elections, without openly acknowledging his defeat and without placating his supporters, who remained outside the barracks and called for military intervention to overthrow Lula, was followed by the anti-democratic acts of January 8th.
That day, a week after Lula took power, thousands of radical Bolsonaros stormed and looted the three powers’ headquarters in Brasilia while Bolsonaro was in the United States, where he traveled two days before stepping down from the presidency.
The descendant of Italian immigrants, Jair Messias Bolsonaro was born to a humble family in inland São Paulo on March 21, 1955, a crucial time in understanding his anti-communism.
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These were times of dictatorship and the clashes between guerrillas and the military that took place in this region would mark it forever.
That was the reason why he enrolled in the Agulhas Negras military school in Rio de Janeiro. It was founded in 1977. He joined the Parachute Brigade and was promoted to captain. In 1986, when democracy had already returned, he wrote a controversial article in the press, demanding better salaries for this category and almost calling for insubordination.
Shortly thereafter he left the barracks to begin his political career. He was a city councilor for Rio de Janeiro and a federal representative for almost three decades. In 2018, he competed in person and won in the second round after an election campaign was marred by the knife he received from a man who slipped into the crowd. In 2022 he lost re-election to his main political opponent, the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Today he is handicapped after taking Brazilian democracy to the extreme.
EFE
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