Yesterday morning, April 24, 2020, Sergio Moro – Minister of Justice – resigned and opened a new front in the political crisis that torments Brazil in the decisive weeks in the fight against the new coronavirus.
“Unfortunately, I have no way of persevering in the commitment made without being able to preserve the autonomy of the Federal Police or being forced to agree with political interference in his work, the results of which are unpredictable.”
Very harsh words of accusation, which explicitly accuse Bolsonaro of wanting to interfere in the investigative activities of the Federal Police (PF), which has long been on the trail of possible crimes committed by the Bolsonaro clan.
The crisis was detonated by the exoneration/resignation of the PF superintendent, Mauricio Valeixo, communicated in the Official Diary yesterday, without the consent of Minister Moro (whose signature, among other things, was falsified).
According to Moro himself, Bolsonaro was concerned about the ongoing investigations relating to people close to him: “It is not a reason that justifies the replacement, I have the duty to protect the Federal Police”.
It is worth mentioning that Sergio Moro enjoys a very high popularity in Brazil, thanks to his work as judge of the Lava Jato operation, the one that dismantled the huge corruption scheme put in place by the PT and that led to the imprisonment of the ex-president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro, in a pronouncement to the nation made following Moro’s statements, retorted the accusations, questioning the good faith and sincerity of his former minister.
Federal Police officials squared in defense of Valeixo’s work and denied Bolsonaro’s statement that the waiver would have occurred at the request of Valeixo himself.
Bolsonaro has appointed the current director of the secret services (ABIN), Alexandre Ramagem, as the new Superintendent of the Federal Police.
The Prosecutor General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, has opened an investigation to verify whether Sergio Moro’s statements indicate the existence of possible crimes both by Bolsonaro (ideological falsity, procedural compulsion, corruption) and by Moro (slander, crime against honor).
Update Brazil 