Minister Edson Fachin, of the Supreme Federal Court, declared the incompetence of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba to try and judge four actions of the Lava Jato operation against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, annulling all the decisions of that court.

Based on this decision, Lula is once again eligible and will be able to compete in the presidential elections of 2022, unless the Federal District Court, to which Minister Fachin has ordered the dispatch of the trial files, decides to validate the investigative documents.

In recent weeks there have been attacks on the Public Prosecutor Dallagnol and Judge Moro, aimed at delegitimizing the entire Lava Jato operation, from the preliminary to the trial phase.

According to some analysts, Fachin’s decision – despite formally annulling the sentences in Lula – is part of a strategy to preserve the evidence of the trials: in practice, the Federal District Court can decide whether or not to confirm the decisions taken by the Court of Curitiba (and therefore confirm the sentences to Lula).

With this twist, Fachin tries to defend the Lava Jato operation by resorting to a legal ploy that paradoxically favors, at least at first, his main target: Luis Inácio Lula da Silva.

As an immediate result of Lula’s new eligibility, the stock market lost 4%, the dollar flew to 5.78 reais and the euro to 6.85 reais. But these are only the first steps in a complicated game of chess.