by Alex Solnik
The best thing that happened in October was Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat. The second best was his flight to the United States. He may boast that he will lead the opposition from there, but that will not happen. It never has. Political leaders who were more important than him have returned to Brazil weaker, when they came back from exile at all. There is no sign of a return anyway, at least not for the next four years.
Bolsonaristas unhappy with the 2022 election results praying for Jesus to enact an authoritarian military coup. (photo: social media)
His absence will leave a gap. Had he stayed, he would have been the leader of the opposition. Without him, the opposition will fight over who its new leader should be, if anyone steps up at all. Most likely, the opposition will split. That will favor the government, which will be able to form the alliances it needs to carry out its agenda.
The Brazilian Army is breathing a sigh of relief. The purge promised in the event of a Bolsonaro victory will not happen. Nor will there be the “housecleaning” at Itamaraty, Brazil’s foreign ministry, that his brother threatened. The Supreme Federal Court (STF) will be able to settle its own matters in peace, without the sword of Damocles the new senators would have held over it. The people who made impeaching justices a campaign banner are the same ones now facing investigations overseen by the Supreme Court.
Even jailed former Banco Master chief Daniel Vorcaro is better off with Bolsonaro gone. Now he can finally reveal the truth about the “Dark Horse” Bolsonaro biopic fiasco. We are also spared that headache. It will be the film nobody ever sees, because it will never be released.
The governors elected by Bolsonarismo will hit the brakes. Cleitinho, Moro, Tarcísio and Ruas will depend on funding and cooperation from the presidential palace to govern. The retreat of Bolsonarismo (and of right wing extremism) will help the country grow, which is what the majority of Brazilians who have not fallen down the far right rabbit hole want most.
Alex Solnik is the author of 20 books and has worked as a professional journalist for over 50 years. He was arrested and tortured by Brazil’s US-backed Military dictatorship in 1973, an experience he later wrote about in the book, O dia em que conheci Brilhante Ustra. Solnik was born in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, and immigrated to Brazil with his parents in 1958. He is currently a pundit and columnist for Brasil 247.
This opinion piece, which does not necessarily express the opinion of Panamerican Dispatch originally appeared in Brasil 247, was translated with express authorization from the editor-in-chief, and can be read in its original Portuguese here.