The Federal Supreme Court (STF) has become the preferred target of “authoritarian populism”, said the president of the Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, in an interview with CNN.
For the minister, the STF is often criticized by people who do not like the Constitution itself. The minister compares the importance of the Supreme Court with the existence of the Magna Carta itself, of which the STF is the guardian.
“The Supreme Court was chosen as the target because authoritarian populism has the natural tendency to divide society between us and them. The ‘we’ are the decent, hard-working and conservative people. And ‘them’, the corrupt leftist globalist elites. This is the typical division of populism. When it is right-wing populism; There is left-wing populism, which is also very bad. Therefore, populism needs to elect enemies and the court was elected the enemy.”
Without mentioning Jair Bolsonaro by name, Barroso stated that he had been targeted by a former president of the Republic and that the role of institutions is to work for the pacification of the country.
For Barroso, polarization is part of democracy and should not be fueled by aggression.
“Rudeness is always a defeat of the spirit. Not even when the former president said the rudest things towards me did it ever seem appropriate to respond in the same tone. If I responded in the same tone, then I would have lost. We need to recover civility and political polarization”, he said.
Barroso cited this year’s electoral campaigns as places where low civility and rudeness were demonstrated.
“He can only be a complete idiot serving some shady cause. Anyone who thinks differently than me is not my enemy, they are my partner in building an open and plural society”, he pointed out.
Asked about the possibility of arrest in Brazil, once again, of a former president of the Republic, in reference to the cases against Bolsonaro, the president of the STF avoided predictions.
“My crystal ball is very blurry and it has a defect where it generally only sees backwards. Looking in terms of history, I try to look beyond photography and see the film. The film about Brazilian history, above all, about Brazilian redemocratization”, Barroso directed the subject to what he considers to be Brazil’s real problems.
“Years ago, my concerns were: how to end the torture that dishonored the country’s institutions, how to end the censorship that was present in all newspaper offices, how to create democratic institutions in a country and on a continent. Today, my concerns are: how to improve the quality of basic education in Brazil, how to adequately face climate change in which Brazil has assumed a leading role, convince people that we have to invest in Science and Technology, because this is the future”, he summarized.
“In this process, that’s why I occasionally use the expression: we have to push the story. It’s not pushing history in the direction I want, (but) pushing history in the direction the Constitution determines.”
In a good mood, Barroso stated that the STF minister needs to be up to date with his therapy.
“We are always displeasing someone. The Supreme Court judge and minister has to be a well-analyzed individual because the degree of rejection is relevant. And the guy who was happy today is unhappy tomorrow with another decision.”
Barroso did not avoid answering any questions, in almost an hour of interview with CNN.
The minister cited Brazilian agribusiness and indigenous communities as examples of those interested in Judiciary decisions and who are not always satisfied with the STF.
