By JOSÉ DIRCEU*
The complaint against Moraes showed how much sectors of society and the media try to align themselves with the new face of Bolsonarism, which responds to the name of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas
The emphasis given by the newspaper is strange Folha de S. Paul to the complaint that minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, had acted outside the rites to request, through assistants, that the Superior Electoral Court – of which he was president at the time (he previously served on the court from August 2022 to June 2024) – produce reports to support the investigation of fake news.
The inquiry was opened by him in 2019, against journalists and communicators who insisted on spreading false news against the electoral system, the higher courts and their ministers, preaching hate speech.
Strange because, as Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, president of the STF, rightly said, it makes no sense for Minister Alexandre de Moraes to officiate himself. The grounds for the complaint are so puerile that Alexandre de Moraes received the support of all his peers, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, many politicians and even exponents of the ultra-right, such as the jurist Ives Gandra Martins and the former deputy Janaina Paschoal.
It is important to note that the complaint was very well packaged and had wide repercussions. The report that supports it was co-authored by Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist responsible for the Vaza Jato complaint, whose documents were fundamental in annulling the proceedings against President Lula, recognizing his innocence and restoring his political rights.
However, the Bolsonarists began to call for the impeachment of Alexandre de Moraes and defend that all punishments given by him be reviewed. They also want amnesty for the coup plotters of January 8, 2023 and for former president Jair Bolsonaro himself – the siege is closing around both the former and the latter.
The complaint was published in the same week that the electoral campaign for mayors and councilors began and, as Brazil did not support the articulation of digital platforms and social networks, which today are an important vehicle for electoral propaganda, all control over the dissemination of fake news will be in the hands of the TSE.
Weakening the role of minister Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading the investigation into fake news and that at the head of the TSE he created the Integrated Center for Combating Misinformation and Defense of Democracy (Ciede), which will act for the first time in these elections, is important for Bolsonar's electoral strategy, as it depends on the propagation of lies to maintain its bases encouraged and approved. If the TSE is too active, it loses points.
It is also noteworthy that the complaint had repercussions on right-wing networks abroad and was commented on by Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) and critic of Alexandre de Moraes, whom he accuses of restricting freedom of expression with his inquiry of fake news, through which he ordered the suspension of extremist accounts on social networks.
Elon Musk, a South African who became a billionaire in the United States and owns several technology companies, is a declared supporter of Donald Trump, who, like Jair Bolsonaro and his followers, is adept at spreading lies on social media.
This Saturday (August 17th), the Global Government Affairs, from Melodramatically, he ends the statement with the following sentence, which clearly shows that Elon Musk intends to own the world: “The Brazilian people have a choice to make – democracy or Alexandre de Moraes”.
There is no doubt that the complaint, which has already begun to spread, showed that the extreme right is very active and attentive to all movements that it can take advantage of to strengthen its position towards its power project for 2026. It also showed the how much sectors of society and the media try to align themselves with the new face of Bolsonarism, which responds to the name of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas – the “suite” [in journalistic jargon, a report that explores the consequences of a reported fact] left the São Paulo Civil Police.
Tarcísio de Freitas is the one who sold Sabesp a bargain price, making the rentiers happy, and promises, if he becomes president, to privatize Petrobras, Banco do Brasil, Caixa and, perhaps, BNDES. Faria Lima is already lining up to support him. We cannot allow this to happen.
* Jose Dirceu he was Minister of the Civil House in the first Lula government. Author, among other books, of Memories – Vol. 1 (editorial generation). [https://amzn.to/3H7Ymaq]
Originally published in the newspaper Folha de S. Paul.
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