Successive Political Crises Break Out in Brazil

Four severe crises happened in Brazilian ministries or secretariats in January 2020. The process began with the breaking of a corruption scandal in the Secretariat of Communication on January 15. One day later, the Secretary of Culture appeared in an official video containing Nazi references, but he was exonerated on the morning of January 17. The month also saw an escalation of the ongoing conflict between President Bolsonaro and the most popular figure in his administration, Sérgio Moro, the Justice Minister. Their conflict almost led to a breakdown of the ministry on January 23. The last crisis focuses on the unprecedented series of flaws in the national university admission exam, which lead to the resignation of the Higher Education Secretary on January 30.

The first crisis broke out after the “Folha de S. Paulo,” a Brazilian newspaper, published a report on January 15 accusing the Communication Secretary, Fábio Wajngarten, of receiving money through his private company from five companies he hired for the government. One of the companies, Brazilian media giant Rede Bandeirantes, admitted to paying around $2,000 per month in 2019 to Wajngarten`s company – an amount equal to approximately half his salary as Secretary. This was a severe blow to Bolsonaro`s “tough on crime” rhetoric, and the government perceived a “crisis of image.”

One day later, on January 16, the Culture Secretary, Roberto Alvim, announced a series of new art prizes in an official video packed with Nazi references. In the video, Alvim spoke while Richard Wagner's “Lohengrin” (one of Hitler's favorite pieces) played as background music, and a portrait of the president appeared behind him. The most controversial segment of the video was when Alvim paraphrased a quote on art by Joseph Goebbels, chief of propaganda in Nazi Germany. On the following morning, January 17, President Bolsonaro confirmed his exoneration, citing the “unhappy incident.”

Three days later, President Bolsonaro`s most popular minister, Sérgio Moro, appeared to hint towards his possible candidacy to the presidency in the 2022 elections in an interview. The President decided to retaliate by splitting Moro’s Ministry in two, recreating the former Public Safety Ministry (currently incorporated into the Justice Ministry), thus checking his power.

In response, Moro threatened to resign on January 23 if the President carried on with the plan. The crisis was only settled after a meeting on January 29 between the two and other important figures in President Bolsonaro’s administration. It confirmed the suspicion that their relationship had been deteriorating over the past months, as Moro achieved more popularity than the President.

Finally, January also saw an unprecedented, nation-wide series of mistakes in the university admission exam (ENEM). The test, which is the Brazilian equivalent to the SAT, is administered by the Education Ministry. After thousands of complaints received after scores were released on January 18, the Education Minister, Abraham Weintraub, admitted that more than 6,000 exams had been incorrectly graded. The crisis led to the suspension of the system that allocates students to universities based on their scores in the exam (SISU) until the second-highest-ranking justice court – the Superior Tribunal of Justice (STJ) – in the country determined the normalization of the system on January 29. The Higher Education Secretary, Arnaldo Lima Junior, resigned on January 30 for “personal reasons.”

Since Congress has not yet returned from recess and there are municipal elections scheduled for the second semester, this troubled month hints towards an even more troubled year ahead.