His name is André Mendonça, he is 48 years old. On Thursday, December 16, he joined the Federal Supreme Court, a very powerful judicial institution similar to the American Supreme Court. Under a very civilized appearance (neat haircut, small sober and rectangular glasses, impeccable costumes), he is very politically and religiously committed. He is an evangelical Presbyterian pastor, who regularly tweets citing the Bible and sees in his appointment god’s decision.
It is the first time that an openly evangelical judge has occupied one of the 11 seats of the Supreme Court. Mendonça is a conservative on all matters of society. And he is also a defender of the big oil companies and agribusiness: former lawyer of the giant Petrobras, often pointed out as the symbol of corruption in Brazil. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro first made him his justice minister, before appointing him to the Supreme Court. This appointment was validated by a vote in the Senate in early December, which took place in the presence of an impressive evangelical community, who came to lobby the senators.
It is also an electoral calculation by Jair Bolsonaro. The far-right president intends to run again in a year. He already says he only wants to leave the presidency “dead, imprisoned or victoriousIn other words: there is no question of recognizing a defeat at the ballot box. But today he is at the lowest in the polls (only 22% of confidence rating) and he sees the candidacy of the returning Lula emerging in front of him. , the former president, an icon of the Brazilian left.
By appointing Mendonça to the Supreme Court, Bolsonaro therefore seeks to seduce the evangelical electorate: about 30% of the population of this Brazil of 210 million inhabitants. And this proportion is growing. There is therefore a short-term electoral calculation. This is coupled with a medium-term objective: to have a lasting influence on Brazilian society, via the decisions of the Court, which has jurisdiction over all major social issues, abortion, minority rights, etc.
Mendonça is the second judge appointed by Bolsonaro. And this strategy is a cut-and-paste of that of Donald Trump in the United States, whose main legacy today is at the Supreme Court, with judges now predominantly conservative and who seem on the verge of questioning the law. abortion in the United States.
The Brazilian Supreme Court is in almost open conflict with Bolsonaro: the judges of the Court are the embodiment of the counter-power to the far-right president. They opened six investigations against him, for suspicion of corruption or the dissemination of false news, for example for having made a link between the anti-Covid vaccine and the fact of contracting AIDS. And then the Court resists Bolsonaro on several social issues including the fight against the pandemic. For example, on December 11, the Court made the presentation of a vaccination certificate compulsory for travelers arriving in Brazil. The far-right president, who refuses to be vaccinated, was obviously opposed to this measure. While, remember, Brazil has one of the worst records in the world, with more than 615,000 deaths from the disease.