-Analysis-
SAO PAULO — Had the events of the past three years in Brazil been written decades before as a story, it would have been dismissed as facile, exaggerated fiction. And then there’s the pandemic, which because of the dystopian depths to which politics sank, transformed the country into the epicenter of the global health crisis.
Yes, it may seem like pulp fiction, but sadly it’s all very real. And to understand the most recent chapter — what unfolded on May 22 — we first need to go back and look at the opening act in this ongoing political drama.
In July 2017, Judge Sergio Moro sentenced former president Lula da Silva (2003-2011) to 10 years in jail. This was done at record speed for Brazilian justice, and Lula’s sentence was later upheld by a second court. The laws of Brazil do not permit people convicted in a higher court to run for office, and so Lula (who was looking to regain the presidency and was poised to win) was sidelined.
