Brazil: Two Constitutions?

We are living through a serious political crisis triggered by the coup-plotting opposition, the media, and large economic groups. Corruption within the government ranks is erupting like a volcano, with new revelations.

The fact is that reality shows the signals in Brazilian politics are reversed. Those considered to be fighting corruption are corrupt themselves. They are trying to tear up the Constitution to impose an illegitimate government.

This coup plot within the judiciary involved the majority of the Supreme Court Justices, under the leadership of Gilmar Mendes, who spearheaded this coup process within the judiciary and, together with Eduardo Cunha, led the coup. However, Cunha was ousted to avoid further tarnishing this government.

Gilmar Mendes continues to lead the group of judges, prosecutors, and federal police officers who are betraying the Constitution. His actions leave no doubt about his role.

The disclosure of the confidential content of the arrest warrant against the PMDB leadership led him to exclaim: "You can't play around with this kind of thing. It's a secret process, secrecy is requested. This is serious."

But when excerpts of conversations between Dilma and Lula were leaked, Mendes considered the disclosure correct and its content extremely serious. Furthermore, he stated that Jucá's conversations do not constitute any irregularity. The facts are numerous to prove that he is not acting in his capacity as a Minister, but as an agent of the coup.

The Brazilian Constitution clearly states that the foundation of the Brazilian republic is popular sovereignty. Therefore, the attempt to override the 52 million votes cast for President Dilma, with an impeachment lacking legal basis, is nothing more than a coup d'état.

The current leadership of the Brazilian Bar Association participated in this shameful betrayal of the Constitution. They joined as an auxiliary force to the coup and didn't even have their impeachment request received by the Speaker of the House, a clear demonstration that their position was insufficient to play the preponderant role they had hoped for in this process.

The rapporteur for the case before the Federal Council concluded his opinion with the shameful and unlawful conclusion that President Dilma committed a crime of responsibility.

The manifesto IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION emphasizes that it recognizes "the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) as the legitimate representative of Brazilian lawyers and is inspired by its legacy of fighting for freedom. However, it does not approve of the current leadership's policy, which is entangled in a historical error – comparable only to its adherence to the 1964 military coup."

Gilmar Mendes' assistant, Sérgio Moro, has been elevated to the status of "hero" by the magazine Conhecer. The cover of the edition dedicated to him features the title SÉRGIO MORO HERO OF BRAZIL.

In the article "Why Did Sérgio Moro Become a Hero?", the text states, "In the demonstrations of March 13, 2016, the largest ever recorded in the country's history, with more than 3 million citizens taking to the streets throughout Brazil, one figure stole all the attention: Judge Sérgio Moro." The article ends with the phrase - President Moro?

And also, "federal judge Sergio Moro, responsible for Operation Lava Jato, was presented as a corruption fighter on the cover of the North American magazine Americas Quarterly."

In its article, the American magazine stated, "Sérgio Moro is a star, and there's no mystery about why. The young Brazilian judge uncovered a far-reaching corruption scheme that had diverted more than 3 billion dollars from the state-owned oil company into the pockets of government members and political parties." This demonstrates that the magazine supports the coup due to the interest of major American oil companies in the pre-salt reserves.

All this proves that the new type of coup is not carried out solely by internal forces, but also has strong external support.

Denouncing the "modern" form that neoliberalism invented for the coup, a group of French intellectuals stated that Dilma Rousseff is being deposed by politicians directly linked to the Lava Jato corruption scandals and that the Brazilian right is trying to implement a conservative and neoliberal agenda, threatening recent social gains on the continent.

To achieve their objectives, these forces seek to impose impeachment without legal basis, without characterizing a crime of responsibility. This is stated by Gilmar Mendes himself, who, in declarations given to journalist Wellington Calasans at the University of Stockholm, Sweden, stated that the process against Dilma is more political than legal (...) and that if she had committed a crime, and it was flagrantly proven, she would not be prosecuted.

Regarding respect for the Constitution, the manifesto "A TRAITOR TO THE CONSTITUTION IS A TRAITOR TO THE NATION," signed by 43 of the country's leading jurists, recalls that during the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, the President of the National Constituent Assembly, Ulisses Guimarães, stated: "The Constitution is certainly not perfect. It itself admits to allowing reform. As for disagreeing with it, yes. To disobey it, never. To defy it, never. A traitor to the Constitution is a traitor to the Nation. We know the cursed path. To tear up the Constitution, to lock the doors of parliament, to strangle freedoms, to send patriots to prison, exile, and the cemetery."

The act of overriding the Constitution, denying the democratic rule of law, and imposing an impeachment without legal basis is analyzed by the German jurist Hauke ​​Brunkhorst in his article "The Decapitation of the Legislator: The European Crisis – Paradoxes of the Constitutionalization of Democratic Capitalism."

In examining the three stages of European constitutions – the economic, legal, and political constitution – he states that "the concrete order of law and economics triumphs over the formal constitution of law and democracy."

When assessing the stage of political constitution, it is highlighted that "we can perceive the paradox: constitutionalization advances and is simultaneously deconstitutionalized by its own advances. This paradoxical structure is due to the emergence of formal constitutional law along with its opposite: informal prerogative law. Both constitutional formations constitute the European dual state. It is this contradiction between formal and informal constitution that causes a crisis of legitimacy (...) the most important decisions must be made not by the legislator or the government, but by the judges."

This analysis applies to the situation we are experiencing in Brazil. Thus, the denial of democracy and the democratic rule of law is an expression of the informal constitution, of financial capitalism, overriding the 1988 Constitution.

We are therefore facing a serious institutional crisis that jeopardizes democracy and the rights enshrined in the 1988 Constitution.

To confront this, it is fundamental to unify all initiatives organizing lawyers and jurists around a broad front for democracy and legality. The left is fundamental in this articulation. However, to ensure the incorporation of important lawyers and jurists into this broad front, it must have a democratic character and be constituted around legality and democracy.

Lawyers and legal experts are best positioned to demonstrate to the people the unconstitutional and illegal nature of the coup. Only in this way will it be possible to attract broad sectors of the middle class, which are fundamental to the critical moment we are facing.

The central task at hand is to mobilize society around an alternative that expresses the desires of millions of Brazilians.

The path that is succeeding in sensitizing broad sectors of society is the calling of a plebiscite so that the people can decide on holding direct elections for President of the Republic now. This is the central task of the struggle for legality. It places the solution to the crisis in the hands of the people.

The unity of the Brazilian people against the coup, in defense of the Constitution and the democratic rule of law.