How to exorcise the zombie from the Presidential Palace?

This question is already dominating conversations in the National Congress and other political circles. The dilemma even involves parties and parliamentarians from the center and even the right, but who maintain some republican commitment.

There is a growing consensus that Bolsonaro's time is up and that his continued presence in office, besides bringing shame to the nation and degrading the institution of the Presidency of the Republic, hinders the proper fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

It is no exaggeration to say that the longer Bolsonaro remains in power, the more cases of coronavirus will emerge, causing more suffering and, above all, more deaths.

Viewed as an international pariah, his profound erosion of support within Brazilian society is an undeniable reality. The daily protests demonstrate the extent of the damage to the president's popularity, including in middle and upper-class neighborhoods considered Bolsonaro strongholds until recently.

In intellectual circles in Brazil—in medicine, science, culture, a significant portion of the media, academia, social movements, and large segments of the population—Bolsonaro is today the tumor that must be lanced to save the country's organism from septicemia.

However, the crux of the problem is how to carry out a complex operation such as removing a president from office in the eye of the storm of a mega health crisis, with tens of millions of people locked in their homes, in order to flatten the curve of virus spread, as doctors say.

Here, in a way, we have a paradox: while it is true that Bolsonaro's denialist, irresponsible, and genocidal stance towards the pandemic is digging his own grave as head of state and government, it is also undeniable that this situation stands as a huge obstacle to his removal from office.

To begin with, social isolation ends up working in Bolsonaro's favor, because although there is enough indignation and political fervor among the population for a large street mobilization in defense of his removal, people, confined to their homes, are tied hand and foot and cannot go beyond banging pots and pans and activism on social media.

Furthermore, it's important to consider that impeachment isn't something that happens overnight. Besides the process being slow, requiring qualified quorum votes in committees and in the plenary sessions of the Chamber of Deputies and later the Senate, it's always a traumatic process capable of shaking the foundations of the Republic's institutions. Not to mention that, first and foremost, it's necessary to convince the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies to accept and proceed with the impeachment request.

In Bolsonaro's case, it's also certain that he would resort to victimhood, trying to portray himself as persecuted and wronged. But that's his problem and the problem of the herd that still applauds him. So, does this mean that, given so many difficulties, the idea of ​​removing Bolsonaro from office should be shelved, at least for now? No, no, and once again, no. I only point out these obstacles along the way to modestly contribute to this debate and draw the attention of left-wing leaders to the complexity of the issue and the challenge at hand. 

Ideally, of course, Bolsonaro would resign. But that's practically impossible right now. His evil nature, coupled with his lack of love for the people and the country, prevents him from being capable of such a selfless and detached gesture from power.

Another path would be for the Attorney General's Office and the Supreme Court to classify it as a crime against public health. But who believes that Aras, the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court have the courage, independence, and integrity to do that?

Therefore, it is up to the left, without illusions that it will be an easy undertaking, to bet its chips in all possible spaces to build a political and institutional arrangement, with mass support, that leads to Bolsonaro's departure. By investing heavily in social media, unifying progressive forces (the manifesto with leaders from all parties was already a great success) and making connections in this direction in the National Congress with the center-right sectors that can no longer tolerate Bolsonaro, the horizon may open up.