It's a coup, you idiot!...

Aécio Neves's term as senator will be decided by his colleagues in Brasília. It is quite likely that, given the current composition of the Brazilian Senate, the punishment initially imposed on Aécio by the Supreme Federal Court will be overturned. Unless the PT (Workers' Party) caucus in the Senate acts cohesively and increases external pressure.

Aécio's return to the Senate would signify, above all, a victory for Brazil against the coup. It would be saved by concrete, and decidedly un-republican, action from the illegitimate leader.

It is therefore necessary to be emphatic in this interpretation to prevent the left from falling into traps again. One of these traps is the belief that the Supreme Court's retreat (which transferred the decision on Aécio's political future to Parliament, overturning its own previous decision) is positive because it asserts the Legislative branch's authority over the Judiciary.

It is necessary to acknowledge some merit in this position – and it was not by chance that some segments of the left adopted it, believing that in doing so they were defending democracy. But, as mentioned above, thinking this way is to fall into the trap of the right and underestimate the role of Congress in the ongoing coup.

We are indeed aware of the harm caused by the ideologization and even partisan bias of the Brazilian judiciary in recent years. Without a single vote, magistrates acting like gods have considered themselves the sole arbiters of reason and the nation's agenda. Of a conservative background, they have brought this worldview into their rulings.

It is certainly necessary to defend the role of Politics over a partisan Judiciary. But this consideration does not apply to the episodes involving the Senate that "voted" for the coup.

First of all, although it seems obvious, it's important to remember that the crimes committed by the then-senator from Minas Gerais have nothing to do with his parliamentary duties. They are common, serious crimes. And duly proven. In other words, to put it more clearly, Aécio was caught red-handed.

More importantly, it is necessary to emphasize the naiveté of believing that the Supreme Court's retreat and the Senate's affirmation of the Judiciary's role in judging its own members signify a new era to come. This assumption undermines the blow suffered by Brazilian democracy. A blow that not only "was," but "is"—and, it seems, "will be."

The same Supreme Court that chose to wash its hands of the crimes of the suspended president of the PSDB party made a different decision regarding Senator Delcídio Amaral, who was then a member of the PT party. Without judging the merits of the case or the names involved, can we imagine that this double standard won't happen again?

Of course not. We live today under the Brazil of the coup, as I always like to repeat. The media and the judiciary have joined forces with right-wing parties to undermine the sovereign choice of the people. And they have succeeded in this. The laws have been and are being manipulated to serve this objective. They will not back down, especially now. Nor have they allowed themselves to avoid the embarrassment of attacking Chico and sparing Francisco—and the wavering vote of the president of the Supreme Court in the session on Aécio was a shameful demonstration of this.

Voting to uphold the Supreme Court's punishment for the one who was the "face of the coup" would also be consistent with the PT's position of demanding the immediate removal of Aécio Neves from office by the Ethics Committee.

Defending his punishment should be our ethical duty, a fight against corruption, but also a political one. It's fitting to return to the famous phrase of Clinton's strategist, James Carville, duly updated to current times: "It's a coup, stupid!"