Arresting the architect of the nuclear submarine, or like poking a sleeping bear with a short stick.

Let's say – for the purposes of any plea bargain – that in Brazil during Lava Jato, there is truly justice – that clearly Christian justice, sung in thunderous prayers by certain pastors, especially in the National Congress. And that the evidence that Judge Moro has in his hands from a Federal Police (until further notice, blatantly biased), is, this time, respectable, irrefutable – something that, in a regular trial, in principle, only exists if duly supported, not by the singular judgment of a judge – but at the end of a regular trial, without interference from anything extraneous to it (such as the opinions of some journalists). Will it be acceptable – for how long? – that a first-instance judge puts any citizen in jail at his whim; and that everything remains unchallenged for the Supreme Court of Brazil?

Petrobras' business is on the verge of standstill. The man who was directing the construction of the nuclear submarine, one of Brazil's leading nuclear scientists – the very submersible under construction that is the apple of the Armed Forces' eye – has been arrested. He's in jail. He's under a plea bargain.

Until when?

The atmosphere is one of utter bewilderment. There is, by all indications, a revolution (a real upheaval) in Brazil today, only this one is being orchestrated, unbelievably, by the Brazilian justice system. For many, it is, in fact, redeeming glory. Segments of the middle class, at best, believe that with the paralysis of the country, including the loss of their own jobs, Brazilians will finally reach the paradise they long for and deserve. In short, and to say what some believe needs to be said, everything will be better when the Workers' Party members are imprisoned; this is what many readers of the blogs we know are also saying.

The real misfortune would be the PT (Workers' Party): Lula didn't make Brazil grow – that's a lie from the PT supporters. Brazil's exit from the map of absolute poverty is a UN invention. Odebrecht is a corrupt company that, "by chance," has over one hundred thousand employees. It's stagnant, waiting for what awaits it after the imprisonment of its directors and owner.

So be it – this is what public opinion dictates. The fate of the nuclear submarine project doesn't matter (in fact, that's what matters); the "Moros" of the Brazilian justice system want to clear everything up. Let's go!

But there are complications, of course. Up until now, the "Russians" (that is, the Brazilian Armed Forces) have not been consulted about the underhanded plan by the judges and prosecutors of Lava Jato to dismantle Brazil in a "legalistic" coup that would wipe out the economy and, by extension, the PT (Workers' Party).

Without causing alarm, it might occur to the more astute—and it's good to warn them about this—that at this point they might be poking a sleeping bear with a short stick.

Valeria, by the way, a small inference.

In ancient Renaissance Florence, a monk – Girolamo Savonarola (1452-14980) – faced with the corruption of the Church at the time, decided to take upon himself and his followers the task of reforming Catholicism. What did he do? He began by overthrowing all the authorities. Immediately afterwards, he began to call for the reform of morals and then, as a first measure, he started burning and threatening everything that seemed to him to be a product of perversion: works of art, books, and logically, the prevaricators, those suspected of thievery, and sinners – not only the rulers, but also the artists. One of those converted by the fundamentalist puritanism of the Florentine religious figure was precisely one of the greatest painters of all time: Sandro Botticelli (1495-1510). He agreed to burn his works considered obscene – many nudes, wonderfully "licentious" works that were evidently one of Savonarola's targets.

The monk and others, including Botticelli, may have been among the first proto-evangelicals of those times. Botticelli must have been a sincere Christian. He was repulsed by the decadence of the Church, the corruption, the cynicism, the hypocrisy, and everything else. But he literally murdered his paintings. He killed them for us, posterity, who consider him one of the greatest artists of all time. However, the story evidently had a tragic end, not for the artist—thankfully—but for the monk. After a fleeting glory, in which he was revered throughout Florence, the reaction occurred. And, unfortunately for the non-fanatical, unlike Savonarola himself, they arrested him, tortured him, and burned him under every possible punishment, which was also what those ill-fated times cultivated.

No comparisons, with all due respect to reminiscing.

But with the judges acting as spokespeople for the Supreme Federal Court (STF), things are heading towards the worst of all possible worlds in Brazil. It has already been said: without the consent of the illustrious ministers of the STF, Dr. Sérgio Moro would not be doing what he is being allowed to do ("doing" would perhaps be a more appropriate word). Arresting everyone he suspects of being corrupt is somewhat reminiscent of that character from Machado de Assis's "The Alienist," Simão Bacamarte, who considered himself the judge of judges and imprisoned whomever he pleased in the model asylum he founded in his city. He was a psychiatrist and diagnosed that almost everyone in his community was insane. And so he interned in his asylum those whom his zeal and his unwavering and prejudiced convictions judged to be ill – or corrupt.

Things a fundamentalist would do.

Okay. It's already known that the anti-PT (Workers' Party) supporters, the entirely unjust anti-PT activists (since no one denies that many of those accused in Lava Jato deserve a few years in prison), are going to protest. They are the "coxinhas" (a derogatory term for right-wingers). A segment of the youth consumed by fanaticism, exchanging the tradition of youthful generosity for the senile moralism that exists in our most conservative society, are ready and prepared to protest. And it's known that they will descend into the worst kind of "goody-two-shoes" mentality – which is fanaticism, duly fueled by the mainstream media – and that they ignore the consequences of the actions of these "boys" from Paraná – as the judges of Lava Jato in Curitiba, the conservative Cláudio Lembo, very well defined them.

In other words, Sérgio Moro thinks he has reached the nirvana of his vision of a vigilante by arresting one of the leading figures in Brazilian nuclear physics, who, not coincidentally, until yesterday was a member of the Brazilian Navy. It doesn't occur to anyone that by imprisoning one of the main architects of the nuclear submarine, Judge Moro is stirring up a hornet's nest. President Dilma, as is her habit, may say nothing, since she has nothing to say anyway. But the "Russians," who are not supporters of the Workers' Party (with apologies to the right-wingers), may not be pleased at all to have their projects, which are undeniably in the national interest, thwarted. No one from any country that possesses a treasure like the pre-salt oil reserves will think that the military – despite its past subservience to Washington – doesn't have its own desires to safeguard a country like Brazil – that this is its obligation.

And that projects like the purchase of fighter jet technology from Sweden are unimportant. Or that the nuclear submarine can do without certain figures like the vice-admiral, detained by Dr. Sérgio Moro – that this, in short, is a matter of minor importance to what the members of the Armed Forces consider fundamental to National Sovereignty.

These are reflections that evidently do not occur to the middle classes and their counterparts, the "coxinhas" (a derogatory term for right-wingers), among whom is included Dr. Sérgio Moro. As a member of the all-powerful judiciary, the highest representative of the Supreme Federal Court, perhaps he cares little that Brazil might return to its status as a banana republic, even in the name of public morality.

They are probably mistaken.

Savonarola thought he had God on his side. That is, until the day the truly powerful entered Florence and brought him to his knees.

Let's say, finally, that there is justice in Brazil and that the representative of the Supreme Federal Court believes he can do everything suggested by an unchecked Federal Police. The idea is the prevailing one: we all agree that the corruption at Petrobras and many others should be punished exemplarily. But sparing the cartels linked to the PSDB, such as those formed in the São Paulo subway and Furnas in Minas Gerais – to mention only a few crimes unconvincingly forgotten by Lava Jato – is unconvincing. They are a scandal (even the most imbecile of Brazilians should understand this). Or rather, they are convincing: not only the anti-PT supporters, the staunch right-wingers of the PSDB, DEM, PDS, and the naive. For them, it's good that Judge Moro arrests and punishes, even if it cripples Brazil and its projects.

The difficult part now, however, will be convincing the "Russians." They'll need plenty of arguments.