Who is still afraid of impeachment?

The worst thing Brazil has is Bolsonaro's government. No other government, state or municipal, resembles it. All the problems the country faces clash with the federal government, which is an obstacle to their resolution.

There is a growing consensus that with Bolsonaro, the country will not be able to overcome the pandemic, given the lack of government policies against it, and because Bolsonaro himself acts and speaks against precautionary measures that could limit its effects. Nor is it believed that, with Bolsonaro and his inseparable Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, the country will be able to emerge from the economic depression and the monstrous economic hardship faced by millions of Brazilians.

It is even less conceivable that the political instability inherent in the government under the current circumstances could be overcome with Bolsonaro as president.

According to polls, Bolsonaro has a 70% disapproval rating in the country. What does this mean? Does it mean they want Bolsonaro to stop being the president of the country? How do they think that could happen?

Given the number of impeachable offenses Bolsonaro continues to commit, one might think that the normal institutional course of action would be impeachment. But within the opposition, not all sectors support impeachment. How, then, do they intend to approach the "Out with Bolsonaro" movement? Or are they not in favor of "Out with Bolsonaro" at all?

Why are they afraid of impeachment? Who is still afraid of impeachment?

Those who fear impeachment accept that a president who was fraudulently elected governs by committing all kinds of impeachable offenses, every week, every day. Their rejection of Bolsonaro – among the 70% who reject him – does not reach the point of committing to impeachment.

So what do they want? For Bolsonaro to tone down his threats, to stop advocating a coup, to stop frontally attacking the Judiciary and Congress, and the media. They want Paulo Guedes to advance his ultra-neoliberal model, for the military to continue occupying government positions – including the Ministry of Health – and for the Centrão (center-right bloc) to continue its game of exchanging appointments for government support.

What bothers them are Bolsonaro's excesses. But, as Brecht says, excesses reveal the essence of a phenomenon. Bolsonaro's style is inherent to his very nature as a ruler. He is an anti-democratic ruler by definition. His economic policy is disastrous for the country: it neither manages to revive economic growth nor is it able to generate jobs.

Those who fear impeachment prefer the country as it is, disintegrating and falling apart due to the virus and the lack of governance, rather than a situation of renewed power struggles. Deep down, they fear the PT (Workers' Party), which remains the democratic alternative to this government. They prefer to take refuge in this militarized government rather than risk – for them, the right wing – a PT government, even a moderate one. That's why they voted for and/or worked for Bolsonaro's victory, knowing who he is.

They don't even want to think about the harm Brazil would have avoided if Haddad had been elected president. They refuse to take responsibility for the suffering of Brazilians under the Bolsonaro government. Nor are they willing to pay for their mistakes, throwing everything they can at the wall to remove Bolsonaro from the presidency.

"Out with Bolsonaro" is the only way to get Brazil out of its crises – the public health crisis, the economic crisis, the social crisis, and the political crisis.