The situation between Cunha and Temer is getting complicated.

The stage is set to save Congressman Eduardo Cunha's mandate, which in reality means saving the mandates of part of Congress and the Temer government. This is because Cunha has already warned, behind closed doors and back channels, that if he is impeached, he will take down with him a lot of people who are practically in his pocket, starting with the interim president himself, because he knows all about his underhanded dealings. And he will not hesitate to spill the beans. The fear that this could happen, especially before the conclusion of Dilma's impeachment trial, is visible in the nervousness of those threatened, of which there are many. One of the whistleblowers, businessman Julio Camargo, has already revealed that Cunha supports 200 congressmen, which clearly illustrates his power in the Chamber. The former president of the Supreme Federal Court, retired Justice Joaquim Barbosa, in fact, didn't need to mince words to define the situation: "This group seized power to perpetuate itself and continue plundering."

Besides the frequent postponements of the session to vote on Cunha's impeachment, the most recent sign that they do not intend to impeach him was given by the new Speaker of the House, Representative Rodrigo Maia, who set the date for September 12th, a Monday. The unwary might ask: But why that specific date? The answer is very simple: because we will be almost on the eve of the municipal elections and, therefore, the Chamber's plenary will certainly be empty, since the vast majority of parliamentarians will be in their electoral bases, engaged in seeking votes for the election of their mayors and councilors. The date, therefore, was not chosen randomly, but carefully considered to avoid a quorum and prevent Eduardo Cunha from being impeached this year. Maia, however, mocking those who criticized him for the visible maneuver to save the former Speaker of the House, guaranteed that on that day he will have 450 representatives in the plenary. It must be a joke.

Despite the scandalous maneuvers to save him, however, the noose is tightening around the powerful Rio de Janeiro congressman. Besides revealing that Cunha supports 200 congressmen, businessman Julio Camargo admitted, in a new deposition, that he didn't tell everything in the first one out of fear, as he was coerced, extorted, and blackmailed, in a "very elegant" manner, by the PMDB politician. "My fear," he said, "wasn't physical, but of a powerful, aggressive person, impetuous in his demands against my family, my businesses, and those I represent." Even also fearing Eduardo Cunha, who has become the bogeyman of the Chamber and the interim government, Congressman Rodrigo Maia will face great difficulty continuing to maneuver in defense of his mandate, because the pressure from all sides, including the media, will be immense, regardless of the possibility of the courts being called upon to force him to vote for his expulsion, which would be a demoralizing blow to the already demoralized Chamber.

Besides Cunha, who demands gratitude from Temer for having enabled the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, the interim president, his ministers, and more than 300 parliamentarians, including deputies and senators (including Aécio Neves and José Serra), are also fearful of another threat, perhaps even more immediate: the plea bargain of Marcelo Odebrecht, imprisoned for over a year by Operation Lava Jato. The best sign that they are afraid was given by former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who sought out Marcelo's father, businessman Emilio Odebrecht, to request the exclusion of Aécio and Serra's names from the list of the accused. The fact that the proud guru of the PSDB party humbled himself, begging for clemency for his allies, makes it clear that they are aware of what they did and, therefore, know that this time they will hardly escape justice, as they have been doing over time, with the complicity of the media and some magistrates. They are running out of protection.

In any case, it seems that Temer's interim government will not last long, not even reaching 2018. This is because, in addition to Cunha and Odebrecht, two swords hanging over his neck and that of his coup-plotting companions, there is also the Superior Electoral Court, where a lawsuit filed by the PSDB against the Dilma-Temer ticket is being processed. Although the president of the Court, the "impartial" minister Gilmar Mendes, has been striving to dissociate Temer from Dilma, in an attempt to save the interim president should the court accept the arguments of the PSDB, he will hardly succeed in this endeavor, because the decision will be made by the full court. And if the Senate approves the impeachment and definitively removes President Dilma Rousseff, Temer will be the only one left to be impeached. From there, anything can happen, including the inauguration of the new president of the Supreme Federal Court, Minister Carmen Lucia, as President of the Republic, since the first in the line of succession, Congressman Rodrigo Maia, also entangled with Eduardo Cunha, will probably not be able to assume the government. The future, therefore, looks uncertain. All that remains for us, then, is to ask the Great Architect of the Universe: Save our beloved Brazil!