With military support, Moro and Bolsonaro's 'Lava Jato' operation could pose a risk to democracy.

Current Brazil Network - The initial moves by former judge and now Minister of Justice, Sergio Moro, indicate that Jair Bolsonaro's government intends to replicate at the federal level the same questionable structure and practices of Operation Lava Jato in Curitiba. In addition to surrounding himself with former colleagues from the operation, Moro has also been strengthening ties with the Armed Forces, a gesture that could pose a risk to the country's democracy, according to José Carlos Portella Junior, a member of the Lawyers for Democracy collective.

"It's worrying because there are already signs of a deepening dismantling of constitutional guarantees. Lava Jato represents a central attack on the pillars of democracy, which are individual guarantees, the inadmissibility of illegally obtained evidence, an impartial judge, due process of law, and imprisonment only after a final and unappealable judgment," he states in an interview with journalist Glauco Faria on Rádio Brasil Atual.

The lawyer is concerned about signs that practices considered abusive will be institutionalized, including with the help of the Armed Forces. "It seems that the tentacles are deepening in such a way that, soon, it will be necessary to say that in Brazil there is no longer a democratic criminal process."

For him, Minister Moro's initial moves serve as a "red alert" for those concerned about democracy. Portella argues that the rapprochement with the military and the joint action between the Judiciary and the Armed Forces recalls a recent past of terrible memories for those who know history and are aware of what happened during the civil-military dictatorship (1964-1985), in which institutions that should have put "brakes" on the arbitrary actions of the State allied themselves with the violence of the period.

"It seems that without historical memory we tend to repeat the same mistakes, because we haven't learned from the past, when lives were destroyed," he laments. For him, if there isn't a more effective response from those concerned with democracy, including the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), which, according to Portela, should speak out more forcefully, a "dictatorship within democracy" could become institutionalized in Brazil.

"The new form of authoritarianism is disguised as democracy, using laws and a 'veneer' of democracy, but at its core there is a very strong seed of authoritarianism," he explains.

Rio de Janeiro

In the interview, the member of the Lawyers for Democracy collective also analyzes the first actions of the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel, such as the creation of a Public Security Council to replace the Public Security Secretariat, but under the command of a judge, Jayme Boente.

"This signifies an open politicization of the Judiciary, which should not participate in criminal prosecution policies. The Judiciary must confront state arbitrariness. Now, if the Judiciary is within the State itself carrying out criminal prosecution, it ends up not doing what it should," states Portela Junior.

For him, this insertion of a member of the Judiciary into the Executive branch also compromises the issue of "checks and balances" between the three branches of government in a democracy, where one should oversee the other, each with its own control mechanisms.

"But here we are seeing a union between the Executive and Judicial branches, and this compromises what is fundamental in a democracy. It leaves the citizen at the mercy of the State to do whatever it wants in terms of combating crime," says Portela, citing as an example the failure of the "war on drugs," which now seems to be repeating itself in the fight against corruption and criminal organizations.