Jucá Ferreira. Thibault Camus AP Press Association Images. All rights reserved.
Francesc Badia i Dalmases: The Brazilian political atmosphere is currently tense, spurred by debate over whether or not what took place there was a coup. The picture we see is of artificial polarisation and attempted manipulation of popular movements. How do you see the current situation in Brazil?
Jucá Ferreira: First, I would like to make clear that, in my opinion, it was a coup. Coups in Latin America today are not carried out by the military, but are executed by way of a siege: through the media, the justice system, law enforcement and the parliament, where all that is good is dismantled, where popular governments, leftist parties and political leaders are criminalised. This is how it played out in Brazil's instance, where, with the support of the judiciary and the federal police, the coup finally was consummated in Parliament. I characterise it as a coup because, although impeachment is enshrined in the Constitution, some basic requirements are required in order to arrive at a situation of impeachment. Among others, a crime of responsibility has to have been committed by the President of the Republic, which, in this case, simply was not the case. The coup leaders recognised this on several occasions, especially considering that despite removing President Dilma from office, her political rights were maintained. If the president had committed the offense of liability, the normal implication would be for her to lose those rights.
