Leaked communications provoked earthquake in Brazil

The communications between Judge Moro and the prosecutor's office, which led to the conviction of former Brasilian President Lula, caused a political and judicial earthquake.

The disclosure of numerous communications between Judge Sergio Moro and the Coordinating Prosecutor of the so-called anti-corruption operation "Lava Jato", Deltan Dallagnol, has exposed the joint work of both parties to achieve the conviction of former President, Luis Ignacio Lula Da Silva, which made it impossible for him to participate in the last presidential elections, thus allowing the victory of ex-military ultra-right wing Jair Bolsonaro.

The publication, in "The Intercept Brazil", of the documents obtained through a source that managed to hack private communications between the two parties, has caused a real earthquake in Brazilian politics and society, directly questioning not only the supposed separation of powers but also the legitimacy of the process to which was submitted the ex-President, who was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison, for alleged acts of passive corruption.

Initial official reactions were to denounce "hacking" as a mean of illegally obtaining documents, without going into their judicial and political connotations. For his part, former Judge Moro, rewarded for his work with the Ministry of Justice, said from Manaus: "It is a normal thing and doesn’t target anyone.” Something that clearly contradicted the content and style of his published messages to the Prosecutor Special.

The Secretary of Communication of the Presidency took more than a day to react and in a note read on the most important news of the country declared: "We totally trust Minister Moro". 

More prudent and cautious has been the reaction of the President, who despite his extensive use of social networks this time simply preferred a   ‘no comment’.

Official sources and analysts for the moment dismiss a possible resignation of Moro, however the magnitude of the scandal forces the Supreme Court to study the repercussions of the published communications, since they openly violate the Constitution and the current procedural laws, since in the communications Judge Moro guides, indicates and recommends the Prosecutor how to handle the investigation with the clear objective of "condemning" Lula. 

If the Supreme Court were to annul the sentence or censure the ex-judge's procedures, his resignation would be an unavoidable cost for the current President.

Beyond the judicial, the revelations have also confirmed the denunciations of the Workers' Party (to which Lula belongs) and of numerous social movements and personalities that the trial of Lula was a “framing up” to prevent his presidential candidacy. Something denounced also by some governments and numerous progressive and leftist forces in the region.

The scandal unleashed in Brazil also serves as an impetus to the growing movements opposed to the policies of President Bolsonaro. Numerous  mobilizations have been organised in the past months by indigenous communities in defense of their territories, the powerful Movimiento Sin Terra (MST) against the criminalization of their actions, feminist movements and marches for sexual diversity. The last have been the multitudinous student mobilizations against the cuts to the financing of public education.

The real repercussions of the publication of the communications between the Judge and the Prosecutor's Office, to condemn Lula, have yet to be seen, but they will undoubtedly mark Brazilian policy in these coming weeks.