Democracy, Authoritarianism, Populism, IR - Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at The New School for Social Research
Sep 7, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
ON BRAZIL INDEPENDENCE DAY (a thread). The Bicentennial of independence was hijacked by Bolsonaro. It should be an inclusive celebration. Under a normal administration, former presidents, foreign heads of state, heads of other branches of power, governors, civil society... 1/
... and business leaders would attend. Rather, Bolsonaro was incredibly isolated. The head of the Senate and the chief justice declined attending. More surprisingly, even the House Speaker, Bolsonaro’s pragmatic ally and enabler, skipped the celebration. 2/
Aug 17, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Justice Moraes, that has led inquiry on Bolsonaro’s fake news in the Supreme Court, just took the chair of the Supreme Electoral Court. Justices take turns in this position and it would be a rather trivial happening had it not been for Bolsonaro’s menaces to Brazil’s democracy 1
The ceremony in which Moraes took the presidency of the court yesterday then became a high stakes event. Four former Presidents attended, including ousted Rousseff, Lula and Temer, as well as President Bolsonaro and the speakers of the House and Senate. 2/
May 5, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
This warning by CIA chief has several meanings and likely political consequences:
1) It shows how Biden is deeply concerned with Trumpist-like democratic erosion overseas;
(Thread)
reuters.com/world/americas…2) It shows Bolsonaro isolated from US, an ally that he praised to the point of wielding a US flag while Brazil’s President. His alliance was with Trump, not the US.
3) It points to possible willingness of Biden to take action if Bolsonaro attempts a coup after electoral loss
May 4, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Other few points to consider regarding Lula’s interview for Time (thread):
Bolsonaro uses every opportunity to talk to his extremist base in Brazil. He delivers speech at UN looking at domestic effects. He doesn’t have to be concerned with foreign audiences - he is despised
Lula, on the contrary, is internationally deemed as a responsible and democratic leader. He uses interviews for less important venues and rally speeches to connect with his base and major international outlets to speak to the world
May 4, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
In regard to Ukraine, Lula says that both Putin and Zelensky are equally to blame for the war. Not an intelligent stance. Nor a good commitment to principles of non-aggression. (Thread)
Lula’s reasoning seems to be bothsidism, or staying on the fence: on one hand, he is close to Putin and wants to keep Brics alive; on other hand he cannot overtly acquit Putin for what he has done. Also, his Global South alignment leads him to not align automatically to US-Nato
- Former Minister of Justice and Carwash leading judge Sergio Moro withdraws his bid;
- SĂŁo Paulo governor JoĂŁo Doria withdraws his bid and then U-turns the same day to say he is still running (it shows a crumbling coalition). 1/
Moro (conservative right) has around 8% of votes according to latest polls and Doria (right-wing liberal) roughly 2%. These are/were candidates trying to dislodge the far-right Bolsonaro’s hegemony over the right-leaning faction of the electorate. 2/
Mar 18, 2022 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said today that Brazil, India and China won’t bend to US unipolar dreams. A few thoughts on this: +
He was of course referring to BRICS countries, a loose geopolitical bloc that also includes South Africa, whose president today blamed NATO for the war. 2/
Mar 9, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
A very thought-provoking interview. Even those who disagree with him must endeavor to find appropriate arguments -beyond normative commitments - to rebut his. A few comments in a long thread below. 1/
newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/w…
Mearsheimer points out that the combination of NATO expansion eastward, EU expansion eastward and promotion of pro-US liberal democracies in Eastern Europe forms an unacceptable threat to Russia. 2/
Feb 27, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
I am not an expert in Russia or Eastern Europe, but I will give my take anyway based on my knowledge of Geopolitics. In a war, either you win quickly or events get out of your control and everything may happen. 1/
A few days ago the most likely scenario was a swift Ukrainian takeover by Russian forces. Europe was seen as looking somewhat idle. This has changed. Europe and NATO are strongly unified and supplying assistance to the Ukrainian resistance. 2/
