Brazil’s far-right President-elect has convinced crusading anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro to become his justice minister, the two said yesterday, stirring celebration and outcry by hiring the jurist who jailed his chief political rival.
Moro oversaw the so-called ‘Operation Car Wash’ that convicted former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of bribery and money laundering, blocking him from running against Bolsonaro earlier this year, when he led opinion polls.
The judge flew to Bolsonaro’s beachside Rio de Janeiro home yesterday, where he met with Brazil’s next president for about an hour before both announced the decision in statements.
“Federal judge Sergio Moro accepted our invite for the justice and public security ministry. His anti-corruption and anti-organised crime agenda, as well as his respect for the laws and the constitution, will be our guide,” Bolsonaro tweeted.
The president-elect scores a clear political victory with the appointment of Moro, who has gained a cult following in Brazil after he locked up a string of politicians and businessmen in the country’s biggest ever graft investigation.
Bolsonaro surged to victory on Sunday promising to combat graft and violence.
But the decision also hands ammunition to his opponents on the left, who have long argued that the Car Wash probe was a politicised purge aimed at sidelining Lula and his leftist Workers Party (PT).
As Brazilians geared up to vote last month, Moro came under political fire for releasing plea-bargain testimony alleging a bribery scheme by PT members to fund their 2014 electoral campaign.
“Moro will be Bolsonaro’s minister after his decisive role in his election, by blocking Lula from running,” wrote PT President Gleisi Hoffmann on Twitter. “Fraud of the century!”
In a public statement, Moro said he would hand over the reins of the sprawling Car Wash investigation to other judges in his home town of Curitiba to avoid controversy.
Bolsonaro is expected to announce a full cabinet this month, ahead of his term beginning in January.
Yesterday, his top agriculture adviser said he had recommended a two-time congressman from the south of the country to become the new agriculture minister.
Nabhan Garcia said in a telephone interview that he had met Bolsonaro on Wednesday and recommended Congressman Jeronimo Goergen, 42, from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a key agricultural region, for the role.
Goergen said he has received no formal invitation from Bolsonaro but would be “honoured” to receive one for his historical ties with the meat and the farm industries.
Goergen, a lawyer and a member of the conservative Progressistas party, was elected to a third term in Congress last month.
He briefly worked under a former agriculture minister in the centre-right administration of then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso before becoming a state legislature representative in 2003, according to his website.
The new minister may need to execute the proposed merger of the agriculture and environment ministries, a move Bolsonaro hopes will reduce government bloat, but one that has been criticised as potentially hurting the country’s agenda on both fronts.
The agriculture ministry also will be charged with restoring the image of the country’s agriculture sector, which came under scrutiny after an investigation of food companies led to allegations in 2017 that they colluded with health inspectors to evade safety and quality checks.
Rio Grande do Sul is an important producer of soy, beef and many other agricultural products.
“I cannot recommend my own name,” Garcia said. “It would be incoherent and embarrassing for both parties.”
But after receiving input from industry leaders from around the country, Garcia said, “a consensus name emerged that enjoys empathy and credibility in the productive sector. One of a friend and warrior in our defence in many senses, Federal Congressman Jeronimo Goergen.”