BRASÍLIA, April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sergio Moro, Brazil’s justice and
security minister, resigned after clashing with President Jair
Bolsonaro over the sacking of the federal police chief.
Moro, a former anti-corruption judge, hit out at “political interference”
with the federal police, saying he could not do his job without “autonomy” for the force.
The news sparked jitters in the markets with Sao Paulo’s stock exchange,
the largest in Latin America, closing down nearly 5.5 percent and the real
dropping to a record low of 5.7 against the US dollar.
“I’m going to start packing up my things and send my resignation letter,”
said Moro, 47, during a long speech in the capital Brasilia on Friday in which he accused the far-right Bolsonaro of “breaking the promise of a carte blanche.”
Bolsonaro hit back at Moro, accusing him of being motivated by “ego” and
making “unfounded accusations.”
The president claimed he had told several lawmakers before Moro announced his resignation: “Today you will see a person who is committed to himself, to his ego, but not to Brazil.”
Moro’s resignation came after Bolsonaro sacked federal police chief
Mauricio Valeixo, a close Moro ally. The president replaced him with Alexandre Ramagem, chief of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency.
“The change at the head of the federal police without a genuine reason is
political interference that harms my credibility and that of the government,” said Moro.
Moro said Bolsonaro had told him he was replacing Valeixo for someone with whom he had “personal contact, whom he could call, ask for information, intelligence reports.”
“Providing this type of information is not the job of the federal police,”
he added, insisting on independence for investigations.
Moro alleged Bolsonaro had said one of the reasons he wanted to replace
Valeixo was that he was “worried” about some ongoing investigations.
Bolsonaro’s decision to sack Valeixo against Moro’s advice was “a signal
that the president wanted me out,” said Moro.
The president claimed Moro had agreed to Valeixo’s replacement in exchange for a place on the Supreme Court.
But Moro hit back, saying his ally’s position “was never used as currency
in exchange for me being named to” the top court.
Moro made his name as a judge in leading the high-profile Car Wash
corruption investigation that notably saw former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva jailed for accepting a bribe.
He began investigating leading political figures under a left-wing
government in 2014 but said even then he’d never before faced such political interference.
Last week, Bolsonaro fired his health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who supported isolation as a tool to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the danger of COVID-19. — NNN-AGENCIES
