OPINION. Citizen or spectator? The part that falls to us in this institutional crisis
Democracy does not depend on the absence of crises. It depends on institutions capable of resolving them. Since the 1988 Constitution, Brazil has gone through serious political and ethical crises. In most of them, however, one or more institutions have preserved sufficient authority and legitimacy to react to excesses and compensate, to some extent, for the imbalances and effects caused.
The article discusses the state of democracy and institutions in Brazil since the 1988 Constitution. It highlights how institutions have responded to various crises, including the impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992 and the Mensalão scandal, but notes that the Lava Jato operation, which began in 2014, had both positive and negative outcomes.
While it led to the recovery of billions of reais and exposed corruption, it also committed errors and abuses, damaging the reputation of institutions. The article concludes that the current crisis in Brazil affects not only one or two institutions but practically all mechanisms that should contain it, including the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary, leading to doubts about where to turn in times of crisis.
Written by urgent.news from Brazil Journal's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
