MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ex judge Moro chosen as one of the decade's personalities by the Financial Times

Moro became justice minister in the government of Jair Bolsonaro, a move into politics, which could set him up for a run at the presidency.

Brazilian Justice Minister Sergio Moro was chosen as one of the fifty personalities of the decade by the Financial Times, a list which includes activists, politicians, business people and sports persons from all over the world.

According to the FT, from his position as a judge in a provincial Brazilian city, Sérgio Moro spearheaded a corruption investigation that rocked Latin America’s political establishment. The probe into bribes paid by construction group Odebrecht led to the imprisonment of former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and implicated four former or current presidents of Peru — one shot himself before police could arrest him.

However FT also points out that in 2019, Moro became justice minister in the government of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro — a move into politics that has cast doubt on his independence as a judge, but which could set him up for a run at the presidency.

In an official release minister Moro thanked for having his name in the list, adding the was honored by the designation but recalled that the merit belongs to the global movement against corruption which finally arrived in Latin America. Democracy demands integrity. Now as a minister I follow on the same purpose as when I was a Judge: consolidate the fight against corruption and the fight against organized crime”.

Besides Moro the FT list includes former US president Barak Obama, the current leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, the French president Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Koch brothers. Among the business people figure those mainly from technology and economics, such as Jeff Bezos, Tim Cooke, Bill and Melina Gates, Elon Musk, Thomas Piketty, Kylie Jenner and Elizabeth Holmes among others.