MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro says STF judges biased

“Barroso and Alexandre de Moraes want Lula to be president,” Bolsonaro said

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Wednesday said two Supreme Federal Court (STF) were taking sides ahead of this year's elections and favoring leftwing contender and former head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro singled out Justices Luis Roberto Barroso and Alexandre de Moraes for rulings against him and investigations into the president, including one for spreading false news about COVID-19.

“Barroso and Alexandre de Moraes want Lula to be president,” Bolsonaro said in a television interview. “Okay, they may not want to vote for me, but do they want the man who stole the nation for eight years to return to office?” Bolsonaro said.

Lula was president of Brazil between 2003 and 2010. He spent a year and a half in jail on corruption charges that were overturned by the STF last year. Lula is now ahead of Bolsonaro in every poll for the October elections.

Barroso issued a ruling last month over the requirement of vaccination cards for all travelers arriving in Brazil, a measure which Bolsonaro opposed but which ended up applicable thanks to the judicial ruling.

De Moraes oversees five investigations into the president, including one into comments from him falsely associating COVID-19 vaccines with the cause of AIDS.

The Brazilian leader also said he will not be ettending Gabriel Boric's inauguration in Chile on March 11. “Who will attend the inauguration of the new president of Chile? I will not,” said Bolsonaro in a radio interview. “I don't want to create problems in foreign relations.”

Although he did not mention it, his decision is obviously linked to the fact that Boric openly favors Lula for the Brazilian elections.

Bolsonaro was the last Latin American president to greet Boric after his victory in the second round. Regarding Bolsonaro's greeting, Boric said: “Clearly we are very different.”