The vote by Benedito Goncalves, the lead justice in the case against Bolsonaro, does not amount to a full conviction, but may set the tone for subsequent judges’ votes. The outlook appears increasingly bleak for Bolsonaro, a career politician who was until recently Brazil’s most powerful man. “Bolsonaro used the meeting with ambassadors to spread doubts, incite conspiracy theories,” the justice said during his vote. Bolsonaro had appeared increasingly sanguine about his hopes of political survival in the lead-up to the vote. “Everyone seems to say that it’s likely I’m going to be barred from office,” Bolsonaro told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper in an interview published this week.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald June 29, 2023 06:35 UTC