On tape, Bolsonaro cites protecting his family in push to swap top Rio cop: source

[Judi Lynn]

MAY 12, 2020 / 2:50 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Ricardo Brito
4 MIN READ

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said in an April cabinet meeting that he needed to change Rio de Janeiro’s chief of the federal police to protect family members under investigation, a person with knowledge of a video of the meeting told Reuters.

The video was shown on Tuesday to investigators looking into accusations by former Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who resigned two days after the cabinet meeting, alleging Bolsonaro was trying to interfere in law enforcement for personal motives.

The fresh evidence in the federal investigation of the president fanned a political crisis distracting Bolsonaro from a widely criticized response to the coronavirus pandemic, eroding his popularity and rattling financial markets.

In the video, the president said his family was being persecuted and he wanted to change the federal police chief in his hometown, or else he would replace the police force’s national director and the justice minister, the source said.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics/on-tape-bolsonaro-cites-protecting-his-family-in-push-to-swap-top-rio-cop-source-idUSKBN22O30L?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29&&rpc=401

[Judi Lynn]

1. Parting words, the last paragraph from the posted article, too good to miss:

“My investment advice would be not to run into a burning building. Right now, Brazil is best left to the specialists, crazies, long-term opportunists and those without other options,” said Armando Castelar, research coordinator at the Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE/FGV) in Rio de Janeiro.