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Brazil’s Supreme Court Used to Terrify Politicians. Not Anymore.

By Felipe Recondo , Felipe Seligman

Political support for Lava Jato has faded – along with judges’ incentives to crackdown on corruption.

BRASÍLIA – Brazil’s judiciary has almost always walked hand-in-hand with its political class. That’s partly why the Lava Jato investigations, in which the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has come into direct conflict with the entire political system, have been so earth-shattering. 

With a long list of legislators under investigation for their links to the largest corruption scheme in the country’s history, the STF for a time became the terror of Brazil’s governing elite. 

But the winds have changed. As the STF prepares to make a fateful decision over whether to allow prison...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

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