Presidential candidate Augusto Cury, a writer running for the small Avante party, said on Monday (Sept. 7), Brazil's Independence Day, that the Senate must take up impeachment requests against justices of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), the country's top court. In an interview on the Jovem Pan network, he also said he would review the imprisonment of defendants from the January 8, 2023 riots, when crowds stormed the seats of the three branches of government in Brasília, and promised to "retire" President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party if he reaches the runoff. Hours later, he held a rally on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro and announced financing for 10 million micro businesses in communities and favelas.
Impeachment and the January 8 prisoners
"There has to be impeachment. The Federal Senate has to discuss it. How could it not? It has to have responsibility," Cury said, according to the newspaper Estadão. "No one should be protected. No one is above the law," he added. He called Congress "very fragile" in the face of the court and repeated his proposal to cut the bench from 11 to 9 justices, modeled on the United States Supreme Court. "I draw a lot of inspiration from what happens in some countries. The American court, for example, has nine. We need to trim the ranks," he said.
On the January 8 prisoners, Cury said that, if elected, he would request a full report on their cases in the first week of his government and review them case by case. "In my first week in government, if Brazilian society chooses me, I want a report on everything," he said. In his view, "the great majority" of those still in prison or under restrictive measures should be out. "No one who was wronged will be left behind," he declared. He cited former minister José Múcio among analysts who argue that the riots showed intent to stage a coup, without carrying it out.
Rally on Copacabana beach
About 1,400 people attended the rally in Copacabana, in the south zone of Rio, according to an estimate by the Monitor do Debate Político of USP/Cebrap, a University of São Paulo research group, in partnership with More in Common. Walking 500 meters along Avenida Atlântica in the rain, supporters went from lifeguard post 6 to post 5. From a sound truck, Cury promised to finance 10 million micro businesses "in every community or favela" and to open an agency of the Banco do Empreendedor, the public bank for small entrepreneurs, and an entrepreneurship school in every public school. He also said he would give up the presidential salary and use it to finance two micro businesses of public school students each month, which his campaign confirmed to g1.
At the close of the event, he returned to the court, sent "a very special hug" to Justice André Mendonça and expressed solidarity with Chief Justice Edson Fachin. "I want every investigation to be carried out, no matter whom it hurts," he said, warning that the country "will collapse" if signs of corruption are not investigated "to the very last consequences".
"At the STF, no one should be spared. Everyone must be investigated. If no guilt is proven, they are free. But if there is any, there has to be a conviction."
As for Lula, Cury called himself the president's "nightmare", according to the Gazeta do Povo. In Rio, without naming anyone, he said that "Brazil can no longer stand being captured by just 2 families", adding that he respects "millions" of remarkable people from both the right and the left. Cury ranks third in the race: in a Quaest poll released on Monday, he had 8% of first-round voting intentions, against 36% for Lula and 29% for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the PL party, down from 10% a week earlier. The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for October 4.