Fernando Henrique Cardoso Says Moro Should Not Have Become Justice Minister

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that if he were in the position of Justice Minister Sérgio Moro, he would resign.

In an interview with TV Globo‘s ‘Conversa com Bial’ show (“Talking with Bial”), in the early hours of Thursday, September 5th, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) said he thought it had been “a mistake for him [Moro] to accept being a minister”, agreeing with Senator Randolfe Rodrigues from Amapá, who was also interviewed.

The former president said that Moro lacks the traits of a politician, and that “he should aspire to become a Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice”.

“I don’t know what he should do that, that’s his problem. […] I think he accepted [to be Minister of Justice] for explainable reasons, to prevent them from trying to stifle Lava Jato, but he saw that things are different. If I were him, I would be out,” said FHC.

Pedro Bial asked Fernando Henrique about Sérgio Moro’s leaked message to prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, in which the current justice minister mentions the former president and speaks of refraining from harassing him. FHC replied that he had not been troubled, so much so that investigations on him were conducted.

FHC said he had not been approached about Alexandre Frota joining the PSDB and that he considers the deputy’s admittance to the party’s ranks a retrograde step. On the exclusion of party members, he was not consulted either, he said, and only expressed his opinion on Twitter.

The former president said he is against the privatization of Petrobras. He believes that the opening of the market – achieved under his government – was enough to break the state monopoly.

When asked about the current government opposition, FHC replied that the “traditional media have displayed the current government’s misconceptions,” and that they should be concerned with discussing what “is important for the country”. After Bial again asked about the opposition, which Randolfe Rodrigues represents, the former president said that it does its part and that it should choose when it states its position.

Rodrigues, in turn, replied that he considers Fernando Henrique, honorary president of the PSDB, much more progressive than the rest of the party members.

The Amapá Senator for the party Rede recalled that at the beginning of his career, in the early days of the Workers’ Party (PT), he shouted many times “FHC, out”. Alongside the former president, over twenty years after the PSDB government, he stressed that the Brazilian currency’s stability and the recovery of the Brazilian economy were achieved under the PSDB government.