This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has sacked one of the most prominent moderates in his administration for reportedly failing to ideologically align himself with his commander-in-chief’s radical creed.

Gen Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, Bolsonaro’s secretary of government, had repeatedly locked horns with the president’s crotchety US-based guru, Olavo de Carvalho, and was reportedly relieved of his duties on Thursday afternoon.

The move, which sent shockwaves through Brazilian politics, came as Bolsonaro finally broke an almost four-day silence over a still unfolding scandal involving his justice minister Sérgio Moro.

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Moro is facing calls for his resignation after a series of politically explosive leaks published by the Intercept suggested he colluded with prosecutors in order to jail Bolsonaro’s key rival in last year’s presidential election, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Polls suggested Lula would have defeated Bolsonaro had he been able to run.

Bolsonaro loyalists and Olavo de Carvalho devotees celebrated the defenestration of Santos Cruz, one of the key players in what is seen as a comparatively moderate military faction with the administration.

“Santos Cruz has been relieved of his duties. The drinks are on me,” tweeted the Bolsonarian blogger Allan dos Santos.

But political observers voiced shock and concern that one of the more temperate characters around Brazil’s far-right leader had been forced out.

Brian Winter, a Brazil specialist and the editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, said: “It is very sudden, it is very unexpected, and it comes at a time when the pragmatic voices seemed to be ascendant in the government. This is one of the most pragmatic voices in the government who can be fired.”

Winter said it was unclear whether Santos Cruz’s demise was the result of a clash with the president, or friction with Bolsonaro’s Olavo de Carvalho-supporting sons, Eduardo and Carlos, who have been “baying for his head publicly and behind the scenes” for weeks.

The Rio broadsheet O Globo said the sacking was the result of “a lack of political and ideological alignment”.

Santos Cruz became embroiled in a public feud with Olavo de Carvalho in March, with the latter launching a succession of foul-mouthed and often infantile Twitter attacks.

“Watch your mouth, you shit,” Carvalho tweeted at one point.

On another occasion he branded Santos Cruz “a pompous turd”.

Santos Cruz hit back more subtly, using one interview to warn of the danger “extremism” and “fanaticism” posed to Bolsonaro’s government and Brazil.

Santos Cruz’s dismissal came shortly after Bolsonaro offered his backing to another key minister, Sérgio Moro, who has come under fire this week following the Intercept’s revelations.

“What he did is priceless. He is part of Brazilian history,” Bolsonaro said in reference to the sprawling Car Wash anti-corruption investigation for which Moro became famous.

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However, the Intercept’s editors have vowed to release more compromising material from what they call a “vast trove” of secret documents, leaving Brazil’s political class bracing for further turbulence.

Sergio Praça, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation University, said: “There’s a feeling that this is only the beginning and things can change quickly. We don’t know what more is coming or when.”

Winter said the political upheaval came after Bolsonaro’s government “appeared to have found some kind of relative footing over the last month or so”.

“It looked like they were starting to pull it together, relatively speaking. Guess what? The drama is back.”