The role of supreme courts and the new right: neo-coups in Brazil

Mayra Goulart, profesora adjunta, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6955-1586

André Luiz Coelho, profesor adjunto, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1632-0098

This paper aims to analyse the role of supreme courts of justice in some of the recent removals from office of progressive “pink tide” Latin American presidents and governments where so-called “new right” governments have taken power. It shows the composition of the supreme courts to be a decisive factor in removing these governments from power. The core hypothesis is that the judiciary may have served as a body for legitimating interruption and dismissal processes led by the legislature in contexts of institutional paralysis (or conflict with the executive branch). To demonstrate this, the case of Brazil is analysed and specifically the role played by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in the dismissals of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.

Keywords: supreme courts, Latin America, Brazil, impeachment, Dilma Rousseff

How to cite this article: Goulart, Mayra y Coelho, André Luiz. «El papel de los tribunales supremos y la nueva derecha: el neogolpismo en Brasil». Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n.º 126 (diciembre de 2020), p. 239-260. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2020.126.3.239

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