Bolsonaro in court Brazil's left hopes 'coup-mongering fascist' is spent force

There were cries of joy among progressive people in Rio as Brazil's supreme court ruled that the former president Jair Bolsonaro should stand trial for an alleged coup plot.

- Tom Phillips

"No amnesty! No amnesty!" one elated lefty roared from his balcony into the sunny autumn afternoon.

Across the bay in the city of Niterói, the composer Edu Krieger was so delighted by the prospect of Bolsonaro serving time that he wrote a song - a parody of a Tom Jobim bossa nova classic called Waters of March - celebrating the downfall of the "coup-mongering fascist". "It was a feeling of relief," Krieger, one of many Brazilians who abhor the far-right populist for his attacks on human rights, said of Wednesday's court decision.

Thousands of miles north, deep in the Amazon, the Yanomami leader Júnior Hekurari also voiced satisfaction: "Never before were we so abandoned by the Brazilian state [than during Bolsonaro's 2019-23 administration]. His words encouraged thousands of illegal miners to infiltrate our forests, bringing mercury, violence and environmental destruction."

The former president's critics said they hoped the ruling would end a divisive and hate-filled 36-year career, in which the paratrooper turned politician underwent an astonishing transformation from eccentric backbencher to the country's most powerful man.