Supreme Court Justice Cármen Lúcia said that Brazil and the world are going through a dangerously conservative wave. She defended the fundamental rights acquired in the 30 years since the 1988 Constitution went into effect, during a seminar about Brazil's constitutional law on Monday (5th) in Brasília.
"I would like to remind that not only Brazil that's changing. And this change is a conservative shift in customs and habits. Sometimes I think this is a dangerous shift, because there is a trend of backtracking in hard-earned fundamental rights," she said.
Justice Lúcia says, that even if any future change is not a desirable one, "if they abide by the Constitution, it's already a win."
The topic of her lecture in the seminar was the changes enacted by the Supreme Court in the last thirty years. She showed optimism regarding the achievements from the period, highlighting the right to free speech.
"Brazilians are in the streets, making themselves present. If someone says something I don't like, that doesn't make that person my enemy," she said. "This change was only possible because we were in 1988 and since then we are in a democracy." However, Justice Lúcia also remarked that the fight for democracy is a continual battle. "[In 1988] Brazil was coming from a harrowing process, from a dictatorship that had fights and mournings. The fights are not over, because democracy and justice are permanent battles," she said.
"Even if I find the people's choices concerning, they were made by free citizens."
Translated by NATASHA MADOV