Essayist Luiz Felipe Pondé argues that ideological corruption has destroyed political and intellectual life in Brazil, with an authoritarian left and an incapable right. He cites COP30 as an example of institutional levity under Lula's government. Pondé warns of risks to STF independence if Lula is reelected in 2026.
In a column published in Folha de S.Paulo on November 30, 2025, writer and philosopher Luiz Felipe Pondé, a USP PhD and author of works like 'Notes on Hope and Despair,' describes Brazil's political landscape as a polarized drama. 'We live in Brazil a drama in two poles. The left is authoritarian, the right is incapable,' he writes, pointing to cognitive and moral blindness in the ideological left, which prioritizes power over reality, and incompetence in the bolsonarista right, unable to escape emotional blackmail from the Bolsonaro family.
Pondé criticizes the bolsonarismo's use of religious vocabulary, which humiliates alternatives to the PT, and compares the mythification of Bolsonaro to portraying Lula as Gandhi or Mandela. He highlights COP30 in Belém as a symbol of a country adrift: 'lots of bravado, no infrastructure, lots of PT propaganda, kilos of levity.' The event faced fire, lack of water in bathrooms, and a clash with the German chancellor, who exposed organizational failures, according to the columnist. Pondé accuses the press of complicity with Lula and states that 'the Brazilian State despises its people and cares for them very poorly'.
On institutional structures, he questions unlimited reelection, predicting that a fourth Lula term in 2026 would allow appointing three STF justices – for seats of Carmen Lúcia, Gilmar Mendes, and Luiz Fux –, resulting in nine of 11 members aligned with PT. 'The ideological brotherhood destroyed national political life and public intellectualism,' he concludes. Pondé views COPs as useless, lacking real sovereignty, and Brazil as a system of hereditary captaincies, with the Bolsonaro family reluctant to relinquish power.