Brazil's President Turns Scandal to His Advantage

When disgraced Brazilian powerbroker Eduardo Cunha was arrested last week, the country’s political establishment wobbled. Known for his Machiavellian skills as Brazil’s Frank Underwood, the former lower house speaker was the biggest target in the biggest corruption scandal on record. He had repeatedly insinuated that he wouldn’t go down alone. No one has more to fear from that threat than President Michel Temer, who rose to office in August when Dilma Rousseff was ousted, thanks to an impeachment drive that his longtime political ally Cunha had spearheaded.

But don’t write off Temer or his ambitious reform agenda. Sure, there’s no telling what outrages may be unearthed by the sleuths in the so-called Carwash probe into graft at the state-owned oil giant Petrobras, especially if Cunha follows the lead of other big-name suspects and strikes a plea deal. Yet the scandal that crippled Rousseff’s government has played uncannily to Temer’s advantage, hastening a suite of unpopular but salutary measures that Brazil needs to revive its stricken economy.