Brazil president's nemesis wounded but dangerous

The key figure in the impeachment process launched against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday is in trouble of his own -- facing allegations of corruption and lying to Congress.

Most politicians in Eduardo Cunha's predicament might already have fallen, but the master tactician has always had a trump card -- his power, as speaker of the lower house, to stop or greenlight impeachment petitions.

Now, by accepting a petition accusing Rousseff of fiddling government accounts, Cunha has put himself at the center of a bitter political crisis shaking Latin America's biggest country.

Despite being accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes during a massive embezzlement scandal at state oil company Petrobras, as well as hiding money in Swiss accounts, Cunha has kept everyone on their toes for weeks.

The government long maneuvered to try to ensure Cunha did not accept any of the growing pile of impeachment petitions lodged in Congress, while the formidable anti-Rousseff lobby has pressured him to pull the trigger.

But Cunha, 57, is an expert at playing both sides.

Until July he was an ostensible Rousseff ally as a high-ranking member of the PMDB, which is in coalition with the president's Workers' Party.

Then he stormed out, declaring himself in opposition and becoming point man for the impeachment push -- yet remaining in the PMDB, which itself remains in the government.

As for the decision on impeachment, Cunha dragged out the "will-he-won't-he" tension as long as possible, knowing that as long as he threatened, yet didn't act, the longer he kept his outsized power.

When Workers' Party members on a lower-house ethics commission signalled they would back removing him from office over the corruption allegations, Cunha finally struck back at his enemies.

Analysts say that all along this drama was in large part about Cunha looking after his own career.

"He was unpredictable because he was picking what strategy to use to survive," Carlos Pereira, an analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said.

Cunha explained the balancing act crisply.

"If I bring down Dilma, then the next day you will bring down me," he was quoted as telling Congressional foes of his own.

- Evangelical lobby -

The PMDB is a centrist party that has been part of every government coalition since the end of the Brazilian dictatorship in 1985.

Cunha has carved out a profile with the growing Evangelical Christian wing in Congress, promoting conservative social agendas including "Heterosexual Pride Day" and restrictions on abortion. He is owner of no less than 150 Internet domains using the name "Jesus."

In the capital he is considered one of the best wheelers and dealers, building a considerable support base including in the powerful agriculture lobby, fellow Evangelicals and the so-called "bullet caucus," made up of politicians with security-forces connections.

More than once Cunha has been likened to Brazil's answer to Frank Underwood, the scheming character at the center of the dark Netflix political series "House of Cards."

But Cunha is not flattered. The fictional US president "is a thief, a homosexual and a murderer," he said. "And I'm not."