Rio de Janeiro. After a government reshuffle and the unanimous resignation of the commanders of all three branches of the Brazilian armed forces, numerous observers fear that President Jair Bolsonaro will exert increasing influence on the military. “Since 1985 (the end of the military dictatorship in Brazil, note) we have not heard of such a clear intervention by a president in the armed forces,” said the political scientist Carlos Melo of the Insper University in São Paulo.
No reason was given for the generals’ resignation on Tuesday. But they had met the new and highly controversial new Defense Minister Walter Souza Braga Netto just hours earlier. The AP news agency learned from informed sources that an incident had occurred, whereupon all three had declared their resignation. Their successors were not initially announced.
Key government posts are manned by the military
Since taking office in January 2019, the head of state has repeatedly filled key positions in his cabinet with current and former officers. The military itself has so far stayed out of politics, said Melo. The previous Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva wrote in his letter of resignation that he had “preserved the status of the armed forces as a state institution”.
That could be different under the new defense minister. Like Bolsonaro himself, Netto paid tribute to the military dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 to 1985, during which thousands were killed and tortured. Observers assume that Bolsonaro wants to secure support from the ranks of the military for a possible presidential election against ex-incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022.
Bolsonaro despises the separation of powers
“He wants people who do exactly what he wants, and that’s extremely risky,” said independent political expert Thomas Traumann. Bolsonaro could end up directing the military and not the generals.
In any case, the President has repeatedly made it clear how little he thinks of the separation of powers through which Parliament and the judiciary can impose limits on his actions. Recently, the president, who was criticized for his lax corona policy, emphasized in a dispute with some governors: “And you can be sure of one thing: My army will not take to the streets and force people to stay at home.”
On Tuesday evening, Bolsonaro said in front of the presidential palace that he respected the constitution. “But for some time now some authorities have stopped playing within the limits of the constitution.”
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