Is Brazil on the verge of a dictatorship?
With more guns and ammunition than ever before available to the general public, and strong, vociferous support from the rank and file of the police and armed forces, Jair Bolsonaro is holding Brazilian society to ransom.
Damian Platt
17 June 2020
At the beginning of June, when the national total for COVID victims rose above 30,000, many Brazilians recalled an interview that a former army captain, at the time a rather obscure, little-known politician, gave in 1999. Following a question asking what he would do if he was President, the interviewee proclaimed:
“I'm sorry, but through the vote, you won't change anything in this country. It will only change, unfortunately, when we go to civil war here. And doing a job that the military regime hasn't done. By killing about 30,000. Starting with FHC [former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso]. Killing! If some innocent people are going to die? Fine!”
The obscure politician was called Jair Bolsonaro and today he is President of Brazil. Rather than fighting the pandemic, he seems to thrive on it. In echoing the President’s words two decades ago, the gruesome milestone of 30,000 coronavirus deaths reminded Brazilians that Jair Bolsonaro has always displayed a pathological disregard for human suffering.
Bolsonaro, and his onslaught on democratic institutions – with continual attacks on the judiciary and calls to close down congress - represents the greatest setback for social progress in Brazil since the military coup of 1964. Although increasingly politically isolated, the President and his three eldest sons – all politicians - continue to enjoy solid support from 30% of the Brazilian population. Alarmingly, they also appear to be arming their followers and co-opting the country’s security forces.
More:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/brasil-al-borde-de-una-dictadura-en/
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