Brazil's Bolsonaro says military would follow his orders to take the streets

[Judi Lynn]

April 23, 2021
9:44 PM CDT
Reuters

2 minutes read

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that if he were to order the military to take the streets and restore order, “the order will be followed,” raising fresh questions about his politicization of the armed forces.

Speaking during a TV interview, Bolsonaro said he would not "go into details into what I'm preparing." But he said that "if we were to have problems, we have a plan of how to enter the field ... our armed forces could one day go into the streets."

The comments by Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who has long praised Brazil's two-decade military dictatorship, will do little to assuage critics who fret about his politicization of the military. Others worry about his commitment to a peaceful handover of power in the event of a tight result in next year's presidential election.

Pressure has grown on the president as Brazil's coronavirus pandemic has spiraled out of control. He has faced widespread criticism for his handling of the outbreak in Brazil, which has the world's second highest coronavirus death toll after the United States.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-bolsonaro-says-military-would-follow-his-orders-take-streets-2021-04-24/

[Cheezoholic]

1. It's about time the US...

starts to focus attention in our own hemisphere. If the US and Canada would truly begin to embrace our neighbors to the south instead of letting corporate exploitation do the diplomatic work, the potential social and economic rewards for everyone involved could be amazing. We have turned a blind eye to the exploitation of every country south of the Rio Grande, mostly rooted in 70 year old cold war politics. There is a treasure trove of social and economic reward for all right here in our own backyard. For half the investment we have in the middle east we could be developing strong relationships with our neighbors that would reward not only them, but us by removing pressure of immigration and opening free channels of trade. IMO the biggest foreign investment for the US moving forward should be in our hemisphere.