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São Paulo (CNN) – Brazil reported another record number of deaths on Tuesday, as a surge in COVID-19 infections crippled hospitals across the country. But it is the political turmoil shaking the government that made headlines Wednesday.
A day after the largest cabinet shakeup since President Jair Bolsonaro took office, the three commanders of Brazil’s armed forces were removed from office, fueling speculation that Bolsonaro is losing the support of the military and seeking to affirm the control, amid mounting criticism of its handling of the pandemic.
“The army rejects political affiliation and Bolsonaro replaces the heads of the Armed Forces,” highlighted the newspaper O Globo. In its headline, Folha de S. Paulo called it “the greatest military crisis since 1977,” when there was a similar institutional breakdown during the military dictatorship.
The military exits have been particularly scrutinized because much of the ties that Bolsonaro, also a former military man, has made have been with the armed forces, filling his cabinet with generals and even celebrating the military dictatorship that once ruled the country.
Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, a retired Army general and former senior Bolsonaro government official, told CNN affiliate CNN Brasil that while ministerial changes are normal, “it is not normal to replace the three armed forces commanders. without a reason, an explanation or any information that is provided to society.
The political crisis comes as Brazil struggles to control the latest and deadliest increase in COVID-19 cases to date. On Tuesday 3,780 people died, a record, while there is an intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy of more than 90% in 14 of the 26 states of Brazil. Brazilians are increasingly upset with Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the virus from the start.
A coffin is buried in the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Bolsonaro recently invoked the military when he lashed out at state governors for confinement measures, warning: “My army will not take to the streets to guarantee obedience to the governors’ decrees.”
His approval rating has reached record lows and has cost him the support of allied parties in Congress. The cabinet reshuffle was intended to shore up support by awarding key ministerial positions to those parties and replacing the embattled Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo.
Araujo had previously been criticized by Congress for his antagonistic relationship with China, not just a key trading partner, but a major supplier of raw materials in vaccines used in Brazil.
But the broader shakeup came as a surprise, especially Bolsonaro’s decision to replace former defense minister, retired General Fernando Azevedo e Silva. The relationship had become strained in recent weeks and in his resignation letter, Azevedo e Silva said emphatically that he had “preserved the Armed Forces as institutions of the State.”
Bolsonaro’s Communications Minister Fabio Faria insisted that the recent personnel changes do not reflect a major break. “There is no change of position in relation to the armed forces,” he told CNN Brazil. “The president is a soldier and the relationship with the military is very close.”
The new commander of the Navy, Admiral Almir Garnier; the Defense Minister, General Walter Souza Braga Neto; the new Army Commander, General Paulo Sergio, and the new Air Force Commander, Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Jr, during their presentation. (Photo by Andressa Anholete / Getty Images)
Faria added that there would be a “smooth transition” as new commanders are appointed. Traditionally, the president selects commanders from a list of names provided by the military.
In fact, Bolsonaro replaced the outgoing general of the Defense Ministry with another: Walter Souza Braga Netto, the president’s former chief of staff. And one of his first actions as minister on Tuesday was to call for the 1964 military intervention, which led to a 21-year dictatorship in Brazil, a “movement” that must be “understood and celebrated.”
But according to Carlos Melo, a professor at the Insper University of Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic created problems with many military personnel.
“It was obvious to (Bolsonaro) that he did not have the dominance over the Defense Ministry that he wanted and now he is trying, badly, without understanding that the Armed Forces belong to the State, not the Government,” Melo told CNN Brazil.
