The Brazilian Defense Minister praises the independence of the state powers after the Bolsonaro attack | International

The Brazilian Defense Minister, Fernando Azevedo e Silva, issued a statement on Monday in defense of independence and coexistence between the three powers. It was released a day after the far-right Jair Bolsonaro joined a coup demonstration against the Supreme Court and Congress again. “We have the Armed Forces on the side of the people,” the president said Sunday before a crowd of supporters in Brasilia.

Minister Azevedo affirms in the text that the Armed Forces fulfill their constitutional mission. “The Navy, the Army and the Air Force are state agencies that consider independence and harmony between powers essential for the country.” He adds that freedom of expression is “a fundamental requirement”, after the attacks suffered by journalists who They covered the coup act, and the Defense note stresses that “the military will always be on the side of law, order, democracy and freedom. That is our commitment.”

The text also insists that fighting the coronavirus pandemic requires understanding among politicians. The management of the crisis so far has been characterized by Bolsonaro’s confrontational attitude with the authorities who defend isolation to stop the spread. The president was visibly upset when, a few days ago, senior military commanders avoided shaking his hand and saluted him with their elbows.

Bolsonaro, a retired captain who built his career defending the corporate interests of the uniformed troops, is nostalgic for the dictatorship and has become a supposed interpreter of the will of the Brazilians. His interventions in two recent coup protests have caused alarm in institutions. They are demonstrations in which Bolsonaristas protest the same against quarantines to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, demanding military intervention to close Congress and the Supreme Court, which they accuse of hindering government action.

Bolsonaro is one of those populist leaders who always needs an enemy to keep the ranks of his political base tight. In recent days, the Supreme Court has become the main enemy after one of its judges ordered to open an investigation against the president for the alleged interference in the police leadership denounced by Sergio Moro when he resigned. He called the former judge “judas” on Saturday before police questioned him for eight hours about his charges against Bolsonaro.

The high court is also in the prime minister’s sights because a few days ago it prevented him from naming a friend of his sons as head of the Federal Police. Bolsonaro complied with the decision but this Monday he has appointed the closest collaborator of the candidate to the post, whom the Supreme Court vetoed for alleged abuse of power. The position of police chief is super sensitive because he must investigate the accusations against Bolsonaro and the suspicions that weigh on at least two of his children. The three cases are independent and for different reasons.

Azevedo, Minister of Defense, is one of the nine military members who sit on Bolsonaro’s Council of Ministers, the vast majority of them retired. The person who would ascend to the Presidency in the hypothetical case that any of the impeachment petitions was debated and prospered is its vice president, retired General Hamilton Mourão.

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