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BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) – The Brazilian military on Tuesday organized an unusual convoy of troops and armored vehicles through the capital – an event announced only the day before and which coincided with a planned vote in Congress on one of the main proposals by President Jair Bolsonaro.
Dozens of vehicles and hundreds of soldiers marched past the presidential palace as Bolsonaro watched, then continued past the Congress building and the Ministry of Defense.
The Navy released a statement saying the convoy was planned long before Congress voted. But it wasn’t announced until Monday, and critics said it looked like an attempt to intimidate opponents of a president who has often praised the country’s past military dictatorship.
Military parades in the capital are usually limited to Independence Day events. Tuesday’s procession has been described as a ceremonial invitation for Bolsonaro to attend annual naval exercises that take place in a town outside the capital. The army and the air force are also participating for the first time.
The lower house of Congress had scheduled a vote on Tuesday on the constitutional reform Bolsonaro fought for: requiring printed receipts from certain electronic ballot boxes that the president says are prone to fraud.
The parade shocked some lawmakers Omar Aziz, chairman of a Senate inquiry into the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said the parade was “a clear attempt to intimidate parliamentarians and opponents. He (Bolsonaro) fancies himself showing strength, but he shows a president weakened by corruption investigations.
Critics allege that Bolsonaro, who follows rivals in early opinion polls, is trying to sow doubt among his passionate supporters over the 2022 election results, paving the way for potential conflicts similar to those engendered by the claims of fraud of former US President Donald Trump in the United States.
Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo, a lawmaker, bolstered the family’s close association with Trump on Monday by posting on social media what appeared to be a recent photo of him standing alongside the former US leader and saying he ‘he (Eduardo) is “on the side of men with unblemished reputation and the moral authority to walk the streets with their heads held high.”
Tuesday’s military procession shows that Bolsonaro is either a bad judge of the political climate or knowingly opposes democratic norms, said Kai Kenkel, a Brazilian army specialist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.
“We always need to know for sure if there is a link between Bolsonaro’s program and the navy’s motivations for doing it, because the navy has been much more careful not to make political statements,” Kenkel told the ‘Associated Press.
Election officials have repeatedly denied any problems with the voting system, and Bolsonaro did not present evidence despite an order from the Supreme Court to substantiate his claims.
The president has repeatedly insulted Luis Roberto Barroso, a judge of the Supreme Court and president of the electoral tribunal, accusing him of working for the benefit of former left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who topped the polls.
Tuesday’s measure is a watered-down version of an initial proposal to pass printed materials at all polls across the country – a bill rejected last week by a congressional committee.
Election officials and even many of Bolsonaro’s political allies oppose the plan, saying it tackles a non-existent problem and would create a vote-buying opportunity.
The call for a vote appeared to be an offer from lower house president Arthur Lira, an ally of Bolsonaro, to settle the dispute definitively and ease tensions.
On Monday, Lira called the military exercise that takes place on the same day as the vote a “tragic coincidence.”
Bolsonaro has repeatedly hammered the fraud allegations to rally supporters and shows no signs of giving up on the issue.
“We will do everything for our freedom, for clean and democratic elections and a public vote count,” he told supporters at a rally in Santa Catarina state on Saturday. Any election without it is not an election.
He led another rally, a convoy of motorcycles, in the capital on Sunday.
“It’s not only now that there are rumors of fraud at the ballot box, but now there is this proposal and he (Bolsonaro) has decided to go head first,” said Maria da Silva. , a 61 year old housewife from Sao. Paulo. “I trust him.”
Juan Gonzalez, senior director of the United States National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere, told reporters on Monday that officials in the Biden administration were “very outspoken” speaking last week with Bolsonaro about the elections, saying especially in light of the parallels with what happened in the United States.
“We have also been very direct, expressing great confidence in the ability of Brazilian institutions to organize free and fair elections with appropriate safeguards in place and to guard against fraud,” Gonzalez said. “And we stressed the importance of not undermining confidence in this process, especially since there was no sign of fraud in the previous election.”
___ Mauricio Savarese reported from Sao Paulo. PA journalist Eraldo Peres contributed from Brasilia
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