Bolsonaro dismissed the military leadership on the eve of …

From Brasilia

Democratic vigil. Jair Bolsonaro fueled the politico-military crisis by ordering the dismissal of the heads of the armed forces on the eve of March 31, the 57th anniversary of the coup d’état that toppled President Joao Goulart.

In Brasilia, what the former captain-president, apologist for the dictatorship and the repression that reigned during the 21 years of regime, can declare and decide this Wednesday is eagerly awaited.

It turned out that this morning’s meeting was “tense” when the new defense minister, retired general Walter Souza Braga Netto, has called for the resignation of army chiefs Edson Pujol, navy Ilques Barbosa Júnior and air force chief Antonio Carlos Bermudez.

There are several versions of what happened in this closed-door meeting, none of which is completely reliable, but most of the testimony agrees that relieved senior officials reject the “bolsonarization” of corporations, for what it means for internal discipline, among other consequences.

We know that within the “lieutenant”, that is to say the lower commands of the army and the troops, there is strong support and even militancy in favor of the “myth” Bolsonaro.

A few hours after having resigned from the military leadership, Minister Braga Netto, considered an intense Bolonarian, said the Brazilians must “celebrate the movement of March 31, 1964.”

Brazil faces worst military crisis in decades, with the simultaneous departure of the commanders of the armed forces and the Minister of Defense, Fernando Azevedo e Silva, who was dismissed from his post on Monday.

Such tension does not mean that the military leadership is democratic. The high command of the army, temporarily detached from the president, also justifies the “movement” of 1964 which they never qualify as dictatorship. They defend the current regime, they only agree on how it is administered. They are all part of the military party, a real hegemonic force of the new order in force.

This generalate is the same that was ignored before the 2016 coup that overthrew Dilma Rousseff (which they hate for her past in the armed struggle and for having created the Truth Commission) and in 2018 she had a central participation in the maneuvers to keep Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in prison and prevent his presidential candidacy.

The opposition is trying to stop the assault while preparing repudiation speeches for the coup that will be delivered in Congress.

The occupant of the Planalto palace is trying “to lead the country into chaos, and from there to attempt a coup d’etat (…) he plays the worst, the best”, declared the deputy Paulo Teixeira, of the Party. of workers (PT). .

Talíria Petrone, leader of the Socialism and Freedom Party in the Chamber of Deputies, said: “We cannot get lost in the chaos that Bolsonaro wants to create to pave the way against the Constitution in the direction of fascism.”

Pyromaniac

To understand the magnitude of events without falling into Bolsonaro’s simulations, it should be borne in mind that Since taking office in 2019, there have already been several coup proclamations that have put the country on high alert. But none materialized.

Usually, these sudden movements occur when the government is surrounded by problems and must regain the initiative, as and when now with the health crisis due to the coronavirus, which today reached the record of 3,780 deaths in 24 hours, allied with the reappearance of Lula, who according to the polls could win the October elections of next year.

Monday Bolsonaro shocked the country by announcing the departure of a new minister every two hours, until he finished six. Technique used by those who know how to apply the strategy of chaos.

The two most relevant ministries were Defense, with the arrival of General Braga Netto, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Ernesto Araújo, a loyal supporter of Donald Trump, had to resign and an opponent of cultural Marxism, whose place will be occupied by the diplomat Carlos Alberto Franco Franca.

The appointment to the post of Minister of Justice, Commissioner Anderson Torres, whose appointment was very well received by the Bancada de la Bala, the powerful parliamentary bloc made up of members of the security forces, did not have much support. impact.

This is where one of the sources of power of the current administration is to be found. Bolonarianism is as much or more entrenched in the provincial police force as it is in the army troops. And this police link is part of a mechanism that continues in the vigilante “militias”, which are frankly Bolonarists in some provinces.

This apparatus of police and “militia” has firepower and a territorial presence throughout most of the country, and has proven capable of threatening state governments that speak out against Brasilia.

Bolsonarism has just presented a project by which, in emergency situations, the president can take command of the police forces of the 27 state governments. A real army.

This week, the Bolsonaro clan, made up of the father and his sons, expressed their support for an emerging police riot in the state of Bahia, whose governor, Rui Costa, belongs to the Workers’ Party.