Brazil elections 2022: Defense Minister says Supreme Court Justice Barroso’s speech was a “grave insult”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (Opinion) Brazil’s Minister of Defense, General Paulo Sergio Nogueira, rejected on Sunday (24) the statement of the Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), Luís Roberto Barroso, according to which the Armed Forces are “aimed” to attack the Brazilian electoral process to “discredit” it.

He said the initiative was “irresponsible” and “a serious offense” and affected “ethics, harmony, and respect between institutions.”

“The Ministry of Defense rejects any allusion or insinuation that they received, without evidence, alleged instructions to carry out acts contrary to the principles of democracy,” Nogueira said in a statement. Read the full statement here.

“The allegation that the Armed Forces were instructed to attack the electoral system, even more so without presenting evidence or proof of who instructed them or how this happened, is irresponsible and constitutes a grave insult to these permanent national institutions of the Brazilian state,” he added.

Barroso participated this Sunday in the Brazil Summit Europe, an event organized by the German Hertie School students. He said one must be wary of the politicization of the Armed Forces, referring to an incident with “intimidating intent” in August 2021.

This statement is all the more astonishing given that it is precisely the STF that in recent years has acquired a dubious reputation in broad circles of the country for being overly politicized with an increasingly left-wing bias.

But it was the parade of tanks and armored vehicles on the Esplanade of Ministries in the country’s capital Brasilia on the same day that the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies voted against the proposal to introduce auditable printed ballots that the STF sees a bit irrationally as a bone of contention.

(Justice Luís Roberto Barroso can’t hide his personal deep disgust at what he calls … far-right sites that are angry and brazen, attack Congress, attack institutions, preach physical assault, and defend gun proliferation….)

But isn’t the job of any Supreme Court Justice to put wild rumors and conspiracy theories into perspective with facts and down-to-earth behavior? And what happens to a country where the Supreme Court becomes one of the driving forces of gossip?

The recurrent insinuations that the Brazilian military will intervene in the elections at the behest of conservative President Jair Bolsonaro is a typical conspiracy theory of the left who want to win back power in Brazil by discrediting the conservative government and “their allies”.

Patriotic and conservative forces hold the reins of power under Jair Bolsonaro for the first time this century, after previously being exclusively left-wing and left-leaning forces.

It is an open secret that the STF and the left are in bed together and are doing everything to bring “their” presidential candidate Lula da Silva back to power.

Barroso’s recent action must be seen in this light.

The fact that the Supreme Court itself is now trumpeting to the world, just months before the elections, that the Brazilian military is anti-democratic is an ominous sign of how out of control the unsupervised STF already is, now openly campaigning as if it were a party to the elections.

“Elections are a matter of sovereignty and national security, and therefore in everyone’s interest,” General Nogueira wrote. He added that the Armed Forces had gained respect among the population.

“The prestige of the Armed Forces is not something momentary or new, but comes from the indissoluble relationship of trust with the Brazilian people that has existed since Brazil’s founding.”

“THE ARMED FORCES AND THE ELECTORAL PROCESS.

“The allegation that the Armed Forces were instructed to attack the electoral system, without presenting evidence or proof of who prompted this or how it was done, is irresponsible and constitutes a grave insult to these permanent national institutions of the Brazilian state. It also affects the institutions’ ethics, harmony, and respect,” writes the Ministry of Defense.

However, the Ministry mentioned that in his other function as president of the Brazilian Supreme Electoral Court TSE, Barroso invited the military to oversee this year’s electoral process. The defense minister said the Armed Forces had accepted this invitation to help “improve the security and transparency of the electoral system.”

“The Armed Forces have responded to the request of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and, within the framework of the Commission for Electoral Transparency (CTE) and based on a detailed technical study conducted by a team of specialists, have presented cooperative, plausible and feasible proposals to improve the security and transparency of the electoral system, which this Commission is now considering. The elections are a matter of sovereignty and national security and, therefore, of interest to all.

“The Armed Forces, as institutions of the Brazilian state, have a centuries-long history of dedication to the homeland and the Brazilian people, both in defending the country and in contributing to the national development and welfare of Brazilians,” he said.

“They have always been institutions respected by the population. Finally, it is essential to emphasize that the Armed Forces enjoy the broad trust of society, which is regularly demonstrated in surveys and direct and regular contact with the population. Thus, the prestige of the Armed Forces is not something momentary or new but is based on the indissoluble relationship of trust with the Brazilian people that was established when Brazil was founded.