Brazil Government Wary of Protests in Neighboring Countries, Fearing “Contamination”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – There is fear that the climate of uprising could contaminate Brazil, which is also experiencing a troubled political moment.

On a trip to Japan, Bolsonaro said on Wednesday (Tuesday in Brazil), October 23rd, that he had called on the Defense Ministry to alert the armed forces in the event of similar protests in the country.

“We are preparing to use Article 142 of the Federal Constitution, which is for the maintenance of law and order if they (members of the Armed Forces) come to be summoned by one of the three powers,” the president said.

The concern among the president’s aides is related to potential violent confrontations triggered by political polarization in the country.

On the one hand, the eventual result of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) trial on imprisonment after an affirmed conviction, which resumed on Wednesday, could trigger demonstrations by Lava Jato and Bolsonaro supporters.

Should the STF justices change their current position, one of the beneficiaries could be former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has been in prison in Curitiba since April 2018 and is still the country’s principal opposition figure.

The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo showed on Tuesday that isolated groups of truck drivers threaten to promote protests in the event the STF vote enables Lula’s release. Justices have also been pressured by social media.

Messages from opposition legislators, associating protests in Chile with the result of right-wing policies, are also viewed with concern by advisors at the Palácio do Planalto. For instance, Senator Humberto Costa, who, according to the president’s spokespersons, “has exceeded the limits of irresponsibility”.

“The people’s patience with the ultra-liberal, fascist and servile right-wing is running out in various parts of the world. Jair Bolsonaro’s days are numbered. It’s only a matter of time. The time for Brazil will come. Take note”, posted Costa on Twitter.

From Japan, where he joins the president on the Asian tour, the Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet, Augusto Heleno, accused the “radical left” of being behind the demonstrations in neighboring countries to generate an environment of turmoil in an attempt to return to power.

“In South America, we are going through a difficult time in which the radical left, desperate over the loss of power, will do their utmost to disrupt the lives of South American countries and try to return to power somehow and plunge us into the abyss,” the general said.

Fear

According to the assessment of general officers heard by Estado, although the settings in Brazil and its neighbors are different, monitoring is needed to identify what they refer to as “contamination”. In addition to Chile and Bolivia, they also mention the troubling events in Argentina, Peru, and Ecuador.

Chile entered its fifth day of protests after raising public transport fares by almost four percent. At least 18 people have died. In Ecuador, the reason for protests was high subway and fuel prices.

In Bolivia, demonstrators took to the streets after the partial count pointed to the re-election of President Evo Morales. In Peru, where Hamilton Mourão is traveling, the current government faces resistance from the Fujimori opposition, which is plaguing the political scenario.

In addition, Argentina could be the next point of instability, with the potential return of the left to power.

According to the military heard by reporters, the restlessness in Brazil could be aggravated by the delay in the country’s economic upturn, particularly because of the difficulty in reducing unemployment rates – currently around 12 percent.

In the evaluation of the military, the president himself and the people around him contribute to the climate of political escalation by embarking on confrontation. On Tuesday, in reaction to Humberto Costa, Rio de Janeiro city councilor Carlos Bolsonaro, the president’s son, insulted the leftist.

“We must be prepared to fight this type of bum and thug! I am!”, posted Carlos on his Twitter account.

The senator denied being inciting protests. “We are just saying that Bolsonaro’s government can drive Brazil into the abyss, with the potential for social upheaval,” Costa told the newspaper.

Despite advocating Lula’s release, the leftist said that his posts on the media have nothing to do with the outcome of the Supreme Court’s judgment. “We want to oppose the government’s policies, which are producing inequality, precisely in order to prevent protests like those that took place in Chile from happening here,” he said.

At least two of the general officers interviewed also mentioned the fact that the command of the country is in the hands of Senator Davi Alcolumbre in the coming days.

With Bolsonaro in Japan, vice president Hamilton Mourão took over the presidency, but he traveled to Peru yesterday and will not be back until Friday. Next in the line of succession, the president of the Chamber, Rodrigo Maia is also out of the country, in an official mission in Europe.

The issue, according to these military officers, is that at a critical moment in the country, the command of the Palácio do Planalto will be in the hands of a senator, rather than the elected President.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo