Opinion: Bolsonaro says Brazil would be a shadow of itself without military rule – is that disgraceful?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (Opinion) Anyone who thought that Jair Bolsonaro would be intimidated by the never-ending barrage of attacks and fabricated ‘investigations’ against him from Brazil’s left-leaning top judiciary was proven wrong yesterday.

The president of Brazil said that the country would be a ‘republiqueta’ (a shadow of itself) without the work done in 21 years of military rule and reiterated his doubts about the process of presidential elections to be held on Oct. 2 in a new challenge to electoral justice.

“What would Brazil be without the work of the military government? It would be nothing; we would be a ‘republiqueta,” he said during a speech at Planalto Palace to inaugurate seven new ministers after much of the Cabinet resigned to run in the Oct. 2 election.

Bolsonaro insisted that back then, the process of overthrowing constitutional President João Goulart, whose office was declared vacant after a military uprising in Minas Gerais, was not a coup.

“Everyone back then had the right to move, come and go, and leave the country,” Bolsonaro said.

NEARLY 20 YEARS OF LEFTIST GOVERNMENT HAVE FABRICATED NEW ‘TRUTHS’

After almost 20 years of a leftist government in Brazil, certain events have been reinterpreted to fit the leftist narrative. One of these reinterpretations is that the military government back in the 1960s was a disgrace to the country.

This view is mainstream Brazilian “truth” today. All those who dare to question it even a little bit or also see positive aspects during this military period (e.g. the creation of infrastructure projects) are accused of glorifying the dictatorship, are publicly denounced, branded as stupid, right-wing extremist, dangerous, and unserious and immediately have their reputation ruined by legacy media.

But isn’t it a typical sign of a ‘dictatorship’ that dissenters are being broken and ‘destroyed’ by the establishment?

Conversely, one would have to assume that we live in a dictatorship of opinion right now since it seems impossible even to express different aspects of a period or have another view without getting ridiculed, branded, and ‘canceled’.

And in this context, is the media’s job to bash and ridicule dissenters, or is it their job to report? What does it say about the health of society when media become organs of censorship of mainstream narratives?

We all know that there is no “truth” per se, but that any truth is in the eye of the beholder and mainstream narratives do not reflect truths but are created by those in power so that they may serve their purposes.

THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IS STILL CRITICIZED

The president also said it was legitimate to challenge the system of electoral control, and criticized the country’s high courts investigating his allies. In this regard, one could easily say that this is political persecution.

Officials persecute these people because they are allegedly ‘a danger to democracy’ because they spread ‘fake news’ and the like.

But who decides what is a danger to democracy or fake news? Is it the Supreme Court justices?

But if it is a handful of justices who decide that, Brazil would be an oligarchy and not a democracy, right? Oligarchy is defined as ‘government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons’.

So who is really a threat to democracy here?

“We cannot passively accept what is happening. People can be detained, their property confiscated, and their salaries withheld. Today we have a president who supports transparency in elections. They have made it illegal to challenge the electronic ballot box. We must have the security of the vote, which is the soul of democracy. If I do not decide, everyone will suffer,” he said.

Alluding to the date of the takeover of the government by the military in 1964, Bolsonaro recalled that thanks to the controversial considered Castelo Branco, Emilio Garrastazú Médici, and Ernesto Geisel, it was possible to develop infrastructure and agricultural activity in the center of the country and the Amazon jungle.