The dream of a "Government of the people, by the people, for the people,...", relies on actually what kinda of people are the majority. While in the US the electoral college was devised to protect the country from electing an illiterate demagogue (did it?), such does not exist in Brazil. Western democracies will survive and thrive if driven to create conditions for all the people to evolve into productive and participant members of a lawful and just society. Wishful thinking? Hope not.
3
The article states that the Supreme Court ruling about Lula's habeas corpus 'was a particularly big decision, because Mr. da Silva was running for president again and appeared to be the front-runner in the race'.
This is not correct. A law supported at the time by Lula and sponsored by the Communist Party of Brazil, one of his allies in Congress, bars all those who have been convicted of a series of crimes (corruption being one of them) from running for office. To ensure fairness, only convictions that have been upheld by at least a higher court count.
At the time of said Supreme Court ruling, Lula had already been convicted of corruption and money laundering and his conviction had not been only upheld by an appeals court, but the sentence had been made harsher: 12 years of jail time.
So, one cannot say that he was a leading contender in the upcoming elections, since such a candidacy would be illegal according to our laws.
3
Da Silva is in prison...and he is running and he has a big lead in the polls. Charges accusing him of corruption are seen largely as political. As were those against Rousseff. I understand that a tribunal will make the decision as to who can run on the 17th of sept. Da Silva is not barred now as I understand...and further, he may then appeal the decision. And, if he cannot get out of jail by December to run, he may give his support to other political organizers who have been working with workers and the homeless. I am flummoxed as to why in this article, Da Silva was essentially dismissed and similarly so he was by the commentators...clearly those of the working class are not reading the NYT....
2
This seems like another strong argument for better supporting the US diplomatic corps.
Dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of international NGO's should similarly motivate increased engagement, rather than withdrawl in despair.
There's been a recent clustering of outcomes in democratic countries that were adverse to their ongoing health as such. Some are shifts away from democracy, others simply work against their economic self-interest.
Beyond collecting information, intelligence agencies work to further political interests by clandestine action.
Leaders of those agencies are masters of such actions and usually also proponents.
2
Large, populous, multi-ethnic democracies just do not work in the long-run. They become just too unmanageable and therefore vulnerable to the emergence of strongmen. Trump is running America, and Modi is running India because this is true. Democracy never really took off in Russia because this is true. The military will soon be in charge in Brazil because this is true. Rome went from republic to empire because this is true.
1
Brazil has always had a chaotic, or even anarchic, side, and that's part of its (our?) raffish charm. Hard for even the Times's excellent reporters or anyone else to get all the nuances here exactly right; the present article does OK. What I found really disturbing today (much more so than this Times article, the general outlines of whose argument are well known to anyone who lives here) was a lengthy article in Globo's weekly news magazine Época about the militarization of secondary schools. This militarization has not yet come to the Southeast, that is, to Rio, São Paulo, Minas, and Espírito Santo. But the Midwestern State of Goiás, it seems, has pulled 46 secondary schools from under the supervision of their Education Department and given them over to the stewardship of the uniformed police. The kids now wear uniforms, they do a lot of mustering and saluting and flag-raising. In addition, eyeglass frames can't be of weird colors, hair cannot exceed some specified tolerated length, even fingernails are scrutinized. From Goiás, this movement has spread to Mato Grosso and as far afield as Roraima. Can this strain of proto-fascism really be afoot in Brazil? Well, no, of course it cannot be. Yet it is. The more the chaos, real or perceived (and it Brazil it IS real), the louder the clamor for law and order. The good news is that support for Bolsonaro really does seem to have a ceiling. But, then, the same was said of his soulmate Trump.
9
@Buziano
Yours is the only comment I've read so far (I chose "Reader Picks") with a reason why military rule should be expected to be (at least partly) as awful as military rule was after the 1964 coup. But how do we know that it would be exactly as awful?
After years of democracy -- with as many problems as there've been -- can we be sure that military rule would be as horrible as it was the last time? I'm not Brasilian, so I'm not qualified to pass judgement. Still, would (if it's as promised) six months of military rule be worse than the current chaos?
Again: I don't know and I'm not qualified to know. Still, I want to raise the question since no one else seems to have.
BRAZIL'S DEMOCRACY, Such as it has been, has oft been criticized for corruption. And there have been times when Brazil has been overtaken by its military, as during the coup d'etat in 1964. So by that measure, perhaps it's time. Looking around the globe, dictatorships, thugocracies, kleptocracies and torturoracies are on the rise. And democracy on the decline. In many places, the politics of nations is teetering. The wars being fought now are different from those of any time in human history. They are already underway in cyberspace with cyber warfare and hacking. In this universe of information, the holder of knowledge is powerful. Along with that, wars will be fought on an entirely different level due to mass migrations due to starvation and insufficient water. With the 1% grabbing up all the financial power, the prospects of getting ahead of global climate change are remote. Yet the human spirit rebounds. Perhaps things will turn around. Perhaps moderating forces will come into play.
1
This article is a finished example of what has been called the war of ideas, from the left that can not assume its errors and creates a narrative to try to win at least on the level of ideas. Since the end of the military regime, and even here, the left has always been in control of the discourse that led to the belief that it was the side of advancement against reactionary forces. With the bankruptcy of its project, demonstrated in the practice by the past governments, now returns to the beaten speech, as if everything is turned to chaos since it left the power, smartly forgetting that it was it who sowed him.
2
Brazil, very large, very advanced and very backward, very rich and extremely poor, plagued by crime and corruption and a cesspool of cronyism, favoritism and nepotism, is the best possible representation of where the United States is headed - in more than one respect, it is already there.
8
Sadly, I have been hoping for a military take over for quite a while. Shut congress, senate both federal and state levels. No politician has any integrity, they have all got to go. Bolsonaro is just a populist. Besides, he would have no power to change anything.
Sadly, like in many democracies in the world, instead of going toward transparency and accountability, they have gone towards corruption and cronyism; the end result is a ultra-conservative and nationalistic backlash to blame this on those not 'pure' and the ethnic/socio-economic cleansing begins.
WWIII will not be between two political sides, but rather a bunch of internal cleansing campaigns of 'crackdowns' on dissidents, immigrants, and those who are seen as non-productive members of society.
The world does not have a sustainable economic or political model and the social contract with society is broken and crumbling, rather than try and elect people to solve the problem, we have elected personalities that are able to help a small group 'cash in' before it all falls down.
3
Military coup détat -- supported by the US -- is out of fashion in Latin America. Democratic coup détat is in.
The charismatic coronel Hugo Chavez in Venezuela has written the playbook on how to turn a democracy into a dictatorship and ruin the country.
Could the Brazilian military copy Chavez and return to power via election?
On the surfarce, Brazil's political landscape appears to be ready to elect a strong military man in the coming presidential election.
Brazilians are fed up with criminal organizations posing as political parties and stealing taxpayers' money on a large scale.
The tough-talking military candidate is Jair Bolsonoro promising to eliminate political corruption with extreme prejudice and make economic reforms demanded by the markets. The reforms include privatization of state enterprises and increasing the age of retirement for men and women.
Bolsonaro may have a chance. After all, the most popular candidate, former president Luis Inacio da Silva (Lula) -- cannot run. He is in prison for getting involved in small-scale corruption.
3
Chavez the “ dictator” was elected twice in what the UN called the cleanest elections held in South America and what were clearly cleaner elections than the one that elected Donald Trump. He also held a very clean constitutional plebiscite that went his way.You might want to try a better example...you know, like trump’s election in which he colluded with a foreign government and also “won” with a minority of the votes cast. Thanks!
2
There has to be more than a binary choice, welfare state or police state. It’s troubling that people always want a simple solution to a complex problem.
3
The military "revolution" of 1964 was partially financed by the CIA in what was known as Operation Brother Sam. I wonder what cute title will be given to the new one.
5
Stark choice, leftist like Lula buying votes though PT ( social programs) ,astronomical violence, along with some corruption, or military control with a semblance of order at the cost of freedom and extrajudicial crime control.
It is frightening to see Democrats in this country so eager increase immigration of the poor from these countries when the motivation is obviously to import voters who can be bought with the promise of'free stuff'. It works everytime in some communities as recent history to our south has shown...to the detriment of all in the end.
3
Very good reporting.
The center right (white middle class, judiciary, media, etc) expected that their soft coup on President Dilma would lead to their return to power. Instead, they are loosing the narrative to the hard right.
the white middle class in Brazil can’t stand the notion of sharing wealth and even space with the former poor, which gained the most with democracy. They want to put them in their place, where they have been for 500 years. Racial and class hatred are an invisible but powerful fuel to the ascension of the hard right and the specter of another military coup.
21
@CL the leftists have done their homework with the Marxism (divide to conquer). Your rethoric is wrong was not a coup with Dilma. Lula anda the working party created the largest corruption scheme in history. She lied about the government numbers during reelection and Lula has been sponsoring dictators through out South America.
What the middle class cannot handle anymore is the 60000 violent deaths in Brazil per year, the vision that criminals are victims of society, corruption and education that are outrageous.
1
I grew up being taught that the military coup was not a coup. That the dictatorship was not a dictatorship but the defense of democracy. That there was no racism in Brazil. That an inflation of 1000% was normal and not the fault of corrupt, incompetent military. Even then, even in my teenagerhood, I knew none of this was right. Not TV, not the newspapers, not the authorities.
30 years of democracy led Brazil from 15 th to 7 th economy in the world; to the control of inflation and the end of debt with the IMF; to the raise of 40 million people out of poverty; to the raise of people in universities from 1% to 10%. 30 years of democracy (interrupted by the 2016 soft coup) did more for Brazilians than the previous 500. Most of us want democracy but the few have dictated our lives for a long time. In Rio there used to be 2 slaves for each white person. It lies there the fear of the majority, of democracy.
5
While I appreciate a number of other sources, overall nobody comes close to the Times and NPR for excellent composition and coverage. Rarely do I finish a piece that hasn't answered my questions, and as an "inquiring mind," that's YUGE.
Who should Brazilians vote for? Some of our options: Ciro Gomes: has changed political parties 13 times, from alt-right to alt-left and almost everything in between. He can’t even finish an interview without physically or verbally assaulting reporters. Marina Silva: has been running like forever and never gets enough votes. She also “disappears” when something controversial happens. Geraldo Alckmin, former governor of São Paulo, is under investigation in the Car Wash Operation. Jair Bolsonaro: Congressman supported by the growing Evangelical Community. He is the law and order candidate in a country where violence is rampant. A rock or a hard place?
8
Of the options, Alckmin is the one reasonable choice. He’s done a good job as governor. Steady and rational, not an extremist, like Bolsonaro.
1
Shades of 1964. Here we go again.
3
I can't help but wonder what role our own government, particularly the CIA, is playing in Brazil. Is the USA exercising some form of self-restraint, behaving as strictly neutral observers of the chaos and corruption that seem to have enveloped Brazil and steered it rightward toward a military dictatorship? I seriously doubt that's the case. For with the admirable exception of the Carter administration, since WWII we Americans have never restrained ourselves from interfering with the governance of other nations.
So the question is to what extent has the Trump administration involved, and/or plans to involve, the USA in Brazil's governance, overtly and covertly? Surely Team Trump has some sort of policy in place on Brazil's problems and has taken action on it beyond probably secretly welcoming both more authoritarian rule and military rulers there. Let's hope the intrepid investigative reporters of the Times can shed some light on this subject.
Meanwhile it is not unreasonable for the rest of us to speculate that if Brazil falls prey to the right-wing movements that appear to be spreading their bigoted beliefs, intolerance, cruelties and nastiness elsewhere, its South and Central American neighbors will likely be acutely infected as well. For that part of the world has long been prone to such ideology and putschist behavior.
For the sake of all, Brazilians must not allow themselves to be victimized again by a military coup, or rule by a junta or generalissimo.
8
Well, Brazil discovered some of the biggest reserves of oil in the world. President Dilma decided that only the Brazilian government would explore them and the profit would be used for investments in health and education. Then she was deposed by a soft coup. In his very first week, the usurper opened oil exploration to foreign companies - specifically U.S. ones. According to specialists, at deeply below market prices. He also froze investment in health and education for the next 20 years.
3
I lived in Brazil for three years during the military dictatorship and have visited various times since its downfall in 1985. The country was safer and more orderly under the junta, but at a very high price: censorship of the press; extra-judicial arrests and imprisonment of political opponents and protesters; regime-sanctioned torture and murder; official corruption without public accountability. Disappearances occurred regularly.
Those who flirt with the idea of restoring military rule in Brazil might want to learn about the toxic history of the 1964-85 regime. We all should also remember that the US government sponsored the junta. Today, there is a nationalist and authoritarian movement at loose in the world. Fifty years ago, America feared Communist takeovers and sponsored military takeovers instead.
Twenty-one years of military government in Brazil saddled the country with exploding debt, unabated public and private corruption, and a legacy of suffering. The country went a generation without democratic traditions and, as this excellent article says, never mounted an open and complete truth campaign to tell the story and fully bring perpetrators to justice.
No wonder Brazil’s current democracy has struggled so!
What folly it would be, to give a military regime another chance to ruin Brazil!
25
It starts and ends with corruption, state-sponsored corruption. If they do not harness the corruption, this mess will always recur.
4
America played the leading role in the 1964 coup to defeat Brazilian democracy, just one of several dozen examples of American actions that makes Russia's 2016 meddling look like an absolute joke.
12
In the article there is a subtitle in the photo of a general saying: “Antonio Mourão, a retired army general, recently became president of the influential Military Club in downtown Rio de Janeiro.” I am quite participant in getting deep news and political dynamics in Brazil, so I find it really hard to believe this is a true fact: there is absolutely no influence coming from this collection of retired military personel except maybe in some journalist’s minds, most awfully pockets...
7
With half of it's 200 million people having black Sub-Saharan African ancestry, as a nation state only Nigeria has more black people than Brazil. Of the 12 million enslaved Africans who came to the New World 4 million went to Brazil and only a half a million came to the United States.
Brazil did not abolish slavery until 1888. Brazil had no Civil War nor Reconstruction over enslavement. Brazil had no Civil Rights era to right the wrongs of a separate and unequal era. Brazilian blacks had no black church focused on freedom nor historical black colleges and universities.
Brazil is the most populous Portuguese cultural and language country. Brazil is the most populous Roman Catholic country on Earth. Brazil has been ruled by it's military -industrial complex.
White supremacy reigns and rules in Brazil with blacks banished to entertainment and sports. Brazil is Russia 's # 1 trading partner in the Americas. Russia is also Sub-Saharan Africa's #1 trading partner.
14
I remember the last military government of Brazil. Military personnel used their offices to extort, torture, rape, murder, and simply disappear dissidents, “enemies of the people”, personal rivals, & victims chosen for the mere predatory sport of it.
Why must so much of Latin America be burdened with these uniformed thugs who pretend they save the country by banning justice, freedom, & democracy?
10
@Daniel Brockman not true. You are trying to romanticize the "dissidents" that were getting trained in Cuba and North Korea to make Brazil to be a the real dictatorship. Through bank robberies, kidnaps and assassination. If was not the Brazilian military at the time we we speaking Spanish and we would as good as Cuba now.
1
In their article about the increasing participation of former Brazilian military officers in politics, Londoño and Andreoni explain a brewing crisis.
The authors say that retired military officers, many of whom still have strong ties with the military, are trying to run for political offices. They mention that many of these officials advocate a military cleansing of the democratic government, which they see as corrupt and beyond reform in its current state.
Although the idea of the military cleaning up a corrupt democracy seems appealing, it could only end up in a disaster. Intervention could do the opposite of fixing the government. It is easy to foresee the military intervening in the government and refusing to give up the power that they seize. Who says that the military will be any less corrupt than the existing government? How do we know that such an intervention won't take Brazil back to its days of military dictatorship?
The issue of a military intervention is most relevant than it has ever been in this century. In past few years, multiple democratic nations across the world have become increasingly authoritarian. It is a chilling thought that the world could revert back to a state in which authoritarianism is more common than democracy and it would be a dire mistake to let that happen. It can be prevented if people in countries like Brazil vote against politicians who advocate this "solution".
7
Is there a story here?
A military career has always been a big bragging point in a U.S. election. And those who did not serve, are excoriated for it in every U.S. campaign. Trump, for example.
How did Andrew Jackson become President? Grant? Teddy Roosevelt? Eisenhower?
Remember when everyone wanted General David Petraeus to run? And, of course, their is Senator John McCain.
We have a long history of attacking other countries for doing the exact same thing we do; this article is a perfect example of that.
11
The US never had a military dictatorship. Brazil did. Hence hearing both military personnel and civilians advocating for a return to military dictatorship is a very worrying sign in a democracy that is still very young and fragile - since 1985, Brazil has only had 4 presidents that were directly elected, and of these, 2 were impeached.
6
@Peter Zenger
Eisenhower famously warned us against "the military-industrial complex." Grant, though a great Civil War general, was perhaps our most corrupt President, good Scotch and being asleep at the wheel, not valid excuses. Teddy had his good points--loved and saved Nature as opposed to Trump and Zinke, and yet was an unabashed imperialist, witness Cuba and the Philippines (and my relatives, it should be said, were "heroes" in both fronts of the Spanish American War.) Andrew Jackson? Ask Native Americans. And Gen. Petraeus? America has been put into a state of perpetual war, out of Orwell's 1984. I don't think Tom Hayden was joking when he said America would not understand the Viet Nam War until there was a statue to the Anti-War Veteran. Careful what you wish for!
1
A large minority of Brazilians are open to military intervention. The main reason I hear is disgust with corruption that seems endemic in government here. Some say only such an extreme measure will force change. There also seems to be a desire to project strength.
I hear this most vocally expressed among people from the middle and lower classes. They are all ages, many too young to remember the dictatorship that ended in 1985. Almost never do I hear them from among the better educated. But as we saw with Trump in 2016 many more may think this way than who freely admit.
Many who support dictatorship point to Trump as the kind of leader they want. They say he is a patriot putting the interest of the country first. They point to the wall on the Mexican border and his tough talk on immigration and trade. And laughably, that he fights corruption.
I don't hear it as often, but Israel represents another model they admire.
Here is a video of protestors calling for military intervention flying US and Israeli flags alongside the Brazilian flag. Some here believe military rule, the US, and Israel go together. https://mobile.twitter.com/brianmaniere/status/1016415655346823170
The average Brazilian understands little about the politics of The US or Israel. They opinions are formed from the big gestures they see. But I take this as a reminder how the US is an example for the rest of the world. And what a bad example we've been making of late.
14
@Brian Really??! Have you interviewed Brazilians all over Brazil to make such definite statements about them? It would be like a Brazilian saying that because they talked to a few Americans in the US South, it is clear that all Americans support Trump.
1
@Brian And if the unthinkable happened in the US, where a large majority of us thought it could never happen, I do not see why it could not happen in Brazil.
2
@Luiz, I said a "large minority" in Brazil is open to military intervention. That is very different from saying "all" Brazilians do. And I referenced my impressions are from what "I hear" in order to indicate their subjectivity and lack of scientific basis.
But polls do seem to support my impressions. Here's one from 2017 that says 43.1% of Brazilians are open to the idea of a return to military rule. http://www.paranapesquisas.com.br/noticias/blog-do-bg-divulga-pesquisa-n... Before you say it, I don't trust polls to be perfectly accurate either. But they’ve done better research than I have. And I am not making things up out of thin air.
1
The article fails to note that the military dictatorship was also rife with corruption. The kickback schemes that are being prosecuted today were most certainly present— and perhaps even more common—during the years of military rule.
22
@Sean Mcintyre Exactly! There is no guarantee that the military would put an end to corruption; on the contrary, there would be both corruption and impunity, as there would be no one to counter the military power. People who are advocating for this have no idea of what they are saying.
6
That's a lot of political talk about a country that had 60,000+murders last year. The amount of violence is astounding and it seems strange to be talking about anything other than stopping what amounts to a full blown war zone in the country.
8
People are tired of corruption. The vast amounts of money said to be robbed by politicians, while the people languish without adequate health care, safety, an economy that doesn´t seem to improve and create jobs, inflation, a justice system that seemingly favor the rich and the well-connected (many who were convicted of robbing billions are out and about enjoying their money), Congressmen who are only worried about their pockets and amount of power... They think that the military is going to bring law and order and to curb some of the excesses. Brazil has no leaders, unless one counts Lula, the ex-president, who is now in jail also for corruption, and who forged a narrative of "working for the poor" which is as much of a lie as everything else he says. In the view of the people (and I am talking about the people I know) being a politician is synonymous with "an easy way to get rich". No one is expecting that something will or can be done anymore. The country is doomed and those who can and want to live a decent life are leaving to Canada, Portugal, the United States, Italy, France and whatever country will accept them.
10
@Thais Silva, Hmmm, sort of sounds like where the US is going in another decade or two. In some ways we're already there.
3
The military again, trying to get into politics? That would be awful indeed, in spite of the corruption in the current democracy we are trying to bring to justice now, always better that 'boots' killing any essential criticism, however constructive. Have we forgotten the disaster, the killings, and the suffering, caused by a Videla, or a Pinochet, or the many military dictatorships that afflicted our lands?
3
sounds like the good old USA.
7
Why do the people need the military to throw out the current political class then call elections in six months? People need to become active in voting or supporting candidates who are for the people. Thailand's military threw out the elected political class in 2014 and have yet to call elections. Even worse history shows the military involvement over the years. Is that what Brazil wants? Look at Myanmar (Burma) how the military ran that country into the ground and kept it backwards from the rest of Asia. With Trump supporting Duterte in the Philippines and Erdogan in Turkey, and approving of Xi in China extending his ability to stay in power for life the Brazilian military might be emboldened to carry out a coup.
2
So this is how it works? Corrupt right wing regime continues to harp on allegedly corrupt previous left regime that they pushed out in a non-electoral manner until "frustration" allows people to imagine the suitability of a military take over. Are we taking notes?
3
Unfortunately, drastic action is needed in Brazil.
The fact is that Brazil transitioned from military dictatorship to democracy without putting in place institutions that could sustain a liberal democracy. A quasi-illiterate population doesn’t help matters.
What we have in Brazil instead is a kleptocracy dominated by an entrenched, corrupt political class that, unsurprisingly, is not in a hurry to pass and implement legislation that harms their interests. A military intervention is not ideal but a wholesale purge is needed—there are over 30 parties in the Brazilian congress and they function mostly to support a patronage system that exchanges cash or posts for votes. Things at the state and municipal levels are no better.
A hybrid system is needed. Although not ideal, something along the lines of Turkey or Iran where candidates are pre-approved and the number of parties is limited. Members of the current Congress, state and municipal houses, and judiciaries are removed from office and, after due process, prosecuted where applicable.
For the rest, a national amnesty program that allows those who stole public monies to reimburse the government with interest. If the monies are not returned, and the person is ultimately convicted, then a death sentence must be applied.
Woland
3
Really? Modeling democracy to Turkey and Iran where candidates pre-approved? Who does the pre-approving?
I abhor Trump and his ilk. Yet it’s the people’s job to do the approving.
4
The idea that soldiers are disciplined and will rule a country in a clean way is rather ridiculous. When you look around in the world how military rule actually works that is seldom the case. Undisciplined behavior like corruption, torture and murder is much more common. That is not surprising when you consider that soldiers are not trained for this kind of situation.
Brazil's problem in my opinion is rather that democracy has been usurped by the judiciary. It was that judiciary that replaced Rousseff by the much more corrupt Temer. It is that judiciary that wants to deny the population its democratic choice: Lula.
Corruption is a system. Attacking it works only when you attack it at its core. Until now I don't see that happening in Brazil.
6
This is a country fighting against corruption and crime.
4
The elections of 2018 are going to be very interesting in process and in results, here and in Brazil. Both countries need to "Throw the Bums Out!"
Brazil has a good chance because for the first time in her history, prominent politicians and wealthy citizen criminals are now in "house arrest" or prison.
In the USA, not so much.
6
I was in Brazil for the World Cup and the Olympics.
From what I saw during these short visits that Said Paulo and Rio are hardly Brazil. In the north east, places like El Salvador, Recife - you would think there are two different countries as poverty is everywhere.
And then, you go to Floripa in the south where wealth oozes. Two complete different countries.
And even Brazilians told me that the Southerners have problems going north.
The point being this story concentrated on two cities that hardly represent Brazil.
I wish this reporter had included comments from a wider audience down there to provide a more complete picture.
5
True
1
Louise: really? Thousands of people from all over Brazil are not afraid to come to Salvador, Bahia (not El Salvador, please) and Recife, Pernambuco every year to enjoy Carnaval. During the summer the beaches of Maceió, Fortaleza, Porto Seguro, Praia do Forte and many other cities are full of people from São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul and other southern states. I have lived in Curitiba where my kids were born and Rio de Janeiro. I live in Salvador now and it’s amazing: the food, the music, religious syncretism, the dance, the beaches, the African heritage...
1
Only the cynical and those completely ignorant of Brazilian history would support the return of the military dictatorship. It was a period marked by violence, corruption hidden from view by a lack of freedom of the press and disastrous economic policies that resulted in hyperinflation and a huge foreign debt. Where is the order in all this chaos?
14
The military "repudiates impunity"? If so why did they give themselves amnesty for all the crimes they committed? Murder, torture, no due process of the law at all, corruption (yes, plenty of corruption, but people don´t know about it because there was no free press during the period of the dictatorship). Mr Bolsonaro, who promotes arming "the good citizens" (after having several meetings with the NRA) promotes execution without due process in a country whose police already kill so many in poor comunities, is an incredibly racist, homophobic and ignorant man. Much like a Trump without money. He did nothing during his 27 years as a congressman. He is seriously limited but yet he facinates people for "speaking his mind"! In other words, it doesn´t matter what you say as long as it sounds unfiltered. His election would mean a serious backward step in the civilizing process of Brasil.
6
This sounds like a repeat of Brazil's dictatorship of the 60's to the 80's when hundreds of opponents of the regime were simply killed.
It reminds me of Samuel P. Huntington. A period of authoritarian rule would not be the end of world.
1
Our people are dying ... politicians are stealing ... the presidential candidates are making agreements with the same corrupt ones that destroyed Brazil. Do not think that they are doing something good by trying to "demonize" the military regime because everything we have today in our country was built by them. Luís Inácio Lula and Dilma Roussef never built anything ... by Contrary, by means of an obscure agreement they allied themselves with great constructors who manipulated the results of bids and divided the public funds as if they were theirs while the health, education and security in our country was agonizing until the death. Just to remember, Dilma Rousseff participated of kidnap of an American ambassador ... does not that matter to you? Lula appears slightly ahead in the polls simply because his political cronies in the North and Northeast of the country bought votes from the poorest through the PT's "social programs" that are nothing more than a "smokescreen" of misappropriation of public money. Make no mistake and do not deceive or try to manipulate popular opinion about Jair Bolsonaro. He is the only candidate able to give a certain, coherent, decent and respectable direction to Brazil. Insist on destroying Brazil and you will be destroying the future of a country that can contribute much to the construction of a free, civilized world free of corruption. Do not destroy us, please. We are fighting powerful thugs who coincidentally are their "heroes." Brazil thanks.
3
The author did not dwell on perhaps the most important aspect of the current degeneration: corruption and violence among the security forces themselves, especially the police. When the far right says it wants more power for the police, this is tantamount to giving more power to the drug dealers and militias in charge of vast swaths of the largest cities.
As for the military, its ineffectiveness in maintaining security and order in areas under its control has been bluntly illustrated by the skyrocketing crime in those areas. There is also the risk, highlighted by a general, that the money gushing from crime (and related threats) will be irresistible to young military recruits. Much of the population's attitude is reflected in a recent quote: the daily military parade up and down Copacabana Beach is a show to reassure visitors; the reality is that, with or without the military, the situation worsens every day.
11
It stuns me how limited our memory of recent history can be. Great article, but I disagree with one point raised. In Brazil, military intervention is also supported by vast amounts of the older generations. They claim that the military as the 'last bastion' of order and hope in our society. No, the are not military; they include educated professionals such as medical doctors, teachers and other. Yet, historic data shows that approximately 90% of the IMF loans to Brazil during the military dictatorship were never accounted for. How can you then justify the military as the bastion of integrity and order? We are in an era of 'easy solutions'. People are angry: throw out the immigrants. Violence in on the rise: allow everyone to carry guns. Pervasive corruption: bring riffle-carrying officials to power. Are we fearful and dissatisfied, or are we becoming delusional?
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Since first living in Brazil in 1978-82 i have followed events with great sympathy for the incredibly resilient people. University colleagues told us about their constant fear of military repression, hiding or destroying their libraries, etc. Now the constant fear is of assault and robbery. Last time the military tried to “reset” society, it ended badly. A moderate centralist civilian democratic government with reasonable currency control is the only answer - but lamentably I can’t envision Brazil getting there in my lifetime.
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Militaries DO INTERVENE on a daily basis to guarantee security in Brazilian cities. They do it in an orderly way at the request of the population. Who do you think guaranteed a mildly safe World Cup or Olympics? And months ago, upon desperate population request, militaries intervened in Rio. Rio is only the 20th more violent city in Brazil, it is not at war and has more deaths per day than Gaza.
We are already under intervention. One that we are asking for because Brazil is hostage of a narcofinanced democracy enabled by an inconsistent and suspicious Supreme Court.
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There is a global push to destabilize economies, and with Brazil. there is no exception.
Whatever center or left of center governments there are around the world, the pressure mounts on them with unending calls of ''corruption'' or military pressures. This is not going to stop anytime soon, for the major powers all have radically right wing governments at the moment that are further adding to those pressures.
South American governments have the added burden of fledgling democracies and economies, handicapped by rising inflation, violence and drug fueled wars. It doesn't help that those same financial forces are extracting all of the natural resources for pennies on the dollar being recouped by said countries.
The more deals that are made, the more cries of ''corruption''. It is a downward spiral that might end in another military coup. That would be devastating and just add to the fire that is on a slow burn around the world to upend the status quo.
The American and Russian Presidents are leading the way.
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@FunkyIrishman, you make a lot of good points. In the case of Brasil, the calls of corruption are not false or partially true--the whole system, regardless of political side, has been compromised by corruption.
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@FunkyIrishman
Blaming Putin and Trump??
BTW, which ‘ resistance’ are you referring to?
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@FunkyIrishman, while I agree with your general sentiment, the degree of corruption in Brazil is staggering and no Brazilian lives under the illusion that it is limited to the left-wing. The "lava jato" investigation has shown that no corner of the government is free from it. Recall that Brazil's right-of-center president, Fernando Collor de Mello, was forced out of office for corruption in 1992. So I think filtering Brazil's political crisis and disillusionment solely through the prism of the left-wing vs. right-wing paradigm is simplistic--particularly in a multi-party system like Brazil's. The crisis Brazilians face is that the very institutions charged with cleaning up corruption are themselves compromised at every level, from local to Federal, leading to the current despair on all sides of the aisle.
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The growing appeal of Brazil’s armed forces in politics comes amid a rightward shift in South America and rising authoritarianism
in democratic nations including Poland, Hungary, the Philippines and Turkey.
This is an alarming statement. Does this suggest that the globalists are using Brazil as an experiment where they support militaintervention to remove populist regimes going against their agendas?
Brian Ghilliotti
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@Brian Ghilliottin, I don't think this suggests that at all. The problems in Brasil, while influenced by global factors, are particularly home grown.
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The nationalist appeal is different in Europe and in Latin America. In Europe it is fueled by the immigrant crisis. In Latin America by the narcotrafic crisis and by the corruption financed by it.
Regretfully, however, even though totally disconnected, one reinforces the other.
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Yes, the only way to fix Brazil is by force, military are regular people with guns . We need the military to step in and clean the country, from corrupt politicians and criminals, they are well protected, only guns and force to purge them out.
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@Arnie Militaries are as corrupt as businessmen, judges or politicians. The problem in Brazil is not corruption but underdevelopment. All underdevelopped country are corrupt. The problem in Brazil is growing poverty, famine, land in the hands of few people. You are in the XIX century, you never integrated the slaves in the economy.
Are you suggesting a military coup? If the replacement is equally corrupt, what then? Civil war? You’re completely out of your mind.
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@Arnie so do you think this will also apply to USA?
In South south countries sometimes people are really struggling with arts degree about politics. An political arts degree is taken too seriously in south America and many people want more rules and laws like in France rather than a spectrum. In order for governments to work you need to follow the constitution meaning dangerous drugs are illegal guns are controls and hospitals have rules and that requires lawyers. Americans are not suppose to have so many arts degrees. It's only for specific people. You can learn about laws and teach people to follow the laws and why we have laws instead. Most people know everything about philosophy and they don't know the law - that's the problem. The government is for public shared rules, laws, social programs and sometimes a middle man for the bank, business is separate with private law.
@Jima I cannot follow whatever you are trying to say?
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