Brazil’s army is trying to distance itself from Jair Bolsonaro
The president is weaker but still dangerous for Brazilian democracy
GENERAL ORLANDO GEISEL, the brother of a military president during Brazil’s dictatorship of 1964-85, once remarked: “It’s very easy to get the army into politics. The difficult thing is to get it out afterwards.” That is the problem the country’s generals now face. They embraced Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain of hard-right views elected as president in 2018. With Mr Bolsonaro now in trouble, the army is trying to distance itself from him. The strains showed in the resignation of the commanders of the three armed forces on March 30th following a cabinet reshuffle.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “The strains in a politicised army”
From the April 10th 2021 edition
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