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General Eduardo Villas Boas warned that the growing political tensions in Brazil could drift toward a “social crisis,” informed La Jornada on Tuesday.
“We are living in a very difficult and critical situation, a very serious political, economic and ethical crisis,” the military official said during a video conference with 2,000 reservist officials last Friday that only recently came up to light. “(We are) concerned that if it continues, it could turn into a social crisis, with negative effects on stability.”
Villas Boas, appointed by President Dilma Rousseff in the beginning of 2015, added that institutions were nevertheless operating normally.
RELATED: Understanding the Latest Efforts at Ousting Rousseff
Rousseff is being seriously challenged by opposition groups' efforts to undermine her administration and initiate an impeachment process against her in the lower house of Congress.
Rousseff has classified efforts by the opposition to oust her via impeachment as a “coup” attempt by politicians dissatisfied with the election results. She was returned to office last year with the support of more than 51 percent of voters.
The Brazilian Supreme Court, however, decided to suspend the lower chamber's speaker Eduardo Cunha initiative to start the impeachment process, granting Rousseff a bit of a reprieve as well as some extra time to line up support in Congress.
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