Live
Audio Only
With the increase in deaths from the pandemic in Brazil, some of the most powerful military figures have sent out warnings that they might take power.
Local media in Brazil on Thursday warned that President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies are handling the possibility of military intervention to protect their control over government, as the country is reeling from the worst crisis it has experienced in decades.
RELATED:
COVID-19: Brazil and Chile Criticized for Their Data Management
With the increase in deaths from the pandemic in Brazil, some of the most powerful military figures have sent out warnings that they might take power.
Bolsonaro's inner circle, far from repudiating such threats, seems to be clamoring for the army's intervention in the fray.
One of the president's sons, a congressman who has praised the military dictatorship that Brazil suffered, mentioned that a similar institutional breakdown was inevitable.
Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro first mocked the threat of #coronavirus. Now that cases are surging, he is using the threat of military action to hold power. Sound familiar?
— Nick_Anderson_ (@Nick_Anderson_) June 11, 2020
"Opinion no longer revolves around whether it will happen, but when it will happen," president son Eduardo Bolsonaro told a prominent Brazilian blogger, warning that a "rupture" in Brazil's democratic system was imminent.
Bolsonaro, his family and his supporters are being singled out for charges of abuse of power, corruption and illegally spreading disinformation.
However, almost half of his cabinet is made up of military figures, and now critics say he relies on the threat of military intervention to keep challenges to his presidency under control.
Newsletter
