Bolsonaro’s behaviour makes his backers nervous

Bloomberg

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s dependence on the military to govern is grating on the military itself.
Interviews with a dozen active-duty and retired high-ranking officers show members of the Armed Forces, who initially viewed joining their comrade in office as a chance to shape policy after years on the sidelines, now worry his erratic behaviour and a spiraling public health crisis could turn public opinion against them. While the military isn’t about to split with the administration, there’s growing push-back across the ranks, including officers within the government, to define clearer boundaries.
“Having military in the government can’t be confused with having the institutional support of the Armed Forces,” Ret General Sergio Etchegoyen, who was Brazil’s top security official under Bolsonaro’s predecessor, said in an interview. “That lack of understanding is generating discomfort.”
Over a third of Bolsonaro’s cabinet hails from the military, which now plays a greater role in government than at any other time since Brazil’s brutal dictatorship ended in the 1980s. Known as the “Presidential Palace Generals,” they include the active-duty general serving as health minister and the retired four-star general who is vice president. Bolsonaro himself is a former army captain. And thousands more soldiers and officers also work in lower-level government jobs, according to Brazil’s Audit Court.

Recalling a Coup
Their involvement has kicked up memories of a bloody coup during the Cold War. Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes took to live TV on July 14 and accused the Armed Forces of associating itself with a genocide as roughly 7,000 people die each week from the virus while Bolsonaro argues against quarantines.
At 2.66 million cases and almost 92,500 deaths, Brazil trails only the US as the world’s worst hot spot.
The Presidential Palace declined to comment for this article. The active-duty and retired officers interviewed, some of whom asked for anonymity, say a main concern is that close ties to Bolsonaro risk tarnishing a carefully rebuilt image as defenders of democracy. The Armed Forces is consistently named one of Brazil’s most trusted institutions, according to Datafolha polls.
They go on peace-keeping missions abroad, help quell violence in gang-controlled neighbourhoods and guarantee security at major events.
A key role many army officials are now playing is trying to ease tension over some of Bolsonaro’s most controversial moves and forge valuable political alliances.
When investors threatened in July to pull funding if the Amazon wasn’t protected from illegal logging and fires, it was Vice President Hamilton Mourao, a retired general, who promised to combat deforestation.