Working to return to dictatorship
Bolsonaro follows Trump's anti-democracy footsteps
Bolsonaro's relationship with the military is based on common interest.
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Bolsonaro and Trump built a special relationship based on mutual admiration for their behavior.
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Bolsonaro among his supporters who promote dictatorial ideas.
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At least there is still another country leader who believes the desperate claims of US President Donald Trump that the recent US elections were rigged. He is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is the last head of state to reluctantly acknowledge the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in the US election.
But Bolsonaro remained adamant in his view that the US elections were stolen, and that the Brazilian presidential elections could be stolen, too, in 2022.
While his criticism of the country's electoral system is considered controversial (and possibly a felony), it is not surprising, nor is it in any way.
Not only does Bolsonaro show his great admiration for the US president, he is also spreading false allegations and conspiracy theories in Brazil, just as Trump is doing.
Democracy is in decline
Brazilian democracy appears to be in decline.
And if the moderate leaders of the state do not initiate a united front to support their democratic institutions, Brazil faces the risk of dramatic events, more dangerous than what happened in Washington the week before last.
In fact, the current conditions in Brazil are very favorable to the deterioration of democracy, as the head of state despises democracy, civil society, there is a group of Bolsonaro supporters ready to carry out acts of violence against opponents of the president, and the security establishment is becoming increasingly more malleable in his hands.
To make matters worse, the checks and balances in Brazil are weaker than in other democracies, so they can easily collapse.
Even before his election in 2018, Bolsonaro did not even bother to hide his anti-democratic sentiment.
Since coming to power, she has led numerous anti-democratic rallies.
Inspired by his idol, the US President, Bolsonaro, known as "Tropical Trump", laid the basis for discrediting the electoral processes in his country.
In the past few weeks, Bolsonaro has questioned the integrity of last year's municipal elections in his country, after most of his favorite candidates failed in the first round of the election.
This week, he told his supporters that the presidential elections in 2022 should be limited to electoral papers only, claiming, without any evidence, that the electronic elections were invalid.
As in the case of Trump, Bolsonaro's children, and his closest supporters, appear bent on undermining Brazil's democratic institutions.
Bolsonaro is facing a large number of criminal and legal investigations, in addition to 54 appeals to remove him from the presidency, and he has repeatedly directed sharp criticism of the Brazilian Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Authority.
Bolsonaro's eldest son, a politician, has been charged with corruption.
As for his other two sons, who are elected officials, they are facing the charge of overseeing what he called the secret "government of hate", a group of close advisers who work from the office of the president of the republic and organize attacks against opposition politicians and journalists.
Meanwhile, many of Bolsonaro's relatives, and his inner circle, are facing investigation into the fabrication of false news and widespread criminal investigations.
Even one of his sons recommended the reactivation of a resolution dating back to the period of dictatorial rule, which provides for the closure of the National Congress and State Councils, the prevention of political demonstrations, the imposition of censorship on the news, and the suspension of constitutional rights.
Bolsonaro later said that he regrets what his son had done.
Instincts of dictatorship run deep
Bolsonaro's dictatorial instincts are clearly profound. He was a tireless advocate of military dictatorship throughout his 30 years of existence as a peripheral politician.
Two persons accused of committing acts of torture and abuse, namely: the two military officers: Carlos Alberto and Brielhantia and Sstra, were described as invalid, and regretted the fact that the dictatorship did not kill at least 30,000 people, starting with former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Like Trump, Bolsonaro has alienated the democracy supporters, who were angered by him before he came to power.
And in 2016, extremist protesters calling for the return of military rule in Brazil stormed the National Congress building in the capital, Brasilia, in the same way that Trump supporters stormed the US Congress building last week.
Bolsonaro's supporters appear to be heavily armed, and are determined to protect their leader from prosecution or removal from power.
These partisans are building their powerful arsenal, with some calling for the takeover of the army if the National Congress decides to try and remove the president.
Before Bolsonaro assumed the presidency, his most important priority was to repeal legislation that limits the spread of weapons in the country.
Since taking power, he has issued a large number of legal measures to increase the spread of weapons and ammunition, and to reduce the importance of efforts to search for lost weapons.
In addition to making semi-automatic weapons available to civilians, Bolsonaro has attempted to reduce customs duties on arms imports made in foreign countries.
Own weapons
Accordingly, it was not surprising that firearms ownership increased in Brazil to about 98% in 2019, and to 120% in 2020. This is very worrying in a country where between 50 and 60 thousand violent murders occur annually, which is equivalent to three times the rate. What happens in the United States, even though the population of Brazil is equivalent to a third of the population of the United States.
It is not a coincidence that the largest arms manufacturer in the country, named "Taurus", benefited from the high rate of arms sales, as the share prices of this company rose by about 60% in 2020. The state's imports of weapons manufactured in other countries have also increased. About 100 times, than it was two years ago.
Given that Bolsonaro was a former army officer, he served to militarize the Brazilian government.
Of his 23 cabinet ministers, at least 10 are military, the largest number of soldiers since the military rule.
According to the Brazilian Federal Audit Office, Bolsonaro has appointed 6,157 military personnel, including those who are still in his work, and those in the reserves, in several government positions, double what the previous president appointed.
There are 1,250 military personnel in the Ministry of Health alone.
Bolsonaro always invokes military might to threaten his opponents in Parliament (the National Congress) and members of the Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro has widespread loyalty in law enforcement and security organizations, which are led by the 26 governors of Brazilian states, most of whom are enthusiastic supporters of Bolsonaro, as he is the ultimate law and security chief, and has issued numerous decisions aimed at expanding the freedom to use lethal force.
It is controversial in a country where nearly 6,000 people, mostly poor blacks, are killed by police officers annually.
Opposing sanitary measures
These threats, and others, pushed Brazilian democracy into the abyss.
Bolsonaro opposed basic public health measures and spread false news about the Corona virus, despite the death of 203,000 as a result of the disease, which is the second largest number of corona deaths in the world, after the United States.
Although Brazil has about 2.7% of the world's population, it has 11% of the deaths due to Corona, although epidemiologists believe that the real number of deaths is much greater than what is announced.
Deterioration of the economy
The economy worsened for the worse under Bolsonaro's rule, the country's gross product shrank by more than 9% in 2020, and pushed the country into a deep economic recession.
Bolsonaro says the country is bankrupt and that he cannot "do anything".
Brazilian democracy is under test.
While the country is still holding competitive elections, the Economist Unit for International Communication classifies Brazil as a "dysfunctional democracy."
Independent media and civil society are subject to constant attacks and widespread denigration.
Although most Brazilians support democracy, nearly half of them reject the risk of a return to a dictatorship.
The deep division and polarization in the country could help Bolsonaro win elections again in 2022. Despite his disastrous handling of the Corona pandemic, 37% of Brazilians still support the president's views in this area at the end of 2020, partly due to his approval of the Coronavirus. Providing aid to poor Brazilians, after initially being refused.
Unlike his friend Trump, Bolsonaro still has two years in office.
And if Brazilians do not wake up to the downturn in their democracy, it will be too late to save it later.
• The independent media and civil society are subject to constant attacks and widespread denigration.
• As is the case with Trump, Bolsonaro has alienated supporters of democracy, who were angered by him before his rise to power. And in 2016, extremist demonstrators, who are calling for the return of military rule in Brazil, stormed the National Congress building in the capital, Brasilia, in the same way that Trump supporters stormed the US Congress building, the week before last.
• Bolsonaro's supporters appear to be heavily armed, and are determined to protect their leader from prosecution or removal from power. These partisans are building their powerful arsenal, with some calling for the takeover of the army if the National Congress decides to try and remove the president.
Robert Magah - expert in political science, security and development issues
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