Brazilians Criticize Military Commanders' Joint Statement

"It is not the role of military commanders to comment on the political process, much less on the performance of republican institutions," Gleisi Hoffmann pointed out.

On Friday, democratic intellectuals and politicians harshly criticized a public join statement whereby the commanders of the Navy, Army, and Air Force questioned the outcome of the Brazilian presidential election.

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Their joint statement qualifies as "democratic acts" the protests that far-right groups have been carrying out to ignore the victory of Lula da Silva.

"Can the actions of those standing in front of a barracks calling for a military intervention be called a 'democratic act'?" said Senator Omar Aziz, a member of the Social Democratic Party who pointed out that the military are acting as "conspirators."

"It horrifies me that intelligent, educated people sign a statement saying that those are 'democratic acts.' They are riots and crimes. And those who accept them are colluding," he stressed.

"The statement from the commanders of the Armed Forces seems bland. It is not. It was written at the request of Bolsonaro to endorse the legitimacy of the demonstrations that take place at the gates of the barracks," historian Christian Lynch said, explaining that the joint statement was also written to support fake news about "the possibility" of electoral fraud.

The tweet reads, "The military commanders draw a fine, conservative line in which they defend legalism without criticizing the Bolsonaristas calling for a coup at the door of their barracks. Their statement includes messages to the Judiciary and indirect criticism of Moraes."

The Workers' Party president Gleisi Hoffmann also rejected a joint statement that goes far beyond the constitutional powers of those who signed it.

"It is not the role of military commanders to comment on the political process, much less on the performance of republican institutions. The right to demonstrate does not apply to anti-democratic acts, which should be addressed with a name: coup d'état," she said.

Hoffman also pointed out that far-right rallies are "neither peaceful nor orderly" as the joint statement erroneously implies.