Brazil: Military Occupation of Rio is a Rehearsal, Warns Expert

''The military occupation of Rio de Janeiro ordered by President Michel Temer is just a rehearsal of a practice that could be extended to other Brazilian states,'' warned today political scientist Jorge Rubem Folena de Oliveira.

De Oliveira said that once again, as in 1964, the military could be used to establish a state of emergency against the Brazilian people and also that Temer and his allies will not easily surrender the power, which was taken through a coup against the Brazilian democracy.

'Taking into account the political manipulation that seeks to strengthen the state of emergency through the use of military forces, the elections in 2018 might remain uncertain,' said de Oliveira.

De Oliveira also denounced that the decree issued by Temer authorizing the deployment of 10,000 soldiers in Rio de Janeiro is against the Constitution and the law to use the Armed Forces.

'To be authorized to implement the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO), state Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao had to declare formally, by decree, that the Rio de Janeiro security forces were unable to handle the increased violence there, which did not happen,' he said.

'In the case of Rio de Janeiro, as in other Brazilian states, the increased urban violence is linked to the increased rates of poverty and the cut of public funds fostered by Temer's mismanagement in 2016,' he said.

'The causes of the increased violence are political, economic and social, and the military will not be able to eliminate them,' he said.