Military Club signs deal with Marina: "a glimmer of hope"
A group of retired generals has released a manifesto supporting the PSB candidate; "Hope for something new and different"; based in Rio de Janeiro, the Military Club is one of the most conservative entities in the country; a large part of its members were on active duty during the military regime (1964-1984); its position is against any revision of the Amnesty Law, which Marina Silva said she supported but later backtracked on, and against the National Truth Commission, which investigates crimes of torture and death that occurred during that period; the presidential candidate "is sailing in calm seas and very favorable winds, while time, increasingly short, is running in her favor," says the author of the text, former General Clovis Puper Bandeira; the arc of support for the former minister is gaining weight on the right; read the manifesto.
247 - After receiving the official support of Congressman Pastor Marco Feliciano (PSC-SP), known and harshly criticized by human rights organizations for his radical and controversial positions against homosexuals, Marina Silva receives the vote of an even more conservative sector: the Military Club of Rio de Janeiro.
In a manifesto released last Wednesday, the most conservative club in the Army treats the PSB candidate as "a thread of hope" to defeat the PT. "Hope for something new and different, that breaks with the negative tradition represented by current public figures," says an excerpt from the text.
The author of the document, retired General Clóvis Purper Bandeira, says that the military sees Marina Silva as the best option to remove the Workers' Party from power. Among the military's demands is the preservation of the Amnesty Law, to prevent agents of the military dictatorship from being punished while former militants of the armed left against the regime remain unpunished.
Although defining Marina as the hope, the manifesto also points to "a mysterious new politics" led by the "messianic figure" of the eventual president of the Republic. According to the Military Club, the candidate makes "vague statements" and "leftist and environmentalist proposals," with a "smell of Bolivarianism," referring to greater popular participation, such as through plebiscites. It then adds that "being a chameleon-like enigma is an advantage."
Read below or in Military Club website the full text:
A THREAD OF HOPE
The surprises that fate has in store for us are frightening. Everything is going in a certain direction when, suddenly, a completely unexpected event changes our story, our life.
The terrible plane crash that, in mid-August (always August), claimed the life of Senator Eduardo Campos, a candidate for President of the Republic, as well as those of the crew and advisors who were with him, changed the entire landscape and predictions for the October elections, at the federal and state levels, in just two weeks.
Suddenly elevated to the status of presidential candidate, Marina Silva, who was previously the vice-presidential candidate, was perhaps the person most directly affected by the consequences of the tragedy.
Let's remember.
Having garnered 20 million votes in the last presidential elections in 2010, Marina emerged as an electoral phenomenon, a serious contender for the position in the next elections.
To be nominated as a candidate, she sought to found her own party, the Sustainability Network, or simply Network. However, bureaucracy – and the real or created problems with notary offices in recognizing the hundreds of thousands of signatures necessary for the creation of a party – ultimately prevented it from being officially established within the legal timeframe to allow the registration of its candidates.
Thus, without a party to represent her, Marina had to settle for joining the PSB, which had already nominated Eduardo Campos as its presidential candidate. She was therefore limited to the vice-presidency.
The death of the PSB's leading candidate less than two months before the elections led to his replacement by Marina, who immediately surged in the polls.
Currently, she is tied with Dilma Rousseff in the first round and wins comfortably by ten percentage points in the second round.
In fact, the new candidate embodied the vague desire for change that brought people to the streets last June. What kind of change, that's another problem.
Having not yet been attacked by the other candidates – since her candidacy was not initially perceived as a major threat – she is sailing in calm seas with very favorable winds, while time, which is running out, is on her side.
His messianic figure, his vague statements, his very generous initial promises, but beyond the reach of the national treasury, hint at a mysterious "new politics," a mixture of leftist and environmentalist proposals, including greater direct participation, governing with people and not with parties, direct popular participation in government through plebiscites and popular consultations (a whiff of Bolivarianism), the creation of people's councils (a whiff of the PT's soviets), participatory budgeting, etc.
Preliminary calculations estimate his promises – including 10% of the budget for health, another 10% for education, an increase in welfare programs, and an increase in the Federal Police force – at almost 100 billion reais per year, the origin of which is unclear.
His Achilles' heel is weak political support, as he doesn't actually have the firm backing of any party. His supporters are those interested in riding on his sudden popularity, without any commitment to political reality during his potential government.
But an excellent candidate will not necessarily be an excellent president.
In government, he will have to descend from the "dreamy" clouds where he floats and fight in the daily arena of the Three Powers Square, facing the insatiable beasts that make the laws, always demanding some political price for his support.
In reality, politicians fear the populism of his proposals and the deviations he promises to adopt, in order to avoid his government's isolation by the parties, perceiving a threat of authoritarianism in the idea of governing without them. Is this real, or is it just a threat to garner stronger support from the parties, which would be weakened by a more populist government?
Possessing an unassailable discourse, she is in favor of everything that is good and against everything that is bad. As, incidentally, are all the candidates.
Being a chameleon-like enigma is an advantage, because what is known about politics and politicians is rejected by voters.
The hope for something new and different, something that breaks with the negative tradition represented by current public figures, seems to be driving Marina's rise in the polls.
Popular disillusionment is driving people to seek something new. Change can be for better or for worse, as long as it interrupts the ill-fated corruptocracy installed in power by Lula's Workers' Party.
Things cannot continue as they are. There is an expectation that new directions and new leaders will bring better days and greater hope to disillusioned voters.
It's a thread of hope, but it seems people cling to it with faith, betting on the future to forget the present.
General Clovis Purper Bandeira – Opinion Editor of the Military Club