At soldier's funeral, Bolsonaro insists on involving the Armed Forces in politics.
By saying that the mission of the Armed Forces is "to defend democracy," Bolsonaro continues trying to guarantee military interference in political life.
247 - Jair Bolsonaro attended the funeral on Sunday of a young army paratrooper who died during training. Once again, he did not attend a pro-government demonstration in Brasília.
At the funeral ceremony, Bolsonaro said that the mission of the Armed Forces is to defend democracy, reports the journalist. Julia Barbon from Folha de S. Paulo.
“Our mission, the mission of the Armed Forces, is to defend the homeland, to defend democracy. And as [he] who became a great friend, former Minister Leônidas Pires Gonçalves [Minister of the Army in the government of José Sarney, who died in 2015], used to say, we are at the service of the will of the Brazilian people,” he declared.
General Leônidas Pires Gonçalves was the Minister of the Army in 1988 when Bolsonaro was tried for military rebellion. In the first instance, Bolsonaro was found guilty by a unanimous vote of the military judges. In the higher court, Bolsonaro was found not guilty by a 9-4 vote.
General Leônidas Pires Gonçalves, the Minister of the Army, who had publicly endorsed the first instance decision, later overturned by the superior court, was considered at the time the biggest loser in the acquittal of Captain Bolsonaro.
The former Army Minister cited by Bolsonaro this Sunday was also the one who, during the government of former President José Sarney, imposed on the Constituent Congress the inclusion of the defense of law and order as a role of the Armed Forces among the functions of the Armed Forces, in the famous article 142.