The army is irritated by Bolsonaro supporters' posts calling generals "watermelon" (a derogatory term).

Reuters - Constantly targeted, since the second round of elections, by calls from supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro for a coup after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's victory, the Army is irritated by social media posts accusing generals of being "watermelons" - green on the outside, red communists on the inside.

Since Bolsonaro lost the October 30th election, small but committed groups of his supporters have camped around army barracks, asking the Armed Forces to annul the election results.

In recent days, it seems that some of them have lost patience with the Army's reluctance to intervene, accusing its top generals of being closet communists who favor Lula.

"These are 4 communist generals against the people, they want Lula's government," wrote Twitter user Eugenia Moreira da Costa, along with photos of army generals. "They are watermelon generals, green on the outside, red on the inside."

This type of publication proved to be excessive for the Army.

In an internal memo dated November 16, seen by Reuters, the Army's communications chief said he had been instructed by the Chief of the Force to repudiate "posts on messaging apps with false and malicious allusions regarding members of the Army High Command."

"Such publications have been characterized by the malicious and criminal attempt to attack the personal honor of military personnel with more than forty years of service to Brazil," states the note signed by General José Ricardo Vendramin Nunes, without mentioning the watermelon meme.

The posts amount to "misinformation," he said, adding that "the Brazilian Army remains cohesive and united."

For months, Bolsonaro sought military support for his unfounded accusations that the country's electronic voting system was susceptible to fraud. This generated fears that Bolsonaro would not accept defeat in the elections and that the military, which ruled Brazil during the 1964-85 dictatorship, might support him.

So far, these fears have proven unfounded. Although he has not explicitly acknowledged defeat, Bolsonaro has not prevented the start of the government transition process, and the Armed Forces continue to ignore the appeals of radical Bolsonaro supporters.

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