Military would follow his orders to take the streets, says Brazil’s President

On Friday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stated that if he orders the military to take to the streets to restore order, “the order will be followed,” raising new concerns about his politicisation of the military.

During a television interview, Bolsonaro said that he would not "go into depth about what I'm planning." However, he said that "if we were to have issues, we have a plan on how to reach the field... our armed forces might one day go into the streets."

Bolsonaro's remarks, coming from a far-right former army captain who has long celebrated Brazil's two-decade military dictatorship, would do nothing to calm critics concerned about his politicisation of the military. Others are concerned about his pledge to a peaceful transfer of power in the event of a close presidential election outcome next year.

As Brazil's coronavirus pandemic has gotten out of hand, pressure has mounted on the president. He has been widely chastised for his treatment of the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil, which has the world's second-highest coronavirus death toll after the United States.

Last month, Bolsonaro named his former chief of staff as Defense Minister and exchanged all three commanders of the armed forces as part of a cabinet reshuffle that stunned senior military officers.

Since his election win in 2018, Bolsonaro has made false accusations of voter fraud in Brazil, which critics argue may pave the way for him to contest upcoming elections in the same manner as his political hero, former US President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro backed Trump's claims of a rigged election last year, culminating in his supporters' deadly Jan. 6 ambush on the Capitol building in Washington.