doubtful future

Image: Tejas Prajapati
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By MANUEL DOMINGOS NETO*

Today's coups can occur without troop movements, as demonstrated in 2016

It is impossible to avoid speculation about what awaits us in the short term. Those who fear a coup are not without sense. The president is irresponsible enough not to resign himself to the increasingly certain defeat. He continually loses support and despairs over the performance of his only effective electoral opponent.

Man is not alone in his despair and he knows how to cultivate the maddening crowd. It caters to those allergic to social change. It relies on support from institutions that are detached from the aspirations of Brazilians. It captivates members of the secularly hardened instruments of force in maintaining the iniquitous social order. It enjoys the sympathy of ultra-rightist movements that are clearly on the rise around the world.

When most Brazilians think of a coup d'état, they travel back to 1964. Some go back to 1937. A lot has changed. The troop is the same, formed by young people without opportunities, but the commanders are different. There are no longer legendary generals, experienced in the confrontation of ideas and with pretensions to build a country worthy of modernized corporations, like those formed by the French between the two world wars who decided to impose the “army policy”.

The intellectual indigence of the current commanders was recently made explicit with the so-called “Nation Project”, a repertoire of treasons based on US neoconservatism.

Today's coups can occur without troop movements, as demonstrated in 2016. In addition to the formation of an environment that those in the ranks call "psychosocial" and "synergies" with the civil arms of the State, today's coups can also take place with explosions of violence that justify leaving the barracks for the preservation of law and order.

At the call of the current representative, it is possible that marombados start hitting and killing without encountering due repression. The man has already proved his insensitivity in the face of the death of compatriots. Riots and riots can be easily provoked from north to south. Possible waves of trade looting will be boosted by the hungry millions.

It will not be difficult to traumatize society with attacks against political leaders. Chaos would be spurred on by sabotage of public services. Money-hungry clerics can induce worshipers to get into the mess.

It was impossible to know whether governors and mayors would be able to control their military police and civil guards. And who can guess the behavior of the legislative houses and the judiciary? The latter did not contain the lavajatista institutional degradation in a timely manner. Now, out of a survival instinct, he tries to straighten up, but he lacks unity and acts in fear.

The democratic forces are slow to grasp that democracy is on a tightrope. What confidence in institutions! Gone are the days when left-wing electoral campaigns fed democratic culture. Certain patronages would make the men of the Old Republic jealous. In the hunt for votes, to the detriment of political debate, candidates limit themselves to the specific demands of their “electoral colleges”.

Some reassure themselves by thinking that Washington would not endorse a coup in Brazil. Why not? Washington is not guided by the love of democracy. What if, from the bidding, the acceleration of the delivery of Brazilian assets results?

The ranks are unlikely to patronize adventures of such a worn-out president. But they can still use their weird figure. The man will be able to finish his dirty work by setting up a big shack. There, the unsullied saviors of the homeland will strike once more. Who dares to predict the end of the tragedy?

It's time to discuss the pitfalls of the state against popular sovereignty. It is not just about winning elections, but involving the majority in defending the democratic regime. The institutions we have at our disposal were not built to meet the will of those below, but to preserve patriarchy, the legacy of slavery and subordination to those who imagine themselves to be masters of the world.

* Manuel Domingos Neto is a retired UFC/UFF professor, former president of the Brazilian Defense Studies Association (ABED) and former vice president of CNPq.

 

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