US President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, speaks at an all-American defense conference in Brazil, where military loyalty to the constitution has become a central issue ahead of the presidential election. October 2, said the military should be under civilian control.
Austin, a retired US Army general, made the comments Tuesday, from the Brazilian capital Brasilia.
“Credible deterrence requires ready, capable military and security forces and under solid civilian control,” Austin said. speakadded: “The deeper we dig our democracies, the more we strengthen our security.”
Austin’s remarks come just two days after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro officially launched his re-election bid by saying, “The army is on our side.”
Right-wing populists have openly questioned the validity of Brazil’s electoral system. Some opinion polls show him almost disappointed 20 percentage points against his main presidential rival, the former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva afterward Workers’ Party.
Austin is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with the Brazilian delegation on Wednesday.
Austin is in Brazil for the 15th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA).
During the visit, the U.S. Department of Defense said Austin would “advocate for affirming the military’s role in a democratic society, including respect for civilian government, democratic processes, and human rights.” rights”, according to a Press Release Friday publication.
“Overall, he will deliver a very strong and clear message about the need for the military to respect democracies,” a senior US defense official told Reuters. senior US defense told Reuters.
The maneuvers were watched by Brazil in Washington, DC, including in Congress.
“[Austin] should just make it clear that the military should stay out of the election and allow any election dispute to be resolved by constitutional means,” said US Representative Tom Malinowski, a Democrat and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters.
“And he should remind his counterparts that US law restricts our cooperation with foreign militaries engaged in anything that might look like a coup.”
Military leaders have repeatedly said Brazil’s armed forces will respect any outcome of the election.
However, some military officials made headlines by echoing Bolsonaro’s comments about hidden weakness in the Brazilian voting system.
Bolsonaro has sought to portray the upcoming race as a battle between good and evil, echoing his 2018 campaign that presented him as an outsider in the fight to restore law, order and values. conservative rule for a wayward country. He joined the centrist Liberal Party in November after failing to form his own party.
Bolsonaro has largely based his political career on nostalgia for Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, disparaging Congress and the courts while filling his government with current officers and former officer from the armed forces.
It’s great to be in Brazil and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s 15th American Defense Ministers’ Meeting. This will be a great opportunity to work alongside our partners to address the region’s most pressing security issues. pic.twitter.com/9A6W8YmxQg
– Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) July 26, 2022
Thomas Shannon, a former US ambassador to Brazil, said the Brazilians were looking for signs of how their military might act if Bolsonaro refused to accept defeat at the ballot box.
“Minister Austin… is entering a political storm in which Brazilians are trying to gauge institutional support for a potential attempt to undo the outcome of the election,” Shannon told Reuters. .
Former US officials, including Shannon, warn that Brazil is not responding well to threats and that any message must focus on the US-Brazil partnership “rather than saying: ‘Don’t say, ‘Don’t’ do this and don’t do it. ‘”
“But it must be [a message] That makes it clear that the US-Brazil military partnership depends on a shared commitment to democratic values and practices,” Shannon said.
The US State Department recently affirmed its faith in Brazil’s electoral system, a rare step in a heated, polarizing election campaign.
“We don’t want to meddle in the Brazilian elections. But we want to make sure that the reality [is known] that we believe that Brazil’s electoral system is reliable and capable of administering a free and fair election,” the senior US defense official said.
