President Jair Bolsonaro with General Eduardo Pazuello after being confirmed as Brazil's Minister of Health, in September 2020.Joédson Alves / EFE
Nothing more humiliating for an active military man and more for a three-star general like Eduardo Pazuello, former Minister of Health, than to reveal fear and cowardice.
And the worst thing is that this fear can end up splashing the positive image that the Brazilian Army has enjoyed so far.
Seeing a general like Pazuello unable to face a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), created to determine the responsibilities of President Jair Bolsonaro during the pandemic, has to humiliate even the simple soldiers who must feel disconcerted.
It no longer matters what the general and former minister say or shut up.
His fearful behavior, which led him to take refuge in a
preventive
habeas corpus
in the Supreme Court to remain silent in the face of the senators' questions, is already a confession of guilt.
If Pazuello, as he had already confessed, limited himself to following orders from President Bolsonaro, considered at the time his hierarchical superior, it was enough to request his resignation and return to the Army, as the previous ministers did.
Blaming the general's attitude to the fact of his difficult character sounds strange to someone who should set an example not only that he is not afraid of the truth, but also of someone who has the pride of accepting that he has been wrong.
We do not yet know how the novel of the general who asked to remain silent in the Senate will end or if he will end up with his attitude of fear written on his forehead, the greatest disgrace for a military man and more of his category.
The general today trapped in his nebulous narrative of behavior would have only one way to rescue his humbled dignity today. It would be, upon reaching the Senate, to accept all the questions that may be asked, responding with military loyalty, even if this is at the cost of having to reveal truths during his term as Minister of Health, which corresponded to the highest number of deaths from covid-19, although they can seriously compromise the image of the president. An image already more than worn out of a head of state who has just been seen internationally as one of the worst managed the pandemic among the 14 most important political leaders in the world.
Bolsonaro and his procession of fanatical followers will pass and Brazil will regain its democratic normality after the dark parenthesis to which a frustrated Army captain dragged him. It will leave the scene as the latest polls point out, while the institution of the Armed Forces will continue to be vital in the defense of democratic values and the Constitution, as it has been in the last 20 years with governments of different political colors.
Brazil can only wish that it is the Army hierarchy that helps its general today in question to show that fear does not exist in the military dictionary. Hence, responsibility for a disaster or for conduct dictated by the general's fear in the ICC could end up seriously damaging the credibility of the Army. The final result of the position of the former minister in his convocation to the ICC may have unexpected consequences for the future of this country, today seen as a worldwide failure of the Government. 18 months before the presidential elections, the world press remains attentive and concerned with the outcome of the elections and with fear that destructive Bolsonarism may continue in power, which would lead to problems not only in the already turbulent scenario of Latin America, but of the world.Brazil is in fact seen as a key element not only in the economy as a world power, but also in the scenario that is portrayed as a discrediting of democracy with the growth of the denialist and Nazi-fascist movements on the five continents.
Brazil, and specifically the ICC of the pandemic, could lead to Bolsonaro's departure from the government, which would revolutionize next year's elections. Brazil is going through difficult times that could have negative repercussions for several generations. Traditional wars are known how they start, but not how they end. So it is with political crises. And it is no secret that in Brazil, ruled today by a president considered the worst and most unpredictable in its history, the responsibility of the Army is crucial, since the future of this might depend on whether or not it supports the captain with the vocation of dictator. country.
Nor is the excuse for the military of fear of communism valid, since today any minimally informed citizen knows that neither the PT nor Lula represented or represent communism today.
It is enough to remember Lula's good relations in his two governments with the business world and the banks, which never earned as much as with him.
Not counting its close relationships with conservative and right-wing parties that came to concern the most progressive and unionist group in the party.
The Brazilian Army is at a historic crossroads on which its credibility depends.
His behavior in the face of the long-awaited conduct of General Pazuello in the ICC could drag the Armed Forces into a serious crisis in the already dark political and economic panorama of this country.
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