Is Brazil Doomed to Repeat its Dangerous Past?

When considering a nation’s historical past, it is quite easy to misremember, omit, or invent events to satisfy one’s desire to see the world a certain way, no matter what occurred in reality. The inherent danger in this is that it prevents one from learning from the past and makes the prospect of repeating it all the more likely. The world has seen the folly of forgetting the past many times over; it is an effective tool most often used by dictators and tyrants to mold nations to their image. And now, as Jair Bolsonaro, the current president of Brazil, continually glorifies the country’s military dictatorship in speeches and on social media, the world faces yet another retelling of that story.

João Goulart became Brazil’s president in 1961 after his predecessor resigned. The military strongly opposed his rise to presidency, accusing him of being a communist sympathizer. Goulart proposed several radical new policies, such as redistributing land from the wealthy to the middle and lower classes. The military, resentful of his reforms and afraid of their country becoming a leftist socialist state, staged a coup in 1964. They successfully seized power. Goulart fled, and, in less than 48 hours, Brazil came to be ruled by a military dictatorship.

This regime would last for the next two decades, and during that time, Brazilians lost many of their rights. The new government passed a set of Institutional Acts (IAs), executive orders that effectively amended the constitution and limited its power. Under these IAs, habeas corpus (the classic judicial rule that requires evidence to be brought against any citizen charged with a crime) and fair elections were suspended, and the media was heavily censored. Dissent of any kind was a dangerous act, as protesting or disagreeing with the government could mean imprisonment, torture, or even death.

This dark period in Brazil’s history ended with the presidency of Ernesto Geisel, who was able to transition the country back to democracy and repeal the IAs and other “emergency” legislation through incremental reform. Brazil’s military dictatorship is over, but closure has yet to be reached. The army officers involved in torturing and abusing political dissidents and journalists faced little to no consequences, a result of an amnesty law passed in 1979 that made it impossible to prosecute those accused of human rights abuses. Brazil’s failure to condemn the behavior of the military in a concrete way during the dictatorship was the first sign that Brazil had not yet come to terms with its last authoritarian period. The idea that it is unnecessary to punish those who were most actively involved in torture and other unconstitutional behavior sends a message about the degree and severity of their crimes.

Though the amnesty law did signify Brazil’s refusal to completely denounce the military dictatorship, the country has taken steps toward rectifying its dark past. Brazil’s former president Dilma Rousseff publicly presented the findings of the National Truth Commission (an organization created to investigate past human rights abuses) in 2014. The Commission’s findings included complete descriptions of the torture that took place for years in the country and recounted the flagrant human rights abuses that the fallen dictatorship carried out during its rule. For a time, it seemed that Brazil was making its way toward acknowledging the horrors of its military dictatorship. That is, until Bolsonaro rose to power.

When Bolsonaro was a member of Brazil’s National Congress, it became clear that he was in favor of installing another military dictatorship in the country. In fact, he believed it did not go far enough, and that tens of thousands more people (who were dangerous, treasonous, or simply anti-regime) should have been shot. In a heated speech to Brazil’s Congress in 1993, Bolsonaro publicly stated the following: “I am in favor of a dictatorship.” Furthermore, when voting to impeach Rousseff (who at the time stood accused of corruption and bribery) in 2016, he dedicated the act to a colonel notorious for being one of the harshest torturers of the dictatorship and who tortured Rousseff herself when she was a young member of a guerilla group opposed to the regime.

Though Bolsonaro’s statements were extreme and offensive to many, they did not have a large impact on his political career, owing to his relatively small audience. However, as Bolsonaro announced his bid for the presidency and began campaigning, his pro-dictatorship ideology continued, and his comments suddenly began carrying a lot more weight. No longer was he a just one congressman out of hundreds more. Now, he had the potential to become the most powerful person in Brazil. A Brazilian citizen named Adolfo Castro said, “In the current climate, we are scared of a candidate like this.”

Yet as time went on, the possibility of him winning the presidency seemed increasingly likely. Many Brazilians were weary of the endless string of political corruption scandals, the ever-rising crime rates, and the sluggish economy, which struggled to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. Ninety-five percent of Brazilians believed their country was heading in the wrong direction as of 2017. Candidate Bolsonaro marketed himself and a backlash against ineffective democracy as a remedy to these problems. Many young people who have not lived through Brazil’s dictatorship supported him then and support him now.

Bolsonaro also wants the dictatorship to be remembered as a time of “order and progress,” the words emblazoned on Brazil’s national flag. In other words, he wants to make Brazil look at the dictatorship nostalgically, as an exemplary time when the country’s key values were preserved. The most drastic action he has taken to achieve this was ordering the army to hold a military parade to commemorate the 1964 coup that began the dictatorship. There is no way to misinterpret the meaning behind this. It may be the first concrete step Bolsonaro has taken toward a reinstatement of the military dictatorship.

But even in its current predicament, there is still hope for a democratic recovery in Brazil. According to a survey conducted by the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas, Bolsonaro’s approval ratings have been steadily decreasing since his inauguration. When asked to evaluate his presidency in January, 11 percent rated it “bad or awful,” while only 40 percent rated it “great or good.” Those numbers changed in April to 27 percent and 35 percent respectively. Furthermore, his approval ratings are the lowest among any of Brazil’s past presidents at this point in the first term since democracy was reinstated in 1985. Without the public’s approval, it will be impossible for him to radically shift Brazil’s government away from democracy and toward an authoritarian state.

Brazilians must go further than mere disapproval. They must realize that Bolsonaro’s claims about the weakness of democracy and the effectiveness of tyranny hold no value and are predicated on false, hyperbolic beliefs. Many Brazilians look to him as a quick fix for the problems that have plagued their country for years, but they should recognize that he (and his beloved dictatorship) is not the answer.

The situation, though, is not hopeless. Bolsonaro’s wish to reinstate the dictatorship will remain just that—a wish—as long as committed individuals voice their objections to him and everything he stands for. The evidence for the danger in forgetting the barbarity of dictatorship lies in the past itself.