Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
Amid reshuffling of the cabinet heads of Brazil’s army, navy and air force have resigned from their respective posts.
This is said to be for the first time in the history of Brazil history that the chiefs of the army, navy and air force have stood down together over a disagreement with the president.
Monday, the president was forced to reshuffle his cabinet after his foreign and defense ministers both quit. President Jair Bolsonaro struggles to contain a crisis over his leadership the defence chiefs are reported to have stepped down in protest at what they see as an attempt by Bolsonaro to exert undue control over the military, reports say.
Brazil’s far-right president, who came to power two years ago, has consistently opposed quarantine measures, arguing that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the coronavirus itself.
He has also told Brazilians to “stop whining” about the situation. This when about 3.14 lakh people have died of Covid-19 in Brazil, with more than 12.5 million confirmed cases.
The three men – Gen Edson Leal Pujol, Adm Ilques Barbosa and Lt Brig Antonio Carlos Bermudez – resigned on Tuesday, a day after the president’s loyal Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo was forced to quit following heavy criticism by lawmakers.
Araújo was accused of poorly handling relations with China, India and the US, which lawmakers said resulted in Brazil having insufficient quantities of Covid-19 vaccine. Defence Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva then quickly followed suit, prompting a cabinet reshuffle.
Brazil’s daily Covid-19 death toll passed 3,000 for the first time earlier this month.
