Bolsonaro’s Friend Colonel Luiz Armando Discusses Brazil’s Right-Wing Shift

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colonel Luiz Armando (PSL), president Jair Bolsonaro’s longtime friend and former military academy colleague, and currently a Federal Deputy,  spoke exclusively to The Rio Times about his relationship with the president.

He also discussed the measures that the current government intends to put in place, particularly in relation to foreign policy.

Even if by direct vote, it is true to say that the military has returned to power in Brazil. In fact, Jair Bolsonaro, a Brazilian army reserve officer, formed his government with many generals and other high-ranking military officers.

In addition to positions of trust, in his electoral campaign, some soldiers were also elected to the Federal Chamber of Deputies.

Watch the full interview:

“Throughout the military life we worked with several of the current ministers, such as General Floriano Peixoto, General Luiz Eduardo Ramos Baptista Pereira who is in my constituency, and who also studied with Bolsonaro; he is a great friend who is in a very important position, he is the Cabinet Secretary,” federal deputy Colonel Armando says.

And he adds: “Moreover, we have General Heleno in the Planalto who is a strategist. Other military ministers also stand out, such as Minister Tarcísio (infrastructure) who came from the Brazilian Army and a former student of the Military Institute of Engineering, who is very knowledgeable.”

Changes in Brazilian politics

Colonel Armando, currently deputy leader of the government in the Chamber of Deputies, points out that the country is finally able to progress in a number of public policies targeting the economy and fiscal readjustment.

“We are in the first year of government, it is a year in which reforms are required. In this first half of the year, Brazil was focused on the social welfare reform, which will ease the rebalancing of Brazil’s public accounts,” said Armando, adding that it will be crucial to approve the tax reform too.

The deputy emphasizes that the enactment of the so-called “Provisional Measure for Economic Freedom”, now in progress, is succeeding in lowering interest rates and creating an environment that favors confidence in the country.

Army Academy Stories

Colonel Armando met Jair Bolsonaro in 1976. “We studied at the Academia das Agulhas Negras (AMAN) together in Resende, Rio de Janeiro,” he recalls. While Bolsonaro was a pentathlon athlete, Armando played basketball. “We were athletes; we had joint activities, defending the colors of the academy.”

Bolsonaro graduated as a military paratrooper. The military parachuting course is regarded as one of the most difficult in the Army due to the physical fitness requirements. Few can complete the course.

They studied Physical Education

Armando recalls that on the first day of the physical education course, Bolsonaro was very witty, when he said he would finish first in his class. An intent that he attained, successfully graduating in the first place.

“It’s very competitive. Among over sixty officers of the Army, military police, Navy, and officers of friendly nations, he (Bolsonaro) was number one.”

The physical education course in the Army requires great intellectual skill, plus physical activity, and Bolsonaro was stating, right from the outset, “I’ll finish in the first place.”

A firm statement, but one that requires you to devote yourself to achieving that goal. And at the end of the course, he was indeed first.

Global right-wing

The global shift to right-wing policies further influenced the election of Jair Bolsonaro. And the partnership with other right-wing countries will strengthen. This is what deputy colonel Armando says.

“It is a trend in which the right-wing has been reappearing all over the world. It began in Europe, then in the United States, culminating in Trump’s election,” he says.

However, ties with countries like mighty China will be upheld. “Now we are getting closer to the USA, which is a great power, seeking trade agreements with the European Common Market, getting closer to Israel without distancing ourselves from other countries, neither China, nor Middle Eastern countries, but rather allowing Brazil to seek a larger area of global projection”.

For many specialists, Brazil is regarded as a “closed” country, due to endless red tape and laws that are confusing; federal, state and more than 6,000 municipalities have their own rules. This undoubtedly hinders the inflow of foreign investments and even local development.

“Brazil is a power, it is a country where there is much in which to invest, there is return, we want to have international partners. The Bolsonaro government is open to this. Respecting the sovereignty of Brazil as we respect that of all countries, we are confident that this Bolsonaro government cycle will be a positive one for Brazil.”