It may seem ironic, but Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro just named a military general to be the minister of the civil house, a role similar to chief-of-staff.

It is the latest example of a trend in Latin America: the militarization of the civilian government.

During the 1960’s and 70’s, many countries in the region were under military rule.  Fast-forward to recent years, and we’re seeing a growing military presence in the governments of Latin America.

 CGTN’s Paulo Cabral reports from Sao Paulo.

Follow Paulo Cabral on Twitter @PCabralReporter

To discuss all of this:

• Eric Farnsworth is the vice president of the Council of the Americas.
• Thiago de Aragao is the director of strategy for Arko Advice.
• Carina Solmirano is a professor of International Security at the Universidad of San Andres.
• Lucas Koerner is a political analyst and editor for VenezuelaAnalysis.com.

For more:

https://twitter.com/demchron/status/1229783513823498240

The false notion that the armed forces are inherently cleaner is dangerous to democracy in Latin America.@robertosimon examines the enduring myth of the “non-corrupt” military in @AmerQuarterly’s latest issue. https://t.co/ZzN4FvZxwL

— Americas Society/Council of the Americas (@ASCOA) December 17, 2019

What Latin America's corruption and incompetence has wrought: About 42% of Brazilians trust the armed forces, whereas only 7% trust Congress, said pollster Datafolha. Very bad news for democracy, indeed. https://t.co/ADSdTMSDWl via @WSJ

— Juan Forero (@WSJForero) February 14, 2020