In a time of cuts, Bolsonaro lavishes gifts on the military

It has been a few years since the Brazilian economy has grown at a satisfactory level, but the Covid-19 pandemic will push Latin America’s largest nation to its worst growth skid on record. Set on righting the ship, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes has argued in favor of freezing public service wages and said all Brazilians would have to “make sacrifices” in the name of recovery. In May, he said that “medals are bestowed after a war, not before,” to explain why wages couldn’t go up while the country was stuck in an economic depression. This metaphor was met with grim irony this week, however, as President Bolsonaro authorized a salary bump to the one group he has always bent over backward to please: the Brazilian military.

With salaries of up to BRL 50,000 (USD 9,400) per month — or 50 times the national minimum wage — a group of top-ranked Army officers were granted an additional BRL 1,600 stipend in what was the latest treat given to the military by the Jair Bolsonaro government.

This new money will come through the so-called “training bonus,” a benefit created in 2001 to reward members of the military who completed training courses throughout their careers. The benefit had remained unchanged since its exception, until Mr. Bolsonaro raised it...