For those closest to Walter Braga Netto, the retired Army general is described as being “completely loyal” to his president and a bit of a hothead. Currently serving as Brazil’s Defense Minister, Mr. Braga Netto is seen as far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s guard dog, faithfully obeying his every command and snarling at his opponents. He is a man of few words, but he is a keen observer and a diligent follower of orders — a true military man.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Braga Netto woke up to a bomb on his front step. Major newspaper Estadão ran a headline quoting politicians and judges close to the president saying that the Defense Minister had issued a short and not-so-sweet threat to the current House Speaker, Arthur Lira: if Congress did not approve President Bolsonaro’s proposal to reintroduce paper ballots into Brazil’s fully electronic voting system, there would be no elections in 2022. Mr. Braga Netto was being accused of attacking the country’s democratic institutions.
The government scrambled to explain itself, ordering the live broadcast of a previously scheduled event with the Defense Ministry in attendance, alongside Vice President Hamilton Mourão and outgoing Chief of Staff Luiz Eduardo Ramos. All three are members of the Armed Forces, and represent the leading edge of the government’s military component.
The event originally served to inaugurate a multi-satellite antenna, but was strategically used to give Mr. Braga Netto a chance to respond to Estadão’s front-page news:
“… It is...