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Bolsonaro pays tribute to Brazilian and Paraguayan military rulers

Thursday, February 28th 2019 - 08:54 UTC
Full article 57 comments
Bolsonaro eulogized a list of Brazilian military dictators starting with Castelo Branco (1964-1967), and ending with general João Batista Figueiredo Bolsonaro eulogized a list of Brazilian military dictators starting with Castelo Branco (1964-1967), and ending with general João Batista Figueiredo
Itaipu Dam, located on the Paraná river on the Brazil/Paraguay border, is one of the two hydroelectricity plants that produce the most power in the world Itaipu Dam, located on the Paraná river on the Brazil/Paraguay border, is one of the two hydroelectricity plants that produce the most power in the world

Jair Bolsonaro paid tribute to the former dictators of Brazil and Paraguay this week at a ceremony to celebrate the Itaipu hydroelectric dam. The Brazilian president, who has spoken previously of his admiration for the military dictatorship that ruled his nation from 1964 to 1985, praised former Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner as a “man of vision.”

The ex-Army captain also hailed Brazilian general João Batista Figueiredo for inaugurating the dam.

Speaking at a ceremony alongside Paraguay President Mario Abdo Benítez –whose father served as Stroessner's private secretary for 25 years – Bolsonaro eulogized a list of Brazilian military dictators starting with Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (1964-1967), Artur da Costa e Silva (1967-69), Emílio Garrastazu Médici (1969-74) and Ernesto Geisel (1974-79).

Figueiredo, who served from 1979-85, was the dictator who restored democracy when he stood down as president. Stroessner served as Paraguay president for 35 years following an Army coup, until his death in 1989.

The Itaipu Dam, located on the Paraná river on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, is one of the two hydroelectricity plants that produce the most power in the world, alongside China's Three Gorges Dam. Construction of the project, one of the world's biggest, was completed in 1984 during Stroessner's rule. It is jointly administered by the two nations.

“All of this was possible because a man of vision, a statesman who knew perfectly well that his country, Paraguay, would need to grow. So here is my tribute to honor general Alfredo Stroessner,” Brazil's president said, speaking on the Paraguayan side of the dam.

In 1995, Paraguay's Congress passed a bill calling Stroessner's 35-year rule a dictatorship. Victims of human rights violations were allowed to sue for damages. Stroessner was overthrown by a coup in February 1989 and went into exile in Brazil's capital, where he died on August 16, 2006, at age 93.

Paraguayan political analyst Ignacio Martínez said Bolsonaro likely praised Stroessner during his visit either to thank Abdo Benítez, “knowing that he admired the dictator because his father was Stroessner's private secretary, or because Bolsonaro has a military mentality, verticality, that was formed by command structures.”

Besides waxing nostalgic for Brazil's dictatorship on the campaign trail, after taking office Bolsonaro named former military personnel to seven of his Cabinet's 22 ministerial posts. At the end of his speech,

Bolsonaro told Paraguay's president: “It will be a pleasure to welcome you in Brasilia where we will deepen discussions about the welfare of our peoples. The left never again.”

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  • imoyaro

    Stroessner was a“Man of vision?” Christ, what kind of drugs did they send him home with from the hospital?

    Mar 02nd, 2019 - 07:09 am +2
  • Jack Bauer

    @:o))
    “Super humans”....the STF crowd ? with 3 or 4 exceptions, all sh*ts. It's all about 'politics before Justice' with them.

    @Gollum
    “Thats your assumption, I personally couldn't give a hoot what he was”

    Really ? MY assumption ?...but what you objected to, was what I wrote, i.e., my opinion of his latest actions ('quite stupid', 'not very smart').

    You were inspired by my “political acumen or paranoia”.......don't see what “political acumen” has to do with being able to read the news, watch it on TV, but I see you are inspired by the most banal of events.....
    and to express an opinion that Velez-Rodriguez was not 'too-smart', is “paranoia” ?

    “That what ever the occasion, you manage give rise to your own political prejudices”.

    So expressing my opinion that V-R was 'not very smart', is a political “prejudice” ?

    “Even though no one has criticised the persons praised in the article”....

    You ARE nuts, the article on V-R posted by ':o))' was all about criticism of his actions.....

    Gollum, IF you MUST post any comments, I suggest you first engage that 'smelly brown' matter in your head. None of your posts make sense. And try to stick to the subject, don't go off at a tangent about crap that no one is talking about. But I suppose that is what happens when all you eat is garbage.

    Mar 03rd, 2019 - 04:36 pm +1
  • Chicureo

    GOLLUM (aka Terrence Hill) is a odorous bag of EXCREMENT.

    All the mendacious slimy creature can do is:
    Whine....
    ......Whine...
    .................Whine...
    That’s all he can do. Whine. The whiner needs to get some backbone,

    Meanwhile on behalf of all the albino cockroaches scurrying rapidly throughout their filthy habitats, they demand we denounce the presence of GOLLUM from this conversation as his mere presence is a terrible insult to their noble race by associating with the GOLLUM excrement that uses: Terrence Hill.

    Even a common cockroach has dignity, and their albino lineage makes us far too noble to be defamed as a creature such as Terrence Hill, they demand an immediate retraction.

    GOLLUM fixates on nasty individuals such as the infamous and clearly evil demonic Daniel Patrick Moynihan who was best described as an apparition of Lucifer himself. “There can be no individual on earth as evil as he” was commented by his own countrymen that aptly cited the text of the satanic verse in which Moynihan, “The Devil's favorite demon, is sent from hell to earth for his disobedience of law and transformed into a politician.” It shows there is no simple distinction between good and evil: “normal politicians can commit horrible acts when the combination of elements identifies Moynihan fall into place.” - Robert F. Kennedy, Former United States Attorney General

    Again, all the mendacious slimy creature can do is:
    Whine....
    ......Whine...
    .................Whine...
    That’s all he can do. Whine. He's a whiner...

    Mar 04th, 2019 - 03:34 pm +1
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