If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas

When it comes to having a murky past under the rule of a repressive military dictatorship, Brazil is not alone in the neighborhood.  

Throughout South America, nations such as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, among many others, endured their own “years of lead” — sometimes simultaneously. These periods were marked by cases of state-sponsored killings, torture, disappearances, and politically motivated imprisonment.

Still, there is one thing that sets Brazil apart: how it deals with its dark dictatorship past.

While Brazilians see neighboring nations using the power of the state to prosecute former repressors and issue landmark statements condemning apologists for dictators, they also lament that Brazil does little to follow suit.

Discussions about this were brought to light again in March after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government sidestepped remembrances of Brazil’s 1964 coup, to the dismay of victims’ families, NGOs, and his constituents.

Many believe his silence was an attempt to avoid friction with the military.

Either way, the gesture (or lack thereof) was considered highly controversial, as March 31 has taken on new meaning after the years of Jair Bolsonaro, who remains a public apologist for the military regime.

It is worth remembering that Mr. Bolsonaro instructed his cabinet ministers to challenge Brazil’s electoral system as he plotted a coup to stay in power after losing to Lula in 2022.

That’s why Lula must always remember to look at the past before making his decisions…

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