'No banana republic': Brazil's politicos guarantee 2022 vote after bombshell story
Brazil's political leaders lined up on Thursday to stress next year's presidential election is certain to take place, after a bombshell newspaper report that Brazil's defense minister had issued a threat about holding the highly polarized vote.
Estado de S. Paulo reported that Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto, 64, a former army general, had told powerful House Speaker Arthur Lira via an interlocutor that the 2022 election would not take place unless printed ballots were used.
Both Lira and Braga Netto denied the report.
The Estado de S. Paulo story landed at a fraught time in Brazil, amid repeated - and unfounded - allegations by President Jair Bolsonaro that the country's electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud.
With his popularity falling after overseeing the world's second deadliest coronavirus outbreak, the far-right former army captain is pushing to replace the system with printed ballots, but the bill has not gained much traction in Congress.
At: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/report-brazil-defense-minister-threatened-2022-vote-sparks-uproar-2021-07-22/
Brazil's Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto looks on after a ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Brasilia, Brazil, earlier today.
Braga Netto's reported threat that the 2022 election would be cancelled unless printed ballots were used has raised alarm in the South American giant of 214 million.
Most polling has Braga Netto's right-wing boss, President Jair Bolsonaro, behind populist former President Lula da Silva by double digits.
