Brazil's Bolsonaro appears in protest backing military

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro came out in public to support a small protest that defended military intervention, prompting strong criticism across the political spectrum while also infringing his own ministry's recommendation to maintain social distancing.

On the day Brazil celebrates its army, Bolsonaro made an appearance at the protest held in front of the army's headquarters on Sunday in the capital city of Brasilia.

There, dozens of tightly-packed protesters, many of whom were not wearing masks, were calling for the Supreme Court and Congress to be shut down.

"I am here because I believe in you. You are here because you believe in Brazil," said Bolsonaro, a former army captain who waxes nostalgic for the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship.

Since being sworn in on January 1 2019, Bolsonaro has asked the defence ministry to organise commemorations of the two decade-long military dictatorship, paid tribute to General Alfredo Stroessner, the military strongman in neighbouring Paraguay, and backed changes in schools' history curriculum that would revise the way children are thought about the 1964 military coup.

But for some, Bolsonaro crossed a line Sunday.

"The president of the republic crossed the Rubicon," wrote Felipe Santa Cruz, president of the Brazilian Bar Association, on his official Twitter account. "Time for Democrats to unite, to overcome difficulties and disagreements, in the name of a greater good called FREEDOM!"