Fux puts an end to the controversy: Armed Forces are not a moderating power

Justice Luiz Fux has put an end to the controversy surrounding the interpretation of Article 142 of the Federal Constitution, which establishes the powers of the Armed Forces. President Bolsonaro has indicated that the article would allow the Armed Forces to intervene as a moderating power in a hypothetical institutional conflict. Fux has buried this mistaken interpretation by Bolsonaro, which is convenient for his authoritarian outbursts. In a recently issued decision, the Vice Chief Justice of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) clarified that the Armed Forces are not a "moderating power" and cannot comply with orders to interfere from one branch of government to another.

"The leadership of the Armed Forces is a limited power, excluding any interpretation that allows its use for undue interference in the independent functioning of the other branches of government," said Fux, in a decision this afternoon.