Brazil Generals Say Thanks, But No Thanks to Military Takeover

Temer says there is "zero possibility" of a military coup
Calls for military intervention grow louder amid strike chaos

Truck drivers gather on BR 040 highway during a protest against rising fuel prices in Luziania, Brazil, on May 23, 2018. — Truck drivers gather on BR 040 highway during a protest against rising fuel prices in Luziania, Brazil, on May 23, 2018.
Photographer: Andre Coelho/Bloomberg

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By Bruce Douglas, Simone Iglesias, and Samy Adghirni

May 30, 2018 at 1:17 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

After days of a paralyzing truckers’ strike, the atmosphere in Brazil is so febrile that the president felt obliged to state that there was no chance of an imminent military takeover of Latin America’s largest nation.

And it wasn’t just President Michel Temer. His denial was echoed by the speaker of the lower house, Rodrigo Maia, as well as by the most senior military official in the presidential palace, General Sergio Etchegoyen.