SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s government is celebrating the 57th anniversary of a military coup that led to hundreds of killings and thousands of people being tortured in a 21 year-long dictatorship. The vice president, the defense minister and one of the sons of President Jair Bolsonaro openly celebrated on Wednesday what they call the 1964 movement. The president has often expressed nostalgia for the dictatorship, which supporters contend saved Brazil from communism. Analysts say the celebrations have deflected public attention away from the country’s 320,000 dead in the COVID-19 pandemic.
