Analysis-Bolsonaro risks blowback from joint military parade and campaign rally

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attends an evangelical worship at the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil August 3, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Efforts by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to turn an Independence Day military parade into a political event for his re-election campaign has become a test of the armed forces' loyalty, retired generals and analysts said.

Bolsonaro is calling on supporters to attend a rally on Sept. 7 - less than a month before the presidential election - along Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach. He also ordered the military to parade there instead of their usual downtown route.