Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's president, wears a protective mask during the National Flag Raising ceremony at Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 12, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

President Jair Bolsonaro said he trusts Brazil’s armed forces to stay out of politics after a Supreme Court justice ruled on the military’s constitutional role at the request of an opposition party.

Anti-racism protests in Brazil and what Bolsonaro’s adversaries say are his authoritarian tendencies were the backdrop to the petition by the Democratic Labor Party, or PDT. 

Justice Luiz Fux responded with a preliminary injunction on Friday saying the armed forces are an institution of the Brazilian state, not the government of the day.

Bolsonaro replied with a derisive statement texted to media by his office.

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“The armed forces in Brazil do not follow absurd orders, such as seizure of power,” he said. “Nor do they accept attempts to seize power by another branch of the republic, contrary to laws, or due to political judgment.”

Fux’s decision recognizes that the armed forces historically were always on the side of democracy and freedom, Bolsonaro said.

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Bolsonaro and the Supreme Court have been at odds on several matters, particularly after the court backed restrictive measures by governors to slow the spread of the coronavirus, against the president’s push to reopen the economy.