The main issue is that Brazil never really condemned the crimes commited during the dictatorship.

By the end of the 80s, the military government was weaker, and the population was claiming for democracy. Then, to allow this, the military proclaimed an amnesty for everything that happened in that period (1964-1989). So, that included forgiving the people who fought for democracy against the dictatorship but also the military members who committed crimes (murder, torture etc).

That's happened in others latin american dictatorships as well, but at one point during their new democratic regime, they judged and condemned those who commited crimes for the dictatorship. In Brazil, they claimed those generals would be too old so there was no point judging them for prescribed crimes.

This is a very serious mistake. The military urgently needs to be judged for their crimes, because:

1. To investigate and shed light in all the crimes that occurred (including corruption);

2. They will not be punished but it is important to judge them and declare them guilty, so we as a society can recognise all those horrors and move on.

The plan of the military, with support of other local elites, worked, so lots of those crimes were forgotten, hundreds of families never got justice. That's why some ppl nowadays still claim that things were better back then.

The direct result of that is the election of bolsonaro and the take over from the military. Since the Dilma government, number of military personnel in civil functions in the executive government went from 1.8k to 6.2k (including the high levels such as many ministries). So don't be naive, the military is deeply involved in the fascist coup that's being put in motion in Brazil as we speak.

One last thing to add: back in 2016, Dilma was voted to be impeached (due to breaking fiscal limits, which don't exist now under bolsonaro). During the vote in the congress for her impeachment, bolsonaro (a congressman back then) voted in favor of the impeachment and justified that it was "in memory of colonel Ustra"

So, this colonel Ustra was part of the military government during the dictatorship and was infamous for being a particularly cruel torturer. He used to put live rats inside womens vaginas during torturing sessions. Bolsonaro dedicated his vote for the impeachment (coup) because Dilma fought against the dictatorship, was arrested, and tortured by Ustra.