So not only can you save lots of budget in the military, but it also reduces the harm that a well-funded and organised military can be to the "internal enemy", which is usually poor, indigenous, black or otherwise marginalised people. (Usually with the cover of "combatting drug trafficking")

while that's true, the military is also the only institution that, if co-opted, could be used in a theoretical situation against local police, which is usually armed to the teeth in countries where drug trafficking is serious enough

when bolsonaro had his pathetic military parade, with tanks fuming like old chevettes (to the point where it became a meme), i was only happy until i remembered how our local police are pretty much brownshirts bearing automatic rifles