It is inevitable to refer to the current national political situation, with the revelations of the investigations into the coup attempts of January 8, to the times when the country was ruled with an iron fist by the military. The apparent concern in the post-election period about a new closure of the regime was well-founded. Federal Police investigations indicate that the coup was effectively planned by the Armed Forces and even reached the point of being debated, with the support of the military high command, in a draft decree declaring a state of emergency.
As much as the country is polarized by different ideologies, it still seems surreal that it has reached this point. It is obvious and blatant that this Brazilian nonsense, disguised as a coup and planned by ridiculous figures, would not last a week. In addition to social repudiation (even credible right-wing defenders would not support this madness), the international community would simply remove the country from the planet, like removing a cancer from these scoundrels.
But then, why did the military, respected, well-trained, and disciplined professionals, allow this lunar loquacity to evolve to this point?
It is curious that two of the main architects of the new coup have military careers marred by misconduct. Bolsonaro was charged with disciplinary offenses and suspected of participating in a plan to detonate bombs in military barracks. In 1977, General Heleno worked in the office of Minister Silvio Frota and, together with his superior, attempted to confront and prevent the political opening project led by Golbery do Couto e Silva and General Geisel. This process of political opening was not necessarily democratic, but nevertheless attempted to keep power in the hands of the military. In other words, General Heleno, who was already a coup leader, attempted in 1977 to stage a coup against the coup that had been in place since 1964.
It is no coincidence. Just as the Integralists led by Plinio Salgado, who attempted a fascist coup in 1930 and seemed to have disappeared in 1937, returned to the political scene with strong ties to the 1964 coup, now insubordinate military personnel are resurfacing to try to attack the democratic system, just as they had attempted in 1977. The negligence, or parsimony, of the military high command with its insubordinates generated the serpent's egg that would plot the coup of 2022.
Bolsonaro entered government more because of the disgrace of the left, shaken by Operation Car Wash, than because of his own merits. Even he admits this, saying that he became president by “accident.” The phrase suits him well.
Once elected, he stretched the limits by filling the government with active-duty military personnel in civilian positions, with no connection to military functions.
This dangerous and dysfunctional maneuver of placing military personnel in civilian power would logically bring problems to the country, as it indeed did, whether due to mismanagement—after all, they were not trained for the role—or due to their attachment to power, the embryo of future coups.
The Lula administration has handled the issue diplomatically, but as the investigations progress, there is clearly widespread unease about the position of the military leadership. For example, will military personnel under investigation be promoted at the next high command meeting scheduled for March this year?
The official line from the Armed Forces is that these were isolated incidents that did not have the support of the institution. The facts point to the involvement of the high command, and the coup very nearly succeeded.
The Armed Forces are melting down in the public eye due to disbelief and mistrust. They need to take a stand with internal actions and not just remain at the mercy of the facts ascertained by the judiciary or the Federal Police. If military justice is justified, it is time to give an explanation of what will be done with those (ir)responsible in uniform and how it will be ensured that something similar will never happen again in the future.
More about
Politics
