The military issue in Brazil seen by non-Brazilians and even many Brazilians is hardly fully understood.
As a retired military with over 28 years of active service, having participated in various operations in the Amazon, abroad, and even in Antarctica, as well as being a sociologist and journalist, I have naturally received information from various sources related to my 3 professions over the last few years, and I have noticed many extremely misguided interpretations of what has been happening in Brazil in recent years involving the military of the Armed Forces. This text is actually a transcription of a speech of mine that, through a cell phone software, was turned into an English text, so I apologize for punctuation errors.
Brazil, unlike the United States, is marked by a very strong influence of the military in politics. Even without going into detail or discussing recent history, simple things like the presence of dozens of military personnel from the armed forces stationed within the National Congress and the Planalto Palace are a strong indication of what was mentioned above.
A quick look at the lists of decorations distributed by the navy, army, and air force is also indicative of this strong military presence. The attentive observer will certainly notice the disconcerting number of parliamentarians and members of the judiciary listed as people who have provided relevant services to the military and – therefore – deserving of being honored with shiny medals and noble titles such as knight, grand master, and grand officer.
Questions from the press, even if insistent, have failed to extract from the Armed Forces justifications for why so many personalities should be decorated. It is important to note that this practice is recurrent both during left-wing governments and right-wing governments.
In a recent conversation with a high-ranking military officer about political polarization in Brazil and the behavior of the military, he mentioned the word situationalist, which is recurrently heard in the corridors of the barracks. Self-explanatory, the term means that the high-ranking military officers of the armed forces behave, with respect to their relationship with politicians, according to the situation observed at the moment.
During the Dilma government, if it were not for the issues caused by the Truth Commission, which wanted to delve into the past and touch on the names of ancestors of several members of the military leadership, there would certainly be very few conflicts. Dilma was not as skilled in politics as her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula, who did everything possible to avoid conflicts with the military.
Recent statements by a former army commander reveal that the armed forces are extremely agile in maintaining a military lobby. Seemingly minor details, such as ensuring that a politician’s son, who must enlist in the armed forces, is not turned into a low-ranking soldier but is enrolled in an officer reserve training center. Actions like this turn politicians into friends. General Villas Boas, one of the most influential commanders in recent years, said it was necessary to go a long way to ultimately win the friendship of a parliamentarian.
The commanders of the Brazilian armed forces essentially want 3 things to keep them quiet: 1- high salaries that keep them at the top of the Brazilian social pyramid, perks such as the possibility of taking courses and stays abroad funded by the armed forces, official cars and housing paid for by the state; 2- tranquility regarding the maintenance of military traditions and recent military history; 3- a sufficient budget to keep the Armed Forces functioning and Brazil as a regional power in terms of military power.
Regardless of the political bias of the rulers in Brazil, the armed forces will remain quiet if the leadership is provided with what they need most. Even if the troops have low salaries, which usually happens in the country, the armed leadership will always be in a comfortable situation precisely because of the differentiated salaries, increased percentages for those in command, and the possibility of extra earnings with more frequent transfers, courses abroad, and the opportunity to – due to their permanent influence – be employed as a commercial director in some state-owned or private company related to armaments or other materials and services applied in national defense.
In the 60s, the situation was completely different. Brazilian generals, some of them members of long military lineages, influenced by the Americans with whom they had strong affinity since World War II, found themselves faced with the approach of a political philosophy that devastated military traditions in other countries and which is based on the expropriation of what was conquered by the elites, the strong possibility of losing all the privileges and status accumulated since the end of the Empire. In my humble view, the claims that the 1964 revolution is due exclusively to the patriotism of Brazilian generals need to be revised.
In conclusion, after this brief superficial overview of what I think, it is obvious that Brazilian military personnel would never interrupt the continuity of democracy in the country. In the armed leadership, no one believes that communism is a threat.
Villas Boas said on several occasions that this philosophical-political battle between communism and capitalism was won many decades ago, and that its persistence in our country prevents us from moving forward. Regardless of who won the 2022 elections, what was heard in the corridors of the armed leadership was that what happened in 1964 would never be repeated.
It is obvious that an alleged coup threat served very well for those who live off the news and for those who gain votes with political polarization and the ghost of communism. However, those who know and have managed to understand the behavior of the leadership of the three Armed Forces have always been absolutely certain that there would be no interruption in Brazilian democracy.
The political generals, who are the defense minister and the 3 commanders of the Armed Forces, clearly sided with the one who put them in their positions. A large part of Brazilian society and international political analysts took what was said by these officers as a basis. However, it is necessary to understand that although called commanders, the military personnel who hold these positions are mandatorily transferred to the reserve and – although respected – are seen as political figures and no longer have as much power or influence over the high command of each force and the troops themselves.
I consider the armed political leadership’s decision to remain silent, not being clear with society about the definitive impossibility of carrying out any action to support the repeated requests for military intervention, to be criminal. It was this decision that led thousands of people to continue believing that the generals would put Jair Bolsonaro back in the Planalto Palace.
Brazil has several ghosts, including corruption, poor management of public resources, and lastly, the frank application of the maxim “the ends justify the means,” not only by politicians and managers but also by a large part of the society that calls itself politicized, which, on both extremes of the political spectrum, did not hesitate to lie a lot and try to defame anyone who disagreed by even a millimeter from their worldview.
Robson Augusto. Retired military, sociologist, and journalist.
*Transcribed and automatically translated speech