Active military personnel wrote letter for coup, says PF – 02/23/2024 – Power

The Federal Police identified the names of two soldiers who allegedly helped draft a letter from active officers that pressured the Army commander in 2022, General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, to adopt a radical stance in the face of calls for a coup to keep Jair Bolsonaro ( PL) in the Presidency.

The identification of these soldiers was made based on the analysis of the document’s metadata, which was received by Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid on the night of November 28, 2022 — the day before the text was published.

The author was identified by the Federal Police as Colonel Giovani Pasini. Alexandre Bitencourt would have been the last to modify the document — the investigators claim that he is Colonel Alexandre Castilho Bitencourt da Silva.

The information is contained in the Federal Police report that supported the arrest and search requests, on February 8, against former ministers and military personnel suspected of plotting a coup d’état to keep the former president in power after his defeat by Lula (PT ). The documents were obtained by Sheet.

Wanted by Sheet, Pasini did not comment on the authorship of the manifesto. “I don’t want to talk about this matter,” he said before hanging up the phone.

Pasini is an artillery officer from the class formed at Aman (Agulhas Negras Military Academy) in 1997. Colleagues of the colonel state, with reservations, that he began to dedicate himself to teaching the Portuguese language and, little by little, left the traditional path of artillery to become a professor at military schools and author of books.

In 2022, he requested leave from the Army to run for state deputy of Rio Grande do Sul for the Patriota party. He was not elected. Back in the Force, he decided to ask to go to the reserve, an act carried out in February 2023, after the letter was released.

Alexandre Bitencourt is also an infantry officer who graduated in 1997. In February 2023, he was awarded the gold military medal with gold pin — an award given to officers who complete 30 years of good service.

The colonel lived in Chile for around six months in 2022, to undertake postgraduate studies in conducting strategic defense policies. Back in Brazil, he was reassigned to a role in the General Personnel Department.

The report was unable to contact Bitencourt. In a statement, the Army said it could not comment on the matter because the investigation is “a secret from the courts.” “It is worth noting that information on the topic will be provided, upon request, to the competent authorities”, he added.

Military personnel are prohibited by laws and regulations from speaking out collectively, whether regarding acts of superiors or in a demanding or political capacity. At the time the letter was circulated among officers, the Army High Command decided to inform the military that there would be consequences for those who adhered to the manifesto.

“Gentlemen, good morning, please alert your subordinates that joining this type of initiative is inconceivable. Any joining of active military personnel will be handled, within the scope of the CMS (Southern Military Command), in accordance with the law, without delays”, wrote the General Fernando Soares for heads of military organizations.

The letter from senior active officers was written when Bolsonaro supporters with radical positions remained, for almost a month, camped in front of Army barracks asking for intervention by the Armed Forces against Lula’s election.

The Federal Police also point out that Bolsonaro and his allies were discussing plans for a coup d’état at that time. Bolsonaro supporters and military personnel encouraged the Army command to take a coup stance, with attacks on social media against generals opposed to democratic rupture.

“We consider it important, therefore, that the Powers and Institutions of the Union assume their constitutional roles provided for by law and in favor of political, economic and social pacification, especially for the maintenance of the Guarantee of Law and Order and the preservation of constitutional powers, respecting the federative pact provided for in the basic founding rule of the Republic”, said an excerpt from the officers’ letter.

The text also stated that the military is “always ready to fulfill its constitutional missions” and that soldiers “always put national objectives in the foreground, disregarding any personal interests.”

“Cowardice, injustice and weakness are the most abhorred attributes for a Soldier. Our nation, the one that gives the highest levels of trust to the Armed Forces, knows that its soldiers will not abandon it.”

The letter was circulated without the author’s name, and the method of collecting signatures does not allow us to know how many active officers signed the text. Participation in joint demonstrations is considered an offense and may result in punishment in the Army.

In November 2022, colonels told the Sheet having been approached by colleagues in uniform to ask for support for the letter.

The publication of the text was an initiative by the military after retired officers published, the previous weekend, an open letter to the commanders of the Armed Forces saying that there was distrust with the results of the elections.

“It is natural and justifiable that the Brazilian people are feeling defenseless, intimidated, with their hands tied and look to the FFAA [Forças Armadas]the ‘real guardians’ of our Constitution, the support for their concerns and the solution to their anxieties”, says an excerpt.

The text also asks commanders to support actions for the “immediate reestablishment of law and order, preserving any Brazilian citizen’s individual freedom to express ideas and opinions.”