Army Commander says soldiers under investigation will be held accountable

The general commander of the Brazilian Army, General Tomás Miguel Paiva, stated this Wednesday (14) that the military personnel who were cited in the investigation into the alleged attempted coup d’état involving former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and allies will be held responsible for the acts. At least eight soldiers were the targets of arrest and search and seizure warrants last week during the operation launched by the Federal Police, but there are others mentioned in the files.

At least two have already been relieved of their duties, such as Lieutenant-Colonel Guilherme Marques de Almeida, who was in command of the 1st Psychological Operations Battalion in Goiânia, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hélio Ferreira Lima, previously commander of the 3rd Special Forces Company in Manaus.

“Whoever did it will be held responsible, but it is necessary to separate individuals from the institution. What I want from my work: I have a constitutional mission to fulfill. And there is no viable course of action for any illegality. It is mission and constitutional fulfillment”, he said in an interview with GloboNews.

Paiva also stated that the Army as an institution did not get involved in the supposed plan out of “obligation” to “comply with the law”, even though it had officers who were supposedly in favor of the plan. “We have to get rid of the feeling that this [ilegalidades] is in the lighthouse, that this could happen. Can not happen. And the Army does nothing more than comply with the law. Period and it’s over,” he added.

Shortly after the start of the operation, the Army reported that it monitored compliance with the PF’s warrants and made itself available to provide all the information necessary for the investigations.