Army defends that GSI under Lula resume attributions – 04/25/2023 – Politics

After the departure of General Gonçalves Dias from the leadership of the GSI (Institutional Security Office), members of the Army leadership defend that the body remains under the command of a military man and resumes duties that were the portfolio until the beginning of the year.

The GSI had the Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) under its umbrella and was responsible for the personal security of the President and Vice President of the Republic.

Both functions, however, were removed from there, in the context of a crisis of trust between the elected government and the military. Abin started to respond to the Civil House. The coordination of the personal security of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was in charge of the Federal Police.

The assessment of the military is that the GSI was emptied. This vision is shared by General Marcos Antônio Amaro, the main candidate to succeed Gonçalves Dias, by the commander of the Army, Tomás Paiva, and by the Minister of Defense, José Múcio Monteiro.

Dias resigned as head of the GSI after the release of images of the security circuit of the Planalto Palace recorded during the January 8 coup attacks.

Amaro indicated in conversations with allies that he will defend the return of Abin and the president’s security command to the GSI, if he is chosen to head the body. If the portfolio continues to be emptied, there are doubts as to whether he would be willing to assume the position.

Lula met Amaro last Thursday (20), shortly before leaving for Portugal. In the quick conversation, the president made it clear that Amaro was quoted to head the body, but stated that the government was still studying the structure of the folder to decide what to do with it.

The petista still said, according to reports, that he would make the final decision when he returned from his trip to Europe, on Wednesday night (26), and that he would look for Amaro again on his return.

As shown to Sheet, government wings differ over who should lead the GSI. One party argues that the structure should be headed by a civilian, another argues that it is better for it to remain under the supervision of a general to avoid friction with the Armed Forces. There are still those who defend the extinction of the body.

According to ministers at the Planalto Palace, the tendency is for Lula to keep the command of the GSI with a military man, with the aim of preserving the relationship with the uniforms. It is still considered the fact that the body takes care of matters related to the Forces, such as border monitoring, nuclear power plants and cyber attacks.

In the Army, the assessment is that the body should be commanded by a four-star reserve general, to ensure that the chief has a higher rank than his subordinates —the GSI has at least one three-star general.

The top of the Force was still in favor of increasing the number of civilians in command positions in the body.

Generals heard by Sheet claim that Gonçalves Dias (three stars) was not nominated by the Army to take over the GSI, having been chosen by Lula himself due to the proximity between the two.

Amaro, however, is General Tomás Paiva’s personal recommendation. The nomination was made last Thursday during a meeting between ministers Múcio, Flávio Dino (Justice) and Ricardo Cappelli (GSI, interim), in addition to the military commander and former minister Gonçalves Dias.

“General Tomás Paiva has a long history of providing services to the country. He was President FHC’s assistant, he is a democrat. president,” Cappelli told the Sheet.

“It was a meeting so that there would be no doubt or insecurity regarding this harmony and collaboration”, he continued.

Cappelli will present Lula with a study on how to better define the functions of the GSI, which, for him, has as its main attributions to act in security and provide intelligence information to the president.

On Monday (24), the interim minister said that the president did not ask him to demilitarize the portfolio. “The GSI, throughout its more than 85 years of history, has always been led by generals of the Brazilian Army. And I believe that we need to overcome this false antagonism between civilians and the military in Brazil.”

The important thing, defended Cappelli, is to better define the office’s attributions.

“And it is entirely possible for the military and civilians, as is already the case today, to coexist harmoniously, regardless of who will have the leadership in the process”, he added.

Cappelli also stated on Monday afternoon that he received from Lula the mission of “accelerating the renewal of cadres” at the GSI.

“This is absolutely natural in every change of government. We are accelerating and, in parallel, we are gathering information about the functions, the attributions of the GSI, so that the president can make the decision on maintaining the current structure —possible adjustments, changes— on your return to Brazil.”

Also on Monday, Minister Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) stated that there is no “debate in the government on whether or not to change the profile of the GSI”.

Favorite to assume the GSI, Marcos Antônio Amaro dos Santos had already been quoted previously to occupy this role, during the transition. After a first probe, he was not sought after again.

Amaro reached the second most important position in the Army, the head of the General Staff of the Force, before going to the reserve in April 2022. With four stars, he still commanded the Southeast Military Command.

He developed a close relationship with former president Dilma Rousseff (PT). The ties were created when the general took over as Secretary of Presidential Security in 2010 —a role he held for five years.

He also participated in the process of creating the Casa Militar, in 2015, being appointed head of the body by Dilma. He left office after the impeachment process against the president.

Amaro should have gone into reserve before the end of his period as a general officer when, in March 2021, former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) decided to appoint General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira to the Army Command.

By the criteria used in the Force, Amaro was older than Paulo Sérgio and, by military tradition, he should have been taken to the reserve after a more modern soldier took over the main position in the Army.

In an internal arrangement, however, he managed to remain in the Force for another year.