Army won Lula’s endorsement to veto PM in camp – 01/31/2023 – Politics

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) gave the Army’s approval to carry out the operation to dismantle the coup camp in front of the headquarters only the day after the invasion of the headquarters of the three Powers.

Presidential approval was given after members of the Force told Lula that the operation to dismantle the camp carried out by the Military Police during the night of January 8, without prior planning, could result in conflict and deaths.

Lula’s aides told the Sheet that the president wanted Bolsonaristas to be arrested during the night, but agreed with the postponement in view of the risk of a scenario similar to that described by the military.

People close to the president also say that the Army communicated to Lula that there were armed people in the camp. The military argued that a tragedy would occur if the operation was carried out at night.

The president then asked the security forces to discuss the possibilities on the table.

Lula’s endorsement was given to General Gustavo Henrique Dutra, military commander of Planalto, during a meeting between the officer and the Federal District security intervenor, Ricardo Cappelli.

Dutra and Cappelli met at the Rainha da Paz Military Cathedral, in Brasilia, shortly after the radical Bolsonaristas were dispersed from the Esplanada dos Ministérios and returned to the camp.

The meeting started without agreement. The Military Police had received an order from the interventor to enter the military area and arrest the coup plotters. The Army, however, barred the access of the police, positioning three Guarani armored vehicles and a troop of soldiers in front of the Urban Military Sector.

Faced with the impasse, Cappelli sent messages and called Minister Flávio Dino (Justice), seeking support to arrest the coup plotters.

In a similar movement, General Dutra made a phone call to General Gonçalves Dias, chief minister of the GSI (Institutional Security Office), to argue that the best decision would be to carry out the dismantling in the morning of the following day.

During the call, Dias handed the phone to Lula, who was at his side. The president had a quick conversation with the military commander.

According to reports from people with knowledge of the matter, Dutra stated that an unplanned night operation could result in confusion. There was fear among the military that a possible lack of control in the dismantling of the camp would cause a rush, confrontation with the police and violence.

Lula agreed that, if there was a risk of a tragedy, it would be better to carry out the operation the next day. The president, however, defended that the coup plotters were criminals and that arrests should be made.

On the morning of January 9, the Military Police of the DF and the Army Police carried out the operation to dismantle the camp and arrested about 1,200 Bolsonaristas, who were taken in dozens of buses for screening at the National Academy of the Federal Police. .

The conversation between Lula and General Dutra took place around 9 pm, at the beginning of discussions between the interventor and the Army. After the call, ministers José Múcio Monteiro (Defence), Rui Costa (Civil House) and Flávio Dino went to the Planalto Military Command to discuss the matter.

Also present were General Dutra and former army commander Júlio César de Arruda —who had been sacked, among other reasons, for handling the crisis unleashed on January 8.

The meeting was described by participants as tense, with divergent positions among government officials.

Dino and Rui Costa even defended a more incisive action during the night, while Múcio was aligned with the military in favor of the operation the next day.

Around midnight, the authorities decided to put together a plan for the withdrawal of Bolsonaristas on Monday morning, as approved by Lula. With the agreement, the DF PM vehicles left the vicinity of the Urban Military Sector, and the war tanks, which prevented the police from entering, returned to the battalions.

Ricardo Cappelli reported part of the divergence in his final report on the intervention, delivered to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and members of the Executive.

“the line [feita pela PM] continued advancing until arriving at the entrance to the Urban Military Sector, where the federal intervenor determined that the general commander of the PMDF mobilize the troops to carry out the arrests in the camp in front of the Army HQ, a movement that was aborted by the intervention of General Dutra, commander Planalto military, which considered that the action would only take place the following day in the morning”, described Cappelli in the text.

Before the January 8 attacks, the Army had established a strategy for the slow and gradual withdrawal of the structures set up in front of the headquarters, in Brasília.

The conduct of the Army, which has tolerated the encampment since Lula’s electoral victory, was criticized by PT allies for being complacent with radicalized anti-democratic demonstrators.

Internal surveys carried out on the eve of the attacks against the headquarters of the three Powers showed that there were around 200 people in the Bolsonarist camp — a number considered low by the military, compared to the thousands of people who occupied the Urban Military Sector in the first weeks of November.

Aerial photos of the site were regularly sent to the Ministry of Defense. José Múcio even reported to the president, during the first ministerial meeting of the Lula government, on January 6, that the encampment was disappearing.

Dutra is expected to leave the Planalto Military Command in March, after the Army High Command discusses the new movements of the officers. The departure of the three-star general, as revealed by the Sheetwas already agreed before the resignation of former commander Júlio César de Arruda and, according to military sources, has no direct relationship with the coup camp.