Commander shows that Lula has a narrow margin in the Army – 02/28/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

Days before the resignation of the last army commander, one of Lula’s ministers was examining the political leanings of the Force. The troops, according to him, had a large contingent of Bolsonarists, a small wing of Lulistas and a block of anti-PTistas who could be considered loyalists. “It is with this third group that we are going to have to work”, said the assistant to the president.

Lula knew that he was maneuvering within a narrow margin when he decided to change the leadership of the Army. The president fired a general who refused to mitigate the political contamination of the troops and appointed a replacement who, in the government’s view, met minimum requirements to avoid a crisis with the Forces.

The new head of the army seems to have been chosen from within that third group. In a meeting with subordinates on the eve of the change in command, General Tomás Paiva criticized coup actions and questioned the credibility of theories about fraud in the polls, but also admitted to being among the military who regretted Lula’s victory.

“It is not possible to say with certainty that there was any type of irregularity. Unfortunately, it was the result that, for most of us, was unwanted, but it happened”, said Paiva, according to a recording released by the Roteirices podcast.

The government had no illusions of complete alignment when it chose Tomás Paiva. After the change, Lula publicly said that the general “thinks exactly like him” about the military, but narrowed his assessment down to one point: “The Armed Forces do not serve a politician.”

Lula’s bet was placed on rescuing a doctrine of respect for the law and the president’s authority, even if anti-PTism remained in influential sectors.

In the recorded conversation, Paiva recognized this scenario. “We are in the uniformed, militarist, right-wing and conservative bubble,” she declared. He also stated that the military must act to stop what he called the “framing” of the military by the PT government.

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