Coup plans involved the son of an Abin general; Military Club silences – 02/14/2024 – Power

Known for its speed in issuing statements and acting as a spokesperson for active officers, the Military Club decided to remain silent in the face of investigations into members of the barracks. The Federal Police are investigating the participation of members of the Armed Forces in plans for a coup d’état.

Under reservation, directors of the Military Club cite different factors as justification for remaining silent even in the face of what they see as arbitrary actions by the STF (Supreme Federal Court) against Army officers.

The reasons for the stance range from the doubts that hover over the impact caused by the messages of former minister and general Walter Braga Netto against the military leaders to the relationship between the president of the Military Club and a former director of Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency). ) involved in the investigations.

General Sérgio Tavares Carneiro holds the presidency of the Military Club. He is the father of Victor Carneiro, who succeeded Alexandre Ramagem as director of Abin — and was cited by former minister and general Augusto Heleno in a plan to infiltrate the agency’s agents in the campaigns of Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) opponents in the 2022 election.

Sérgio graduated from Aman (Agulhas Negras Military Academy) in 1975, alongside his colleagues Hamilton Mourão and Gonçalves Dias. Heleno was one of the cadets’ instructors; He and Sérgio maintained a relationship as their career progressed, despite belonging to different weapons (roles).

“I already talked to Victor yesterday [Carneiro]new director-[adjunto] from Abin, and we will put together a scheme to monitor what both sides are doing. The whole problem with this is that if anything leaks […]we know each other in this environment, if there is any accusation of infiltration by these Abin elements […]”, said Heleno during the July 2022 meeting whose recording was obtained by the Federal Police.

Bolsonaro interrupted Heleno and asked him to stop talking. “Hey, general, I ask you not to speak, please. Don’t continue your observation here. I ask you not to continue your observation”, he stated, saying that they would talk in private about “what Abin is perhaps doing”.

When contacted, Sérgio Carneiro did not respond to messages and hung up the phone when informed about the subject of the report.

A Sheet spoke with a dozen reserve officers who are members of the Military Club. Even though they were critical of the PF operation, the majority decided not to comment on the investigation and its impacts on the Armed Forces.

“Before speaking or taking a position, we need to know more about what happened,” said General Paulo Chagas. Others asked for reservations to say that the successive Federal Police operations against military personnel weaken the Army Command.

A fake note circulated on social media with the signature of the club presidents on Friday morning (9). The text said that the military could no longer “tolerate the illegal and corrupt actions of the Judiciary” and that general officers who “have become lackeys of crime must understand that they will no longer be tolerated.”

The statement circulated in military groups on WhatsApp and generated a reaction among club directors. “The presidents of the Naval Club, the Military Club and the Aeronautics Club reiterate that this is FAKE NEWS”, they wrote in an official note.

The most critical statement against the operation was given by senator and general Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS). In the Senate plenary, he even called on the commanders of the Armed Forces not to remain silent against what he called the “arbitrary conduct of illegal processes” that affect the military.

After the negative repercussion of the statement, the retired general released a statement saying that he did not incite the military leaders to any institutional rupture. “The senator is and will always be a legalist, guiding all his actions in public life with respect for the Constitution and laws”, said his advisor.

The Military Club is an association formed by reserve officers responsible for managing recreational clubs for use by military personnel and their families. According to its own presentation, it still proposes to be a “forum for discussing major national issues, seeking solutions to Brazilian problems through conferences, commissions, panels, opinions and campaigns”.

As active military personnel cannot speak out on partisan political issues, the Military Club tries to occupy the position of spokesperson for the men in uniform on these issues.

When the Lula (PT) government banned demonstrations by the Armed Forces to commemorate the anniversary of the 1964 military coup, for example, it was up to the Military Club in 2023 to publish a note in memory of the dictatorship.

A lunch was also offered to members “so that March 31, 1964 remains alive in history”, as the statement said.

Occupying the presidency of the Military Club meant, in the history of the Army, political and institutional prestige for the general elected to the position. Generals such as Hermes da Fonseca and Eurico Gaspar Dutra, among others, passed through the chair.

Generals heard by Sheet They say that, for some time now, the Army Command has been trying to reduce the political relevance of the Military Club for the Force. A sign of this, they say, is the fact that there has been a lowering of the rank of the generals elected to the presidency of the association.

In 2018, army general (four stars) Hamilton Mourão presided over the Military Club. After him, division general (three stars) Eduardo José Barbosa took over the role. Current president, Sérgio went to the reserve with only two stars on his shoulder.

The Military Club publishes a quarterly magazine, produced internally, with military writers or those sympathetic to the barracks’ ideology. In the last edition, the discussions promoted were critical of the STF and clashes against communism in articles written by Deltan Dallagnol, Rodrigo Constantino and generals such as Luiz Eduardo Rocha Paiva and Maynard Santa Rosa.

“It has not been easy to visualize optimism where injustices, inversion of values ​​and wrongdoings prevail. But, without struggle there is no life”, wrote General Sérgio Carneiro in the opening text of the magazine’s edition.

“In Brazil, the credibility of institutions damaged by the misdeeds of highly paid public servants, who abuse arrogance in the service of the proclaimed democratic rule of law, is being challenged,” he continued. “Fortunately, the House of the Republic [alcunha do Clube Militar] pass by the storm.”