Former Army and FAB commanders opposed institutional rupture at least twice

The statements by former Army commander Marco Antônio Freire Gomes and former Air Force commander, Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior, to the Federal Police (PF), revealed in full on Friday (15), showed that the top leadership of the Forces Armed forces rejected at least twice the hypothesis of institutional rupture through decrees of Law and Order Guarantee Operation, State of Defense or State of Siege, debated by members of the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

With the removal of confidentiality from the investigations, by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, the hearings indicate two specific meetings: one on December 7, 2022 and another on the 14th of the same month. The former commanders mentioned other meetings but did not recall specific dates. They hinted that there were other meetings, but did not make it clear whether or not they were intended to consider the possibility of intervening in the electoral result.

The first meeting with a date determined in the statements took place at Palácio da Alvorada and was attended by the three commanders of the Armed Forces, Bolsonaro and the special advisor to the Presidency Filipe Martins.

According to Freire’s testimony, Martins would have read the legal foundations that would support a request for a Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) against the electoral process. The former Army commander added that: Bolsonaro informed that the document was being studied and the evolution of the changes would then be reported to the commanders.

To the PF, the Army soldier said that he and Baptista “strongly stated their positions contrary to the content exposed”. They would also have warned that the document presented by Martins “would not have legal support”. On the other hand, Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, then commander of the Navy, would have made himself available to the former president, but it is not clear whether he had access or not to the supposed draft..

Regarding Bolsonaro’s access to the text, the former Army commander’s version differs from the version presented by the former president’s defense, which claimed that the former president only had access to the document during the course of the investigations.

The investigation made public largely includes statements made by police officers, in which former commanders only answered yes or no, sometimes giving small explanations in their own words.

The second meeting would have taken place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense with the presence of the three commanders and the Minister of Defense, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira. At the time, according to Freire, the minister presented a “more comprehensive draft than the first”. In addition to declaring a State of Defense, the document also instituted the creation of the “Electoral Regularity Commission” to “investigate” the legality of the 2022 elections. Again, the commanders would have been against the document.

Freire also details that other meetings on the subject took place, without citing dates. In one of these meetings, the former Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, reportedly “explained the legal support” for the Law and Order and State of Defense Guarantee Operation. On that occasion, the army soldier reports that he told Bolsonaro that there was no possibility of changing the outcome of the elections and that the then head of the Executive could face criminal consequences if he tried to adopt the hypothesis of intervention.

Bolsonaro’s defense questions Freire’s testimony

On his social networks, Bolsonaro’s defense lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, mocked the testimony given by the former Army commander. For the lawyer, the general has a “selective memory”, as he remembers “commas, phrases and words, but does not remember dates”.

He also criticized the fact that the defense has not yet had access to the statements. “There’s a general with selective memory… He remembers commas and phrases and words, but he doesn’t remember dates. Very curious. What’s more, the defenses don’t have any access to this folkloric testimony,” said Jair Bolsonaro’s lawyer on X , formerly Twitter.

Revelations are a result of Operation Tempus Veritatis

Baptista Junior’s testimony is a result of Operation Tempus Veritatis, launched on February 8 by the Federal Police. The action seeks to investigate an alleged attempted coup d’état and the acts of January 8, 2023.

In addition to Bolsonaro, close allies of the former president were also investigated, such as former ministers Walter Braga Netto (Casa Civil), Augusto Heleno (GSI), Anderson Torres (Justice) and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira (Defense), the former assistant of orders Marcelo Câmara, former advisors Filipe Martins and Tercio Arnaud Thomaz, among others.

The military leadership of the Bolsonaro government was also affected by the operation, such as Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, former commander-general of the Navy; General Estevan Theóphilo Gaspar de Oliveira, former head of the Army’s Land Operations Command; and retired Army colonel, Ailton Barros.