Lula extends military waiver and removes 9 more from the GSI – 01/19/2023 – Politics

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) dismissed nine more military personnel from the Institutional Security Office this Thursday (19), continuing the series of changes in the body, in particular after the coup demonstration.

The new dispensations were published in the Federal Official Gazette.

The president has intensified the dismissal of military personnel working at the Planalto Palace since his inauguration, but this process intensified after the coup demonstration on Sunday (8). Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) advanced on security forces and invaded the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court.

Lula had already expressed distrust of the GSI, despite having appointed a man of his confidence, General Gonçalves Dias, to the body. That’s why he transferred responsibility for his safety to the Federal Police.

After the coup demonstration, the president expressed his distrust on several occasions. In an interview with Globonews, he stated that the intelligence of the federal government “did not exist” on the eve of the act.

Both the folder and its new minister, General Gonçalves Dias, became the target of criticism from members of the government who pointed out the slowness of the body in the face of vandalism by Bolsonarists.

In view of this, the GSI determined to increase the number of agents working to protect the Planalto Palace. It must also purchase and modernize surveillance cameras, including devices with facial recognition.

It is up to the CMP (Military Command of the Planalto), linked to the Army, to carry out the security of the Presidency buildings. There are two battalions available in Brasilia and others in the surroundings, which can be activated depending on demand.

In recent years, the GSI has become increasingly associated with former President Jair Bolsonaro, who appointed General Augusto Heleno, a voracious critic of Lula, to the body.

Of the nine GSI agents dismissed this Thursday (19), six of them worked in the representative office of the GSI Secretariat for Security and Presidential Coordination.

Three military personnel were also appointed to the GSI. Two of them for the agency’s management department and another for the Secretariat for Security and Presidential Coordination —more linked to the security of presidential buildings.

This Wednesday (18), Lula had already dismissed 13 other GSI agents. Among them are the Secretariat for Security and Presidential Coordination. Air Force Second Sergeant Bruno Dias Maia Faria, secretary, is also among those dismissed. The others are assistants and supervisors.

This wave of dismissals had already been published in the Diário Oficial da União a day after the Planalto dismissed 40 military personnel who worked at the Palácio da Alvorada – in addition to other uniforms from different areas of the government.