Lula government dismisses 11 more Planalto military – 01/25/2023 – Politics

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) increased the list of dismissal of military personnel who work at the Planalto Palace, amid the crisis of confidence following the coup acts of January 8.

Nine military personnel serving in the Vice-Presidency of the Republic were dismissed this Wednesday (25), in ordinances published in the “Official Gazette” of the Union.

The Institutional Security Office, which has also been dismissing military personnel in series since the coup demonstration, removed another 2 members of the Armed Forces from its staff, but on the other hand appointed another 4.

The military dismissed from the Vice-Presidency of the Republic worked in the Department of Administration and Finance, in the Directorate of Administration and also in military advisory services. Major Victor Almeida Pontes, who was head of the Vice-Presidency’s order department, was also exonerated.

At the GSI, an officer who was supervisor of the Coordination of Events, Travel and Military Ceremonies department of the Secretariat for Security and Presidential Coordination of the body was exonerated. The other worked in the Management department.

The new changes take place one day after the Lula government replaces the executive secretary of the GSI, who is number 2 in the portfolio.

General Carlos José Russo Assumpção Penteado was exonerated from his post, and will become attaché to the Army Commander’s office. The official is very close and considered a trusted man of the former head of the GSI in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, General Augusto Heleno.

In his place, general Ricardo José Nigri assumes the executive secretariat of the GSI. He is a respected man within the Armed Forces, who was once a cabinet officer for former Army Commander Eduardo Villas Bôas.

Just last week, 84 soldiers had left their duties on the Planalto. This week, another 5 had already been dismissed, on Monday (22).

The climate of distrust with the GSI comes from the work of the transition cabinet. Despite appointing a man of his trust, General Gonçalves Dias, Lula’s team decided to pass responsibility for the security of the president of the GSI to the Federal Police.

During the Bolsonaro government, the Institutional Security Office became a body with great proximity to the president, having been equipped by allies, by General Augusto Heleno.

Mistrust with the GSI and the Armed Forces reached a peak after the coup acts on January 8, when Bolsonaro supporters invaded the Planalto Palace, the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court. In Planalto, there was practically no resistance from the security forces.

In an interview with GloboNews, Lula even said that the government’s intelligence sector did not exist.