Lula government shields Defense of diversity policy – 09/24/2023 – Power

President Lula (PT) did not include the Ministry of Defense and the GSI (Institutional Security Office) in the government’s participation and diversity advisory network, despite these structures having been created in almost all departments.

These advisories have among their responsibilities the articulation of the relations between the respective ministries and the different segments of civil society, under the coordination of the General Secretariat of the Presidency.

The position’s responsibilities include advising the minister of the portfolio regarding the formulation of policies and guidelines for the protection of human rights and gender, ethnic and racial equality.

The General Secretariat stated that, given the specificities of the role of the Defense and GSI portfolios in the structure of the State and government, the decision in the government transition was that it would not make sense to have advisories with the characteristic of “articulating the internal councils and manage movements”.

The Ministry of Defense and the GSI did not respond.

“The debate that came from the transition [de governo] is that in Defense there wouldn’t be much space for this type of participation, in short, action, considering the character of the ministry”, said the department’s deputy executive secretary, Tânia Maria de Oliveira, in an interview with Sheet

The executive secretary of the General Secretariat, Maria Fernanda Coelho, added that the decision considered the photograph taken in December and January, when the social participation system was established.

The argument, at the time, was that, due to the responsibilities of the portfolios, such competencies would not fit.

“It doesn’t mean that we can’t at some point revisit this and have another proposal, but really, at first, it wouldn’t fit within the scope of this relationship with civil society and the implementation of public policies,” he said.

Researchers on the topic heard by the Sheetas well as civil servants who have already worked in Defense interviewed on condition of anonymity, assess that the nature of the ministry is not an impediment to a policy of social participation, much less to discussion about human rights or gender and racial equality.

The lack of creation of advisory services in the departments is understood as a way of not creating friction with the military. Such a stance is seen as negative. The general understanding is that it is important to have greater monitoring, control and democratic participation in the formulation of defense policies.

Another indication that the government avoided displeasing the military with the initiative was the fact that there was no technical group on Defense in the transition team. The GT was even announced, but the members were never named.

In addition to Defense and the GSI, the only departments that do not officially have these offices are the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) and the Secretariat for Institutional Relations of the Presidency.

Wanted by Sheetthe CGU responded that, despite not having consultancy in its formal structure, it is carrying out related activities and that the formalization of the structure is foreseen in a draft decree to reformulate the structure of the body.

The General Secretariat stated that the dialogue between the Social Participation System and the Institutional Relations Secretariat takes place through the Council, a collegiate body that is in its structure. The folder, in turn, did not respond.

For Marina Vitelli, associate professor at UFRRJ (Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro) and researcher in the area, even if possible adaptations could be made to take into account specificities of the portfolio, there is no justification for not including Defense in the participation policy.

She, who is part of the Defense and International Security Study Group (Gedes), assesses that there is a previous problem, which is the lack of civilian participation in the formulation and implementation of defense policies, a task that ends up falling under the monopoly of the military. .

“The correlation of forces today for the Lula government is not favorable,” he says, “but for now the government practically seems like it hasn’t picked any fights.”

Carolina Ricardo, executive director of the Sou da Paz Institute, states that it is important to have this type of assistance in Defense as it is a useful channel for thinking about how social participation can be articulated in the department.

“It does not mean that civil society will invade the Army. Having assistance is important to think about what type of participation is necessary. Because, if there is no assistance, it means that there is no room for any type of participation and diversity”, he states.

“In the case of the Army, what discussion is being had about the role of women? And the issue of racial equality? We need to start discussing that.”

For her, there are confidential national security issues that cannot be shared, but there are other discussions in which civil society can help. As an example, she cites information on gun registration and control.

Ana Penido, who has a doctorate in international relations and a master’s degree in strategic defense and security studies, defends the need for debate on, among other issues, budget, recruitment rules, updating the general rules that guide the national security policy and strategy. defense.

“There are a set of issues that concern national defense that are not necessarily military issues,” says she, who is a researcher at Gedes and the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. “Military policy is that which concerns the use of troops on the ground, it is literally thinking about combat strategy.”

As for diversity, Ana even points out issues that could benefit the military, such as discussion about paternity leave or evaluation of roles that would not require changing workplaces every year. In addition to the gender and racial issue, in the case of the Amazon, for example, the inclusion of indigenous people is also a point of attention.

An episode seen as an example of the military’s resistance to the diversity agenda was the Gender Commission created in the department in 2014, during the Dilma Rousseff (PT) administration.

The Armed Forces pressed to prevent, in 2015, the carrying out of research that would address the occurrence of sexual harassment among military personnel — a project that was one of the group’s priorities. The commission was extinguished in 2019, under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration, and current minister José Múcio Monteiro said he was evaluating its re-creation.