President of the STM says that communism is over and the left wants “a better Brazil”

The president of the Superior Military Court (STM), minister Francisco Joseli Parente Camelo, said that communism ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, in Germany, in 1989, and that the left wants “a better, more supportive Brazil” and “ more prosperous.”

Camelo also said that he “never saw President Lula (PT) as a communist” and condemned the association between the left and communism.

The statement was given during an interview given to BandNews TVthis Wednesday (27).

In the interview, Camelo spoke about the role of the STM, about the participation of military personnel in the events of January 8th and about the fact that these military personnel were being judged by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and not by the STM.

Despite saying that the role of the STM is to judge crimes committed by military personnel, Camelo assured that the STF is correct in judging military personnel accused of participating in the 8/1.

At the end of the interview, Camelo was asked about the fears of 8/1 protesters regarding the communists taking power. When responding, the minister denied the existence of communism and defended the left.

“We live in different times. The world changed. There is no more division… the Berlin Wall fell a long time ago. And, in Brazil there is no idea that communism exists. Communism is over. For me, communism does not exist. Another thing: President Lula is a trade unionist. I don’t see President Lula, I never saw him as a communist. Why do people have a tendency to think that being left-wing means being communist? That does not exist. Being on the left is really… it (the left) wants a better Brazil, it wants a more supportive Brazil, a more prosperous Brazil, a Brazil that thinks about the poorest. That’s all the left thinks. So, being left-wing is not being communist”, stated the minister.

Immediately, the interviewer asked the minister if he is left-wing or right-wing.

With an air of laughter, the minister said that the military does not have a party, and stated that he “wants the best for Brazil”.

“We (the military) want Brazilian society to live as happily as it always has, and lately we live in this environment of hate. We want pacification to return to our country”, concluded Camelo.

Before giving his version of communism, the minister said he had the “privilege” of flying aircraft for Lula and former president Dilma Rousseff.

Camelo was also secretary of Coordination and Monitoring of Military Affairs of Planalto, a position he held in the Institutional Security Office (GSI), where he worked from 2003 to 2015.