See who Tomás Paiva, the new commander of the Army – 01/21/2023 – Politics

The new commander of the Army, General Tomás Miguel Miné Ribeiro Paiva, is 62 years old and is considered in the federal capital as a soldier with greater political experience, including proximity to former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, for whom he was an assistant, and with the current vice president, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB).

Current military commander of the Southeast (responsible for São Paulo), he reached the rank of Army General in 2019, the highest in his career, joining the High Command of the Force.

Tomás Paiva is in the natural line of succession, being the oldest four-star holder of the High Command, alongside Valério Strumpf.

In 2022, when there were attempts to contact the Army by PT members, who were then leading the presidential race with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the name of Tómaz was mentioned behind the scenes as one of the possible bridges.

This week, Tomás had made an incisive speech in defense of institutionality, asking for respect for the results of the elections and affirming the Army as non-political and non-partisan. All this amidst the impact of the January 8 coup attacks.

Tomás, as he is called, had already been quoted for the position, but some PT members feared that his great ability to articulate would make him an independent force, just as Eduardo Villas Bôas was when chosen by Dilma Rousseff (PT) at the end of 2014 —the ex-commander was the architect of the return of the fardados to politics.

Tomás was Villas Bôas’s chief of staff.

This Saturday (21), Lula dismissed the commander of the Army, General Júlio Cesar de Arruda, as commander of the Army in the midst of an open crisis of confidence after the attacks on January 8, in Brasília.

In a speech on Wednesday (18) during a ceremony at the QGI (Integrated Headquarters), in São Paulo, the new commander of the Army said that the result of the polls must be respected, regardless of the president exercising the mandate.

Without mentioning Lula’s name, the commander stated that “it doesn’t matter who’s in charge, we’re going to carry out the mission the same way”. He also said that even if there were “turbulence, earthquakes, tsunamis”, they would remain cohesive, respectful and guarantee democracy.

In another excerpt, he said: “When we vote, we have to respect the result of the ballot box. It doesn’t matter. You have to respect it. That’s what you do. This is the conviction that we have to have. Even if we don’t like “, he stated. “We don’t always like it. It’s not always what we wanted. It doesn’t matter. That’s the role of someone who is a State institution. An institution that respects the values ​​of the homeland, as of the State.”

Among other roles in the Army, Tomás was also deputy commander of MINUSTAH (UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti).