The wear and tear of the military siege at the CPMI cancels out the government’s onslaught

The government’s siege of the military in the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) on January 8th culminated in unavoidable wear and tear, which ended up burying the requests for summons from the three former commanders of the Armed Forces, in addition to frustrating other initiatives in the final stretch of the works.

The expectation of the most exalted wing of the Planalto’s allied majority was that the leak of the plea bargain of lieutenant colonel Mauro Cid, Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) former aide-de-camp, would help to incriminate officers close to the former president and produce elements that could support the thesis of an alleged failed coup attempt led by him.

However, the effects of the news on information provided by Cid, which mentioned alleged meetings between Bolsonaro and former commanders of the Forces to evaluate the decree of military intervention in the country, had an impact contrary to that expected by government officials, causing discomfort within the government itself. and also weakening attacks against officers. Determination of People’s Gazette revealed that the climate of military dissatisfaction with the result of the 2022 elections was much broader than a small group of generals.

Led by the CPMI rapporteur, senator Eliziane Gama (PSD-MA), the government members, who until then had invested in recalling Cid and confronting him with Bolsonaro, began to demand the arrival of other generals, such as Augusto Heleno, former chief from the Institutional Security Office (GSI) and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former Minister of Defense. But given the refusal of the president of the commission, deputy Arthur Maia (União Brasil-BA), to provide the stage for the confrontation between Cid and the former president, and, above all, after the alleged statement by the lieutenant colonel that the former Navy commander, Admiral Almir Garnier, would have been the only one to support a military intervention, the group’s strategies changed again.

Garnier became the rapporteur’s main target, replacing General Braga Netto, former minister of the Civil House and former candidate for Bolsonaro’s vice president, whose testimony has already been postponed twice. In theory, the former Navy commander would have been “thrown overboard” by the government, when the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, met on Monday (25) with the government leader in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (no party -AP), and with the Army commanders, General Tomás Ribeiro Paiva, and the Air Force commander, Brigadier Marcelo Damasceno, to discuss the direction of the CPMI. Múcio and Paiva expressed their dissatisfaction with the breach of an agreement made weeks before with the president of the commission and government members to spare active military personnel from testimonies.

Admiral recall depends on vote on opposition request

The noise produced by the leak of the accusation and Senator Eliziane’s obstinacy in framing the military forced Maia to return to the field to seek the construction of an understanding to end the imbroglio.

Although the government supporters concluded that Garnier’s testimony was inevitable, the summons of the former Navy commander was not put to a vote by the president of the commission. He made the request conditional on the first consideration of the arrival of the former head of the National Force during the 8th of January, the main demand of the opposition since the beginning of the CPMI’s work and an issue most blocked by the government majority.

The government itself acted in the effort to contain the damage, avoiding the summons of former commanders. Randolfe Rodrigues, Maia and other parliamentarians linked to the government understand that the intensification of the debate about the involvement of military personnel in the alleged coup would make pacification in the Armed Forces with the Planalto even more difficult.

Mauro Cid’s complaint was closed with the Federal Police (PF) and approved by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). According to information leaked to the press, Cid had told the PF that Bolsonaro had discussed with high-ranking military personnel a draft of a presidential act to call new elections and arrest opponents. This meeting would have taken place on November 24, after the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the second round of elections.

In a note published last week after the release of Cid’s reports, Bolsonaro’s lawyers stated that the former president “never took any action that contravened the limits and guarantees established by the Constitution” and that, throughout the four years of his mandate, “always played within the four lines of the Federal Constitution”.

Confrontation between government supporters and Heleno exposed high tensions

This was also the tone of General Heleno’s testimony at CPMI on Tuesday (26). He denied the government’s thesis that Mauro Cid was one of the creators of the coup plot, relativizing his importance as a mere assistant and even questioning the content of the plea bargain.

To counter General Heleno’s statement that it would be “a fantasy” to say that Mauro Cid would participate in meetings of Force commanders, deputy Rogério Correia presented a photo from February 2019, in which the former aide-de-camp was sitting outside at the meeting table between Bolsonaro, the then Minister of Defense and the heads of the Navy, Army and Air Force, in addition to Heleno himself. The debate took up excessive session time and created obstacles for the government supporters to move forward.

Heleno also minimized the messages exchanged between Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid and Army officers, such as Colonel Jean Lawand Júnior, classifying them as gossip. “It’s nonsense to think that a conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid will lead a crowd of generals to carry out a coup. It is a clear lack of knowledge of how the hierarchy works in the Armed Forces,” she summarized.

Argument between government supporters and opposition opened up new edges

The argument between the government and the opposition led to interruptions in the testimony and further disturbed the previous agreements between Planalto and the military. Deputies Rogério Correia (PT-MG), Jandira Feghali (PcdoB) and Duda Salabert (PDT-MG) spared no attack on Heleno and opened new corners. Duda had questioned the role of Heleno in Haiti, who commanded the UN peacekeeping mission, in the fight against gangs, including accusing him of murdering children.

“This statement is a lie. If I want, I’ll go to court”, said Heleno. “The Chamber and Congress are not a barracks where the general can order anyone to be arrested. Here we are in the context of democracy, and not dictatorship, which you helped to build”, replied Duda. Jandira insinuated the need to resume the work of the Truth Commission so that crimes from the military period would no longer be hidden.

Questioned by the rapporteur, Augusto Heleno denied that he had hindered the transition for General Marco Edson Gonçalves Dias — known as G. Dias — to take command of the GSI from January 1st, as he himself claimed in his statement to CPMI.

The evidence of a combination of questions and answers between GDias and the rapporteur gave new impetus to criticism for his biased work and also provoked a strong reaction from oppositionists, who demanded his resignation or dismissal due to clear suspicion and reprehensible practice.

Inaction by the National Force will bring wear and tear after CPMI, says Amin

Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) told People’s Gazette that, although it will be necessary to wait until this Thursday (28) for the last attempt at an agreement between the government and the opposition to approve the latest CPMI requirements, his impression is that the government leaders achieved the feat of “producing unnecessary strain without, however , investigate elements to reinforce their coup theses”. Likewise, by insisting on not investigating the National Force’s omission, they will also consecrate the suspicion that will survive the commission.

“Without clarifying the increasingly clear fact that the corporation itself joined the alerts of the intelligence services about the risks of January 8th and that its platoons were available throughout the period of the acts of vandalism, the worst for the government Now it’s just a matter of deliberately leaving doubt in the air”, he analyzed.

Senator Eliziane Gama is expected to deliver her final report on the CPMI on October 17th.