South America / Central America

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Lula has used a “carrot and stick” to establish his authority over the military, even after the attacks on the presidential palace and parliament on Saturday. He is trying to shake off the deep-seated affiliation with former President Bolsonaro.

Lula dismissed Dealda, the commander of the army, on Thursday for refusing to follow a government order to remove the “tent village” where Bolsonaro’s supporters had gathered.

The successor was Commander Paiva of the Southeastern Headquarters. A few days ago, in a video posted on social media, he fervently called on military units to respect last year’s presidential election result, in which Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro.

In a television interview last week, Lula said he believed there was collusion with some members of the military. “I thought a coup had begun,” he said.

Lula then promised to bring to justice all those involved in the attack, whether civilian or military, as demanded by the ruling Labor Party.

Lula didn’t mention the attack when he met with senior military officials on Tuesday, according to a senior government official with knowledge of the meeting.

According to a Defense Ministry statement, Mr. Lula focused instead on the issue of frontal equipment such as weapons that the military considers necessary for national defense. said to have discussed.

Lula’s emphasis on weapons development and an increase in the defense budget to ease distrust within the military overlaps with his time as president from 2003 to 2010. It clearly shows his willingness to forge new relationships with senior military officials, even at a time when Lula-backed left-wing forces are calling for an overhaul of the military.

However, it is questionable whether the pro-Bolsonaro mood within the military can be quenched by playing softly on defense spending.

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Mr Lula has asked the military to depoliticize it. But experts on defense and political risk say military leaders, who have earned high positions in government and big paychecks under Bolsonaro’s four years, can’t be told to suddenly become neutral. talk to.

In fact, among the demonstrators who gathered around the General Headquarters of the Army in Brasilia, demanding a military coup, there were even family members of the incumbent military officers.

Olivier Stuenkel of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think tank, told Reuters that Lula had no choice but to sack Dealda out of political necessity after the media reported that he had disobeyed the government. He indicated that he did not. That’s because Lula faces pressure from the public to do something about pro-Bolsonaro sentiments within the military.

Still, Mr. Stuenkel said the government would not go any further in removing and pursuing anti-democratic elements within the military.

Brazil’s military ceded power to a civilian government in 1985, but unlike Argentina and Chile, no individual soldier has ever been brought to justice for human rights violations.

Because of this, he still thinks he has a say in national affairs, and it will take time to correct such relations between the government and the military, Mr. Stuenkel said.

And Mr. Lula’s efforts to change these relationships could take time away from him, which is vital to achieving his primary goal of ending poverty and inequality.

“It is legally correct to start punishing senior military officers for what has happened, but politically it opens a ‘Pandora’s box,'” Stuenkel said. warning. “Mr. Lula hopes that this problem will pass as soon as possible,” he said.

Musio has persuaded Lula not to take drastic measures that would make the military hostile, said Paulo Kramer, a professor at the University of Brasilia. Musio is a conservative politician, and his appointment as defense minister was welcomed by the military.

Still, mistrust of Mr Lula’s Labor Party remains entrenched within the military, which continues to train on Cold War-era national security doctrines, said André Cooper of consulting firm Hold Acesoria Regis Lativa. Cesar points out.

“There will be tensions between the military and the left-wing government for the rest of our lives, and there is no going back,” César said.

(Reporter Anthony Boadle)