President still faces resistance within the Armed Forces; freeze in the ministry was R$676.5 million
The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will participate this Thursday (Aug. 22, 2024) in the ceremony commemorating Soldier’s Day, at the Army headquarters in Brasília. He will be accompanied by the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, in a nod to the Armed Forces, after the federal government announced the freezing of R$15 billion in the 2024 Budget.
The Ministry of Defense was the 7th most affected, and suffered a freeze of R$675.7 million, even after the head of the agency appealed to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, so that there would be no cuts to the military budget.
Total freezing is formed by a blockage of R$ 11.2 billion and a contingency of R$ 3.8 billion. Understand the difference:
- blocking – the government reviews the budget expenditures, which were higher than allowed by the fiscal framework. It is more difficult to reverse;
- contingency – occurs when there is frustration of expected revenues in public accounts.
Shortly before the freeze was announced, on July 17, Múcio met with Haddad and President Lula to plead for spending cuts.
Múcio’s technical team presented data on the evolution of military spending and investments over the years. The tone of the meeting was cordial, and those present listened to the requests.
Military pensions were another issue no dealt with in the meeting that preceded the announcement of the freeze. Part of the economic team has already publicly defended that a review of the category should be carried out to cut spending, possibly after the 2025 elections. There is resistance in the sector.
In 2023, the deficit in military pensions was R$49.7 billion, 3.6% higher than in 2022. The sector spent R$58.8 billion on benefit payments and only managed to collect R$9.1 billion. In other words, only 15.47% of the amount was paid by taxpayers.
In April, Lula attended the event celebrating Army Day. The PT member ignored the 60th anniversary of the 1964 civil-military coup in order to avoid conflict with the forces, aiming to get closer to the barracks.
At the time, according to the Poder360the military welcomed the discretion with which the PT government dealt with the issue in 2024. It was another step by Lula towards improving his relationship with the barracks.
This report was produced by journalism intern Evellyn Paola under the supervision of editor Matheus Collaço.
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