It may seem curious, but as the 60th anniversary of the Brazilian military dictatorship approaches, the Army returns to the national stage in the face of ongoing revelations that the former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, along with several reserve generals of his Government , they were preparing a new coup d'état. They were convinced that the Army as such would follow him to prevent the return to power of Lula da Silva, whom they called “the communist thief.”
The police investigation that has involved soldiers from the former coup government, which is being carried out by the Lula Administration with tweezers, has a positive side for the military institution. The moment of truth will be when military justice is revealed to the light of the sun, openly or veiledly judging or defending the alleged coup plotters. It is a serious, delicate issue and, whether it is the Lula Government or the military hierarchy, they will need to behave with leaden feet.
For the military institution, 60 years after the last military coup, this would be the golden moment to make it clear that it did not follow through with its plans to return to the dictatorship projected by Bolsonaro, precisely a former Army captain who was expelled at a very young age by plan terrorist acts.
The Army, by collaborating today with the Executive in the investigation into the alleged coup, would unequivocally reveal to public opinion that, in effect, it did not collaborate as an institution in the shadowy attempt at a democratic rupture. And the best way to demonstrate this would be to place its military justice at its disposal so that those who participated in the failed coup could be tried and punished.
It is, indeed, the moment of truth. It is for the new democratic Government that won the electoral battle against the coup plotter and that must demonstrate that it will act in the investigation without hints of revenge, in strict compliance with the laws. And it is for the Army forces that they will be able to definitively dispel before society that the coup attempt was not the work of the Army, but only of a handful of soldiers interested in the perks they were receiving in the government of the former captain who always defended the dictatorship. and torture.
Until now, Lula, who already in his two previous governments knew how to maintain peaceful relations with the military, in the first year of his new Government has also proven to be prudent and even magnanimous in his relations with the Army, which, without a doubt, has It will make it easier to conduct judicial proceedings against military personnel with prudence and tact, including three retired generals.
And, without a doubt, the best thing, as paradoxical as it may seem, is for the new government that managed to emerge unscathed from the coup attempt, and for the Army that has always denied officially supporting the constitutional break, is that the new ongoing investigations be carried out. sunlight and can be followed democratically by civil society.
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