Development: On 8 September Brazil’s defence minister, Jaques Wagner, contradicted the words of a presidential decree with a statement confirming that it would remain the military’s prerogative to manage its own personnel without government interference.
Significance: President Dilma Rousseff last week signed a decree transferring from the armed forces command to the defence minister the prerogative to promote officers and control the curricula of military academies. The president apparently did so without consulting congress or the military beforehand. Wagner’s statement may raise some doubts as to the capacity of President Rousseff to communicate not only with Brazilian institutions but also with her own subordinates at a time when Brazil faces a serious economic and political crisis.
- According to reports in the local press, even Jaques was caught by surprise, with reports that the decree was spearheaded by the defence ministry’s secretary general, Eva Maria Chiavon, a member of the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). Admiral Eduardo Bacellar Leal Ferreira – who was serving as interim defence minister last week in Wagner’s absence and whose name was published along with the presidential decree as one of its supporters – was quoted by the newsweekly Veja as saying that in fact he had never been consulted and had no previous knowledge of the decree until after it had been published and sent to congress.
- Several congressmen accused the Rousseff government of using the decree to force the PT’s leftist ideology on the military. “The curriculum [of military academies] will be dictated by them [the PT]. Does the government want to infiltrate the military apparatus? What is their motivation?,” demanded Captain Augusto Rosa, a deputy representing the right-wing Partido da República. “We are running the risk of having the armed forces become subject to party influence,” declared Major Olimpio Gomes, a deputy for the leftist Partido Democrático Trabalhista
- The controversy forced Jaques to issue an official statement saying that the government would publish an edit to the decree that would specifically guarantee the armed forces independence in the management of military personnel.
Looking Ahead: Even with additional guarantees of military independence in day-to-day affairs, the decree is unlikely to win enough support in congress to become law. This latest measure may prove a futile distraction for Rousseff, since even though the armed forces are subordinate to the President, any change to the organisation of the Brazilian military can only be done via constitutional amendment, according to legal experts.
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