by John Fitzpatrick

Brazil´s armed forced returned to their barracks over 20 years ago but events this week showed that there are still senior officers who make no apologies for the military dictatorship which ran the country for two decades. At the same time, we saw that the modern Brazilian army is showing signs of nervousness over its peace-keeping role in Haiti on behalf of the United Nations.

There was an unpleasant reminder of the days of military rule when the Correio Braziliense newspaper published pictures of what it said was a journalist called Valdimir Herzog who died in military custody in October 1975. Doubts have been expressed about the authenticity of these pictures, which showed a naked, wretched-looking man. However,  at least one of the pictures resembled Herzog while other pictures may have been of a Canadian priest. These pictures contrasted with a more famous picture of Herzog, which shows his slumped body hanging from the bars of a prison cell with a belt round his neck. The military claimed that Herzog had committed suicide after confessing to being a member of the Communist Party. An official investigation at the time upheld this claim but in 1983 a court overruled this finding and said the state was to blame. However, it was not until 1997 that the government recognized its responsibility to indemnify Herzog´s family for his death. None of those involved in the killing could be prosecuted because of the general amnesty granted in 1979.[1]

In response to the publication of the photos, the army communications center issued a fatuous statement claiming that the military coup of 1964 had been the result of “a popular call in response to the subversive movement which had turned down dialogue.” The statement also said that, in relation to the deaths which had occurred in operations against international terrorism, the Defense Ministry had emphasized that no historical documents of intelligence operations from that era remained, since they had all been destroyed by a legal decision. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva acted swiftly and called in the head of the army, General Francisco Roberto de Albuquerque, and the defense minister, Jose Viegas, for an explanation. The meeting led to another statement being issued in Albuquerque´s name in which the army reaffirmed its commitment to democracy and regretted Herzog´s death. It also admitted that the previous statement had treated the matter in an inappropriate way.

Having made his point Lula tried to persuade members of his Workers Party (PT) to moderate their reaction to the initial statement and accept the army´s retraction. Lula also made no immediate move to fire any of the senior officers who might have approved the first statement. However, there are reports that some officers might be dismissed although not Albuquerque who was out of the country when the first statement was issued. Viegas might also lose his position. The Estado de São Paulo newspaper speculated that a possible replacement could be the policy coordination minister, Aldo Rebelo. This would be a startling change since Rebelo is a member of the Brazilian Communist Party. Unlike several other senior ministers and political leaders, like chief of staff, Jose Dirceu, or Jose Genoino, the PT president, Rebelo was not persecuted or imprisoned by the military as he was too young at that period. Rebelo has a reputation as a conciliator and, according to the Estado, is the only possible candidate at the moment. One wonders what the conspiracy theorists outside Brazil who see Lula as a dangerous leftist who has formed an “axis of evil” with Cuba´s Fidel Castro and Venezuela´s Hugo Chavez, would make of this development. 

This episode helped to show that some elements of the military still justify that institution´s decision to overthrow the democratic system. There are also some vocal reactionary elements among retired officers and reservists. It should be recalled that it was only during the administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso that the armed forces finally came under the control of a civilian defense minister. Having said that, the Brazilian armed forces do appear to be committed to their present role. The natural Brazilian penchant for cooperation rather than confrontation has spared the country the ongoing hangover which has affected Argentina and Chile.

There was absolutely no political support for the initial army statement which also shows that any support for a return to military rule is miniscule. This is heartening because every so often surveys are published which show that a large percentage of voters in Latin American countries, including Brazil, feel democracy has failed then and want to return to military rule. Personally I have always been skeptical of these surveys, which are carried out by international organizations, since I have never met a single person in Brazil, Argentina or Chile who wants the soldiers back. However, these surveys are often given prominent coverage abroad and, in my opinion, give a false impression of the state of democracy in Latin America today.

Finally, Brazil is finding that commanding a peacekeeping force in Haiti is becoming a heavy burden. The commander of the force has called for promised reinforcements to be sent to help combat increasing violence between rival political factions. There are also signs of cold feet back home as people realize that peacekeeping can put troops in danger. So far no Brazilian soldier has been killed but the extensive press coverage given to a single incident in which a soldier was injured shows that there could be a popular backlash if things get worse in Haiti and Brazilian casualties rise. Brazil has contributed peacekeeping troops to UN operations in the past but this is the first time it has been in command. If the country wants to realize its dream of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council it will have to stick it out in Haiti even if the going gets tougher.

October 25, 2004

(c) John Fitzpatrick 2004

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