by John Fitzpatrick

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has done Brazil no favors by accepting the resignation of the defense minister, Jose Viegas, and appointing vice president Jose Alencar as his successor. First of all, it looks as though Viegas is being made a scapegoat because of his bad relations with the armed forces high command.  Secondly, the vice president was elected by the people and cannot be fired, so if a disagreement arises between him and Lula then there will be a crisis. Thirdly, Alencar has shown himself unfit to handle an issue as delicate as this.

It was always this correspondent´s nightmare that something would happen to Lula and Alencar would assume the presidency. A look at the history books shows that a disproportionate number of Brazilian vice presidents have stepped up to the top post. In the first 10 years after the return to democracy, two vice presidents – Jose Sarney and Itamar Franco – became president. Sarney took over the mandate of Tancredo Neves, who died before assuming office, and Franco replaced Fernando Collor, who was impeached by the Congress on corruption charges. Both turned out to be incompetent and inefficient. Had the world not changed radically, with the end of the Cold War and the beginnings of globalization, it is possible that the military might have even returned. This latest development follows the resignation of Viegas, due to a row between him and the armed forces high command. The affair started in October when a newspaper published pictures of what it said was a journalist called Valdimir Herzog who had died in military custody in October 1975. The pictures (which, incidentally, were not of Herzog but apparently of a Canadian priest) led to the publication of an inflammatory statement by the armed forces 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.” Viegas and Lula rejected this comment and the head of the army, General Francisco Roberto de Albuquerque, issued a humbler statement, expressing regret over the deaths which had occurred at that time. Despite this retraction, Viegas was not happy with the attitude of the military and is reported to have wanted to fire Albuquerque.

On October 22 Viegas handed in a resignation letter which Lula accepted although the decision was not revealed until last week. In his letter, Viegas said that there was still an authoritarian element within the armed forces linked to the old, anachronistic doctrine of national security which was incompatible with democracy.  It was time for these people to get out, he said. It is quite an impressive letter and was described by a leading member of the House of Representatives, Roberto Freire, the president of the leftist PPS party, as “...one of the most important warning messages for the democratic Republic we intend building.”

The problem for Veigas, however, is that his fine words have not been matched by an impressive performance during almost two years in the job. During this period he has made a number of errors of judgment. These have included annoying the armed forces by forbidding senior members to make statements on their salary grievances. Perhaps this was not so grave, since the armed forces have to realize that they are now controlled by a civilian. However, Viegas made other misjudgments, such as using official planes and vehicles for private trips by members of his family. He also signed a business contract, related to an air force project worth RS$1.9 million (around US$630,000,) to a company which belonged to a friend, without putting it out to public tender. In some ways Viegas had it coming to him. However, by practically forcing him into resigning, Lula has given a worrying sign that a civil minister can be ousted by reactionary elements who are still trying to justify a period when, instead of protecting Brazilians from danger, the army tortured and murdered some of them.

Having said this, there is the prospect of better news ahead. There have been some reports in the local press that Albuquerque and the heads of the air force and navy are next in line to lose their positions. Should Lula doe this then something good will have come out of this affair. It will show the military who is in charge and be a good opportunity to establish a high command containing officers who genuinely believe in democracy. It was interesting to note that while this affair was continuing here, the head of the Chilean army, General Juan Emilio Cheyre published an open letter in a newspaper admitting the army´s responsibility for what he described as the “morally unacceptable” acts it had committed during military rule.              

Another bright prospect is that Alencar is not likely to remain in the post for long since Lula is expected to reshuffle his cabinet in February. For those who are wondering what your correspondent has against Alencar, it should be recalled that he is the man who, during the 2002 presidential election campaign, said the Middle East problem could be solved if the Israelis were to move to Angola. Other gaffes have included dithering over a law he had to sign when Lula was out of the country and telling reporters that he was only a simple fellow from Minas Gerais who did not know how to handle such a responsibility. He has also been constantly critical of the Central Bank´s monetary policy even though this policy is aimed at meeting the inflation targets established by the very government of which Alencar is the second-ranking member. The lack of credibility in which he is held even led to a joke appearing last week - the first thing he will do as defense minister is to reduce interest rates. 

November 11, 2004 

(c) John Fitzpatrick 2005