The latest chapter in the long history of military coup attempts in Brazil ended this week. Minister Alexandre de Moraes announced the end of the process and its final ruling and ordered that the defendants begin serving their sentences. There are four high-ranking officers, a captain, the former president of the republic, and Alexandre Ramagem, a civilian, former director of the Brazilian intelligence agency, who took advantage of the authorities’ surveillance and fled to the United States. In fact, he opened a new route used by Cubans fleeing to Brazil in the opposite direction. Guyana maintains stable relations with Cuba as well as with the United States.
Ramajim, who had neither warned anyone nor informed the House of his journey, opened this route with possible assistance. The town of Bonfim in Roraima is practically connected to Bethlehem on the other side of the border. It is a free port, similar to northern Paraguay. Electronic products are sold at very low prices due to the existence of tax exemption. There are intermediaries who invite passengers to drive to Georgetown, the country’s capital. It is a trip on a dirt road, six hundred and fifty kilometers long, and takes no less than ten hours. There is also air connectivity. In Georgetown, which is today the oil capital of South America, communications with the United States are easy and smooth. According to the Federal Police, the Brazilian fugitive headed to Miami. Short trip.
This week’s earthquake in Brazilian politics has all the ingredients needed to end a very long conflict between civilians and the military. Not to go back too far in the country’s history, the hardline military establishment seized power – a coup within a coup – with the installation of Costa e Silva, who succeeded the Castelo Branco government, having ousted Django from power in 1964. Costa e Silva died of ischemia, while exercising power, without repealing Institutional Law No. 5. He should have been replaced by Pedro Aleixo, the constitutional vice president, but was placed under house arrest in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, after the military junta, made up of three high-ranking military personnel, took power. Ulysses Guimarães called them the Three Stooges. They handed the government over to General Emilio Garastazo Medici, who exercised it with an iron fist. This was the culmination of a period of restrictions on individual freedoms, press censorship, and torture.
President Medici’s succession—the Brazilian military respected presidential terms, and none of them wanted to become an eternal dictator—took place amid deep political turmoil in the barracks. Many candidates appeared in uniform. General Ernesto Geisel managed to impose himself on his peers and was chosen. This government, with the strong presence of General Goalberi do Coto e Silva in the civilian House of Representatives, worked to achieve political openness slowly, safely and gradually. He was forced to strike one side and the other. He dismissed the military commander of São Paulo when it became clear that torture was occurring in that region. But he abolished the mandates of left-wing representatives. Press censorship was suspended. Repealed Institutional Law No. 5. His successor was appointed João Baptista Figueiredo. Figueiredo, a cavalry officer, was not at all familiar with politics. He signed the amnesty decree. He suffered greatly from violence by fellow soldiers opposed to political openness. The bomb incident that occurred in Rio Centro, Rio de Janeiro, during Labor Day celebrations, was clearly visible. Army officers participated in the attack. But the amnesty changed the Brazilian political landscape. The exiles returned and began creating political parties. Candidates emerged and new alliances appeared on the horizon. But the Brazilian far right has not calmed down.
Bolsonaro’s election, by direct vote, raised the prospect of extremists. Old Guard military men said, at the time, that his ascension meant 1964 by electoral means. Bolsonaro has governed according to his style. He praised torture and censorship, and said military governments should have killed more people. He revealed his disgusting face when he did not recognize the lethality of the guest called influenza. He called for the coup in all its popular manifestations. He appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. He stated that he was willing to not comply with the laws.
In cooperation with senior military personnel, who were arrested this week, he developed a military coup scenario. They could not win the elections by voting and lost in the coup attempt because they left a mark wherever they walked. Course has been closed. The current generation should not see another attempt to violently overthrow power in Brazil. But it’s good to stay alert. It’s still too early to celebrate.
Andre Gustavo Stumpf, journalist (andregustavo10@terra.com.br)