2023-06-03 05:01:00
The former Minister of the Security Cabinet of the former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, defended the 1964 coup and questioned that there were thousands of victims left by the military dictatorship.
“His honor believes that the 1964 movement killed thousands of people, which did not happen, he believes that it was a movement of revenge, of hate, when the movement of 1964 saved Brazil from a turn to communism,” the former official declared before the commission of inquiry of the attacks on the three government headquarters on January 8. And he added: “There is no doubt about that, just read history, Brazil was one step away from becoming a communist country.”
These sayings provoked the protests of some deputies, such as Fabio Felix of the Socialism and Freedom Party (Psol), who accused Ribeiro of having committed a crime in the Chamber after his praise of the coup of 1964 and anticipated that they will launch legal actions serious about this “attack on democracy and the rule of law”. “It was an apology for the military dictatorship. That is unacceptable in a legislative chamber, no deputy would be here if the dictatorship were a normal movement,” said the deputy. “He humiliated people who died, were murdered, with this absurd defense inside a parliament,” he added.
The hit of ’64
The Brazilian coup in 1964 it was a political event that led to the overthrow of the democratically elected president João Goulart and established a military dictatorship in the country. This fact was promoted by conservative sectors, military and supported by the United States, due to concerns about the influence of the Goulart government, which was perceived as leaning towards communism.
The military dictatorship that was established was characterized by political repression, censorship of the media, violation of human rights, and the persecution of political opponents. The regime implemented conservative economic policies and repressive measures to stay in power.
On March 15, 1985, José Sarney assumed the presidency of the country, marking the end of the authoritarian regime that had been in power for 20 years and the beginning of a new democratic era. Sarney’s rise to power was carried out through indirect elections, as part of a process of political transition towards a more inclusive and participatory system.
“It was a new experience”
The commission that investigates the attacks committed on January 8 by thousands of Bolsonaristas, was installed on Thursday in the Brazilian Congress and is made up of 16 deputies and 16 senators. Most belong to the government parties and their allies and have a period of 180 days to draw conclusions.
In this frame, the former minister of Bolsonaro’s Security Cabinet told the commission that using the term “coup” is not correct. “A coup needs to have leaders, it is not an easy action, less in Brazil. The term coup is being used with extreme simplicity,” he estimated.
Ribeiro too described as “fantasy” the theory that Bolsonaro and his followers tried to annul the results of the elections and stressed that the role of the Army in these elections was clear in the history of Brazil and that it was always guided by legality and democracy. “There was no reason to demonstrate. As a minister he could not go in front of the president and declare something that was within his competence,” he said.
In turn, he took advantage of his speech to praise the camps that were set up in front of the Army barracks and in which a military intervention was requested. According to his words, they were nothing more than healthy spaces, where they prayed a lot and people met to talk about politics. “There were many women and children. It lasted a long time without any noteworthy event, or harmful consequences. It was a new experience in terms of political, orderly, disciplined demonstration, which must have had an influence on Brazilian political movements,” he assessed.
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