The Justice system made history and got things right.

Upon losing her mandate in 2016, having been ousted from the position of democratically elected president, Dilma Rousseff predicted: "I wouldn't want to be in the place of those who consider themselves victorious," she said, quoting Darcy Ribeiro. "History will be merciless with them." 

There, on the other side of the world – currently presiding over the BRICS Bank in China – Dilma must be beginning a day of reflection. Present and past passing through her mind. Names like Dôra, Beto – the comrades she mentioned at her inauguration – taken away by the brutality of the dictatorship, must have come to her mind.

Warning, Carlos Marighella, Carlos Lamarca, Dina, Maurício Grabois, Sonia Moraes, Stuart Angel, Inês Etienne, Lucia Petit and so many others. There has been a reckoning. This time democracy has won. 

There is no reason to rejoice over the 159 years that, added together, have been inflicted on Captain Jair Bolsonaro, the generals and officers who were his accomplices in the attempted coup, but there are, indeed, reasons to feel more at ease. We escaped a return to the horrors foreseen in the plans of those who, shaking and reformulating the playbook from the dungeons, were already planning the closure of the Electoral Court, the Supreme Federal Court, and envisioned concentration camps, where the "enemies of the system" would be sent.

Meanwhile, there is perplexity in the barracks. Their prized officers faced a transparent trial, with the right to a rebuttal – a 13-hour vote delivered by Minister Luiz Fux – and the country was paralyzed by the television images. The sentence of the former Military Commander of the East, former Minister of Defense, four-star general Walter Braga Netto, was the longest sentence a military officer has ever received: 26 years. 

Among the generals of the High Command, until then, it was not even permitted to mention the possibility of the conviction of General Augusto Heleno, a triple-crowned officer – first place in the three schools one must attend to reach the rank of general: Agulhas Negras Military Academy – AMAN; Army Command and Staff School – ECEME and EsAO – Officers' Improvement School, now sentenced to 21 years.

General and former Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, who had bet he would escape conviction, also received a 19-year sentence. 

The greatest perplexity came from the situation of the former Navy commander, Almir Garnier, whom the Armed Forces saw as a "victim" of a plot in which he was "thrown." Not at all. The investigations revealed Garnier's true profile, and he never hid which side he was on. This is evidenced by his refusal to hand over command after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to whom he refused to salute.

None of them valued their own reputations when they got involved in a long, meticulous, persistent conspiracy that even included a plan to assassinate the president-elect, his vice-president, and Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who was responsible for the role of rapporteur, and conducted the trial in a respectful, impartial manner, without being harsh on those who tried to ambush him.

There is apprehension, however, within the Command, about how those of lower ranks than general will react to Jair Bolsonaro's arrest: majors, lieutenants, and colonels, the so-called intermediate ranks, where he still holds prestige. No political maneuvering is being considered, but there is heightened vigilance. Regarding Bolsonaro, the High Command had already expected him to serve even longer than the 27 years and three months to which he was ultimately sentenced. Another point of concern is Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, the former aide-de-camp who benefited from a plea bargain that resulted in only a two-year sentence, while remaining free, allowing him to retain his military rank and position. 

Cid, however, had already requested to be included in the "compulsory quota," a request submitted in August of this year and expected to be decided by January 2026. This is a mechanism provided for by law and can be applied to those who have already served more than 25 years in the Army. Cid is 29 years and six months old. Less than the 31 years required for retirement, but eligible to benefit from compulsory retirement. In this case, he is discharged with the payment of eight salaries corresponding to his base pay and does not lose his position or rank, unless his commander places him before the Justification Council, an administrative decision.

The concern now is for his safety. Mauro Cid has agreed to a plea bargain, an unacceptable move in the Army. A soldier doesn't betray another soldier. That's a point of honor in their career. Released and free to move around, nothing prevents him from having an "accident." Therefore, it's speculated that his option might be to leave the country and join his father and brother, both residing in Florida, USA.

There is also great apprehension at the Superior Military Court (STM). Upon concluding his work at the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Minister Alexandre de Moraes announced that he will officially request the STM to proceed with the loss of ranks and commissions of military personnel sentenced to more than two years in prison. 

The request is supported by the Federal Constitution, which addresses the issue in its article 142, paragraph 3: VI, and states that "an officer will only lose their rank and commission if judged unworthy of the officer's status or incompatible with it, by decision of a permanent military court in peacetime, or a special court in wartime." It also states that "an officer convicted in ordinary or military courts to a prison sentence exceeding two years, by a final and unappealable judgment (as is the case here), will be subject to the judgment provided for in the aforementioned paragraph."

Sources within the Superior Military Court (STM) are already expressing concern about a possible "replay" of what happened with Bolsonaro in the past, when he was condemned by the Justification Council to be expelled, but won in the STM, which voted against his unworthiness. Bolsonaro had threatened to plant bombs in strategic locations in Rio de Janeiro to obtain a salary increase. Today, the STM is presided over by a woman, Maria Elizabeth Rocha, the first to hold the position, with a close vote and, it is said, still facing much resistance within the court. 

“It would be very unpleasant,” said a source, “if there were a defeat and the convicted individuals retained their positions and ranks. This poorly conceived injunction, where the conviction in the Supreme Court does not already contemplate the loss of office and rank, is the last vestige of authoritarianism,” he complained.

Today, when General Augusto Heleno, a veteran of the hardliners of the dictatorship (he was chief of staff to General Silvio Frota, who opposed the opening up of the political system), settles his accounts with the Justice system, this kind of hesitation is no longer acceptable. Let any vestige of that dark time be swept from the political scene. Any threat to our democracy. Any obstacle to the free flow of constitutional life.