The Truth Commission and the separation of powers
Brazil could have six branches of power if we include the Public Prosecutor's Office, the press, and the military, in addition to the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.
The Tripartite Separation of Powers in Brazil could become a Hexa! This is true since Montesquieu, inspired by Locke, established the Theory of the Tripartite Separation of Powers, and democratic republics began to adopt it, including Brazil, which divided the exercise of power into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Basically, that's how it was supposed to be. However, not long ago, the argument arose that the Public Prosecutor's Office would be the fourth branch of government, since it is not functionally subordinate to any of the three (formally, the Public Prosecutor's Office is linked to the Executive branch, although its members have "freedom of conviction").
But there is also the case of the press. Although it is not a state body, it has so much influence on state affairs that, according to some, it has risen to the status of yet another power. It is commonly said to be the fourth, but if we consider the Public Prosecutor's Office also as one of the Powers, the press would cede its fourth place to assume the fifth (just to follow the sequence, since it is not linked to the State).
I thought it was over. There are so many people sending messages. However, then came this story about opening the archives of the dictatorship (it's been talked about since Sarney took over the civilian government). It went through Collor, Fernando Henrique, Lula, and now Dilma... it's an irritating back-and-forth about opening them. Time passed and the military resisted. Sometimes they say there are no archives, sometimes that they couldn't be opened for fear of creating an institutional crisis. However, Dilma – once again, standing out from the other presidents, created the National Truth Commission.
At first, I thought: My God! What will this be? What will a "Truth Commission" do? Will there be some kind of truth grant for the less fortunate? Once I got over the initial strangeness, it seemed like a good idea, since, besides having a positive rhetorical effect, we would have a group formally invested with the power to investigate the official past. Once the Commission's work began, and the Minister of Defense (Celso Amorim) was questioned about the matter, he said that "all files will be opened," including those of the Army Information Centers (CIE), the Navy (Cenimar), and the Air Force (Cisa).
I didn't even know these centers existed. They could have just said that the Navy, Army, and Air Force archives would be opened, and that would have been it. Despite Amorim's statements, some members of the Truth Commission aren't very enthusiastic. They claim there will be resistance from the military. Being naive, I wondered: How can there be resistance from the military? Isn't the president the one in charge? I can't believe the military would risk doing that. Especially since public opinion couldn't condemn the Military Institution. All countries need and will have military personnel (even the Vatican has them).
People, not institutions, are the ones who make mistakes (see the Catholic Church and the Inquisition). If this resistance is truly confirmed, it will give birth to the sixth power: Military Power. And, ultimately, the people will have no power at all.
Irineu Tolentino writes for the blog In theory, civil servant, capital markets operator, enthusiast of Ecology, Strategic Management, Geopolitics, Technology and Criminal Law