General Villas Bôas's little gift to Bolsonaro: his Army diploma.

By Natalia Viana and Matheus Santino, Public Agency - Bolsonaro had just been elected president of the Republic – he would take office in a month. It was November 29, 2018, and he stood in a small room at the Officers' Improvement School (EsAO), wearing a black suit and a gray striped tie, visibly emotional. Bolsonaro did not receive his diploma in 1987 because he was accused and convicted of a plot to plant bombs in Army barracks to protest against low salaries. Now, he would finally receive the document that would consecrate him as an Army captain. 

Beside him, amidst 11 general officers, was the then-commander of the Army, General Eduardo Villas Bôas, seated in a wheelchair and with breathing apparatus due to a degenerative disease. Next to him was his wife, Maria Aparecida, elegantly dressed. Also present was General Mauro Cesar Lourena Cid, who was Bolsonaro's colleague at the academy and is the father of Mauro Cid, accused of participating in an illegal campaign financing scheme in the Presidential Palace.  

The commander of EsAO, General Marcos de Sá Affonso da Costa, opened the ceremony, which he said was "simple" but full of meaning, "because we intend to recognize the effort of an illustrious student of the school, who will soon be assuming command of the country." 

The diploma was presented to him – politely placed on his lap – by General Villas Bôas himself, who said: "It's a great honor, Mr. President." 

Bolsonaro responded with a promise to the then-commander: “You can be sure, we will take many of the things we learned in military life to the Presidential Palace. We have a unique chance to change Brazil's destiny. And it won't be me alone, it will be with more people, largely military personnel from the Armed Forces who are on our side.”  

“Together, dear commander, you have a history, and we also intend to make our own history, steering our country back towards what it should never have strayed from, back in those 20-odd years ago,” Bolsonaro concluded, referring to the military dictatorship. None of the generals present responded or made any defense of democracy.   

The ceremony took place shortly before the graduation and closing ceremony of that year's Officer Improvement Course, held at the Military Village in Rio de Janeiro. However, it was kept as a separate, low-profile event. 

Bolsonaro attended the public ceremony where 420 combat captains, 15 officers from so-called Friendly Nations, six marine officers, and 29 medical officers were awarded diplomas. He even gave statements to Agência Brasil that the memories of his time at the Military Academy "move him," but he did not mention the diploma he had just received.

Delivery was only possible due to an ordinance published two days after the election.

It wasn't the first time Bolsonaro had met with the then-commander of the Army in that election year. Villas Bôas – author of the tweet demanding that the Supreme Court keep Lula in prison six months earlier – met with the then-candidate twice and again shortly after Bolsonaro was elected. 

But the graduation ceremony, a gesture of appreciation to the future Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, did not generate any official document, according to the Army Command's response to Agência Pública via the Access to Information Law. 

According to the response to the Access to Information Law, Bolsonaro "successfully completed the Artillery Officer Improvement Course at the Officer Improvement School (EsAO) in 1987." 

The answer doesn't say why he didn't receive the diploma at the time, but it explains that with the Law of Guidelines and Bases, there was an equivalence between the EsAO course and postgraduate courses. 

However, according to the response, the new diplomas were only permitted based on an ordinance issued on October 31, 2018 – two days after Jair Bolsonaro won the presidential election. Ordinance 238 approves the rules for issuing new diplomas.

“The President of the Republic, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, is one of more than 20.000 Army officers who are entitled to a postgraduate diploma, having graduated before 1999. This recognition of right does not require any request or procedure, as it is guaranteed by Ordinance No. 238, of October 31, 2018, which approves the Regulatory Instructions for the Supply of Diplomas, Certificates, Apostilles and Records of the Army's Military Higher Education System, with the EsAO being responsible for recognizing and providing a new diploma to graduates from years prior to 1999,” says the response to the LAI (Law on Access to Information).  

"Regarding the delivery of the physical diploma, the Officer may make a request to the School at any time. In the case of the President of the Republic, who had recently been elected to office at the time, after an informal arrangement, it was decided to deliver the diploma on November 29, 2018, in a simple ceremony in the School's hall of honor, with the presence of the Army Commander. On that occasion, no documents were issued on the matter." 

In addition to Villas Bôas and his wife, the commander of the EsAO (Army School of Advanced Studies) and General Cid, the following were present at the ceremony: former Army commanders, Generals Gleuber Vieira and Enzo Martins Peri; the logistics commander, General Carlos Alberto Neiva Barcellos; the commander of Land Operations, General José Luiz Dias Freitas; and the former Chief of Staff of the Army and former Commander of the EsAO, Renato Cesar Tibau Da Costa. Also present were General Edson Leal Pujol, Head of the Department of Science and Technology and future Army commander dismissed by Bolsonaro in 2021 for being a legalist; and General Luís Carlos Gomes Mattos, future president of the Superior Military Court (STM) during the Bolsonaro administration. 

A dream come true

Jair Bolsonaro completed the credits to graduate from the Army School of Artillery (EsAO) as an artillery officer with a grade of 7,68, according to the book "The Cadet and the Captain" by journalist Luiz Maklouf Carvalho. However, amidst a process opened in the Justification Council, the then Minister of the Army, General Leônidas Pires Gonçalves, decided that he should be dismissed "for lying" – Bolsonaro denied having made the bomb sketches published by Veja magazine and even threatened the journalist who denounced him. According to the Council, Bolsonaro was condemned for "having had irregular conduct" and "committing an act that affects personal honor, military dignity, or the decorum of the class." 

Thus, as a result of this decision, Bolsonaro was even expelled from his own graduation ceremony, as he stated in his appeal to the STM (Superior Military Court): 

“Unfortunately, I now see an attempt to officially remove me from the Army – which I have already done verbally – in the name of military honor that I supposedly tarnished,” he wrote. “I repudiate the treatment I have suffered […] The most recent contempt, being denied my graduation diploma [and] expulsion, the precursor to which was the order to remove me from the EsAO premises, where I was to attend the graduation ceremony.”  

In the end, the Superior Military Court (STM) acquitted him by a 4-9 vote in June 1988. But Bolsonaro had already requested to leave the Army to begin his political career.  

In his memoirs, General Eduardo Villas Bôas says he learned of Bolsonaro's situation when he was commander of the EsAO (Army School of Sergeants), between 2006 and 2008. “[He] completed the academic year, which I confirmed when I was in command of the EsAO; he asked me to check what was recorded regarding it,” he explained. “After being elected president, he requested to receive his diploma, which was done in a simple ceremony.” 

Weeks after his graduation, during his inauguration as President of the Republic, Bolsonaro personally thanked Villas Bôas. "General Villas Bôas, what we've already discussed will remain between us. You are one of the reasons I am here," he said. 

Villas Bôas left his command of the Army ten days later, but, even though he had been retired due to disability, he went to work as a special advisor in the Institutional Security Office, earning an extra salary of R$ 13,6 per month, in addition to his retirement pension of R$ 36,9. The Bolsonaro government eliminated the salary cap for retired military personnel, allowing the accumulation of salaries. 

The news outlet requested, via the Access to Information Law, the general's attendance record at the GSI (Institutional Security Office) and a list of meetings he allegedly attended, but received no response. The GSI only stated that in 2020 he switched to a "teleworking" regime due to COVID-19. 

"These are advisory duties, which can be performed by any employee, requiring only intellectual and communication skills. Eduardo Dias da Costa Villas Bôas' communication skills are preserved, and his high-level intellectual capacity is public and well-known," the GSI described. 

He added that the report should not question whether the former commander was actually working or not. 

"It should be noted that questioning the work capacity of people with disabilities goes against national and international public policies and actions aimed at including such people in the labor market."

Villas Bôas was dismissed on June 21, 2022. In December, his wife frequented the coup-supporting encampment set up in front of the Army headquarters in Brasília.

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