NGOs "already constitute a veritable parallel state," says Aldo Rebelo.

Sputnik Brazil - In recent times, the activities of NGOs have been the subject of close scrutiny, which has gained even more attention after news emerged about the alleged involvement of Transparency International in Operation Lava Jato, whose actions are being investigated by order of Dias Toffoli, a minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

For Aldo Rebelo, former Minister of Defense in the Dilma Rousseff government (2015–2016) and current Municipal Secretary of International Relations of São Paulo, this link between Transparency International and the actors of Lava Jato, a lawfare operation that played a role in the impeachment of then-President Dilma in 2016, is no surprise. "What we have, in fact, is the connection of all of them to international interests," he told Sputnik Brasil.

NGOs, the politician explains, emerged as an instrument of colonialism in the 19th century, "to carry out activities that could not be openly undertaken by colonial governments and states." Among the initial institutions of this mode of control are the British Anthropological Society and Geographical Society, which played an active role in the exploration of the African continent and its subsequent partitioning among European powers. "In the case of Brazil," Rebelo states, "NGOs funded from abroad already constitute a veritable parallel state operating in the Brazilian Amazon."

The former Minister of Defense points out that humanitarian and philanthropic organizations operate in the Amazon, "filling the gaps left by the Brazilian national state through their work," but his denunciation touches on other types of NGOs. "I'm talking about NGOs linked to international interests that are in the Amazon not seeking our good, but seeking our own gain, as the wise Father Antônio Vieira warned centuries ago."

Funded by private groups or para-state foundations "linked to the interests of the US and Western Europe," these NGOs operate under the guise of protecting the environment, indigenous populations, and other minorities, says Rebelo. "Their resources are vast and they generally have the protection of the mainstream media."

"It is the use of just and humanitarian causes in favor of objectives that are not always just, much less humanitarian," he stated. In this way, non-governmental organizations bewitch middle-class young people, educated and "often driven by noble sentiments," such as those for the environment, democracy, and human rights.

"In this way, they act to fragment national societies, manufacture conflicts, and destabilize governments in service of interests that seek to remain in the shadows."