The Workers' Party (PT) is going to the Supreme Court to challenge the military leadership after a survey revealed officers willing to support a coup d'état.

247 - Based on exclusive information from journalist Denise Assis, published by Brazil 247Following reports that the Armed Forces conducted a survey of officers willing to join the coup d'état promised by Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the PT went to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) against the military command.

A request signed by the PT leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Deputy Reginaldo Lopes, and by Federal Deputy Paulo Pimenta (PT), targets General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, Minister of Defense; Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, Commander of the Navy; General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, Commander of the Army; and Air Force Lieutenant Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Batista Júnior, Commander of the Air Force.

According to the parliamentarians, the allegations presented by journalist Denise Assis They bring to light a very serious fact perpetrated at the behest and under the responsibility of the Respondents, consisting of criminal practices that undermine the Democratic Rule of Law, the freedom, fairness, regularity and reliability of the ongoing electoral process, among other crimes and constitutional violations, which are shocking due to their audacity, boldness and lack of public commitment to the country and society.

In response to the accusations, the Workers' Party (PT) parliamentarians point to crimes of responsibility "against the free exercise of constitutional powers," "against the exercise of political, individual, and social rights," "against the internal security of the country," and "against probity in administration."

Therefore, they request that the matter be referred to the Attorney General of the Republic, "so that he may take the appropriate criminal, civil, and administrative measures," suggesting:

1. The initiation of criminal investigation proceedings to ascertain the conduct perpetrated by the Respondents and, ultimately, if necessary, the filing of the appropriate criminal charges;
2. The initiation of proceedings for a crime of malfeasance;
3. The initiation of civil and administrative proceedings, with a view to holding the Respondents accountable, if any, particularly in the area of ​​Administrative Impropriety;
4. A request for a complete copy of the survey/study/dossier prepared by the Ministry of Defense and military commands (espionage), so that a better assessment of the measures to be taken can be made;
5. That the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office request from the Ministry of Defense and the Military Commands all information regarding any other possible monitoring of this kind and seek, including through legal means, the suspension and discontinuation of such conduct.

Check it out in full:

Congressman Paulo Pimenta also submitted a request for information to the Minister of Defense, asking Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira to explain the information released by journalist Denise Assis. Check out.

Read Denise Assis's full complaint on 247.

247 received, under condition of anonymity, a comprehensive study on the Armed Forces' stance regarding support – or rejection – of Bolsonaro, not only in questioning the October 2nd electoral process, but also regarding the possibility of supporting him in a potential coup he might attempt on September 7th, Independence Day, as he has been threatening over the past few months. The study immediately confirms that the Navy and Air Force commands have demonstrated a high level of adherence to questioning the election results and to the coup-mongering positions displayed by Bolsonaro. 

What brings a certain sense of calm is observing that in Rio de Janeiro, the scene of the "riot" promoted by Bolsonaro for this Wednesday, the command has a LOW level of adherence, and the commander of the Military Police, Luiz Henrique Marinho Pires, appears in the assessment with the following position: he will probably not engage in any eventual contestation of the election results. And, in a recent interview, he said that there would be no police officers protesting in the streets on the holiday.

On the other hand, it points to a majority of high-ranking Army and other Armed Forces officers opposing the coup. According to a military source, this is an internal assessment to analyze the risks and a way to appease middle-ranking officers, such as majors and lieutenant colonels, who show a more pro-coup tendency.

The study maps everything from the general command to the regional levels, detailing the names and functions of officers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as some politicians close to the President of the Republic. "The consultancy mapped state-level actors from the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, Security Forces, and the Public Prosecutor's Office," the study announces.

What is said and demonstrated in the document directly violates the statutes of the Armed Forces, which state that it is not the function of any military personnel, regardless of rank, to interfere in the political/electoral life of the country.

The mapping statement includes the following data: “Brazilian Elections 2022 – Mapping of Key Actors – “Armed Forces and States. Second Interim Report – September 5, 2022”.

Right in the introduction, the objective is stated: “This presentation continues (which means that they have been monitoring the officialdom – my emphasis) the mapping of key actors for the recognition of the result of the Brazilian presidential elections and their position regarding the questioning of democratic institutions and the integrity of the electoral system.

"The consultancy mapped state actors from the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, as well as the Security Forces and the Public Prosecutor's Office. The report describes the possible positioning of these key actors during the campaign and in the post-election scenario, and reveals the degree of alignment or opposition to initiatives questioning the integrity of the electoral system and democratic institutions."

It also states the sources used to form their opinion on each person's "political" position:

"The study presented considers explicit or implicit statements about the topics covered, published in public sources or obtained through discreet interviews."

The mapping continues, detailing what was specifically focused on: “We sought to identify the degree of alignment of key actors regarding the anti-democratic threats embedded in the context of the 2022 presidential elections.

The identified actors occupy positions that allow them to influence or interfere in any movements contesting the election results, whether in support or in rejection. 

The consultancy highlighted high-ranking positions within the Armed Forces due to the institution's deep involvement in the Bolsonaro government and its growing engagement in political and electoral matters.

Preliminary results showed that "Among the newly mapped military personnel, the commanders of the Air Force and Navy show a HIGH degree of support for questioning the integrity of the electoral system and alignment with Bolsonaro's ideology."

A Navy advisor – Lieutenant Commander Flávio Almeida – has a VERY HIGH level of support for Bolsonaro.” The same does not happen, for example, in the Army High Command: among the generals of the Army High Command, the Secretary of Economy and Finance, General Sérgio da Costa Negraes, was assigned a LOW risk rating.

As mentioned above, the troop commands of the Military Police of the states were also mapped. According to the criteria of the ratings used as a basis, the results are as follows: Regarding the state-level research, the 65 new ratings assigned are distributed as follows: 26 VERY LOW; 14 LOW; 6 MEDIUM and 2 HIGH, with 0 VERY HIGH and 17 UNDEFINED.

Everything suggests that a previous mapping was done, as they mention a "second partial report" and go on to detail it:

"For this second partial report, in addition to the ten Army officers and 168 state actors mapped in the previous report, we added commanders from the Air Force and Navy, a Navy advisor, and one more Army general."

We have also completed the mapping of another 48 state actors, thus finalizing the initial research on the eight priority stakeholders in all units of the Federation.

Furthermore, we made progress in researching the actors who were listed with an “undefined” rating in the previous report, assigning ratings to 17 actors. 

They point out that the changes and additions are highlighted in bold. And they reveal that: 

“Among the newly mapped military personnel, the Commanders of the Air Force and Navy show a HIGH degree of support for questioning the integrity of the electoral system and alignment with Bolsonaro's ideology.” This is a consequence – my interpretation – of the persistence of an outdated curriculum, where newcomers still learn that the country underwent a “revolution” in 1964. “A Navy advisor has a VERY HIGH degree of support,” they emphasize.

Meanwhile, “among the generals of the Army High Command, the Secretary of Economy and Finance, General Sérgio da Costa Negraes, was assigned a LOW risk rating.” It is important to emphasize that this is a position of utmost importance for making a decision of this nature. 

In the table below, we can see the criteria used in the character rating ranking:

This table shows the evaluation of officers in the Armed Forces.

Commander of the Navy - Fleet Admiral Almir Garnier Santos

1. With strong ties to the Presidential Palace, Santos is considered Bolsonaro's most loyal supporter among the commanders of the Armed Forces.
2. He has already made public statements questioning the security of electronic voting machines and advocating for a private audit. 
3. One of his closest advisors is Lieutenant Commander Flávio Almeida, an outspoken supporter of Bolsonaro (and featured on the next slide). Despite this, Defense sources claim that the Commander has little influence over the Commander and assert that, on its own, the Navy would not be able to support a potential institutional rupture. 
4. Admiral Garnier has been the commander of the Navy since April 2021, but he has previously held sensitive positions within the Defense structure, such as Chief of Staff to the Chief of the Defense General Staff. 
5. He was appointed by the Presidency to be a representative on the Executive Management Committee (GECEX) of the Foreign Trade Chamber (CAMEX). He participated in the decision-making process regarding the reduction to zero of the export tax on weapons and ammunition and the approval of Export Credit Insurance operations for the Defense Sector, totaling support for exports of approximately USD 3 billion for the year 2022. 
6. He was heavily involved in the management of AMAZUL between 2019 and 2021. He helped approve general governance rules and define risk management policies for health and safety. He also worked to establish guidelines for the Navy's Nuclear Program (PNM). Level of support for Bolsonaro: HIGH.

Army Commander - General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes

Before assuming the post in March 2022, he was considered "very supportive of Bolsonaro" and was even Bolsonaro's preferred choice for the previous commander, a position ultimately held by Edson Pujol due to pressure from the military leadership to maintain respect for seniority.  

Although he had previously shown sympathy for Bolsonaro's ideas, as soon as he took office he adopted the most discreet stance among the three branches of the Armed Forces in relation to the president. 

The instruction he gave to the High Command was to avoid political demonstrations so as not to exacerbate polarization and to preserve the image of the Army. 

1. He does not have social media accounts and has instructed the Army leadership to also distance themselves from social media. Fellow officers describe him as "a reserved commander," but with a "consolidating and serene" profile. 
2. Freire Gomes was promoted to the position of commander following the departure of General Paulo Sérgio to assume the Ministry of Defense. 
3. The current commander is one of the three most senior generals in the Army and previously served as Commander of Land Operations in Brasília. This sector is responsible for the General Inspectorate of Military Police (IGPM), which coordinates and conducts control actions over the Military Police and Military Fire Departments.
4. Level of support for Bolsonaro: LOW

Chief of Staff of the Army - General Valério Stumpf Trindade

In one of his few public appearances, on August 4th, he wrote a message on the Army's website to emphasize the importance of voting as an "instrument of democracy" and urged voters to be conscientious.

1. The message does not directly refer to Bolsonaro, but it implies that the most likely scenario considered by the military today is an election "within the normal course of democracy." 
2. Within the High Command, he is one of those who has defended some of the president's ideas, but he is very bothered by accusations and assumptions of a possible military coup. 
3. He has been in office since May 2022, has good communication with the Presidential Palace, partly due to his previous work in other governments. President Jair Bolsonaro attended his inauguration ceremony. 
4. He was the executive secretary to the Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet, General Augusto Heleno, and to the latter's predecessor, General Sérgio Etchegoyen, in the Michel Temer government. 
5. He was identified as the architect of a manifesto by reserve military officers who advocated for the launch of the so-called Nation Project – which outlines a series of commitments to highlight the military's role in the country's structure, as well as defending the "legacy" of the military dictatorship, emphasizing that a nation-building project was underway during the military regime. 
6. Level of support for Bolsonaro: LOW

In Rio, the assessment is that the governor, despite supporting Bolsonaro's election, "should maintain a pragmatic stance during the elections." His involvement will be limited. He has already said that he will not rationalize the state election, since his focus is on his own reelection. Therefore, he is not expected to actively support allegations of fraud.

They point out that the president of the Assembly, being an opponent of Bolsonaro, should not question the election. The same stance is taken by the president of the Regional Electoral Court (TER), Elton Leme, who has publicly defended the system.

Regarding Civil Police delegate Fernando Albuquerque, although there is significant evidence suggesting his adherence to Bolsonarism, he is an ally of Allan Turnowiski, who left his post to run for federal deputy and openly supports Bolsonaro, preaching against the left.