Brazil's Attorney General Questions General Villas-Bôas's Statement

04/05/2018 - 10h28

One day after he posted on a social network messages interpreted as pressure on Brazil's Supreme Court justices in the trial over the habeas corpus of former president Lula, the Commander of the Army, General Eduardo Villas Bôas, was questioned by the Attorney General's Office in the Federal District. The Attorney General requested the Minister of Defense, Gen. Joaquim Luna e Silva, to give explanations regarding Villas Bôas's statements and the "potential risk of the Armed Forces' intervening power."

Gen. Villas Bôas wrote on a social network that he is against impunity and that the Army is "aware of its institutional missions." In a position against Villas Bôas, the commander of the Air Force, Air Lieutenant Brigadier Nivaldo Luiz Rossat adopted a more cautious attitude as he released on Wednesday, April 4, an internal statement later disclosed to the press saying that the military should not impose their will. Rossat urged the constitution to be followed faithfully.

	(Foto: Pedro Ladeira - 27.fev.2018/Folhapress)
	Brazil Army Commander Eduardo Villas Bôas

"Trying to impose our will or that of others is all we don't need at the moment. We will always be a last resource, not only to guard our sovereignty, but also to keep the peace among ourselves as brothers and sisters," Rossato wrote.

The Attorney General in the Federal District, Ivan Cláudio Marx, questioned the minister of defense amid a proceeding begun to investigate the meaning of General Antonio Mourão's statement as he declared he was in favor of "imposing a solution" for the country.

In the same case at the Attorney General's Office, in November, the office of Gen. Villas Bôas denied there is "any strategic plan" made by the Armed Forces "for hypothetical situations, even if they represent emergencies", that could "endanger the current constitutional order" in the country. Villas Bôas's office, however, also defended Gen. Mourão.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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