The Army commander, General Tomás Ribeiro de Paiva, said that he will only comment on the Federal Police (PF) operation that arrested soldiers for participating in an alleged coup plot after the end of all operations.
“We will talk about this when all PF operations are completed and we receive the inquiries. Then we will have more official information”, said the general, this Monday (25).
The statement was made during the opening ceremony of the Perseu exercise, at the Army Aviation Base, in Taubaté, in the Paraíba Valley.
Last week, the Federal Police (PF) indicted former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and 36 other people on suspicion of participating in a coup plot, including former ministers, military personnel, federal police officers and a priest.
According to the PF, the supposed plan even included the assassination of President Lula (PT), his vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), and the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes.
As reported by People’s Gazettefour of the arrested Army soldiers would be linked to the “black kids”informal name given to special operations soldiers who wear black caps.
Expense cut
When talking about the spending cut package studied by the government that provides for the suspension of payment of the salaries of military personnel convicted or expelled from the Land Force, General Tomás Paiva said that the matter is being discussed by the Ministries of Finance and Defense.
“The measures that are being taken are not aimed at ‘a’ or ‘b’, but are aimed at helping Brazil as a whole to find solutions to the emergency problems it is going through”, stated the Army commander.
Múcio “accepted” Haddad’s request
Last week, the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, said that he accepted the request of the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, regarding cost-cutting measures
Among other things, the proposal presented by Haddad foresees changes in spending on military retirement and career progression.
Múcio confirmed that a change in the minimum age for soldiers to join the paid reserve is also being debated. Today, the minimum age is 55 years old.
Currently, soldiers must have 35 years of service to join the reserves. The change could increase the length of service by three years.
The cut also provides for the end of the benefit paid to family members of military personnel expelled from the Armed Forces; increasing the discount for health funds to 3.5%; and the end of pension payments to relatives such as parents and siblings (second order beneficiaries) after the benefit has already been granted to spouses and children (first order beneficiaries).
