The Ministry of Defense dismissed retired colonel Anderson Freire Barboza from his position as director of the Defense Resources Management Course at the Escola Superior de Guerra (ESG). He would have released messages questioning the result of the 2022 presidential elections and criticizing the actions of the Federal Police (PF).
The dismissal, described as “by request”, was made official in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) this Thursday (28). In a press release, the ministry reported that Barboza acted as a temporary service provider.
“The Ministry of Defense informs that retired colonel Anderson Freire Barboza was dismissed from the staff of the Escola Superior de Guerra (ESG), where he worked as a Temporary Task Provider (PTTC)”, said the Defense in a note to People’s Gazette.
The decision came after an investigation by the Folha de S. Paulo reveal that the colonel posted messages in a WhatsApp group claiming that the 2022 elections “were stolen” and called President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) a “thief”. He also questioned the PF’s investigations into an alleged coup attempt organized by allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
“People are forgetting. The elections were stolen under the leadership of Alexandre de Moraes. From the release of the thief to all the acts perpetrated in favor of Lula in the electoral race”, he wrote.
The message, according to the investigation, was shared on the 21st in a group with hundreds of members, including professors and former students of ESG, an institution subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, commanded by minister José Múcio Monteiro.
When questioned, the colonel confirmed the authorship of the message, but claimed it was an outburst.
“It was an outburst, because the soldiers I know among the 37 mentioned are extremely competent professionals, which naturally generates a feeling of sadness,” he said.
On the same day, the PF indicted Bolsonaro and 36 other people for participating in an alleged plan to attempt a coup d’état. In addition to him, there are generals Augusto Heleno, Braga Netto, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira and Estevam Cals Theophilo Gaspar de Oliveira; the former commander of the Navy, Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, among others.
