President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with commanders of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Defense, José Múcio Monteiro, at Palácio da Alvorada this Saturday afternoon (30). On the meeting’s agenda are the changes to military retirement proposed by the government in the spending cut package announced this week by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT).
The meeting with the commanders of the Armed Forces is not on Lula’s official agenda. In addition to the Minister of Defense, General Tomás Paiva (Army), Brigadier Marcelo Damasceno (Brazilian Air Force) and Admiral Marcos Olsen (Navy) also participated in the meeting.
The central theme of the agenda would be the discussion of a transition measure for the proposed minimum age of 55 for military retirement. Currently, military personnel must complete 35 years of service to then request paid reserve, regardless of age.
The government’s idea is that, by 2032, all members of the Armed Forces will already be covered by the new minimum age rule, as reported by CNN. Until then, the proposal is that military personnel who are close to retiring can serve an extra period of service before joining the reserve.
Establishing a minimum age of 55 would mainly impact the career flow of military personnel. Currently, the average transfer age to the reserve is 52.5 years old. The three-year increase in this period implies adjustments to the rules for promotion and retention in positions and ranks.
The proposal with the changes agreed between Planalto and the Armed Forces should be sent by the government to Congress next week, but the text should only contain general rules. The specifics must be established by internal legislation of the Forces.
Meeting takes place a few days after the investigation into the alleged coup d’état was removed from secrecy
The meeting took place just four days after the minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, removed the confidentiality of the Federal Police investigation investigating an alleged attempted coup d’état, in December 2022, at the end of the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro, with the involvement of several military personnel. Of the 37 indicted in the case, 25 are or have been military personnel.
As reported, the topic was not on the meeting’s agenda, but could be addressed by Lula, the Minister of Defense and the commanders of the Armed Forces.
