Former President will name a meeting he had with the current head of the Ministry of Defense, in December 2022, to help in contact with the Armed Forces commanders
(PL) It has already decided to quote the current defense minister, José Múcio Monteiro, as a witness that there was no attempt to coup in 2022. The former president will mention a meeting he kept with Múcio in late 2022 to help contact them with Then commanders of the Armed Forces, who were refusing to receive members of the (PT) team, who had been elected to succeed him.
Múcio had been nominated by Lula to be a defense minister and faced resistance from military chiefs to make a transition in the military area. He decided to visit Bolsonaro, who at the time was secluded at Alvorada’s palace. To the interview program “Roda Viva”as well TV Cultura (Public broadcaster of the São Paulo State Government), Múcio said the following on February 10, 2025:
“That’s when [final de 2022] I turned to President Bolsonaro, who was in Brasilia. It was my colleague for many years, we always had a very good relationship and I went to talk to him. Said ‘I am the new Defense Minister, I wanted you to help me make a quiet transition. It will be good for the new government, it will be good for your government, which is ending. You know me, I’m not of conflict, of creating a problem. ‘ [Aí] He called the 3 commanders ”.
Watch:
In, the Minister of Defense, José Múcio Monteiro, talks about his stay in office at the request of President Lula and the challenges he faces in the folder.
Múcio reveals that, after being invited by Lula, he sought Jair Bolsonaro to ensure a peaceful transition.
– Roda Viva (@rodaviva)
In the view of Bolsonaro and his defense lawyers-they, Celso Vilardi-this statement would be material proof that the former president was not planning a coup to prevent Lula’s possession. For the defenders of the former Chief Executive, the attitude showed Bolsonaro’s goodwill and a collaborative approach with the new Lulista Command at the Ministry of Defense.
Múcio is seen with suspicion in various sectors of the PT, the left and the Lula administration. These groups think that the defense minister did not have a firm position to frame military by being appointed to the post in the current government.
President Lula, however, is Múcio’s personal friend and has the minister in high account. So much so that not to leave the Ministry of Defense in January 2025, a personal desire for Múcio to devote more to family and other personal projects.
In the transition from the Bolsonaro government to the Lula administration, there was much criticism behind the scenes by Múcio from Minister Alexandre de Moraes, from the Supreme Court (Supreme Court). The magistrate thought that the defense minister appointed by Lula had a wrong assessment of allowing camps in front of barracks in several cities in Brazil.
Today, the relationship between Múcio and Moraes is pacified. The 2 are spoken normally, as happened on Tuesday (18.FEV.2025), when the Minister of Defense made a visit to the magistrate and talked about the conjuncture that was forming with the denunciation that was about to be made against several members of the Armed Forces.
