He appointed Colonel Claudia Lima Gusmão Cacho to the position of brigadier general. She is the first woman promoted to the rank, which ranks among general officer positions, the top of the Force’s hierarchy. The name’s implementation still depends on a decree from President Lula (PT).
The colonel was chosen on Wednesday (24) in a secret vote carried out by the Army High Command, made up of the Force commander, General Tomás Miguel Paiva, and the four-star generals.
Claudia Gusmão is from (PE) and is 57 years old. A pediatrician, she is married to Major General Jorge Augusto Ribeiro Cacho and is the mother of two daughters. He joined the Army in 1996 and became part of, as a temporary officer, the 42nd Motorized Infantry Battalion, in .
She later passed the Army Health School and completed, in 1998, the Medical Officer Training Course. The enrollment of the first class of medical officers, dentists, pharmacists and higher-level nurses at this school took place a year earlier, in 1997.
These positions did not allow, however, advancement to the highest positions in the Army career, such as generalship. The change would come in 2012, when women were authorized to join official military military classes, which allows promotion.
Over these three decades, Gusmão headed the Health Echelon of the 1st Military Region Command, was deputy director of Legislation and Medical Inspection of the Health Directorate and headed the Medical Inspection Division of the Health Inspectorate of the Northeast Military Command. She was also deputy health inspector for the 9th Military Region Command.
Gusmão was also part of the board of directors of three Army hospital facilities: the Garrison Hospital, the Campo Grande Area Military Hospital and the Army Central Hospital. Among his decorations, he has already received the Order of Military Merit medal in the officer rank, the Peacemaker Medal, among others.
According to data from the Brazilian Armed Forces, in 2023, there were around 13 thousand women in the Army, corresponding to 6% of the contingent. Navy and Air Force had, respectively, 11% and 22%.
The presence of women in military institutions marked the year 2025. The (Superior Military Court) elected a woman for the first time: the minister. She has been part of the court since 2007.
She took office on March 12 last year. In October, Elizabeth spoke at an ecumenical event in memory of journalist Vladimir Herzog, killed by the military in 1975. On that occasion, she asked for forgiveness “from all who fell and suffered fighting for freedom in Brazil”.
His court, the minister, lieutenant-brigadier, criticized the demonstration and suggested that the magistrate “. Elizabeth considered that the speech presented a “”.
