The surname that emerges together with (1929-2012) is, in the context of the Brazilian Army, synonymous with power and interventions in the country’s republican life.
The documents relating to the 1964-1985 dictatorship kept by Etchegoyen and detail how the British collaborated with the Brazilians in teaching torture techniques, describe at least one new crime committed by the military (the rape of jewelry seller Marilene dos Santos Mello) and include lists with the names of transgressors.
It is symbolic and symptomatic that the material comes to light when exactly one century has passed since the first known participation of the Etchegoyen in republican life. Alcides Etchegoyen (1901-1956), father of Cyro, from Rio Grande do Sul, was one of the leaders of the so-called Coluna Relâmpago, a tenentist movement that emerged in 1926 in Rio Grande do Sul in support of putting an end to – contrary, therefore, to the elected presidents Artur Bernardes (who left office) and Washington Luís (who succeeded him). Nelson Etchegoyen, Alcides’ brother, also participated in the uprising.
Alcides followed a path as an influential officer in the Army – he would reach division general, just one step below the top of his career. He was chief of police of the Federal District (at the time the city of Rio de Janeiro) during , succeeding the executioner . In the 1950s, he presided over the Military Club, then a very powerful entity in the Armed Forces.
He was arrested in 1955 by Marshal Henrique Lott for trying to oppose the so-called “preventive coup” that deposed interim president Carlos Luz and guaranteed the inauguration of elected Juscelino Kubitschek.
It had long been known that Cyro, Alcides’ middle son, was the Etchegoyen most associated with violations during the dictatorship. As head of the counterintelligence section of the CIE (Army Information Center) from 1971 to 1974, he was the right-hand man of Milton Tavares, known as Miltinho, head of that unit and leading figure of the hard line of repression.
In 2014, in testimony to the National Truth Commission (CNV), he said that Cyro was commander of the infamous House of Death in Petrópolis, one of the main centers for torture and execution of opponents of the dictatorship.
Another son of Alcides, Leo Etchegoyen (1925-2003), would also be an important Army officer. During the dictatorship, he was Secretary of Public Security for Rio Grande do Sul and chief of staff of the 2nd Army (based in São Paulo) and the 3rd Army (based in RS). It was because of these positions that Leo was included, like Cyro, in the CNV’s final report among the agents accused of crimes during the dictatorship.
Leo’s inclusion on the list, released in 2014, drew attention to another powerful Etchegoyen in the Army, the only one of the clan to become a four-star general. , son of Leo, nephew of Cyro and grandson of Alcides, was at the time about to be appointed chief of the Army General Staff, chosen by the newly appointed commander, his ally and friend Eduardo Villas Bôas. He would later become chief minister during the government and one of the most influential military men in the country’s recent past.
Together with his family, and as an individual (without mentioning his patent), Sergio Etchegoyen released a public note criticizing the CNV for including his father on the list and went to court to have the name removed. The request was rejected in two instances, and the case became final. In short, the decisions said that, even if he had not participated in torture and executions, Leo Etchegoyen would have allowed violations to be committed in Army units under his command.
It obviously makes no sense for Sergio Etchegoyen or any military personnel to be held responsible for the conduct of their ancestors. It turns out that, in a corporation marked by endogeneity and heredity like the Army, where surnames tend to be repeated in generations of officers, no one should be absolved on the grounds that their heirs could later be harmed by their surname.
It is an Army, as detailed in , responsible for spearheading all coups and attempted coups in Brazilian republican history.
In his (“Conversation with the Commander”, interview with Celso Castro), when trying to justify why the Army never apologized for the crimes of the dictatorship, General Villas Bôas mentioned, among other reasons, the burden that punishment or recognition of the error would cause to subsequent generations of military families, as he says occurred in countries on the continent where members of the Armed Forces in dictatorships were punished and/or apologized.
“Internally, in the respective Armies [de Argentina e Chile]this seriously affected institutional self-esteem. In Argentina, they adopted a criterion designated by them as ‘surname bearers’ [sobrenome, em espanhol]’, according to which military descendants of someone convicted of participating in repression have their careers cut short, preventing them from carrying out relevant functions.”
In an interview given to this reporter for the book “”, Sergio Etchegoyen stated that the plea by relatives of the dead and missing and human rights movements for punishments and apologies was “a smart political move, so that the matter never ends”.
And he added: “They knew this would never happen, so much so that they asked for it. I can’t understand who would want to appear in uniform in front of the cameras to say ‘I’m sorry’. I can’t imagine this character. Who would want to take this one to the biography?”
