General Tomás Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, 62 years old, was announced by the federal government this Saturday afternoon, Jan. 21, as the new commander of the Brazilian Army.
He will replace General Júlio César de Arruda, who has not even a month in office and was fired earlier by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
Commander-in-chief Lula ordered the exoneration of General Julio Cesar Arruda because he felt there was a “climate of rebellion” among the military.
His replacement would be anti-Bolsonaro and close to the PT party.
(General Tomás Miguel Ribeiro Paiva)
Tomás, since 2021, has been in charge of the Southeast Military Command in Sâo Paulo. Before becoming the new Army commander, the highest post he assumed in his military career was that of general in 2019.
At that time, he was part of the Army High Command, a collegiate body where issues of the Land Military Police and topics of interest to the Army commander are discussed.
The new commander of the Brazilian Army was born in São Paulo and started his military career in 1975, when he entered the Army Cadets Preparatory School, in Campinas.
There, he was declared officer aspirant of the Infantry Weapon in 1981.
In addition, Tomás was commander, in 2012, of the Pacification Force of Operation Archangel VI, in the Complexo da Penha and Alemão, in Rio de Janeiro.
The general has also headed the Presidential Guard Battalion in Brasilia, and was an aide-de-camp to the President of the Republic in Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s administration and Brazil’s Military Advisor to the Ecuadorian Army.