Brazil: an unprecedented survey shows reduction of military personnel under Lula

By Tiago Mali

An unprecedented comparison shows that, from the beginning of the government until February, 189 military personnel were removed from positions in the Federal Executive.

There are now 2,738 officers in those positions.

The information comes from a crosscheck made by Poder360 of 242 databases of civilian and military public employees per month since January 2013.

It circumvents the underreporting of data reported directly by the government.

In the personnel statistics dashboard, the government reports only 1,871 military personnel.

Researchers in the field, however, avoid using the data as it ignores many civil servants.

For example, all those who hold positions in the Ministry of Health are not included.

The Poder360 survey shows last month (the most recent with available data) the lowest number of military personnel in the Executive Branch since February 2018.

The record was in April 2020, during the Bolsonaro government, when Brazil reached 3,104 officers in positions in the Federal Executive.

In other words, in 2 months, the Lula government has already reversed the entire increase of the past administration.

The Minister of Defense, José Múcio, told Poder360 that there is no general guideline for vacating positions by military personnel.

The Presidency of the Republic is currently the agency with the most military personnel in the Federal Executive.

Of those attached to the Presidency, 70% are in the GSI (Institutional Security Cabinet).

This agency had the largest reduction in the number of military personnel since February: 70 fewer vacancies.

Defense, which has many positions occupied exclusively by officers, is the second agency with the highest military personnel.

In the case of the Ministries of Education and Health, the positions today are mostly related to teachers or medical officers.

During the Bolsonaro period, however, officers occupied chief positions.

It is important to note that the above data does not include all public companies and autarchies, which, as is notorious, were also used to house officers in the past government.

For example, Bolsonaro appointed General Floriano Peixoto as president of the Post Office and General Silva e Luna to command Itaipu.

Both companies today are under the command of civilians.

INCREASE BEFORE BOLSONARO

There was a significant increase in the presence of military personnel in the executive branch even before Bolsonaro.

In January 2013, there were 1,957. In 2018, more than 2,800.

During this period, there was an increase in the number of Executive positions exclusively for the military.

They went from 1,539 in July 2013 to 1,734 in July 2018, shows an article by researcher Flávia Schmidt in 2022 for Ipea.

The numbers tabulated by Poder360 at the beginning of this text follow the methodology of this study from Ipea’s Atlas of the Brazilian State.

For the political scientist Rodrigo Lentz, this increase before Bolsonaro may be due to an attempt to accommodate the Dilma government.

Releasing positions and meeting some of the demands of the category would be a way to smooth things over.

The former president collected enemies in the barracks when she installed the National Truth Commission in 2012 to investigate human rights violations during the dictatorship.

“The formation of Dilma’s second term has already taken place with the defeated adversary questioning the validity of the result; the crisis escalates during the first year and breaks out at the end, with the PMDB’s break with the government and adherence to the impeachment.”

“In the 2nd period – 2015/2016, there is a lowering in the GSI hierarchy, which ceases to be a ministry, and the imminence of the impeachment,” recalls Lentz, who teaches at UnB and researches the subject at the Tricontinental Institute.

Flávia Schmidt, from Ipea, says that what characterizes the Bolsonaro government, more than the increase in the number of positions held by the military, is the nature of the positions and the hierarchical level.

Her article showed a significant rise in civilian commissioned positions held by officers.

They went from 381 positions in 2018 to 742 in 2021. They have practically doubled.

“These positions are a portion of the total, but they are the ones that attract the most attention since the rest of the military positions in the Executive are occupied exclusively by officers,” says the researcher.

Flávia’s research also shows that the number of more prestigious positions in the hands of military personnel has greatly increased.

In 2018, 13% of civilian commissioned positions occupied by military personnel were at DAS 5 and 6 levels (among the highest in the hierarchy). By 2021, it was 21%.

The number of positions of a special nature at the highest level of the hierarchy occupied by military personnel also exploded.

They went from 6 in 2013 to 14 in 2021.

In addition to the prestige of the positions he offered, Bolsonaro gave high- and middle-ranking military personnel a chance to double the pay they would receive if they only stayed in the barracks.

“The military usually retires early, with 30 years of service. When they get a position like that, they get an increase in their retirement income,” says the researcher.

An example of how a position can boost the military’s income is that of General Ramos, who headed three ministries in the Bolsonaro administration.

His pension earned, after deductions, R$24,025 (US$4,750).

He added to this amount the R$ 22,748 (US$4,497) he received for occupying a special position.

With information from Poder360