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The liberal fiction that the Armed Forces

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are a professional body

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under civilian rule in liberal democracies

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is refuted every day by Brazilian politics.

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Those who know Brazil's recent history are
aware of the role of the Armed Forces

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in the non-transition from

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the civil-military dictatorial
regime of '64 to '85

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to what was then called a democracy,

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especially after the 1988 Constitution.

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The very maintenance of
articles 142 and 144

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shows the influence of the military in
the very creation of the Constitution.

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It also, not only confirms

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confirms the non-accountability
of these military

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already laid down by the 1979 Amnesty Law,

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and not recovered during
the democratic governments.

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Even the Truth Commission

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had limitations in this sense.

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And perhaps one of the main characters

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of this political domination of
the military in Brazilian politics

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is precisely the Military Club.

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When Edson Facchin declared the nullity
of the process that had condemned

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Lula in the second instance
for the triplex case,

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making it legally possible

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for Lula to be a candidate in 2022,

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it didn't take long to bring back
this condition of Brazilian politics.

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José Eduardo Barbosa,
president of the Military Club,

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wrote a text saying that

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Facchin's argument was weak and

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would not convince even
a primary school child.

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But even more grave

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was General Luiz Eduardo Rocha de Paiva,

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who is a reserve general

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and a member of the Amnesty Commission

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of Damares' Ministry of Women,
Family and Human Rights,

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who wrote an openly coup text

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on the Military Club's website,

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saying that the breaking point
is approaching

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and that Facchin's decision has mortally
wounded the balance of powers.

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And that the Armed Forces would be vigilant

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in answering what he called

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the "clamor of the Nation".

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In the name of loyalty,
which the Armed Forces

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defer to this abstract entity

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called "the people" and "the Nation".

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In a first moment, this only confirms

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a type of Brazilian politics,
where the military

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have always been the main actors.

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It is more worrying because the military
is now the party that governs Brazil.

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Because Jair Bolsonaro,
who is a president without a party,

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is actually the president
of the "Military Party".

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If this will escalate to
a military intervention,

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it is impossible to know.

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It would be guesswork.

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But what this in fact shows

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is that, especially considering
the Bolsonaro government,

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the coup won't even be necessary.

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Because you already have a government
dominated by the military.

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Occupied in all its instances
by the military.

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And the reaction of society,

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especially of the forces that
call themselves progressive,

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doesn't go much beyond a
more conciliatory speech.

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Lula himself, in the speech
he gave on March 10th,

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has already emphasized that he wouldn't
care what a retired military officer

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from the Military Club said.

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In fact, institutionally
this has no effect,

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but it is known that what
the Military Club thinks

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has repercussions in politics.

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And many researchers point out
that the breaking point,

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which even led to the famous tweet
threatening the Brazilian Supreme Court

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by General Villas Boas when he was
still an active military commander,

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derived from a reaction by Dilma,
the president at the time,

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against a celebration that the Military Club
would do of the Coup of '64.

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In short,

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this reaffirms the need for an
unequivocal anti-militarist discourse.

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And that even in democracies,

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the military remains the
ultimate State authority.

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Occupying that place of sovereignty,

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that is, the one who decides
on the state of exception.

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And second, it shows that

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as long as the dictatorial period

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commanded by the military and
supported by civilians in Brazil

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is not properly addressed,

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the shadow of the military coup
will inhabit Brazilian politics.