The Brazilian Armed Forces weren’t happy at all at the declarations of the Minister-Chief of Brazil’s National Secretariat of Human Rights, Nilmário Miranda, done at the World Social Forum, in Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the South of Brazil.
He proposed an international partnership in order to open the secret files of the Brazilian military regime (1964-1985) and its neighbors, which closely helped each other.
The minister wants an exchange of information that would open the Brazilian files to foreign countries at the same time that some neighboring nations would opens their military files to Brazil’s scrutiny. Argentina, Chile and Paraguay are the countries Miranda is more interested in.
For the military however, the idea is “inopportune” and “unnecessary” and might open the door to what they call “unacceptable interference” in Brazil’s internal affairs. There were shows of dissatisfaction in several Brazilian states, including Porto Alegre, Brasília, Recife, Fortaleza and Manaus.
The military seem to be concerned that some documents from other countries might embarrass Brazil’s former-leaders and institutions. The united actions executed by the military governments in South America during the seventies was known as Condor Operation. For the military the subject might bring diplomatic problems.
Informed of those reactions, sources close to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were quick to inform that the government is still analyzing the situation regarding such integration. Minister Nilmário’s idea, they say, has yet to be discussed in higher level of the administration.
Many of the military who showed their dissatisfaction are still active and they have made their uneasiness known to general Jorge Armando Félix, who is the chief of the Institutional Security Cabinet. Félix met Lula and told him about his concern that some military might circulate notes repudiating the idea of sharing information between nations.
For Miranda the swapping of information is something that already exists. According to him, all the discussion will be done “without retaliation and without radicalism”. “As uncomfortable as this might look, this is a subject that has to be discussed because it now is part of history,” he commented.
BrM