Walter Braga Netto

Last updated
Walter Braga Netto
Foto Oficial do Sr Ministro da Defesa Walter Braga Netto.jpg
Official portrait, 2021
Minister of Defence
In office
30 March 2021 –1 April 2022

Walter Souza Braga Netto (born 11 March 1957) is a retired Brazilian army general and former Minister of Defence. Braga was Commander of the Eastern Military Command and, until 31 December 2018, Federal Interventor in the Public Security of the state of Rio de Janeiro. [1] He unsuccessfully ran for Vice President of Brazil as running mate of Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, [2] narrowly losing to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Geraldo Alckmin. [3]

Contents

On November 19, 2024, a Federal Police investigation came to light implicating Braga Netto and other former members of the Bolsonaro administration in a suspected coup plot. The plan allegedly included the assassination of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Geraldo Alckmin, and Alexandre de Moraes, who were, at the time, the president-elect, vice president-elect, and president of the Superior Electoral Court, respectively. On November 21, 2024, Braga Netto was formally indicted by the Federal Police. [4] On December 14, 2024, he was arrested by Federal Police for allegedly hindering investigations. [5]

Early life

Braga Netto was born on 11 March 1957 in Belo Horizonte. [2]

Military career

Enlisted on 17 February 1975, Braga Netto enrolled in the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras (AMAN) where, on 14 December 1978, he was declared an Officer Aspirant. Braga was promoted to second lieutenant on 31 August 1979, to first lieutenant on 25 December 1980, and to captain on 25 December 1984.

Senior officer

As lieutenant colonel, Braga Netto served as assistant of Sub-Secretariat of Programs and Project of the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic. On 2 February 2001, he was nominated Cabinet Officer of then-Army Commander, Gleuber Vieira.

On 9 July 2001, Braga Netto was nominated commander of the 1st Regiment of Combat Cars (1° RCC), still headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. He was promoted to colonel on 17 December 2001. [6]

He was nominated Defence and Army Attaché to the Brazilian Embassy in Poland, a position he held from 1 February 2005 to 1 February 2007.

General officer

Promoted to brigadier general in November 2009, he was nominated Staff-Chief of the Western Military Command on 23 November.

In 2011, he was designated military attaché of the Army to the Brazilian Embassy in the United States, also accredited to Canada. [7]

On 31 March 2013, he was promoted to Divisional general. On 21 August, he was nominated General Coordinated of the Special Advisory of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016. [8] On 25 November 2015, Walter Braga became commander of the 1st Military Region, leaving the Coordination.

On 31 July 2016, he was promoted to Army general and nominated Commander of the Eastern Military Command. [9] [10]

On 16 February 2018, General Braga Netto was nominated Federal Interventor in the Public Security of Rio de Janeiro by President Michel Temer, position he held until the end of the year. [11] Over the course of 10 months, Braga Netto took command of the state of Rio de Janeiro’s police forces with Army troops deployed for internal use against the civilian population. [12] In relation to the previous year, the period of intervention registered an increase of almost 40 percent in killings committed by police officers. [13]

On 29 March 2019, he took office as Staff-Chief of the Army.

Bolsonaro Government

On 12 February 2020, he was invited by President Jair Bolsonaro for the position of Chief of Staff of the Presidency. [14] On March 31, 2021, after the joint resignation of the commanders of the three branches of the Brazilian armed forces, Minister of Defense, and other leaders in the Brazilian military, Braga Netto was appointed as the new Minister of Defense. [15]

Braga Netto drew controversy shortly after his appointment after expressing support for the military dictatorship in Brazil. [2]

COVID-19 pandemic

On May 26, 2020, a report from Reuters revealed that as the Health Ministry of Brazil began taking preventative measures against the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13, Bolsonaro intervened and scaled back their procedures within 24 hours. By March 16, Bolsonaro discreetly shifted power from the ministry to Braga Netto's Casa Civil, with the given reason being that "the pandemic 'transcended' public health". [16]

In August 2020, Braga Netto was diagnosed with COVID-19. [17]

2022 presidential election

On June 26, 2022, he was chosen to be incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro's running mate for the 2022 presidential election. It was announced by Bolsonaro during an interview given to journalists Rodrigo Constantino, Luís Ernesto Lacombe, Augusto Nunes and Ana Paula Henkel at the Programa 4 por 4 independent show. [18]

Post-election and post-government

After Bolsonaro and Braga Netto lost their bid in the 2022 Brazilian general election, their supporters demonstrated nationwide against the results asking for a military coup and some set up encampments outside military headquarters across the country. [19] In a brief, informal questions and answers with some of these supporters in November 2022 in Brasilia, Braga Netto said "Don't you lose your faith ok? This is only what I can tell you for now." [20]

On 8 January 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalized government buildings and inumerous works of art in Brasilia trying to overthrow president Lula's government. The buildings of the Supreme Court and the Congress were equally looted and defaced.

On 11, January, Brazil's Superior Electoral Court found Bolsonaro and Braga Netto violated the electoral law over self-promotion-related speeches they made during Brazil's official Independence Day celebrations on September 7, 2022, and declared them unfit to run for any office until 2030. [21]

On 18 January, CNN Brasil reported that Braga Netto, then Bolsonaro's Defense minister, led conversations still in 2022 to impose a state of emergency in Brazil right after their electoral defeat. A decree of such measure was later found to be drafted by Bolsonaro's government officials, including Braga Netto. [22]

In October, a Congress committee recommended criminal charges against Bolsonaro, Braga Netto and other government officials over insurrection for their roles in the 2023 Brazilian Congress attack. [23]

In March 2024, Brazil's Federal Police started probing Braga Netto over the deployment of a military special force unit to stop the transition of power in a plot to assassinate then president-elect Lula, vice-president-elect Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes. [24]

In November, Bolsonaro and several of his former ministers and aides, including Braga Netto, were formally indicted for plotting to kill Brazilian authorities and elected leaders to remain in power in 2022. [25]

At the time of his arrest in December 2024, it was reported that Braga Netto was retired from his role as an army general. [26]

2024 arrest

On December 14, 2024, Braga Netto was arrested and held in Rio de Janeiro after being be accused of obstruction of justice in an investigation about a 2022 coup plot. Simultaneously, his house and that of his military aide Flavio Botelho Peregrino were searched by the police. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Brazil (1985–present)</span> Contemporary epoch in the history of Brazil

Brazilian history from 1985 to the present, also known as the Sixth Brazilian Republic or New Republic, is the contemporary epoch in the history of Brazil, beginning when civilian government was restored after a 21-year-long military dictatorship established after the 1964 coup d'état. The negotiated transition to democracy reached its climax with the indirect election of Tancredo Neves by Congress. Neves belonged to the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (MDB), the former controlled opposition to the military regime. He was the first civilian president to be elected since 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military Academy of Agulhas Negras</span> Military Higher Education School of the Brazilian Army

The Military Academy of Agulhas Negras is the biggest among several schools of formation of combatant officers of the Brazilian Army. It originated in 1792 with the creation of the Royal Academy of Artillery, Fortification and Drawing, the first military school of the Americas, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Today the Academy is located in the city of Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006)</span> Conservative political party in Brazil

The Liberal Party is a liberal-conservative political party in Brazil. From its foundation in 2006 until 2019, it was called the Party of the Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Brazilian general election</span>

General elections were held in Brazil on 1 October 2006 to elect the president, National Congress and state governors, with a second round of the presidential election on 29 October as no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jair Bolsonaro</span> President of Brazil from 2019 to 2023

Jair Messias Bolsonaro is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies from 1991 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 in Brazil</span>

Events in the year 2018 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Mourão</span> Vice president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023

Antônio Hamilton Martins Mourão is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who served as the 25th vice president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusto Heleno</span> Brazilian politician

Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira is a Brazilian politician retired general of the Brazilian Army. He was military commander of the Amazon and Chief of the Department of Science and Technology of the Army. Heleno has declared positions against official politics, particularly about the attitude of the international community in regards to Haiti and the indigenous politics of the Brazilian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Brazilian general election</span>

General elections were held in Brazil on 2 October 2022 to elect the president, vice president, the National Congress, the governors, vice governors, and legislative assemblies of all federative units, and the district council of Fernando de Noronha. As no candidate for president received more than half of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election for these offices was held on 30 October. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received the majority of the votes in the second round and was elected President of Brazil for a third, non-consecutive term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Brazilian military crisis</span>

A military crisis was triggered in March 2021 when Brazil's highest military officials resigned in response to President Jair Bolsonaro's attempts to politicize the armed forces. Since the beginning of his government, Bolsonaro had appointed an unprecedented number of military personnel to civilian positions, seeking to receive, in exchange, support from the military, including through public demonstrations in favor of his government's policies and against the measures adopted by the governors to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to advocating the decree of the State of Defense, as a way to increase its powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcos Antonio Amaro dos Santos</span> Commander of the Brazilian Army

Marcos Antonio Amaro dos Santos is a Brazilian Army general and former Chief of the Brazilian Army General Staff, replacing General Walter Souza Braga Netto.

The Jair Bolsonaro 2022 presidential campaign was officialized on 24 July 2022 in Rio de Janeiro. His running mate is former Minister of Defence Walter Braga Netto. Incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro, elected in 2018 for the first term, is a candidate for re-election for the second term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Antônio Freire Gomes</span> General of the Brazilian Army

Marco Antônio Freire GomesGCMM is a retired Army general of the Brazilian Army, Commander from 31 March to 30 December 2022.

General elections will be held in Brazil on 4 October 2026 to elect the president, vice president, members of the National Congress, the governors, vice governors, and legislative assemblies of all federative units, and the district council of Fernando de Noronha. If no candidate for president or governor receives a majority of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election is held on 25 October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Brazilian Congress attack</span> Storming of government buildings in Brasília

On 8 January 2023, following the defeat of then-president Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 Brazilian general election and the inauguration of his successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a mob of Bolsonaro's supporters attacked Brazil's federal government buildings in the capital, Brasília. The mob invaded and caused deliberate damage to the Supreme Federal Court, the National Congress Palace and the Planalto Presidential Palace in the Praça dos Três Poderes, seeking to violently overthrow the democratically elected president Lula, who had been inaugurated on 1 January. Many rioters said their purpose was to spur military leaders to launch a "military intervention" and disrupt the democratic transition of power.

Júlio Cesar de Arruda is a general in the Brazilian Army. He has served as chief of the army's Department of Engineering and Construction. He was the commander of the Brazilian Army from 30 December 2022 to 21 January 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro</span> Federal intervention in 2018

The 2018 federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro was the first since the 1988 Federal Constitution. It was decreed by the Federal Government of Brazil in order to ease the internal security situation of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The measure was implemented by Decree No. 9,288 of February 16, 2018, granted by Michel Termer and published in the Diário Oficial da União on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Brazilian coup plot</span>

During and after the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, a network of members of former president Jair Bolsonaro's government and of the Brazilian Armed Forces planned to subvert the transition of power to newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrest Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes and President of the Federal Senate Rodrigo Pacheco, as well as shut down several government institutions, such as the National Congress, the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court, in an attempt to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power and possibly consolidate his control over the federal government. The plans, evidence, and individuals involved in planning a coup d'état were gradually revealed in investigations conducted by public agencies and the press in 2023 and 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ineligibility of Jair Bolsonaro</span>

Between the days June 22 and 30, 2023, Brazil 's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) tried a lawsuit to determine the annulment of the Bolsonaro-Braga Netto ticket, accused of abuse of political power and misuse of the media, following a meeting with foreign ambassadors on July 18, 2022, broadcast on TV Brasil, brazilian state television broadcaster, in which then-president Jair Bolsonaro attacked the brazilian electoral system. The lawsuit was filed by the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) on August 19, 2022. Bolsonaro was declared ineligible until 2030 by 5 votes to 2 on June 30. On October 31, 2023, former vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto also became ineligible, for abuse of political and economic power in the celebrations of the Bicentenary of Independence.

The Operation Counter-coup is an investigation started by the Federal Police of Brazil on 19 November 2024, authorized by the Supreme Federal Court, to investigate crimes related to the 2022 Brazilian coup plot which aimed to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Geraldo Alckmin, president and vice president-elect of Brazil in 2022, respectively. The group under investigation, consisting of Brazilian Army Special Forces personnel and a federal police officer, allegedly planned to carry out assassinations and kidnappings of high-ranking officials using military and terrorist tactics. The operation was authorized by the Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who emphasized the "extreme danger" posed by the individuals involved.

References

  1. ↑ Abrantes, Talita (16 February 2018). "Quem é o general que vai comandar a intervenção federal no RJ". Exame (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hardline general vs pragmatic centrist: Brazil's VP duel". France 24. 2022-10-30. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  3. ↑ "Lula Wins Brazil's Presidential Election". Time. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  4. ↑ "Meeting on coup d'état held at Braga Netto's residence". Agencia Brasil. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  5. ↑ "Brazil's ex-defense minister arrested for meddling in coup probe". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  6. ↑ "Boletim do Exército 51/2001" (in Portuguese). Secretaria-Geral do Exército. 21 December 2001. p. 176. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Aditância do Exército nos Estados Unidos da América e Canadá - Passagem de Função" (in Portuguese). Exército Brasileiro. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Interventor federal que atuará no RJ foi um dos responsáveis pela segurança durante a Olimpíada" (in Portuguese). G1. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "General Braga Netto assume o Comando Militar do Leste" (in Portuguese). Ministério da Defesa. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "General de Exército Braga Netto é o novo Comandante Militar do Leste" (in Portuguese). Comando Militar do Leste. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  11. ↑ Venturini, Lilian (19 February 2018). "Quem é o general Braga Netto, interventor na segurança do Rio" (in Portuguese). Nexo Jornal. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "Brazilian Army general takes over as Bolsonaro's chief of staff". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  13. ↑ Paterson, Pat (2021). The Blurred Battlefield: The Perplexing Conflation of Humanitarian and Criminal Law in Contemporary Conflicts.
  14. ↑ Gielow, Igor (12 February 2020). "Bolsonaro convida general que liderou intervenção no RJ para a Casa Civil". Folha de S. Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  15. ↑ Jeantet, Dianne; Biller, David (30 March 2021). "Brazil military chiefs quit as Bolsonaro seeks their support". AP NEWS. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  16. ↑ Eisenhammer, Stephen; Stargardter, Gabriel (26 May 2020). "Special Report: Bolsonaro brought in his generals to fight coronavirus. Brazil is losing the battle". Reuters . São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro . Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  17. ↑ Feitoza, Cézar (3 August 2020). "Braga Netto está com Covid-19". O Antagonista (in Portuguese). Mare Clausum Publicações. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  18. ↑ "Bolsonaro afirma que pretende indicar Braga Netto como vice na chapa – Jovem Pan". Bolsonaro afirma que pretende indicar Braga Netto como vice na chapa – Jovem Pan (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  19. ↑ Stargardter, Gabriel (2022-12-28). "Insight: 'Coup-mongering' Bolsonarista's battle cry reveals a radicalized Brazil". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  20. ↑ "Braga Netto assume lugar de Bolsonaro no cercadinho e fala com apoiadores [18/11/2022]". noticias.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  21. ↑ "Bolsonaro, Braga Netto ineligible, court rules". valorinternational (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-11-01. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  22. ↑ Junqueira, Caio. "Braga Netto teria debatido aplicação de Estado de Defesa após derrota". CNN Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  23. ↑ Marcello, Maria Carolina (2023-10-28). "Brazil congressional probe calls for Bolsonaro to face criminal charges". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  24. ↑ Paraguassu; Brito, Lisandra; Ricardo (2024-03-25). "Bolsonaro running mate probed over plan to deploy special forces in Brazil coup plot". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-12-14.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑ Brito, Ricardo (2024-11-21). "Brazil police accuse Bolsonaro and ex-ministers of 2022 coup plot". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  26. 1 2 "Brazil's ex-defense minister arrested for meddling in coup probe". Reuters. December 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
Military offices
Preceded by
Paulo Humberto Cesar de Oliveira
 Chief of the Brazilian Army General Staff
2019–2020		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chief of Staff of the Presidency
2020–2021		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Defence
2021–2022		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.