The Brazilian State's collusion with extremist right-wing groups triggered one of the most serious episodes in the country's political history. On January 8, thousands of radicals, who do not accept the electoral defeat of former president Jair Bolsonaro, went to the National Congress, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Palácio do Planalto, invading the buildings and carrying out terrorist acts . If Brazil still hopes to save its democracy, according to researchers from Unicamp, it is necessary to investigate the penetration of radicals in the State and punish crimes in all spheres.
The crimes committed last Sunday, according to lawyer and professor at the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA) at Unicamp Luís Renato Vedovato, demonstrate that there is a group of the population that, “however small, lives in a post-law scenario, in that legal norms are not respected”.
To stop the threat against democracy, he indicates, those responsible must be held accountable in all legal spheres: “In the criminal sphere, that is, people may be criminally punished, eventually resulting in arrests; in the administrative sphere: people who hold public positions may lose them; and in the civil sphere, to compensate for damages caused to public assets. These three responsibilities need to be investigated and investigated.”
The right to demonstrate, recalls the professor, is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, as long as it is in places open to the public and without weapons. However, the criminal acts that culminated in the attempted invasion of the Federal Police headquarters in December, on the date of President Lula's diploma, already indicated the extremism of the group, which does not accept the country's democratic norms. For Vedovato, there was a lack of planning by the Armed Forces and the Military Police (PM) of the Federal District (DF), which until yesterday were under the command of Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's former minister.
“The vandalism that happened yesterday should have been anticipated to preserve the structures [of the institutions]. It would not be possible to prevent the demonstration or the arrival of buses, but the authorities should be prepared for the moment when the demonstrations stop being peaceful and become those of vandals and terrorists. Therefore, the responsibility of both the DF government and the Armed Forces, specifically the Army, need to be investigated.”
According to the lawyer, the federal intervention decreed by the Presidency of the Republic and the removal of the DF governor, decreed by the STF, are correct decisions, as is the investigation of all agents involved, including the Presidential Guard Battalion. “The Army force that guards the Planalto is the Presidential Guard Battalion. There are more than a thousand men who should have been protecting the Planalto Palace and weren't. This should also be investigated.”
Penetration of the extreme right in the State must be combated
Political scientist and professor at the Department of Political Science at Unicamp André Kaysel evaluates the situation in a similar way, criticizing the performance of the PM of the Federal District and the Army. “It is obvious how the PM of the Federal District not only allowed [the acts], but collaborated with the invaders, and this was not done without the connivance of the Secretary of Security and the governor of the DF himself.”
According to Kaysel, the penetration of the extreme right into the State and the State's repressive apparatus is worrying, a problem that must be faced. “It’s not just about minority groups. They are minority groups organized, financed and with penetration into the State apparatus of the Federal District and the country. This means that we have to take the defunding of the police and the Armed Forces very seriously, which will not be easy. The federal government, if it wants to survive, will clearly have to face these tasks.”
“There are people willing to do this, like apparently the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, but there are people who compromise, like the Minister of Defense, who was placed there by Lula precisely to try to reconcile with the top leadership of the Armed Forces, which it allowed the camps to remain there during the months of November and December”, he analyzes.
Civil control and punishment of those involved in crimes against the State immediately, in addition to the demilitarization of the police, in the long term, are paths highlighted by the professor. “[It would be necessary] to change the training and instruction of military schools and change the promotion criteria, in order to pluralize the ideological profile of the Armed Forces so that it is closer to the profile of civil society. This will raise a lot of resistance, but if we want to survive as a democracy, that’s what we have to do.”
Attack on democracy demands answers
Also a professor at the Department of Political Science at Unicamp, Wagner Romão indicates the seriousness of the attacks that occurred this Sunday. “What happened yesterday is very serious. There are no words to describe it. It was something absolutely unprecedented in the history of the Brazilian Republic. The savagery, the way public property was vandalized. They reached the heart of Brazil's powers. It is extremely serious.”
For the political scientist, ideological disputes have contaminated Brazilian institutions.
He recalls the positions of the governor of the DF, Ibaneis Rocha – removed from office for 90 days by the STF for connivance with anti-democratic demonstrations –, and that of the Secretary of Public Security of the DF, Anderson Torres, who even had his arrest requested by the Advocacy General of the Union (AGU).
The professor also draws attention to the position of governors and mayors, who tolerated camps calling for institutional rupture for several weeks – one of them, set up almost two months ago in front of the Army Cadet School in Campinas.
“There is, without a doubt, an intense dispute between those who have acted as public agents in an absolutely ideological manner and committed to an authoritarian, anti-constitutional and anti-democracy political vision”, says Romão.
“It is no longer possible for the authorities to support these movements. This is not about defending free expression. When you ask for military intervention, if you ask for 'SOS Forças Armadas', it is a coup. This is an attack on democracy and the Constitution. And it must be investigated, judged and punished as such,” he states.
Acts in defense of democracy
Given the threats that occurred, several demonstrations in defense of democracy were called in the country for this Monday. At Unicamp, the Unicamp Teachers' Association (Adunicamp) organized a caravan for the event, scheduled for 17pm this Monday at Largo do Rosário, in the center of Campinas. Two buses will depart from the entity's headquarters for the demonstration.
This morning, the entity released an official note about the depredation of the buildings of the three powers in Brasília, considering the acts of vandalism “deplorable” and calling those responsible for the invasion “terrorists”.
“Adunicamp strongly condemns the deplorable coup acts that took place in Brasília”, says the note. “Terrorists violently attacked the democratic rule of law, vandalizing the most symbolic spaces hard won by centuries of democratic struggle: the presidential palace, the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court”, he assesses. “It is urgent that civil and judicial liability measures be implemented for all financiers, organizers and participants of these acts”, concludes the document.
Also in a statement, the Unicamp Workers Union (STU) said it “energetically repudiates” the acts it classified as “coup terrorists”. “It is unacceptable that a government democratically elected by the majority of the population is the target of terrorist acts, as part of of a dictatorial project through the use of force and intimidation", continues the STU note.
Still on Sunday, Unicamp had already released an official statement condemning the acts of depredation that occurred against the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches.
Watch the video taken on the morning of January 9th in front of the Cadet School.