By MANUEL DOMINGOS NETO*
By carefully observing the Minister's statements, the dissonance between Defense and government guidance became clear, revealing the State's unpreparedness to defend Brazilian society.
Lula considered José Múcio Monteiro the most skilled of the Defense Ministers. He was referring to the fulfillment of the role he had assigned to him, to calm the excited barracks.
A right-wing politician, supporter of the dictatorship, defender of coup plotters camped around military barracks, and a fastidious communicator when it comes to matters of the ministry, José Múcio Monteiro tried to demonstrate to the commanders the president's good will towards the ranks. He did not actually assume the position that was his due, as formulator and conductor of public policy: he acted as a spokesperson for the corporations.
This week, José Múcio Monteiro disavowed Lula’s foreign policy, saying it would harm the Defense Ministry. He reacted to the president’s decision to temporarily suspend the purchase of artillery material from the company Elbit Systems, based in Israel. He insinuated, in an appealing way, that this position would discriminate against the “Jewish people.”
Since when can Defense prevail over foreign policy? Military force exists to support decisions made by the head of state.
To be effective, national defense would need to be combined with various public functions. In scope and complexity, defense is perhaps rivaled only by cultural policy, which responds largely to the self-esteem of a broad and diverse community. Defense should not be conducted by commanders guided by corporate bias.
José Múcio Monteiro believes that diplomacy should be subordinate to the military. In doing so, he is affronting the Head of State, who defines foreign policy.
The Minister expressed the annoyance of officers who had dedicated years to preparing the tender that resulted in the selection of the Atmos 155/52 howitzer, mounted on a Czech vehicle and capable of using ammunition produced by NATO countries.
The Brazilian company Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa was defined as the assembler of the parts and responsible for technical maintenance.
When preparing to purchase the howitzer, the Army did not take into account the possibility of Brazil breaking away from the military scheme commanded by Washington. Since World War II, Brazilian defense has never been objectively designed to operate outside the NATO framework.
The commandos have always claimed a fanciful ideological exemption. They imagine themselves to be bearers of technical rationality resistant to passions, considered abominable. They have incorporated conservative discourse, using the term “ideology” to endorse propositions established in the Constitution and in international legislation endorsed by the Brazilian State.
Trading arms with belligerents is always a strategic decision based on ideology. An unreasonable stance would be to reinforce Israel's war industry and send humanitarian aid to its victims.
The Israeli state is accused of a heinous crime. Fearing prosecution at the International Court, Germany recently suspended sales of war material to Israel. Trading arms with Tel Aviv is contributing to the bloodbath.
In fact, the howitzers being tendered are made from components from several countries. They are not purely Israeli weapons. In the West, the arms industry is highly internationalized. The Embraer C-390 Millennium cargo plane, a source of national pride, uses components from several countries, including Israel.
The decision to purchase war material is essentially political. It can never be reduced to a so-called technical examination. It involves defining strategic allies. No one negotiates weapons with potential enemies. The purchase suppresses the customer's decision-making capacity and could be useless due to maintenance problems.
I repeat what I have written many times: the buyer of foreign weapons sells his soul to the devil. It was Machiavelli who first showed the fragility of the Prince equipped with foreign weapons.
José Múcio Monteiro's demonstration clashed with Lula's guidelines, which condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli government's brutality in Lebanon. Tel Aviv called Lula "persona non grata". If Lula were to endorse the purchase of the howitzers, he would be committing, at the very least, a lack of concern for Brazilian dignity. José Múcio Monteiro's statement is therefore absurd.
Given the Minister's explicit misalignment, some believe that the president should fire him. It would send a strong message to corporations and, to be consistent, it would be necessary to review national defense, something far from his intentions.
With good reason, many were outraged by the words of José Múcio Monteiro, who also attacked the constitutional provisions regarding the protection of indigenous peoples.
By carefully observing the Minister's statements, the Defense Ministry's disagreement with the government's guidance became clear. The seriousness of this disagreement is amplified by the prevailing climate of war on the international scene. It reveals the State's unpreparedness to defend Brazilian society.
* Manuel Domingos Neto He is a retired UFC professor and former president of the Brazilian Association of Defense Studies (ABED). Author, among other books What to do with the military — Notes for a new National Defense (Reading Cabinet). [https://amzn.to/3URM7ai]
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