By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 21 1999 (IPS)

The first disciplinary measure taken in Brazil by a civilian minister against an armed forces commander threatens to trigger a crisis within the air force.

The new air force chief, Brigadier Carlos Almeida Baptista, assumed his post Tuesday, after the removal of his predecessor, Brigadier Walter Werner Brauer.

Defence Minister Elcio Alvares sacked Brauer last Friday on orders by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, on charges of “indiscipline.”

Brauer had criticised the minister for keeping lawyer Solange Antunes Rezende, who has come under scrutiny by the parliamentary investigatory commission on drug trafficking, on the Defence Ministry staff as special adviser.

Public duties require a transparent, unblemished lifestyle, said Brauer, expressing the irritation of the military brass over the situation, and their support for the inquiries conducted by the parliamentary commission.

Rezende has defended at least two drug traffickers in the state of Espíritu Santo, whose capital, Vitoria, is one of Brazil’s most violent cities. On the basis of that and other elements, the investigatory commission asked for the guarantees of secrecy surrounding the lawyer’s bank accounts, telephone bills and tax declarations to be lifted.

Rezende is one of Minister Alvares’ partners in a law practice in Vitoria, and has been one of his closest associates for 20 years.

Brauer’s latest remarks, coming on top of criticism for Alvares’ decision to replace the presidential airplane, an old Boeing 707, led to his dismissal.

The new air force chief, Baptista, who served as the head of the High Military Court until assuming his new post, is highly respected and considered a conciliator, capable of keeping the peace among officers upset over the whole episode.

But the case reflects deeper discrepancies between the military and the Defence Ministry, which was created early this year, despite the reluctance of the armed forces. The military preferred the old structure under which the army, navy and air force were headed by ministers who were, at the same time, their commanders.

The naming of Alvares, a former senator, as the first minister of defence further riled spirits within the armed forces. The military brass interpreted Cardoso’s choice as evidence that the new ministry would serve political interests.

Alvares, the head of the Liberal Front Party, an important government ally, was named defence minister in compensation for the loss of his seat in the Senate in the October 1998 elections, they maintained.

The new minister did not take office until Jun 10, due to resistance by the military and legal questions.

And the air force has other gripes with the Cardoso administration. Its power has waned and its functions have been reduced due to the transfer of several services to the private sector or to civilian chiefs.

The Department of Civil Aviation, for example, which controls air transport in Brazil and is under the jurisdiction of the air force, will soon be replaced by a regulatory agency, in which the air force will lack decision-making power.

The government also aims to privatise Infraero, which administers the country’s airports, and is currently headed by officers from that branch of the armed forces.

Lack of funds for upgrading airplanes and other equipment is another complaint by the air force chiefs, who are also upset over the privatisation of the Brazilian Aeronautics Company (Embraer), a successful aviation company created by the military in the 1970s.

Brauer, a staunch opponent of privatisation, spoke out in no uncertain terms against the sale of 20 percent of Embraer shares to four French aerospace companies.

A confidential report by Brauer, leaked to the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, accused the Brazilian consortium that purchased Embraer in 1994 of negotiating the acquisition of a controlling stake in the company by the French consortium over the next few years.

Retired and serving air force officers are preparing an event in honour of Brauer, which could turn into an all-out protest against the Defence Ministry.

In addition to the discontent among the military, Minister Alvares is facing the steady advance of the parliamentary investigatory commission, whose inquiries have already led several lawmakers to be sacked and/or thrown into prison.

The minister is a political boss in Espíritu Santo, where organised crime is strong and lies behind death squads which led to the highest murder rate in Brazil – over 60 per 100,000 inhabitants – in the metropolitan region of Vitoria last year.

There is evidence pointing to ties between politicians and organised crime in Espíritu Santo. The president of the local legislature, José Carlos Gratza, has also come under scrutiny by the parliamentary investigatory commission.

But Solange Rezende is the only associate of Alvares to come under suspicion for involvement in shady dealings, which means the minister’s survival in his post largely depends on whether the parliamentary investigations on drug trafficing and organised crime clear her name.

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