Da Constituinte à Comissão Nacional da Verdade: a questão militar como entrave perene ao Estado de Direito e à democracia no Brasil

Abstract

In the republican period, there was a rise and an affirmation of the active military participation in Brazilian politics. This participation that involved, on several occasions, interference in the political sphere, either to arbitrate electoral results or to intervene directly in the political process to break legality. This participation is summarized here as a military issue. The scope and limits of military insertion in Brazilian political life, in general, constitute the centerpiece of the military issue, and this article is treated from the constituent process to the National Truth Commission. The thesis presented here is that the military presence has been an obstacle to the rule of law and democracy in Brazil, basically due to a non-virtuous combination between a prevalent military autonomy and an accommodation/interest of political actors for the preservation of this autonomy. In short, the military aspect of the Brazilian political system is functional in this respect, and practically imperative from preserving a particular social and political order. One of the points highlighted is the impediment/interest in force extroversion to occur, and its lethal application is directed towards a conception of the internal enemy.