Future Army, Navy, Air Forces commandants unveiled
The next names to lead the Army, the Navy, and the Air Forces were confirmed today (Nov. 21) by Army General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, which is to be in charge of the Defense Ministry under Jair Bolsonaro as of next year.
The three officials are high-ranking of Armed Forces. Fleet iral Ilques Barbosa Júnior, currently head of the Naval Staff (thus the second highest post in the force), was named to lead the Navy.
The Army will be led by General Edson Leal Pujol, who would also be the next to take office, for service time. To assume the post, Pujol will leave the Science and Technology Department of the Army, in Brasília.
Taking the helm of the Air Forces is Air Lieutenant-Brigadier Antonio Carlos Moretti Bermudez, previously commandant with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).
“The choice follows the regulation for the selection of an Army Commandant, which mandates it must be an Official-General. Including the Navy and the Air Forces, the last post in the career. So they’re all suiting,” Azevedo e Silva said.
The priority of his ministry, Azevedo e Silva said, will be preserving present projects and offer “as much as possible” to the three Armed Forces. He said the transition in the Defense Ministry should begin in December.
Intervention in Rio
When asked about the Army intervention in the public security of Rio de Janeiro, the future minister of defense ruled out any possibility of postponing its end. “The intervention is slated to end on December 31.”
The general pointed out, however, that the Army may work in Rio de Janeiro through a Law and Order decree, enacted by the president, adding, however, it does not constitute a federal intervention. The involvement of the Armed Forced in public security should be “sporadic, occasional, treated like an urgent matter,” he argued.
