Brazilian military unhappy over Rousseff's Truth Commission

Brazil is the only country in Latin America that hasn't made peace with the military ghosts that still haunt it. The nation is trying to reconcile the present with its past, and wants answers to the many questions that remain about the torture and deaths that took place more than 30 years ago when the government was run by brutal military leaders.

President Dilma Rousseff - herself a victim of the fascist violence, having been tortured for 20 days and imprisoned for nearly two years - is backing measures that would create a Truth Commission. She wants the government to help families find their loved ones and dig up the remains of those buried in unmarked graves.

An amnesty law has shielded those responsible from facing criminal charges. But some in Rousseff's Workers Party (PT) want to challenge the law and believe that the statute of limitations shouldn't run out on such crimes.

The Truth Commission won't be set up to put any former military leaders on trial, but it will instead try to "clear up some of the events from that period."

The armed forces, however, fear that such a commission could lead to the revocation of the Amnesty Law, a controversial statute that has been upheld by the country's Supreme Court.

Military leaders have sent Defense Minister Nelson Jobim a letter outlining their grievances and concerns about the commission. According to the contents, some of which were published by O Globo on March 8, the commission would only serve to "evoke tensions and serious discrepancies over events that have already been addressed."

According to the officers, Rousseff's proposal would also serve to "open the wounds" and "incite political vendettas."

If they are unsuccessful in convincing Rousseff not to empanel the commission, military leaders are demanding that their members would only be "invited not subpoenaed" to testify and have called for guarantees that the panel will also investigate terrorism acts committed by leftist groups. They also want to ensure that those who do turn over documents be given protection so as their identities won't be revealed.

Rousseff has not yet addressed the military's demands but many political analysts believe that she won't back down from putting together her commission.

Old weaponry

Most of the military hardware in the inventory of Brazilian armed forces is obsolete and not fit for deployment in an emergency such as a conflict, according to a report published Tuesday in the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, which quoted Defense Ministry sources.

But some analysts said the report could be part of an elaborate effort by armed forces lobbyists to stop President Rousseff's government from cutting back on military expenditures.