Pretorianismo à brasileira: o legado intervencionista e o enraizamento militar na política

Abstract

This study is part of a context of increasing politicization of the Armed Forces in Brazil, especially since 2014, when military interventions in politics became more visible since redemocratization. This phenomenon has been accompanied by a conservative discourse that proposes the salvation of the country at the hands of the military, something that, for me, represents a crucial point of analysis. In my research I contextualize the role of the Armed Forces in Latin America, where military involvement in politics is a common practice, and seek to understand how these dynamics reflect on power relations within Brazil. My dissertation offers a critical view of the continuity of an interventionist and militaristic mentality, which remains influential in the current political scenario, aiming to investigate the relationship between the Armed Forces and Brazilian society, focusing on the construction of an imaginary of trust and support for the institution, despite its history of political interventions. The main objective is to understand how militarism is structured in Brazil and to view it from an ideological perspective based on the work of Michael Freeden. To this end, a qualitative approach was adopted, using methods of logical reconstruction and bibliographic analysis, with a descriptive and exploratory investigation, seeking to understand how the attitudes, conceptions and discourses emanating from the barracks impact the perception of the military. The results indicate that, despite its history of interventions, the Armed Forces maintain a high degree of legitimacy among the civilian population, being seen as a morally superior institution capable of solving the country's problems. I would also point out that the militarist ideology has deep roots in Brazil's history, especially after the Tenentist movement and the successive military interventions in government. Finally, I conclude that Brazilian society's unwavering confidence in the Armed Forces cannot be explained solely by a rational perception of institutional efficiency, but is deeply rooted in a cultural imaginary. The constant presence of militaristic discourses and the legitimization of military intervention, even in times of peace, reflect a dynamic of praetorianism that continues to influence Brazilian politics.