The Federal Police in the first 15 months of the third Lula (PT) government accumulated friction with other institutions, such as the Army, Federal Highway Police, GSI (Institutional Security Office) and Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), in addition to the Public Ministry and the Police Civil of Rio de Janeiro
Investigations of members of other bodies, attempts to expand powers and disputes for space close to the president are some of the reasons that put the PF on a collision course with other corporations with which the corporation often needs to work together.
With the GSI and the military, for example, the raids arose due to the fight to decide who would be responsible for providing the personal security of Lula and the first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, known as Janja.
At the beginning of the government, the PT member signed a decree valid for six months to create the Extraordinary Secretariat for Immediate Security of the President of the Republic, which transferred responsibility for much of the presidential protection to the PF.
Although from the beginning it was expected that the format would only last the first semester, the police leadership tried to extend the measure.
The PF is headed by delegate Andrei Rodrigues, who provided security for Lula in the 2022 elections, held high-ranking positions in the administration of Dilma Rousseff (PT) and is a person of trust for the head of the Executive.
His influence, however, was not enough and the coordination of Lula’s protection returned to the GSI, commanded by General Marcos Antonio Amaro.
In relation to Abin, in turn, the dispute with the PF has already resulted in the dismissal of the agency’s number 2, former deputy director Alessandro Moretti, in January. He was cited in a police report about the alleged use of the body in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government to spy on political opponents.
The document states that, in a meeting with representatives of Abin employees, in March last year, Moretti said that the investigation into the agency had a “political basis” and would pass.
For the police, there was “collusion on the part of those being investigated” with part of Abin’s senior management, which would have caused damage to the investigation and also to the agency itself.
The PF under Andrei Rodrigues is also witnessing a worsening relationship with the PRF. The climate between the two corporations under the umbrella of the Ministry of Justice soured in February after the PF indicted 23 highway police officers for a joint operation in Varginha (MG) that resulted in the death of 26 suspects.
In the report, the case delegate stated that the body does not have the power to carry out investigations and criticized the actions of PRF members in this episode.
“To the investigation team [ficou] the certainty that there was an illegal investigation carried out by a body without constitutional attribution for such a task, behind control bodies and without official records”, says the text.
The National Federation of Federal Highway Police reacted and accused the PF of abandoning the population, in addition to stating that it will pay the defendants’ costs to contest reports that implicate them in the deaths.
The backdrop to the fight is an ordinance signed by the then Minister of Justice Sergio Moro, in 2019, which formalizes the expansion of the powers of the PRF. Behind the scenes, the leadership of the Federal Police defends the repeal of the rule so that the corporation’s work is limited to highway patrolling.
With the Army, the situation is even more delicate. The investigations into whether Bolsonaro plotted a coup d’état target several of the former president’s allies who belong to the Armed Forces, including high-ranking military personnel.
The PF’s relationship with investigative bodies in Rio de Janeiro is also strained. The Federal Police report pointed out what Minister Flávio Dino, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), defined as a “criminal ecosystem”. According to investigations, the center would be the business desk that became the Civil Police Homicide Division.
The distance between the PF and the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro is historic in the state. A notable moment in this rupture was the indictment by the PF, in 2011, of the then Chief of Civil Police Allan Turnowski. He was removed from office on suspicion of leaking information about a PF operation. The Public Ministry later ended up shelving the investigation against him, leading to a separation from the two corporations.
Added to this is the dispute for protagonism in the fight against criminal factions. As part of the fight for space, Civil Police delegates complained about the excess of federal officers in the structure of the Security Secretariat during the José Mariano Beltrame administration (2007-2016). The current holder of the portfolio, Victor Cesar Carvalho dos Santos, is also a federal delegate.
In this dispute, the PF ended up strengthening ties with the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro. The two institutions carried out joint investigations, mainly aimed at combating militias. In addition to investigating the death of councilor Marielle Franco (PSOL), PF and MP-RJ worked side by side in investigations against Luis Antônio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, appointed as leader of the largest militia in the state.
This institutional relationship, however, was put to the test after the release last week of the PF report on the councilor’s death. The main complaint from members of the institution is due to the fact that resistance to the federalization of the investigation, right after the crime, has now been considered a way of making the investigation more difficult.
The MP-RJ released a statement on Thursday (28), stating that “it will spare no effort to confront the vile attempts to disqualify the work carried out”.
The text does not directly criticize the PF and states that the position seeks to “refute the allegations that have been aired in the corporation’s report.” The note, however, echoes the discomfort of different prosecutors who were involved in the case.
