Marco Antônio Freire Gomes (born 31 July 1957 in

Pirassununga Pirassununga is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, with an altitude of 627 meters. The population is 76,877 (2020 est.) in an area of 727 km2. Situated in the southeast region of Brazil, the city is home to many important in ...

) is a retired

army general Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

of the

Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army (; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordina ...

, which he commanded from 31 March to 30 December 2022.

Military career

Military official

Gomes is son of Cavalry Colonel Francisco Valdir Gomes and Maria Enilda Freire Gomes. From Military School of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

, he joined the military on 14 February 1977 at the

Agulhas Negras Military Academy The Military Academy of Agulhas Negras (, AMAN – named after the Agulhas Negras summit) is the biggest school of formation of combatant officers of the Brazilian Army. It originated in 1792 with the creation of the Royal Academy of Artillery, ...

. He was declared

officer candidate Officer candidate or officer aspirant (OA) is a rank in some militaries of the world that is an appointed position while a person is in training to become an Officer (armed forces), officer. More often than not, an officer candidate was a civilia ...

of the cavalry on 15 December 1980. During his career, he served at Cavalry units, such as the 10th Mechanized Cavalry Squad in

Bela Vista, Mato Grosso do Sul Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur ...

and the 16th Mechanized Cavalry Regiment in

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

. Gomes also served at the 1st Special Forces Battalion and the Command of the

Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Paratroopers Brigade (, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim'') is an Israeli military airborne infantry brigade. It is a selective unit, which accepts new recruits following physical tryouts and interviews, and consists of volunteers. It forms a m ...

, both in

. He was member of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Observers Group in Central America and was instructor of the Special Instruction Section of the

. General Gomes also was the first commander of the 1st Command Action Battalion in

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

. As superior official, Gomes served as Chief of the Operations Division and Intelligence Division of the Institutional Security Bureau in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

, Chief of the Regional Military Service of the 11th Military Region; Military Aide of Defence and Army to the Brazilian Embassy in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Chief of the Doctrine Section and Assistant to the 3rd Subchief of the Army Staff and Official of the Joint Staff of the

Brazilian Armed Forces The Brazilian Armed Forces (, ) are the unified Military, military forces of the Brazil, Federative Republic of Brazil. Consisting of three Military branch, service branches, it comprises the Brazilian Army (including the Brazilian Army Aviati ...

Official general

As Official General, he served as Commander of the Special Operations Command in

, 1st Subchief of the Land Operations Command in

, Commander of the 10th Military Region in

and Executive Secretary of the Institutional Security Bureau in

. Gomes was promoted to Army General on 31 July 2018, and served as Commander of the Northeastern Military Command in

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

from 21 August 2018 to 3 September 2021. After that, Gomes served as Command of Land Operations in

, from 9 September 2021 to 30 March 2022.

Resistance to 2022 Brazilian Coup Plot

In 2024, investigations by the

Supreme Federal Court The Federal Supreme Court (, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the country's Constitutional Court. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings ...

revealed that general Freire Gomes was one of the army officials positioned against the

2022 Brazilian coup plot During and after the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, a network of members of former president Jair Bolsonaro's Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, government and of the Brazilian Armed Forces planned to subvert the transition of power to newly el ...

. Witness testimony provided by

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

commander says that, in the reunion where the coup meetings with then president Jair Bolsonaro took place, Freire Gomes threatened to arrest the president if he tried to proceed with the coup attempt. This event earned Gomes the enmity of the coup supporters. In cellphone messages recovered by the

Federal Police of Brazil The Federal Police of Brazil () or Department of Federal Police () is a Federal government of Brazil, federal law enforcement agency of Brazil and One of the most know nationals Polices forces of the Executive Power of Brazil. Besides with Políc ...

between

Walter Braga Netto Walter Souza Braga Netto (born 11 March 1957) is a retired Brazilian army general and former Minister of Defence. Braga was Commander of the Eastern Military Command and, until 31 December 2018, Federal Interventor in the Public Security of the s ...

and former captain Ailton Barros, if Gomes continued to resist the coup he should be "thrown to the lions" and "his head should be offered". In March 2024, he provided over eight hours of witness testimony to the Federal Police as part of Operation Tempus Veritatis.

References

External links

, - , - {{s-end 1957 births Living people People from Pirassununga Brazilian generals