Walter Souza Braga Netto (born 11 March 1957) is a Brazilian

army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...

and former

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. Braga was Commander of the

Eastern Military Command The Eastern Military Command ( pt, Comando Militar do Leste or CML) is one of eight Military Commands of the Brazilian Army. The Eastern Military Command is responsible for the defence of the states Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Sa ...

and, until 31 December 2018, Federal Interventor in the Public Security of the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He unsuccessfully ran for

Vice President of Brazil The Vice President of Brazil ( pt, Vice-Presidente do Brasil), officially the Vice President of the Federative Republic of Brazil (''Vice-Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil''), or simply the ''Vice President of the Republic'' (''Vice-P ...

in 2022, narrowly losing to

Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian politician who is the vice president-elect of Brazil. He previously served as the Governor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2011 to 2018, the lo ...

Early life

Braga Netto was born on 11 March 1957 in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

Military career

Enlisted on 17 February 1975, Braga Netto enrolled in the

Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras The ''Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras'' (AMAN, en, Military Academy of Agulhas Negras - named after the Agulhas Negras summit) is the biggest among several schools of formation of combatant officers of the Brazilian Army. It originated in ...

(AMAN) where, on 14 December 1978, he was declared an Officer Aspirant. Braga was promoted to

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

on 31 August 1979, to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

on 25 December 1980, and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 25 December 1984.

Senior officer

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

, Braga Netto served as assistant of Sub-Secretariat of Programs and Project of the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic. On 2 February 2001, he was nominated Cabinet Officer of then-Army Commander, Gleuber Vieira. On 9 July 2001, Braga Netto was nominated commander of the 1st Regiment of Combat Cars (1° RCC), still headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

on 17 December 2001. He was nominated Defence and Army Attaché to the Brazilian Embassy in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, a position he held from 1 February 2005 to 1 February 2007.

General officer

Promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

in November 2009, he was nominated Staff-Chief of the Western Military Command on 23 November. In 2011, he was designated military attaché of the Army to the Brazilian Embassy in the United States, also accredited to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. On 31 March 2013, he was promoted to

Divisional general Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

. On 21 August, he was nominated General Coordinated of the Special Advisory of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016. On 25 November 2015, Walter Braga became commander of the 1st Military Region, leaving the Coordination. On 31 July 2016, he was promoted to

Army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...

and nominated Commander of the

. On 16 February 2018, General Braga Netto was nominated Federal Interventor in the Public Security of

by President

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...

, position he held until the end of the year. Over the course of 10 months, Braga Netto took command of the state of Rio de Janeiro’s police forces with Army troops deployed for internal use against the civilian population. In relation to the previous year, the period of intervention registered an increase of almost 40 percent in killings committed by police officers. On 29 March 2019, took office as Staff-Chief of the Army.

Bolsonaro Government

On 12 February 2020, he was invited by President

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

for the position of

Chief of Staff of the Presidency The Minister Head of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic ( pt, Ministro Chefe da Casa Civil da Presidência da República) is the chief of staff of the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and a member of the President' ...

. On March 31, 2021, after th
joint resignation
of the commanders of the three branches of the

Brazilian armed forces The Brazilian Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas Brasileiras, ) are the unified military forces of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Consisting of three service branches, it comprises the Brazilian Army (including the Brazilian Army Aviat ...

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...

, and other leaders in the Brazilian military, Braga Netto was appointed as the new Minister of Defense. Braga Netto drew controversy shortly after his appointment after expressing support for the

military dictatorship in Brazil The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dicta ...

COVID-19 pandemic

On May 26, 2020, a report from

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

revealed that as the

Health Ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

of Brazil began taking preventative measures against the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

on March 13, Bolsonaro intervened and scaled back their procedures within 24 hours. By March 16, Bolsonaro discreetly shifted power from the ministry to Braga Netto's Casa Civil, with the given reason being that "the pandemic 'transcended' public health". In August 2020, Braga Netto was diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

2022 presidential election

On June 26, 2022, he was chosen to be incumbent president

's running mate for the 2022 presidential election. It was announced by Bolsonaro during an interview given to journalists Rodrigo Constantino,

Luís Ernesto Lacombe Luís Ernesto Lacombe Heilborn (Rio de Janeiro, August 2, 1966) is a Brazilian journalist and writer. He is the grandson of Américo Jacobina Lacombe, a member of Academia Brasileira de Letras. In 1988, he graduated in journalism at Faculdades ...

Augusto Nunes Augusto Nunes da Silva (born September 25, 1949; Taquaritinga, state of São Paulo) is a Brazilian journalist, writer and commentator. He is one of Brazil's main conservative journalists. Career He was a columnist for Veja magazine, editor-in-ch ...

and Ana Paula Henkel at the ''Programa 4 por 4'' independent show.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Braga Netto, Walter Souza 1957 births Living people Brazilian generals People from Belo Horizonte Defence ministers of Brazil Chiefs of Staff of Brazil Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006) politicians Candidates for Vice President of Brazil