At the beginning of March, the UFPE Rectory, represented by Rector Alfredo Gomes, signed an agreement with the Military Institute of Engineering (IME), which aims at the advancement of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security. The project also founded a course for this objective, which will begin in early 2025. Although promoted with the “development” discourse of IME and the university, the project serves to deepen the performance of the reactionary army at the university.
Rector Alfredo Gomes emphasizes the “importance of jointly building partnerships to strengthen such strategic and important areas for Brazil”, while the dean of the Military Institute of Engineering emphasizes the character of this partnership: “It is part of a strategic action of DCT (Department of Army science and technology), aiming at the most effective participation of the in various regions of the country ”.
Specific moment
The new step towards a greater military presence at the university does not occur in isolation. The reactionary armed force has received other recent incentives in the state, such as the construction of the Pernambuco Sergeants School, supported by the federal government.
The greater militarization occurs concomitantly with the advance of the peasant struggle in the state. In the municipality of Jaqueira, for example, squatters has resisted bluntly to the offensive of the landlord . On the stairs, important peasant protests blocked roads after the execution of a peasant by a PM .
In universities, the military presence can be seen as a threat to the development of the student struggle, especially if taken into account the constant demonstrations of support of the combative student movement to the fields in the field, from peasants, to indigenous and quilombolas.