How Jair Bolsonaro’s military career came to an end

Documents once labeled as “secret” by the National Information Service (SNI) shed light on Jair Bolsonaro’s military career. Thirty years ago, the captain was tried twice – in different cases – by the Army’s Justification Council, a sort of discipline hearing committee designed to judge the conduct of its officials.

The first case revolves around an op-ed he published in Veja magazine in 1986, criticizing “low salaries for the military.” He counters information published by the media at the time that dozens of cadets had been dismissed for “sodomy, drug use, and even indiscipline,” saying that the reason was a financial crisis that had victimized officers.

Mr. Bolsonaro, then 33, didn’t have the authorization from his superiors to write the op-ed and was immediately punished with 15 days of detention.

In all levels of military justice, Mr. Bolsonaro was found guilty of insubordination.

Two years later, accusations would be far more serious. In 1988, he was investigated by the alleged participation in a plan to drop flash grenades inside Army...