He became known to the public in 1986, when he wrote an article for Veja magazine criticizing low wages for military officers, after which he was arrested and detained for fifteen days despite receiving letters of support from his peers in the army; he was acquitted two years later.
Známym verejnosti sa stal v roku 1986, kedy napísal článok pre časopis Veja, v ktorom kritizoval nízke mzdy armádnych dôstojníkov, za čo bol následne zatknutý na 15 dní, hoci mu prišlo množstvo podporných listov od kolegov z armády; o dva roky bol zbavený obvinení.