Heleno graduated as
Aspirant of cavalry in 1969, at the
Military Academy of Agulhas Negras, placing first in his cavalry class. He was also the first in the cavalry class in the Officials Improvement School (EsAO) and
Army Command and Staff School (ECEME), receiving the silver Marshal Hermes medal with three crowns. As
Major, Heleno joined the Brazilian mission of instruction in
Paraguay. As
Colonel, he commanded the
Preparatory School for Army Cadets (EsPCEx) in Campinas and was
military attaché in the Brazilian Embassy in
Paris, also accredited in Brussels. As Official General, Heleno was commander of the 5th Armored Cavalry Brigade and of the
Army Physical Capacitation Center, chief of the Army Social Communication Center and of the Chief of Staff of the Army Commander. From June 2004 to September 2005, he was the first military commander of the
United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), made up of 6,250
Blue Helmets from 13 countries, of which 7 were Latin Americans. During his time in Haiti he was known for leading
a United Nations armed assault on Cité Soleil that killed dozens of people including
Dread Wilme. Similarly to
Chilean ambassador
Juan Gabriel Valdés, special representative of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations and chief of the mission, and of the Latin American governments, General Heleno expressed his disapproval at the strategy adopted by the international community about Haiti. He was succeeded in the MINUSTAH command by General Urano Teixeira da Mata Bacelar, who committed suicide in
Port-au-Prince, four months later, in January 2006. As military commander of the Amazon, General Heleno contested the indigenous politics of the government of president
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who characterized the policies as "unfortunate, if not chaotic" during a speech in the Military Club in Rio de Janeiro, at the time of the demarcation of the indigenous land of
Raposa/Serra do Sol. He stated that the indigenous "gravitate around our squads because they are completely abandoned". His last occupation in the active service was as chief of the Department of Science and Technology. On 9 May 2011, in a ceremony in the Army Headquarters in Brasília, Heleno retired and defended the
1964 military regime, after 45 years of military life. ==Life after retirement==