Bolsonaro accused of attempting a coup against Lula
This Thursday, the Brazilian Federal Police presented formal charges to the Supreme Court against Bolsonaro for attempted coup. The country’s former president, who was disqualified by judges until 2030 for taking advantage of his position to question the voting system, could be jailed for 12 years. Last Tuesday, authorities arrested four soldiers and a federal police agent for alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the government after the 2022 elections and attempt on life Current President of Brazil.
“First of all, thank you because I’m alive,” the president said in his first public response to the attack “after they tried to poison me.” frustrated murder Before assuming office as President on January 1, 2023. According to officials, Vice President Geraldo Alcmin and Supreme Court member Judge Alexandre de Moraes were also targeted in the assassination attempt. The institution has condemned 37 people, including several high-ranking military officers, for the crimes of “violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état and illicit relations”.
According to investigators, the plot may have been planned in the home of Walter Braga Netto, a general of the Army Reserve and former minister of the President and Defense, as well as Bolsonaro’s vice-presidential candidate in 2022. Police have also accused former Navy Admiral Almir Garnier Santos of attempting a coup.
Police investigation points to Bolsonaro leading actors Wants to hold him criminally responsible for conspiracy and attempted coup. Bolsonaro and his top advisers have denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a political persecution. The former president credits the allegations against him to the “creativity” of the judge investigating him.
Lula said, “I don’t want to poison anyone or torture anyone. I want to measure, based on numbers and statistics, who built the most schools, roads and jobs in this country, because that is the value of a government. Is.” Is achieved in a “civilized way”.
Lula has stressed that since he has decided to run for president in 2022, his “desire” “The goal was to return normality and democratic civilization to Brazil.”Following the conflict that the country had plunged into during the tenure of his predecessor and far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
a turbulent transition
According to officials, the murder was allegedly planned Four soldiers and one federal police agent in late 2022After Lula defeated Bolsonaro in the elections. According to the investigation, the intention was to assassinate Lula and Alcmin, members of the winning formula for the October 2022 elections, and to create a “crisis committee” made up of the military that would keep Bolsonaro in power.
The far-right leader was to hand over power to Lula on January 1, 2023, but did not recognize his defeat And traveled to the United States two days ago. Plans were being thrown into disarray Poison Possibilities also included Judge de Moraes, who was accused by the extreme right of manipulating the process from his position as President of the Superior Electoral Court.
The existence of this alleged assassination plot is linked to the investigation into the attack on three branches of state in Brasília, just a week after Lula’s inauguration. On January 8, 2023, thousands of far-right activists tried to take on the armed forces Overthrow the government of a progressive leader,
The courts are also investigating a number of complaints about various moves to try to prevent Lula’s inauguration, some of which include Bolsonaro has been criticizedAccording to judicial sources, the investigation may end this week or later. Federal police could charge dozens of people for all these incidents, including some ministers in Bolsonaro’s mandate.
These allegations will be a new blow to Bolsonaro’s plans Run in the 2026 presidential electionHis allies have sought to overturn a court ruling barring the far-right leader from running for office in 2022 because of his attacks on the validity of the country’s voting system.
Who is involved in the coup plot?
The charges are the result of an investigation that began nearly two years ago and focuses on the turbulent period that the country went through following the October 2022 elections, where Lula da Silva wins and then President Bolsonaro did not recognize the results Of ballot boxes.
Of the 37 defendants, these are the ten most influential:
jair bolsonaroFormer President of the country and far-right leader between 2019 and 2022. He continued to fight hard with institutions, especially with electoral justice, which he tried to discredit throughout the campaign for the 2022 elections.
Walter Braga NettoArmy Reserve General and former Minister of the Presidency and Defense. He was Bolsonaro’s vice presidential candidate in the 2022 elections.
Augustus HelenusGeneral of the Army Reserve and disinterested defender of the military dictatorship of Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (1964–1985). He was the Presidential Security Minister.
Paulo Sergio Noguera: Another Army Reserve general. He was the Defense Minister under Bolsonaro.
Almir Garnier SantosAdmiral and former Naval Commander. In the days when the coup was being planned, he may have told Bolsonaro that his “armies” were “ready” to prevent Lula from taking power on January 1, 2023.
mauro sidLieutenant Colonel and former right-hand man of the far-right leader. He helped Bolsonaro and some of his associates commit fraud with anti-Covid vaccine certificates.
philip martinsFormer international affairs advisor to Bolsonaro. He was considered a link between Brazilian radicals and American far-right groups led by Steve Bannon, a former aide to current President Donald Trump.
Valdemar Costa Neto, Current President of the Liberal Party (PL), which Bolsonaro joined to bid for his re-election in 2022. A political chameleon, he was at the base of Lula’s support in his first two terms and has aligned himself with it in recent years. Extreme rights. In 2012, he was sentenced to seven years in prison in the parliamentary bribery scandal and spent one year in prison.
Tercio Arnaud TomazA far-right online activist, he has been linked to Bolsonaro for more than a decade. He was one of the people responsible for the social networks of the former President in the first two years of his mandate.
Paulo Renato de Oliveira FigueiredoAnother network activist is the grandson of General João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, one of the soldiers who presided over the country during the previous dictatorship (1964–1985).