Brazilian police have accused Bolsonaro and several retired generals of plotting a coup

Brazilian federal police have knocked on the door of the house where Jair Bolsonaro spends his summer for the second time in two weeks. If at the end of January they asked about his son Carlos, this Thursday agents arrived in search of his alleged links with the failed coup attempt a year ago, following the electoral defeat of the former President (2019-2022). On the far-right, three retired generals who were ministers with him and several advisers from his inner circle are the targets of a police operation, which includes about 30 search and four arrest warrants against advisers. Agents have appeared at Bolsonaro’s home in Angra dos Reis, 170 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro, with an order that forces the chancellor to hand over his passport and prohibits him from leaving the country and coming into contact with the rest of the investigated people. Stops. , His spokesperson has said that he will comply with the decision and deliver the documents.

The judicial siege around Bolsonaro Sr. has tightened since he lost his immunity after leaving power, but investigators are facing the most serious case against him ever before from a former president, an attempt to overturn the authority of the state. Was not contacted directly. , It also represents a qualitative leap in that among those sought are three generals in reserve: Walter Braga Netto, who was Defense Minister and vice-presidential candidate in the last election, Paulo Nogueira Batista, his successor in the ministry, and Augusto Heleno, Who headed the important ministry of Institutional Security. Those identified by police also include former navy chief Almir Garnier and Waldemar Costa Neto, president of the Liberal Party, of which Bolsonaro is a senior member.

is the name of the operation in progress tempus veritatis (Time of Truth, in Latin) has been ordered by the Supreme Court and is part of an investigation into an attempted coup by thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on January 8, 2023, a week after Luiz Inácio Lula handed over power to Silva. After winning the elections.

According to an official note, which did not name them, police accused those investigated of “belonging to a criminal organization that tried to stage a coup” that would keep Bolsonaro in power and Will get political benefits in this way. Investigators say he organized cells to spread alleged fraud in the 2022 elections to legitimize military intervention. Thousands of people camped outside military barracks across the country for two months demanding a coup against Lula. They were destroyed only after the riot. One of those detained is Filipe Martins, a military man who was an international adviser to the far-right president.

Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading the investigation into the coup attempt, signs the indictment. They say that in November 2022, that is, a month after the elections, Bolsonaro received a draft decree from his special adviser on international affairs to annul the electoral results and order the arrest of Judge Moraes and one of his colleagues in the court . and the president of the Senate, according to a police investigation, based on wiretapping and the confession of Bolsonaro’s personal secretary, Reuters reports. The then acting president requested some changes to the text, which were made, but retained the request for new elections and the arrest of Moraes, whom Bolsonarism considers its staunch opponent. According to the police report, “Bolsonaro then called a meeting with the commanders of the armed forces to present them with the decree and pressure them to join the coup.”

President Lula recounted the day’s news in the first hours of the police operation. “I think (the coup attempt) would not have happened without him (Bolsonaro),” he said during an interview with a radio station, Efe news reported. The leftist recalled that, after the defeat, his far-right rival “stayed at home and cried and went to the United States. He must have participated in the creation of that coup attempt. Let’s see what the investigation says.”

The court cases against Bolsonaro Sr. are based on a variety of issues, ranging from a coup plot to an attempt to keep some jewelry that was given to him by the Saudi royal family when he was Brazil’s president. Or most recently, disturbing a humpback whale during a jet ski ride. Since the Supreme Court announced shortly after the failed riot that it was investigating Bolsonaro for inciting the attack on the headquarters of the three powers, the case against him has brought few relevant new developments, but many of the pieces surrounding him have fallen. In any case, the former president was disqualified from contesting elections until 2028. In parallel, the fence has become narrower step by step.

First, the police arrested and jailed a police commissioner who was the justice minister. The next person arrested was his personal secretary, a soldier who was constantly with him and brought him his mobile phone. Then, on January 29, agents arrived at Bolsonaro’s summer home in search of Carlos Bolsonaro, a Rio de Janeiro councilor who is being investigated for illegal spying on thousands of his father’s opponents. Now, it is the Brazilian right-wing leader and some retired generals and advisers who served with him in the government who are in the crosshairs of police and judges. Although he has been disqualified, Bolsonaro is not giving up, preparing for municipal elections next October. The elections will help reflect the current correlation of forces between Bolsonarism and Lula’s Workers’ Party.

Follow all the information from El PAÍS America Facebook And xor in our weekly newspaper,

,