Brazilian federal police on Tuesday dismantled a criminal organization, made up mainly of soldiers trained by special forces, which planned to assassinate the country’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and thus prevent him from taking office after his victory in the elections. .from 2022.
The plan, reported by the federal police, also included the assassination of Lula’s running mate and current vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin, and that of the judge of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, to “restrict the free exercise of judicial power” . . “.
Moraes is the instructor of the investigative process into the coups of January 8, 2023, when thousands of supporters of former president and far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro, attacked the headquarters of the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court of Brazil. in an attempt to force a coup against Lula.
Police investigations indicate that the coup operation, called “Green and Yellow Dagger”, was to take place on December 15, 2022, 45 days after the victory of the candidacy of Lula and Alckmin, of the left-wing Workers’ Party, with 51%. votes in the Brazilian presidential elections.
The 221-page file collects information from a messaging group called “Copa 2022” within the Signal app, in which each of the people involved identified themselves with country names to protect their true identities.
There, the report said, was a document titled “Green and Yellow Dagger” which contained details of the acts allegedly planned by the criminal group composed mainly of military personnel.
The main person identified as the organizer of this operation – one of the five military detainees arrested this Tuesday – is General Mário Fernandes, advisor to the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who, according to the document, at the time of the events Acting Secretary General of the Presidency.
“For the execution of President Lula”, called “Jeca”, the use of poison or chemicals “to cause organic collapse” was considered, taking into account “his health vulnerabilities and his frequent hospitalizations,” indicates a study.
The criminal plan provided for the establishment of an “institutional crisis management office” of which those involved would be part, and detailed “the human and military resources necessary” to carry out the assassination, with “a high level of technical knowledge “. military,” according to Brazilian police.
The Secretary General of the Presidency, Márcio Macêdo, declared after the release of the police information that “there will be no tolerance for those who attack the democratic rule of law” during an interview with journalists in the framework of the G20 Summit.
“State agents who act against democracy are the business of bandits, criminals,” Macêdo said. Another statement came from the Minister of Communication of the Brazilian government, Paulo Pimenta, who, also within the framework of the G20, told journalists that the attempted attack was a “concrete action” that had not been verified only for a question of “detail”.
Pimenta said the dismantled illicit operation “provides new and extremely serious elements on the participation in the coup of people belonging to the core of power of the Bolsonaro government.” Operation Countercoup launched by police on Tuesday includes preventive detention orders, search and seizure orders and precautionary measures such as a ban on leaving the country. Those involved could be tried for the crimes of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état and criminal organization.
