Will the news mean the end of your political career? The Brazilian federal police formally requested, on Thursday, November 21, the indictment against Jair Bolsonaro, suspected of having participated in the organization of an attempted coup d’état at the end of 2022 to remain in power. At the end of a judicial process that promises to be dangerous, the former far-right president (2019-2023) could be sentenced to up to twenty-eight years in prison.
Bolsonaro is accused of the crimes of “violent abolition of the democratic rule of law”, “coup d’état” and “participation in a criminal organization.” So many charges that also weigh on thirty-six other personalities also accused, among them twenty-four soldiers, including Generals Walter Braga Netto, former Minister of Defense and running mate of Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential elections, and Augusto Heleno, former minister. of the institutional security cabinet. The list also includes the names of Valdemar Costa Neto, current president of the Liberal Party (PL), Bolsonaro’s party, and deputy Alexandre Ramagem, former head of the intelligence services.
Specifically, it is suspected that Jair Bolsonaro had at least knowledge of the preparations for a series of attacks aimed at assassinating Alexandre de Moraes, judge of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), as well as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his running mate. Geraldo Alckmin. winners of the October 2022 presidential elections, in order to prevent them from taking office. Five people, including four special forces soldiers, were arrested on Tuesday, November 19, accused of having planned these murders, through a rifle attack, an attack with explosives or poisoning.
But the former far-right president would also have had an active role in preparing the coup. The police found drafts of official decrees providing for the establishment of a state of emergency and the organization of new elections. The main leaders of the army, for their part, confirmed that they had been summoned in December 2022 by Bolsonaro, who then presented them with a series of actions aimed at preventing Lula’s return to power.
“Investigations have gathered evidence”
In reality, the police’s dizzying revelations are not surprising. Former army captain Jair Bolsonaro has never hidden his authoritarian inclinations, as well as his nostalgia for the military dictatorship (1964-1985). In 1991, then a deputy, he estimated in an interview that“Through voting we do not obtain any change” and that once elected president would unleash “a coup d’état on the same day.” Upon coming to power, he encouraged massive demonstrations by his followers with coup slogans and criticized the Brazilian electronic voting system.
You have 44.21% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
