Brazil’s Bolsonaro participated in a 2022 coup plot, unsealed police report says
SÃO PAULO — Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a Federal Police report unsealed Tuesday.
Brazil’s Federal Police on Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their nearly 900-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal Tuesday.
“The evidence collected throughout the investigation shows unequivocally that then-President Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organization aiming to launch a coup d’etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law, which did not take place due to reasons unrelated to his desire,” the document said.
At another point, it says: “Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation.”
The police report said the coup was not carried out because of resistance from then-army commander Marco Antonio Freire Gomes and the majority of the army’s high command.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or awareness of any plot to keep him in power or oust his leftist rival and successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The top court has passed the report on to Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet. He will decide whether to formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation.
A trove of leaked audio recordings from late 2022 reveal high-ranking members of Brazil’s army discussing efforts to pressure Bolsonaro to carry out a coup and remain in power.
The 53 recordings, obtained by the Federal Police, provide a rare chance to hear military members expressing in their own voices their desire to keep Lula from taking office.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees the police’s sprawling investigation, quoted some of those recordings in his ruling last week ordering the arrest of five people for plotting the assassination of then-President-elect Lula in 2022 and then attempting to oust him from power Jan. 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro supporters destroyed government buildings in capital, Brasilia.
Recordings from one former army officer — who was not among those De Moraes ordered arrested last week — are particularly supportive of a coup, and weren’t referenced in the justice’s order.
Col. Roberto Raimundo Criscuoli, a former subcommander of the army’s special forces, told retired Brig. Gen. Mario Fernandes, who was then second in command at the general secretary of the presidency, that the far-right leader had a clear choice after Lula won his third, nonconsecutive term.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others are formally accused of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his 2022 election loss.
“It will be either a civil war now or civil war later. We have a justification now for civil war. People are on the street; we have massive support,” Criscuoli said in one of the audios. “Let’s do this now. Speak to 01.”
“01” is a common reference to Brazil’s president.
Bolsonaro frequently cast doubt on the election results without providing any evidence and never conceded. He left for the United States days before Lula’s inauguration on Jan. 1, 2023, and stayed there for months, keeping a low profile. The top electoral court has ruled Bolsonaro ineligible to run for president until 2030 for abuse of power, and he is also the target of several investigations for a slew of potential crimes.
Savarese and Hughes write for the Associated Press.
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