Brazil military leaders told police Bolsonaro plotted to remain in power despite election defeat
SAO PAULO (AP) — Two top Brazilian military leaders declared to police that former President Jair Bolsonaro presented them a plan for him to remain in power after the 2022 election he lost, but both refused and warned him they would arrest him if he tried it, according to judicial documents released Friday.
The testimonies of Bolsonaro’s former Army and Air Force commanders to police, and released by the Supreme Court, include the first direct mentions of the right-wing leader as actively participating in a conspiracy to ignore the results of the October 2022 election won by his rival, current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The statements by military commanders during Bolsonaro’s term add to his legal woes as prosecutors seek to find links between the far-right leader and the Jan. 8, 2023 riots that trashed government buildings in the capital Brasilia one week after Lula’s inauguration.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a frequent target of Bolsonaro and the chairman of the investigation, authorized the release of the documents.
Is anyone surprised by this actually?
Bolsonaro supporters might be if they had believed it. You know how it is with cult members and their Dear Leader..
I assume from your comment that you're not Brazilian?
Bolsonaro supporters knew "military backed coup" was the plan since day 0 and had been actively asking for it. "coup" might carry a bad stigma elsewhere, but for Brazilian right wingers and boomers in general?
The "good old days" for them have a name and that name is "the military dictatorship years. Particularly the 70s which were the most repressive years of the dictatorship". When saying anything slightly to the left of Hitler would get you disappeared and tortured to death.
(thanks for funding that, America!)
Bolsonaro's entire brand was built on nostalgia for the dictatorship, his big call to fame was that during Dilma's impeachment trial he made a salute to a dictatorship era officer that was known for being particularly psychotic on his victims
There wasn't a single Bolsonaro supporter who didn't know this was the plan, or that didn't enthusiastically desire a coup.
Also also when Bolsonaro left the country in a feeble attempt to escape the consequences of his actions (he was forced to return a few months later) his fandom took to camping outside military bases, hoping the military would go ahead with the coup, Bolsonaro or no Bolsonaro. :3c
fun fact about that, Sergio Moro, Bolsonaro and other assorted baddies from his coalition met many times with CIA officials.
the latest attempt was probably helped or funded by America too.
“If those kids could read, they’d be very upset.”
they arent. its all just a chinese communist conspiracy to arrest the dear leader. and they actually want a military dictatorship.
to them everyone who opposes bolsonaro is wrong somehow.
I am surprised by how closely it resembles Trump's plan, right down to the insurrection date being only 2 days after Trump's failed attempt.
By one estimate, there were 457 coup attempts from 1950 to 2010, half of which were successful.
You shouldn't considering Bolsonaro from the start has copied literally every single action from Trump's playbook, and it's not even a secret since his mentor, Olavo de Carvalho, was a batshit crazy fascist based in the US and taking notes on all the abhorrent things Republicans were doing the past two decades.
Oh and not to mention the CIA and FBI were in cahoots with his government no less, because of course they were.
I am more surprised the Army and the Air Force noped out of that one. Not so much about the Navy' s response though...
Why?
I was under the impression that Bolsorano had more support from the armed forces. I also always thought about Brazilian armed forces to lean more towards conservatism. But then again, I'm not Brazilian, so I don't have the full context.
Like most armies, they are conservative. But they are also generally legalist. They are loyal to the constitution, as a rule. The Navy commander is a fluke.
It’s pretty hard to explain in simple terms their thinking, as it’s more nuanced than the history of military dictatorships in the country suggest. But I would have been very surprised if they had agreed to the proposal and actually went for a coup.
And so was he