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.

pickman_model,

This is very interesting, at least for me as a Latin American but not from Brazil. I wonder whether the Army and Air Force want to distance themselves from politics in general, or if they have an issue with Bolsorano (or maybe the Navy)?

FenrirIII,
@FenrirIII@lemmy.world avatar

Brazil was a military dictatorship for a long time. The people remember. The military tried to stay out of it.

umbrella, (edited )
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

not really, bolsonaros term had a record number of military and ex-military personnel occupying seats.

you could say some (probably small) parts of the military wanted out, but definetly not the military as a whole.

pickman_model,

Interesting. Maybe they just don’t want to be involved in another dictatorship just yet?

umbrella, (edited )
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

i hope not, they have seen fascism fail, but our burgeoise seem to be restless and i dont like it.

the military has been trying hard not to be blamed, its still a tossup to me what they want, and what will happen rn.

lula is def into someones pocket tho.

edit: lula just canceled the dictatorship rememberance day, wanting to play to very cool to them, not a great sign.

Avg,

They were in power until 86ish, so the old fucks that were part the government then are probably still around salivating for another chance.

pickman_model,

That’s what I would have thought.

VinesNFluff,
@VinesNFluff@pawb.social avatar

Old news. Anyone who was here and was paying attention knew.

Even those on salnorabo’s side knew.

dopeshark,
@dopeshark@lemmy.world avatar

Salnorabo kkkkk

honey_im_meat_grinding,

Reminder that US state agencies helped Bolsonaro

In March 2020, the Intercept reported that Brazilian prosecutors had secretly collaborated with the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation in a manner “that may have violated international legal treaties and Brazilian law”. The Brazilian Ministry of Justice had not been informed; making this collaboration illegal. They also found that money paid by Brazilian companies in the US were funnelled back into Brazil; chief prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said he would use part of this sum to set up an “independent fund to fight corruption”. This attempt was then deemed unconstitutional by Brazil’s Supreme Court. It was reported that Mr. Dallagnol had called Lula da Silva’s arrest “a gift from the CIA”. Leslie Backschies, the head of the US FBI’s international corruption unit, alluded to this incident when discussing the sensitivity of anti-corruption investigations in a 2019 interview with AP news saying “We saw presidents toppled in Brazil”.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash#Leaked_c…

Caligvla,
@Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

At this point I’d be surprised if the US actually wasn’t involved in an attempt to coup a government, not just in South America but any part of the globe. It’s like their second favorite past time, just behind getting involved in as many wars as they can.

agitatedpotato,

The US loves a fascist when they’re the ones installing them.

DoucheBagMcSwag,

laughs nervously in American

tibo,

Is anyone surprised by this actually?

Viking_Hippie,

Bolsonaro supporters might be if they had believed it. You know how it is with cult members and their Dear Leader…

something_random_tho,

“If those kids could read, they’d be very upset.”

VinesNFluff,
@VinesNFluff@pawb.social avatar

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

umbrella,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

(thanks for funding that, America!)

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.

umbrella,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

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.

frunch,

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.

solo,

By one estimate, there were 457 coup attempts from 1950 to 2010, half of which were successful.

Caligvla,
@Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

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.

pickman_model,

I am more surprised the Army and the Air Force noped out of that one. Not so much about the Navy’ s response though…

acockworkorange,

Why?

pickman_model,

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.

acockworkorange,

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.

SkippingRelax,

I was under the impression that Bolsorano had more support from the armed forces.

And so was he

rayyy,

Despots seem to be following election advice from Putin.

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