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?
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.
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.
I was under the impression that Bolsorano had more support from the armed forces.
And so was he
Bolsonaro supporters might be if they had believed it. You know how it is with cult members and their Dear Leader…
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”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash#Leaked_conversations
The US loves a fascist when they’re the ones installing them.
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)?
Brazil was a military dictatorship for a long time. The people remember. The military tried to stay out of it.
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.
Interesting. Maybe they just don’t want to be involved in another dictatorship just yet?
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.
