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During and after the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, a network of members of former president Jair Bolsonaro's government and of the Brazilian Armed Forces planned to subvert the transition of power to newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrest Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes and President of the Federal Senate Rodrigo Pacheco, as well as shut down several government institutions, such as the National Congress, the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court, in an attempt to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power and possibly consolidate his control over the federal government.[1][2] The plans, evidence, and individuals involved in planning a coup d'état were gradually revealed in investigations conducted by public agencies and the press in 2023 and 2024.[3][4]
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Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing[5] and says he "suffer[s] relentless persecution".[6]
After Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Congress and Supreme Court on 8 January 2023, more than 1,400 people were charged for their alleged role in the riots.[7] Valdemar Costa Neto, head of the Liberal Party, and three aides to Bolsonaro were arrested on 8 February 2024.[8][9]
False news (or fake news) was an element with special prominence in the elections in Brazil in 2014, 2018 and 2022, respectively, being used by many sides with the objective of convincing and manipulating the electors and their votes.[10][11] Although fake news is not a new phenomenon, widespread access to digital communication tools and the ease of mass spread of messages gave these false informations, in 2022, an leading role in electoral debates, being the focus of containment actions by courts, legislators and media companies.[12][13]
The Federal Police found a draft announcement of a coup in a search of former Justice minister Anderson Torres's home. The document outlined a plan to implement a state of defense (estado de defesa[a]) that would nullify the 2022 election results. It also leveled a series of accusations, such as abuse of power and lack of impartiality,[b] against the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which had been investigating Bolsonaro and his allies when he was in office.[14]
Upon his return to Brazil, Anderson Torres was arrested[15] and detained for four months while Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes investigated his role in the riots.[c][16] In his testimony to the Federal Police on 2 February 2023, Torres sought to dismiss the coup draft found in his residence as a document "without legal viability", disposable, according to him. He also stated that it was not he who had placed the draft decree in a folder on his shelf, and that he believed his domestic worker had done so while house cleaning. Torres reaffirmed that he had not drafted the document and did not know who did.[17]
To the accusation of negligence or complicity with the 2022–2023 Brazilian election protests that culminated in the 2023 Brazilian Congress attack on 8 January, Torres, who took office on 2 January as head of security for the Federal District,[18] claimed he had fulfilled all necessary verification and security measures, relying on reports that did not foresee radical actions by Bolsonaro supporters. Since he thought he had fulfilled his duties, he said, he deemed it appropriate to proceed with a planned family trip to the United States, where he stayed in Orlando, the same city as Bolsonaro, with whom he said he had not coordinated his plans, and with whom he additionally claimed he did not meet.[17]
Ricardo Cappelli, the intervenor Lula put in charge of Brasília's public security after the riots, called 8 January "a structured sabotage operation" adding:[18]
"Torres took over as secretary for security (in Brasilia), dismissed the whole chain of command and then took a trip. If that's not sabotage, I don't know what is."[18]
Regarding the whereabouts of his phone, Torres claimed to have turned it off after his arrest was ordered, due to the number of calls he received, and lost it shortly afterward. He said he did not know where it was but he said he had not left it in the United States. Torres offered to provide the password to his cloud storage account.[17]
On 15 June 2023, the Brazilian federal police, authorized by Supreme Federal Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, searched residences linked to the senator, who was investigated for obstructing investigations of the 8 January coup attempt in Brasília.[19] Do Val claimed that the judicial order was a case of political prosecution which he had expected, but not on his birthday.[20] The senator's Twitter account was also blocked.[21]
O Globo had access to the federal police report, revealing that do Val had boasted in a number of WhatsApp groups that he had the fate of two presidents of the republic in his hands: "I have a bomb in hand to destroy Bolsonaro and another one to destroy Lula".[22] He also said he was responsible for Bolsonaro taking refuge in the United States after he lost the 2022 election: "I was invited by him [Bolsonaro] to do this. As member of CCAI [Mixed Intelligence Activities Control Commission], I started to wind it up to see how far it would go. When it was about to happen, I informed him that he would be committing a very serious crime against democracy and, from there, I reported it to the responsible authority. It was because of this that he fled to the USA".[22]
Do Val returned to the senate on 3 August 2023.[23]
Audio recordings from 15 December 2022, of former major and Liberal Party (PL) candidate, Ailton Gomes, record instructions to then-Army Commander Freire Gomes to do "(...) o que tem que fazer" (what needs to be done), setting the deadline for the following day for him to make a statement in support of the coup; otherwise, it added, the statement would come from Jair Bolsonaro.[1]
In a statement proffered as part of a plea deal approved by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Mauro Cid stated that Jair Bolsonaro met with the commanders of the Armed Forces' three branches to assess the possibility of carrying out a coup, whose draft declaration had been prepared by his advisors, with the purpose of preventing the change of government.[24] The draft was allegedly delivered by Filipe Martins, advisor for international affairs.[25] Its content anticipated the arrest of political opponents and justice Alexandre de Moraes.[26]
The plan was allegedly accepted by the commander of the Brazilian Navy, Admiral Almir Garnier Santos. However, General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes of the Brazilian Army reportedly refused to participate, leading to abandonment. Bolsonaro's defense team has said that the statements are slanderous.[27][28][29][30][31][32]
In addition to the military, Cid would have said that Bolsonaro received, in meetings at the presidential palace, various people with coup plans that involved, among other things, using a misinterpretation of article 142 of the Federal Constitution to entrust the armed forces with exercising the moderating power. Warned about the risks, the then-president would have assumed the sad expression that marked his first public appearance after the end of the elections.[33]
The discovery of the draft caused widespread repercussions in Brazilian politics, society, and judiciary. Jurists debated the inherent illegality of possessing of such a document, regardless of its use or the success of its use.[14] Senator Randolfe Rodrigues called for an inquiry by the Supreme Federal Court into the "attempted coup d'état".[14]
During the media uproar that occurred after the draft's discovery, Torres said on social media that the draft was "most likely" a document that was meant to be discarded and shredded by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. According to him, the draft was taken without his knowledge and used out of context, fueling "false narratives" against him.[14] Conversely, his lawyers said that the draft had been handed to him by a "citizen", a narrative inconsistent with internal evidence within the document, clearly written by someone very closely following events.[34]
Jair Bolsonaro's defense team moved to exclude the document from a parallel investigation of his attempt to discredit the electoral system. This investigation arose from a speech against the Superior Electoral Court, delivered at a meeting with ambassadors in 2022. The request was denied, and the document remained part of the evidence.[35]
On 30 June 2023, a majority at the Superior Electoral Court declared Jair Bolsonaro ineligible to hold political power until 2030 for his abuse and misuse of communication media during this meeting.[36]
The Federal Police conducted several forensic examinations and investigations regarding the document, to among other things, trace its circulation among government authorities. According to information gathered by investigators, the draft reached Bolsonaro's aides, as well as members of his reelection committee.[37] An analysis of the various fingerprints found on the document was carried out by the Federal Police,[38] furthermore, efforts were made to trace the printer that originated the document through documentoscopy techniques. The forensic examination aims to verify especially if the draft originated from a public agency, given that the forensic technique in use is only effective in tracing medium or large sized printers, and is less accurate for consumer printers.[39]
On 8 February 2024, the Federal Police carried out thirty-three search and seizure warrants and four preventive detention warrants in Operation Tempus Veritatis ("hour of truth", in Latin). Former special advisor to Bolsonaro, Filipe G. Martins, retired colonel Marcelo Câmara, and major Rafael Martins were arrested. The targets of the search and seizure measures included the president of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, generals Braga Netto, Augusto Heleno, and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, admiral Almir Garnier Santos, former minister Anderson Torres, and Bolsonaro himself, who had his passport seized.[40][41]
The following day, on 9 February 2024, a meeting held on 5 July 2022, where then-President Jair Bolsonaro was recorded instructing ministers on the need to act before the elections to avoid a possible “guerrilla” in Brazil, was made public. The video, found on Mauro Cid's computer, was released by journalist Bela Megale, of the newspaper O Globo. Bolsonaro allegedly ordered the dissemination of fraudulent information to try to reverse the situation in the electoral dispute, alleging supposed electoral frauds that were never proven. The meeting also involved other ministers, including the then-Minister of Defense, who reportedly stated that the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) was an “enemy” of the Bolsonarist group. The recording is part of an investigation into an attempted coup involving military personnel and former ministers.[42][43]
During a meeting, the then minister of the Institutional Security Bureau (GSI), General Augusto Heleno, expressed the intention to infiltrate agents from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) into both Jair Bolsonaro's and his main opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's electoral campaigns. Heleno mentioned the importance of acting before the elections as to avoid possible upheavals, using terms such as "turning the table" and highlighting the need for decisive action before the ballot. President Bolsonaro interrupted Heleno expressing concern about leaks and suggested that such matters be discussed in a private meeting.[44]
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Those being investigated for the possible coup attempt are:[45]
On January 8, 2023, Torres was dismissed from his position as Secretary of Public Security of the Brasilia Federal District due to the 2023 invasion of the Brazilian Congress. The Supreme Court of Brazil also issued an arrest warrant for alleged inaction and collusion with the rioters.[46] Torres denied the allegations. On January 14, 2023, he was arrested upon his return to Brasília.[47]
Mauro Cesar Barbosa Cid, known as Colonel Cid, aide-de-camp to former president Jair Bolsonaro, was preemptively arrested as part of Operation Venire, for collaborating in the falsification of COVID-19 vaccination data in the Ministry of Health system.[48] The seizure of materials at Mauro Cid's house also revealed his collaboration with former major Aylton Gomes in planning and to recruit military and civilians for the coup.[49]
Aylton Gomes, an attorney and former major in the Brazilian Army, was a 2022 Liberal Party candidate for state deputy of Rio de Janeiro. He was arrested as part of Operation Venire and identified as one of the leaders of the attempted coup after the Federal Police examined the contents of Mauro Cid's phone. Gomes was responsible for "inciting groups of demonstrators to embrace antidemocratic agendas", according the PF's report, which also highlighted his proximity to the leaders of the 7 September 2021 protests. [pt][1]
A former advisor to the Casa Civil ministry and former number two at the Ministry of Health, Colonel Élcio Franco was accused of plotting to falsify vaccine records. The Federal Police investigation uncovered his coordination with Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid to plan a coup d'état. In audio messages, Franco suggested mobilizing 1,500 men from the Armed Forces to set off the coup.[2]
Cid and Franco discussed which military units and commanders they thought they could count on. They also discussed using special forces (Batalhão de Operações Especiais) to assassinate then-commander Freire Gomes if he showed an unwillingness to support the coup.[2]
In early February, police raided the home of Bolsonaro’s son, Carlos, in an investigation into misuse of Brazil’s spy agency for spying on anti-government officials and civilians (such as ministers of the supreme federal court and superior electoral court, as well as federal deputies, senators and others).[5]
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