Brazil's ex-President Bolsonaro and 36 others charged for plotting coup against Lula

The political tussle in Brazil intensified after the country’s former President Jair Bolsonaro and some of his closest allies were charged for being involved in a criminal conspiracy designed to obliterate Brazil’s democratic system through a rightwing coup d’état.

On Thursday, Brazil’s federal police confirmed that investigators had concluded their long-running investigation into the matter. The authorities noted that Bolsonaro and his allies were involved in a “coordinated attempt to “violently dismantle the constitutional state,” The Guardian reported.

In a statement, the federal officials mentioned that they had charged 37 people in the case and forwarded the report to the Brazilian Supreme Court. The charges focused on crimes including “involvement in an attempted coup, the formation of a criminal organization, and trying to tear down one of the world’s largest democracies.”

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The prominent accused in the case is Bolsonaro, a disgraced army captain turned populist politician, who served as the president of the country, from 2018 until the end of 2022, as well as some of the most important members of his far-right administration.

The list of Bolsonaro’s allies charged in the case comprises Bolsonaro’s former spy chief, the far-right congressman Alexandre Ramagem; the former defence ministers Gen Walter Braga Netto and Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; the former minister of justice and public security Anderson Torres; the former minister of institutional security Gen Augusto Heleno; the former navy commander Adm Almir Garnier Santos; the president of Bolsonaro’s political party, Valdemar Costa Neto; and Filipe Martins, one of Bolsonaro’s top foreign policy advisers.

Gen João Baptista Figueiredo, one of the military rulers who governed Brazil during its 1964-85 dictatorship was also included in the case. Interestingly, the federal authorities charged Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentinian digital marketing guru who was overseeing communication for Argentina’s President Javier Milei, during his 2023 presidential campaign. The Buenos Aires-based marketing expert is touted as the “political son” of Bolsonaro.

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The federal investigation was concluded days after the Brazilian police made five arrests as part of a roundup of alleged members of a plot to assassinate Bolsonaro’s leftwing successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Shortly before the authorities announced the conclusion of the investigation, the Brazilian president lauded the efforts of the security officials and expressed gratitude that the attempt to poison him had failed. “I’m alive,” the 79-year-old leader said during a speech.

Gen Mario Fernandes, one of the five people arrested for orchestrating the “Green and Yellow Dagger” assassination plan against Lula was also among the 37 people named by the federal police in the Thursday statement. “We are at war,” Fernandes allegedly said in one message discovered by police investigators.

Bolsonaro reacts

The former president has previously denied involvement in the attempt to overturn the result of the 2022 election, which he eventually lost to Lula. However, while speaking to Brazilian news outlet Metrópoles after being charged, he said that he needed to see what was in the investigation. “I’m going to wait for the lawyer,” Bolsonaro added.

In the Thursday statement, the federal police noted that they are charging 37 people based on a large trove of evidence gathered through plea deals, searches and the analysis of financial, internet and phone records. After narrowly losing his re-election bid, Bolsonaro flew into temporary exile in the US while thousands of supporters caused rampage during Lula’s inauguration ceremony.

While Lula is still in power, his administration continues to face threats from Bolsonaro’s supporters. Last week, a member of Bolsonaro’s political party was killed after apparently blowing himself up with homemade explosives while attacking the country’s supreme court. While investigating the incident, the police found a cap emblazoned with the slogan of Bolsonaro’s far-right movement: “Brazil above everything. God above all.”

Shortly after the charges came to light, Paulo Pimenta, Lula’s communications minister, said the government was “utterly perplexed and outraged” by the revelations. “These are very grave crimes [and] very serious accusations,” added Pimenta, who said Lula’s administration would now wait for the public prosecutor’s office to decide which of the 37 would be prosecuted and put on trial,” Pimenta said in a statement.

“Those convicted would have to pay for the crimes they had committed against democracy, against the constitution and against the Brazilian people, said Pimenta. “Bolsonaro in Jail”, the minister wrote alongside his video, echoing a call from many progressive Brazilians,” he added.

With inputs from agencies.