The Federal Police of Brazil deployed this Thursday A vast operation against the very close allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro, among many of them military, for attempting a coup to keep the now far-right ex-president in power and prevent the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. For the same reason, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge ordered the former president to hand over his passport within 24 hours.
The decision was made by Judge Alexandre de Moraeswhich is conducting investigations in the High Court the coup plot which, according to the authorities, acted during and after the elections of 2022 to keep Bolsonaro in power.
According to the Brazilian press, those are also among the objectives of the operation former ministers and army generals Walter Braga Netto, Augusto Heleno and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, who were part of Bolsonaro’s cabinet (2019-2022), and the former Navy commander, Almir Garnier Santos.
He is also searched former Minister of Justice Anderson Torresalready under investigation for the January 8, 2023 coup attempt carried out by Bolsonaro supporters, and Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the Liberal Party (PL), led by the former Brazilian president.
What happened on January 8, 2023?
On January 8, 2023, a group of protesters supporting the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, They attacked government institutions in Brasiliathe capital of the country.
Protesters They arrived in Brasilia by bus and truck from various parts of the country, summoned by Bolsonaro through social networks.
Once arriving in Brasilia, the protesters first headed to the National Congress, where they broke security barriers and entered the building. Some of them carried banners and shouted slogans in support of Bolsonaro, while others clashed with police and security guards.
Some protesters succeeded reach the plenary session of Congress and caused damage in furniture and equipment. In the meantime, another group of demonstrators headed to the Planalto Palace, seat of the Brazilian government. There they confronted the police and managed to enter the building, where they caused damage and ransacked some offices. They also attempted to reach the presidential office but were stopped by the security guard. They also attacked the Palace of Justice.
The situation remained tense for several hours, until finally the police and security guards managed to control the situation and evict the protesters from government buildings.
“A criminal organization”
The federal police suspect this group of politicians and military a “criminal organization” That acted “in an attempted coup” to “keep the then President of the Republic in power”, we read in a note from the institution.
Officers completed this Thursday 33 search warrants, 4 prison orders and 48 precautionary measures against the suspectswhich provide for “a ban on maintaining contact” with the rest of the suspects e leave the country; the suspension of public functions and the obligation to surrender the passport.
The Federal Police did not specify against whom the detention orders issued by the Supreme Court were directed.
The investigation indicates that the group investigated “has been divided into groups of action to spread” suspicions of fraud in the 2022 elections, in which Lula defeated Bolsonaro, who was seeking re-election, “even before the elections took place.”
According to the Police, with this strategy They tried to “legitimize a military intervention”.
Those under investigation presumably they constructed a narrative sow doubts about the election results through false information about electronic ballot boxes which the country has used since 1996 in its electoral processes and which has never caused problems.
According to the Federal Police, there was a second nucleus of action which “consisted in the practice of acts aimed at subsidizing the abolition of the democratic rule of law, through a coupwith the support of military personnel with special forces knowledge and tactics in a politically sensitive environment.”
Those facts They culminated in the January 8, 2023 uprising. Lula had taken power a week earlier.
For this episode, Bolsonaro is under investigation for having incited his acolytes to take power by force.
With information about the agency
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.