Details about attempted coup d'état expose Bolsonaro and allies

February 8th was the day chosen for the launch of a Federal Police (PF) operation which targeted former president Jair Bolsonaro and members of his government, including state and military ministers. They are being investigated for forming an alleged criminal organization to act in an attempted coup d'état. The operation was called “Tempus Veritatis”, or “Hour of Truth” in free translation.

The operation was launched this Thursday (8) after Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, Mauro Cid, signed a collaboration agreement with PF investigators. The agreement was sent to the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and has already received approval from the STF.

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The investigations showed that the group formulated a draft, with the participation of Bolsonaro, which provided for a series of measures against the Judiciary, including the arrest of Supreme Court ministers. This group also held meetings to encourage the dissemination of fake news against the Brazilian electoral system and monitored the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, responsible for authorizing today's operation.

Targets and prisoners

The Federal Police carried out 33 search and seizure warrants and four preventive arrest warrants. By order of Moraes, those being investigated are prohibited from maintaining contact and leaving the country. They also need to hand over their passports within 24 hours and are suspended from performing public duties.

All measures were approved by the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Paulo Gonet.

Among them was the delivery of former president Jair Bolsonaro's passport the authorities.

Among the search and seizure targets were the former head of the Institutional Security Office (GSI) General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, the former Minister of the Civil House Walter Souza Braga Netto, the former Minister of Defense Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira and former Minister of Justice Anderson Torres.

Felipe Martins and Army Colonel Marcelo Costa Câmara, both former special advisors to Bolsonaro, and Major Rafael Martins de Oliveira were arrested.

PL's national president, Valdemar Costa Neto, ended being arrested for illegally carrying a weaponin Brasília, at the time the agents were carrying out the search and seizure warrant against him.

Investigations indicate that the organization was divided into six groups to act in the attempted coup d'état and attack on the Democratic Rule of Law: disinformation and attacks on the electoral system; that of inciting a coup among military personnel; legal action; the coordination of operational support actions; that of parallel intelligence, and that of high-ranking officers who legitimized all actions.

See who was targeted in the operation:

– Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, former head of the Institutional Security Office (GSI);

– Walter Souza Braga Netto, former Minister of the Civil House and Defense;

– General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former Minister of Defense;

– Ângelo Martins Denicoli, reserve major;

– Aílton Gonçalves Moraes Barros, retired Army colonel;

– Colonel Guilherme Marques Almeida;

– Lieutenant Colonel Hélio Ferreira Lima;

– Lieutenant Colonel Sérgio Ricardo Cavaliere de Medeiros

– Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, former commander-general of the Navy;

– General Mário Fernandes;

– General Estevam Cals Theophilo Gaspar de Oliveira, former head of the Army's Land Operations Command;

– Laércio Vergílio, retired brigadier general;

– Paulo Renato de Oliveira Figueiredo Filho;

– Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice;

– Valdemar Costa Neto, national president of PL;

– Felipe Martins, former special advisor to Jair Bolsonaro;

– Colonel Bernardo Romão Correa Neto;

– Marcelo Costa Câmara, reserve colonel;

– Major Rafael Martins de Oliveira.

The measures were complied with in the following states: Amazonas, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Paraná and Goiás, in addition to the Federal District. The Army monitored the execution of some warrants.

Coup draft

According to the Federal Police, the group prepared a draft decree that aimed to carry out a coup d'état.

The text was delivered to the former president in 2022 by Filipe Martins, then advisor to the President for International Affairs, and by lawyer Amauri Feres Saad, appointed as the document's intellectual mentor.

The document provided for the arrests of Supreme Court ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes, and also of the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), in addition to the holding of new elections.

After receiving the text, Bolsonaro requested changes and the removal of the Mendes and Pacheco prisons from the text. In the new version, Moraes' arrest and the call for new elections remained.

“As described, the information collected revealed that Jair Bolsonaro received a draft decree presented by Filipe Martins and Amauri Feres Saad to carry out a coup d'état, detailing alleged interference by the Judiciary in the Executive Branch and, in the end, decreed the arrest of several authorities, including the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes, in addition to the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco and, finally, determined the holding of new elections. Subsequently, changes were made at the request of the then president, with the determination of the arrest of Minister Alexandre de Moraes and the holding of new elections remaining”, says an excerpt from Moraes’ decision that authorized the operation.

After agreeing to the new text, Bolsonaro called a meeting with the commanders of the Armed Forces – Admiral Almir Garnier Santos (Navy), General Marco Antonio Freire Gomes (Army) and Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Batista Júnior (Air Force) – to put pressure on them to join the coup.

Meeting of “coup dynamics”

Another event revealed by the investigations was a meeting called by Bolsonaro with the top leadership of the federal government, on July 5, 2022. At the meeting, the then president asked those present to use their positions to disseminate false information about alleged fraud in the elections. A video recording of the meeting was found on one of former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid's computers.

“From now on I want every minister to say what I’m going to say here, and I’m going to show it. If the minister doesn’t want to talk, he will come and talk to me because he does
n’t want to talk”, said Bolsonaro, according to a transcript made by the PF,

At the same meeting, General Augusto Heleno, then chief minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), argued that it was necessary to act before the presidential elections in October of that year to guarantee Bolsonaro's permanence in command of the country. And he used a sports reference – the video assistant, a resource used to correct refereeing errors on the playing field – to state that once held, the election could not be contested.

“There will be no VAR review. So, whatever has to be done has to be done before the elections. If I have to punch the table, it's before the elections. If we have to turn the tables, it’s before the elections,” he said.

Heleno even proposed that employees of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) be infiltrated in electoral campaigns. Bolsonaro interrupted the general's speech and advised them to talk about the topic later, in private.

From this meeting, the PF points out that a sequence of events was carried out to plan the coup, based on messages extracted from Mauro Cid's cell phones and in which the assistant takes on the task of coordinating the dissemination of attacks on the Electoral Court .

“The description of the meeting on July 5, 2022, clearly reveals the arrangement of coup dynamics, within the scope of the highest government leadership, with all those investigated who took part in it expressing themselves in order to validate and amplify the massive disinformation and fraudulent narratives about elections and electoral justice”, describes the PF.

Moraes Monitoring

Federal police officers also identified that the group monitored the movements of minister Alexandre de Moraes between Brasília and São Paulo, on different dates in December 2022.

The monitoring was discovered in messages exchanged between Mauro Cid and the Army colonel, Marcelo Câmara, who served as a special advisor to the Presidency of the Republic and was preventively arrested this Thursday. In the messages, Mauro Cid referred to the Supreme Court minister as “professor”.

“The investigation found that the movements between Brasília and São Paulo by Minister Alexandre de Moraes coincide with those of the person who was being monitored and accompanied by the group. Thus, the term 'professor' used by Mauro Cid and Marcelo Câmara would be a codename for the action that targeted Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, and president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), “informed the Federal Police

January 8 attacks

The Federal Police points out that members of the group exchanged messages about the organization of anti-democratic acts on January 8, 2023, which resulted in attacks and vandalism of the headquarters of the Three Powers, in Brasília.

Mauro Cid and Army Major Rafael Martins de Oliveira talked about a caravan going from Rio de Janeiro to the events. Cid asked the major to estimate the cost of hotel, food and other expenses. Oliveira estimated expenses of around R$100,000.

According to the PF, the dialogue brings strong evidence that Rafael de Oliveira “acted directly, directing the protesters to targets of interest to those being investigated, such as the STF and the National Congress, in addition to carrying out financial and operational coordination to support anti-democratic acts” under the guidance of Cid, responsible for arranging financing for the acts.

* Pedro Peduzzi, Felipe Pontes and TV Brasil collaborated