Brazil | The police are chasing dozens of coup plotters in Argentina

Brazil is tracking down dozens of its citizens who have fled the law to Argentina after taking part in riots in the capital’s power center last year.

The previous president of Brazil, a far-right Jair Bolsonaro supporters stormed the House of Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court, causing untold destruction in the capital Brasília on January 8, 2023. They called for the armed forces to stop the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rise to power – that is, a military coup.

of Brazil Federal police this week asked Argentina for information about the Brazilians they are looking for, and the police say the report could lead to extradition requests.

According to the Reuters news agency, Brazilian police officials estimate that there are 50-100 Bolsonaro supporters in the neighboring country, who have sought the right-wing Javier Milein started as president of Argentina last December. Milei’s predecessor was a leftist Alberto Fernandez.

Most of those tracked have been charged or even already sentenced for rebellion and vandalism in the center of power in Brasília. They face a maximum of 17 years in prison for attempted coup, said a senior police official Andrei Rodrigues According to Reuters.

The court had imposed travel restrictions on them, and some wore ankle bracelets to monitor their whereabouts.

Last week, according to the news agency AFP, the Brazilian police announced that they had arrested 48 refugees from different parts of Brazil in the course of a few days. Some of them had broken their ankle bracelets or failed to appear before the court.

Presidential elections in October 2022 were the flattest in Brazil’s history. Lula beat Bolsonaro by 50.9 to 49.1 percent. Bolsonaro had already sown doubts among his supporters about the dishonesty of the elections. There was no indication before or after the reality of such a thing.

The police investigation suspects Bolsonaro has developed a detailed plan to nullify his election defeat and usurp power. According to information from the investigation last February, Bolsonaro is suspected of planning a coup with his inner circle for months, step by step, including financing and logistics.

Right-wing people Brazilian MPs, including Jair Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo Bolsonarovisited Buenos Aires in May to request that the Argentine government treat the fugitives as political exiles.

Bolsonaro’s former vice president, senator Hamilton Mourão said on social media that the fugitives did not believe they would receive a fair trial in Brazil, according to Reuters.

Brazilian police said they believe most of the missing Bolsonaro supporters have applied for asylum on grounds of political persecution, according to Reuters.

“Taking into account the differences between Milei’s and Lula’s governments so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if Milei would at least put a stick in the handover cart”, political researcher André Cesar assessed to Reuters.