Coup plan is serious, but reminiscent of “Os Trapalhões”

How can a president and his team openly talk about carrying out a coup d'état and film everything? Now, even people who have never plotted against democracy know that crime planning should not be recorded. It is very serious and scandalous. Since Thursday (08/02), when the Federal Police (PF) carried out an operation as part of investigations into an alleged coup attempt promoted by former president Jair Bolsonaro and part of his allies to prevent Lula's election , we are all, Democrats in Brazil, in shock.

The scariest thing was seeing the video of a “coup articulation” meeting, which would have taken place in July 2022 and had its secrecy broken on Friday.

There, we saw the former president clearly talking about interfering in the elections and close allies, such as General Augusto Heleno, talking about “turning the tables”, among other anti-democratic absurdities. We had never seen an attack against democracy so serious and clear before our eyes (which, as Brazilian eyes, have seen many absurdities in this life).

But, beyond the gravity, which can never be trivialized, we look at the details and it seems as if we were watching a satirical comedy film about an attempted coup in the style of Os Trapalhões.

There are many questions in the face of many absurdities. And, if this really were a film, someone would say that the screenwriter exaggerated. Even for a coup Loucademia-style comedy, some of the real events surrounding the operation seem too bizarre, even by Brazilian standards.

To begin with, how can a head of government and his team openly talk about staging a coup – “turning the tables” and interfering in the elections that is – and FILM the whole thing? Well, even we, who have never plotted against democracy, watch series and know that, in this type of “meeting”, the “guests” are instructed to put their cell phones on a tray! One of the hypotheses investigated by fellow journalists is that the former president had asked for the meeting to be recorded so that “cuts” could be sent to his supporters.

What is this idea, guys? Every person – even those who have never been close to a criminal environment – ​​knows that you cannot record a meeting planning a crime, especially one so serious against the democratic rule of law.

The recording was found in the home of Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, who was arrested in May 2023 and signed a plea bargain agreement. Perhaps Cid kept the images to blackmail Bolsonaro or negotiate with the police if he was arrested, some say. But, even if that were the case, a less clumsy scammer would make sure that recording was deleted after the plan didn't go ahead, right? After all, this is blatant proof of a crime. Yes, people, not only would they have planned to commit a crime, but they have also already advanced the police's work by producing evidence.

Coup minutes

It wasn't just that. The Federal Police also found, last Thursday, a draft of the coup – the name that is being used for the planning and execution documents of the alleged coup – printed, ready, in Bolsonaro's office in his party, the PL. The document is frightening and there is nothing funny about it, as it says, in all letters, that a “state of siege” would be instituted in Brazil. This means they could arrest opponents, journalists and carry out other undemocratic acts. Scandalous and scary.

But how did they leave this in print, and in Bolsonaro's office? Again, the PF must be very grateful to have had its work made so much easier. Bolsonaro's lawyer gave the following explanation for the document being printed and in the former president's office. According to him, Jair didn't like reading on his cell phone and asked for it to be printed because he had “vision problems”. He denies that Bolsonaro was aware of the document.

Before that, another “coup draft” had already been found, in January 2023, this time on the computer of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres. Yes, they documented a possible scam on paper and left the documents on their computers. They didn't even bother to hide it.

On Friday we also learned that General Augusto Heleno, who was Chief Minister of the Institutional Security Office (look at the risk) in the Bolsonaro government, wrote down the coup plans by hand in an agenda. Look what a simple thing. Yes, he would have planned a crime and written it in the diary in the “my dear diary” style.

How were they able to leave so much evidence? How did they make so many mistakes? There are those who think there is a method to this. Others say it was just incompetence. What also appears is that those accused of the coup were sure of impunity, which is why they were so “careless”.

But one thing is certain: the “Clumsy” side of this undemocratic plan may have helped save our democracy. It gives me chills to think about what could have happened if these coup ideas had worked. It's very serious. And we can't forget.

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Nina Lemos is a journalist and writer. She has been writing about feminism and behavior since the 2000s, when she launched the group “02 Neuron” with two friends. She was a columnist for Folha de S.Paulo and UOL. She is one of the creators of TPM magazine. In 2015, she moved to Berlin, a city she is madly in love with. Since then, she has lived between Brazilian news and German classes.

The text reflects the author's opinion, not necessarily that of DW.