Former commander declares that he affirmed the FAB's opposing position to the plan after finding the meeting between GSI and Bolsonaro strange
The former commander of the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior reported to the PF (Federal Police) that the then head of the GSI (Institutional Security Office), Augusto Heleno, was “astonished” upon learning of the refusal of high-ranking military personnel to take part in an alleged coup d'état.
The testimony, given on February 17th, had its confidentiality overturned this Friday (15th March 2024) by order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, from STF (Federal Court of Justice). Here's the complete (PDF – 5 MB).
The meeting between Baptista and Heleno took place in São José do Campos (SP), at the graduation of the grandson of the then GSI minister in ITA (Aeronautics Technological Institute) on December 16, 2022.
At the end of the ceremony, Heleno would have looked for the former commander to ask if he could return on the FAB plane to Brasília. The reason would be an urgent meeting with the former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) the next day.
Baptista stated that, finding the urgency of the meeting, scheduled for the weekend, strange, he called Heleno to talk in a private room.
During the dialogue, he stated “categorically to General Heleno that the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) would not agree to any movement of democratic rupture”. He said he asked the military to pass the message on to Bolsonaro, as he was not invited to the meeting.
With the answer, according to him, Heleno “He was astonished and didn’t talk about the matter.”
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