This Monday, March 18, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said that his country “ran serious risk of having a coup d'état,” in reference to the investigation into the assault on the Plaza de los Tres Poderes instigated by former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Several members of the FF. AA. They stated that Bolsonaro met with them to plan an eventual coup after losing the 2022 elections by a narrow margin to Lula.
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It is a call to preserve democracy. This Monday, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called for “consolidating” democracy in reference to the assault on the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, in Brasilia, instigated by former president Jair Bolsonaro, on January 8, 2023.
“Today we are sure that this country ran a serious risk of having a coup d'état,” Lula said at the opening of a meeting with his cabinet of ministers.
And on Friday, March 15, the Brazilian Federal Police revealed the testimony of several former commanders of the national Army and Air Force: they were twice called to meetings to discuss a possible coup d'état to remain in power after their defeat. election in 2022.
Marco Antonio Freire Gomes and Carlos Baptista Júnior, former commanders of the Army and Aeronautics, declared before the Police that they met several times with Bolsonaro and his closest advisors for this purpose.
Ongoing research also indicates that Bolsonaro's plan was for Lula to decree the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) law, which gave power to the FF. AA. to pave the way for a definitive blow. At the center of this coup plot would be Bolsonaro himself as the person most responsible for trying to prevent Lula from assuming power on January 1, 2023.
In this regard, the current president pointed out this Monday that he did not return to “the dark times” of the military dictatorship (1964-1985) – an example for Bolsonaro to follow, as he has repeated on several occasions – because “some people from the Forces The Armed Forces did not want to and did not agree to join the coup attempt.
Bolsonaro, who has always denied any participation in the coup attempt, is listed as being investigated in the case and, although formal charges have not yet been filed against him, the Supreme Court has forced him to hand over his passport and has prohibited him from leaving Brazil. .
Bolsonaro has remained firm on the matter. On Saturday he did not directly address the accusations made by two Armed Forces commanders, but he said “not to be afraid.”
“I do not fear any trial, as long as the judges are impartial,” Bolsonaro said at a political rally in Rio de Janeiro this Saturday in which he endorsed Alexandre Ramagem, his candidate for mayor of the city in the October local elections.
In addition, the former far-right president – disqualified until 2030 – took the opportunity to ensure that he is “politically persecuted” by Lula and said that he is “a thorn in the left side.”
But the left-wing president does not see it the same way.
Bolsonaro was a coward and did not have the courage to carry out his authoritarian project (…) Instead, he stayed at home crying and fled to the US.
“Bolsonaro was a coward and did not have the courage to carry out his authoritarian project (…) Instead, he stayed at home crying and fled to the United States for the next three months in the expectation that the coup would occur.” later,” Lula said.
To combat a similar attempt, the member of the Workers' Party (PT, left) made a request to his 38 ministers: consolidate the democratic process, preach respect for institutions and guarantee respect for the Constitution.
“We know that there was an attempted coup in this country, but the people were wiser and braver (…) The only possibility of rebuilding this country is by consolidating the democratic process and making people understand how important democracy is” , he pointed out.
All at a time when the president's popularity is on the decline, ten days after a survey was released that placedor the approval percentage of Lula's Government around 33%, the worst figure since he took power. Therefore, he promised that “there is still much to do” during his term.
With EFE, Reuters and local media
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