MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former military chief admits Bolsonaro approached him to stage a coup d'état

Bolsonaro has denied having attempted a coup d'état in the days following his electoral defeat. Freire's testimony would indicate otherwise

Former Brazilian Army Chief Marco Antonio Freire Gomes admitted Friday before Federal Police investigators that he had been approached by then-President Jair Bolsonaro to explore the possibility of overturning the outcome of the 2022 elections through military actions.

  Freire's statement concurred with those of other high-ranking officers who said Bolsonaro openly entertained the idea of staging a coup d'état after being defeated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the runoff.

According to Freire's testimony, Bolsonaro met on Dec. 7, 2022, and on two other occasions with the military leadership at the Alvorada Palace to seek different legal mechanisms to stay in power after the handover scheduled for Jan. 1, 2023.

On Jan. 8, 2023, scores of Bolsonaristas rampaged through the iconic buildings of the Planalto Palace, the Congress, and the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in Brasilia in a move to encourage the military to overthrow Lula.

According to Brazilian media citing Freire Gomes' testimony leaked to the press, Bolsonaro planned to seize the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to “clarify the conformity and legality of the electoral process,” in addition to imposing a state of siege through a decree similar to the draft found in January 2023 in the house of Bolsonaro's former Justice Minister Anderson Torres.

Freire also stated that he and the former Air Force Chief Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior opposed “in a forceful way” the content exposed by Bolsonaro and assured that “there was no legal support to take any attitude.” The Air Force Chief even warned Bolsonaro that he would arrest him in case he tried to carry out his coup plans. On the other hand, Navy Chief Admiral Garnier Santos did support the uprising.

In light of this testimony, Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes lifted the seal of secrecy from the statements of those investigated by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, including Bolsonaro and the military top brass. This week the STF sentenced another 15 people to prison terms of between 14 and 17 years for the Jan. 8 events, bringing the total number of those sentenced to 131, despite the defense's arguments that their clients intended to participate in a peaceful demonstration and were never in a position to carry out a coup d'état.

Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Bolsonaro has denied having attempted a coup d'état in the days following his electoral defeat. He even left for the United States to avoid handing over the presidential sash to Lula.

Beyond the two military commanders, police have statements from three other witnesses that directly implicate Bolsonaro as the main conspirator behind the coup attempt, a police source told Reuters.