One of the generals closest to Jair Bolsonaro when he served as president of Brazil, and accused of starring with him in the coup plot to reverse the 2022 electoral result, was arrested this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro for allegedly interfering in the investigations. Walter Braga Netto, 67 years old and a senior army commander in the reserve, belongs to the inner circle of the far-right. He was their candidate for vice president in those elections, which he lost, in addition to being Minister of Defense and of the Civil House, a position equivalent to Prime Minister. It is the first time in Brazilian history that a four-star general has been arrested.
Braga Netto was arrested at his home, in the Copacabana neighborhood, on the beach of the same name in Rio de Janeiro. The Federal Police delayed the operation to arrest him for a couple of days because the accused was on vacation with his family in Alagoas, according to the local press. He denies the allegations. “A coup was never discussed, much less plans to assassinate anyone,” declared Braga Netto, through his lawyers, when the police formally accused him of coup plotting, at the end of November, along with Bolsonaro and almost 40 other people. The former ultra-conservative president, who is disqualified for another case, has defended himself by accusing his alleged accomplices by saying that the plan was for a military junta, and not him, to assume power.
Braga Netto has now been arrested by order of Judge Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Court, who accuses him of obstruction of justice for trying to find out, through third parties, details about the confession that opened Pandora’s box in the case. Bolsonaro’s personal secretary, another soldier, Mauro Cid, decided to collaborate with investigators after spending a time in prison. His testimony helped the police understand how the conspirators were organized and is the basis on which the accusations have been built.
The general has been transferred to the Rio military command. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters camped in front of that barracks and others spread across the country the day after the elections that their leader lost to the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to demand military intervention and prevent the transfer of power.
The preventive detention of Braga Netto is a clear message to Bolsonaro and the Armed Forces. The circle around the former president is narrowing. The police accuse him – along with Braga Netto, other soldiers and some civilians – of organizing a coup d’état to reject the result of the elections in 2022 and prevent the return to the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, winner of the elections. The police complaint for plotting the coup has been, for two weeks, in the hands of the State Attorney General, who must decide whether to request charges against the suspects, ask for more evidence or close the case. It is expected to decide in 2025.
The army, for its part, has released a note to say that it “does not comment on processes carried out by other bodies” of the State. The police maintain that if the coup plans did not come to fruition it was because when Bolsonaro tried to recruit the military leadership, the head of the Army and Air Force refused to get involved and warned him that it was illegal.
The Brazilian Federal Police maintains that on the eve of the elections in which he tried to be re-elected, then-President Bolsonaro and his accomplices, most of them military, organized to question the voting system. Once defeated at the polls, they planned to kill Lula and Judge Moraes, fueled protests in favor of military intervention and drafted decrees to give the coup the appearance of legality. These plans did not culminate as their promoters had anticipated. Lula took office on January 1, 2023, with Bolsonaro in the United States to avoid taking over in person. A week later, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked the headquarters of the three powers with the intention of sowing chaos and having the military remove Lula, head of the legitimate State.
Braga Netto’s arrest comes while President Lula, 79, is recovering in a São Paulo hospital from emergency brain surgery following a fall. This Saturday, the president has been admitted for four days. On Friday he left intensive care and his team released some images of him walking. If his improvement continues, they hope to discharge him from the hospital on Monday or Tuesday.
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