‘It cost me many friendships’: former Brazil military chief reveals inside struggle to stop Bolsonaro’s coup
Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior describes 2022 meeting in new book as ex-leader’s son vies with Lula for presidency The far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro was in his final days as Brazil’s president when, six weeks after losing the election and still refusing to recognise the result, he summoned the heads of the armed forces to a meeting. The defence minister, Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de…
In the final days of Brazil's presidency, Jair Bolsonaro summoned the armed forces' leaders to a secret meeting to discuss invalidating Lula da Silva's election. The defense minister then presented a draft decree to invalidate Lula and keep Bolsonaro in power. Former air force head Lt Brig Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior refused to participate, stating that the air force would not take part in this coup.
Despite the plot failing due to the involvement of Baptista Júnior and the army commander, Gen Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, the investigation found the navy commander, Adm Almir Garnier Santos, and Nogueira guilty of attempting a coup. Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest. Baptista Júnior wrote a book to expose Bolsonaro's attempts to retain power after losing the election, detailing the various ways the president tried to cling to power.
The timing of the book's publication, just before the presidential election, has drawn accusations of influencing the vote, but Baptista Júnior states he will vote neither for Lula nor Flávio Bolsonaro, criticizing both in the book.
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