Brazilian federal police have knocked on the door of the house where Jair Bolsonaro spends his summers for the second time in two weeks. If they asked about his son Carlos at the end of January, the agents arrived this Thursday looking for the former president himself (2019-2022) because of his alleged connection to the failed coup attempt a year ago. The right-wing extremist, three soldiers who were his ministers, and several advisors from his closest circle are the targets of a police operation that includes around 30 searches and four arrest warrants against advisors. The agents appeared at Bolsonaro's house in Angra dos Reis, 170 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro, with an order forcing the patriarch to hand over his passport and prohibiting him from leaving the country and having contact with the rest of the persecuted. , according to O Globo. His spokesman said he would abide by the decision and submit the document.
The legal siege surrounding Bolsonaro Sr. has intensified since he lost his immunity after leaving power, but never before had investigators in the most serious case against him, an attempt to abolish the rule of law, contacted the former president directly . It also represents a qualitative leap that among those wanted there are three generals in the reserve: Walter Braga Netto, who was Minister of Defense and candidate for Vice President in the last election, his successor in the ministry Paulo Nogueira Batista and Augusto Heleno, who headed an important ministry such as Institutional Security. Among the people identified by the police, the former head of the Navy, Almir Garnier, and Waldemar Costa Neto, president of the Liberal Party, of which Bolsonaro Sr. is a member, also stand out.
The ongoing operation is part of the investigation into the attempted coup by thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on January 8, 2023, a week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seized power following his election victory.
According to an official statement, police accuse investigators of belonging to “a criminal organization that attempted to carry out a coup” to keep Bolsonaro in power and thereby gain political advantages. Investigators indicate that they organized themselves into cells to spread alleged fraud in the 2022 elections and thus legitimize military intervention. For two months, thousands of people camped outside military barracks across the country, calling for a coup against Lula. They were only dismantled after the uprising.
In the first hours of the police operation, President Lula referred to the news of the day. “I think that [el intento de golpe] Without him it wouldn't have happened. [Bolsonaro]”, he said, according to Efe, during an interview with a radio station. The leftist recalled that after the defeat, his far-right rival “stayed at home crying and went to the United States.” He must have been involved in the construction of this coup attempt. Times see what the research says.”
The trials against Bolsonaro Sr. are based on a variety of topics, from plotting a coup to trying to keep some jewelry the Saudi royal family gave him as president of Brazil. Or the recent disturbance of a humpback whale while riding a jet ski. Since the Supreme Court announced shortly after the failed uprising that it was investigating Bolsonaro for inciting the attack on the headquarters of the three powers, the case against him has produced few relevant developments, but several chess pieces around him have fallen. And the fence became narrower step by step.
First, the police arrested and imprisoned a police commissioner who was the justice minister. The next person arrested was his private secretary, a soldier who accompanied him at all times and brought him his cell phone. Then, on January 29, the agents arrived at the Bolsonaros' summer home to search for Carlos Bolsonaro, a Rio de Janeiro city councilor who is being investigated for illegal spying on thousands of his father's opponents. Now it is the leader of the Brazilian right and some of the retired generals and advisers who accompanied him in government who are in the crosshairs of police and judges.
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