There Was Justice in Brazil: Bolsonaro Guilty

Donald Trump's threats and sanctions, barked out by his faithful henchman Marco Rubio, were in vain: the Brazilian justice system made history, sentencing former president Jair Messias Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for leading an attempted coup d'état and approving the plan to assassinate Brazil's legitimate president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The investigation into the matter lasted about two years, during which time evidence was accumulated against the aforementioned Messias, some of which we will release to corroborate Lula's claim about the hundreds of pieces of evidence that justify the sentence, which defense lawyers will try to appeal, while the majority conservative Congress will try to obtain an amnesty.

The initial accusation came from the Federal Police (PF), which named Bolsonaro as the leader of the criminal organization planning a coup d'état to keep him in power after his defeat in the 2022 elections.

The information was part of a report submitted by the PF to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), made public on Tuesday (11/26), it accuses the former president and 36 other people of three crimes: attempted coup d'état and abolition of the democratic rule of law.
BBC News Brazil cited the part of the document in which it’s stipulated that “the evidence obtained throughout the investigation demonstrates unequivocally that the then president of the Republic, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, planned, acted and had direct and effective control of the executing acts carried out by the criminal organization that aimed to carry out a coup d'etat and the abolition of the democratic state of law.
At another time of the document, Bolsonaro's leadership about the organization is described: "The probative framework collected indicates that the investigated group, led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro, at that time President of the Republic, created, developed and disseminated the false narrative of the existence of vulnerability and fraud in the country's electronic voting system since 2019, with the aim of sedimenting in the population the false reality of electoral fraud."
 This narrative had two objectives: 
"First, it should not be interpreted as a possible casuistic act in case of electoral defeat and, second and most relevant, it should be used as the basis for the acts that followed after the defeat of the then candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 elections." 

Bolsonaro would have been aware of the plan prepared by the allies with the aim of murdering Lula da Silva and vice president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB). The plan, according to the PF, was called "green and yellow daga operation". 

"The evidence collected, such as the entry and exit records of the visitors of the Palace of the Alvorada Cup code 2022, the content of dialogues among his closest accolades, the analysis of cellphones antennas, dates, and rendezvous places show that Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of the planning of it (Greeen and Yellow Daga) as well as clandestine actions carried under the code name Copa 2022, says the report. 

Judge Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, eliminated the secret of the PF investigation that accused the former president and another 36 people investigated at the time of coup d'etat and criminal organization. 
The agency said it had obtained evidence throughout the investigation, which has lasted almost two years, through the violation of the telematic, telephone, banking, fiscal, guilt negotiation, raids and seizures, among other measures authorized by the Judiciary. 
The investigations indicated that the investigated were structured through the division of tasks between different groups: 
a) Disinformation Center and attacks on the electoral system; b) Core responsible for inciting military personnel to join the coup d'etat) legal nucleus; d) Operational Core of support for coup actions; e) Parallel Intelligence Center; f) Nucleus of high -ranking and support officers (previously called the core of compliance with coercive measures). 

The PF accused those investigated for the crimes of coup d'etat, violent abolition of the democratic state of law and criminal organization. 
This is the third accusation of Bolsonaro this year by the police. The former president was also accused in the case of Saudi jewels and the alleged fraud on his vaccination card COVID-19. His defense denies any crime. 
The accusations 

When requesting the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro for the coup attempt, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) cited various tests collected during the investigation, including text messages,
“The body of evidence obtained during the investigation, including seized materials, broadcasts, interviews, and witness statements, demonstrates the defendant's responsibility for the actions that ended in the violent events of January 8, 2023,” stated Attorney General Paulo Gonet. One of the main findings of the investigation was the drafting of a decree with coup-like overtones, presented by Bolsonaro to the commanders of the Armed Forces. The episode was recounted by Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, in his discrediting agreement. The account was corroborated by several other elements, including statements from former commanders, as well as messages and entry records at the Alvorada Palace. Telling as prosecution witnesses, former commanders Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior (Air Force) and Marco Antonio Freire Gomes (Army) confirmed the meetings at the Alvorada Palace and reported that they discussed alternative measures to the electoral defeat, such as the state of defense and siege, and the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) operation. Baptista Júnior added that the then-commander of the Navy, Almir Garnier Santos, had placed his troops at Bolsonaro's disposal. One of the pieces of evidence cited is an audio message sent by Mauro Cid to Freire Gomes on December 9, 2022, in which he claims that Bolsonaro "simplified" the decree.
"He simplified the decree, right? Those considerations he saw simplified the decree, making it much more concise," Cid declared at the time.

The former president himself admits to the conversations, even in response to a ruling by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), but claims they were based on mechanisms provided for in the Constitution and that nothing was implemented.

Freire Gomes and Baptista Júnior also reported being pressured to join the coup. One of the pressure mechanisms was the document called "Letter to the Army Commander from Senior Officers of the Brazilian Army on Active Duty." Active-duty military personnel are forbidden from making political statements.

After the commanders' refusal to join the coup, a wave of attacks on social media erupted. Former minister Walter Braga Netto helped encourage them, while also praising Almir Garnier. “He's offering his head. A coward,” Braga Netto said of Freire Gomes. “He makes life miserable for him and his family,” he said at another point about Baptista Junior, adding, “He praises Garnier and gets angry at JB.”

COUP D'ÉTAT

Bolsonaro was not only aware of the draft of a coup decree, but also suggested changes to the document.

The draft was discovered by the Federal Police in 2023 and contained measures that prevented Lula's inauguration in 2023, established a commission to review the electoral process, and even provided for the arrest of Alexandre de Moraes, who at the time presided over the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The draft also established a Defense State in Brazil.

"The investigation obtained evidence corroborating that then-President Jair Bolsonaro, with the support of the criminal organization's legal core, drafted a decree that envisioned an institutional rupture, preventing the legitimately elected government from taking office, and establishing the State of Defense Decree within the jurisdiction of the Superior Electoral Tribunal," reads an excerpt from the document.

As previously noted, the plan allegedly included the assassination of Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), and Minister Alexandre de Moraes.

Five people were arrested, including four Army soldiers (Mario Fernandes, Helio Ferreira Lima, Rodrigo Bezerra Azevedo, and Rafael Martins de Oliveira) and a federal police officer (Wladimir Matos Soares).

They were known as "black children," a slang term generally used to refer to military personnel serving on special missions.

A document found in Mario Fernandes's files provided for the creation of an "institutional crisis management office" that would begin operating on December 16, 2022, amid the deaths of officials and the coup d'état.

The Federal Police reported that this office would be headed by General Augusto Heleno. General Braga Netto would serve as general coordinator.

TRUMP CONCURSED

Previously, in statements to the press, US President Donald Trump declared himself "surprised" by the conviction and defended Bolsonaro, one of his allies abroad, as a "good man."

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry emphasized that the judiciary carried out the trial "with the independence guaranteed by the 1988 Constitution" and stressed that the defendants "had ample right to defense."

"Brazilian democratic institutions responded to the coup attempt," the statement stated, emphasizing that Brazil will defend its sovereignty "from attacks and attempts at interference, no matter where they come from."

The Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for conspiring against the democratic order following his defeat in the 2022 elections to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Last August, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on a large portion of Brazilian products exported to the United States in retaliation for the Bolsonaro case.

The US administration also sanctioned and barred Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the investigator in the Bolsonaro case, from entering the country, accusing him of conducting a "witch hunt."

Asked about a possible US response to a Bolsonaro conviction, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that freedom of expression is a "priority" for Trump, adding that the president "is not afraid to use his country's economic and military power" to protect it "around the world."

Lula's government responded by condemning the threat and stating that "the first step in protecting freedom of expression is precisely to defend democracy and respect the popular will expressed at the ballot box."

One of Bolsonaro's sons, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, has been in the United States for six months, pressuring authorities there to support his father against the Brazilian justice system's actions.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff