Brazil arrests 5 military, police officials in alleged plot to kill President Lula
SAO PAULO — Brazilian police arrested five officers accused of a coup plot that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 election and kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, authorities said.
According to the investigation, the coup plotters also planned to kill Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Brazilian media said the five arrested included four members of the military and one police officer.
The police said that five arrest warrants had been carried out, as well as three search and seizure warrants and other measures, including seizing the suspects’ passports and preventing them from contacting others.
De Moraes, who authorized the arrests, said a police investigation revealed the coup plot involved military personnel trained in the army’s special forces and a retired high-ranking official.
“The objective was to prevent the inauguration of the legitimately elected government and undermine the free exercise of democracy and the authority of Brazil’s judiciary,” De Moraes said in the order.
Four years ago, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s political future was in tatters. On Sunday, voters in Brazil chose him once again to lead their country.
“These actions, peaking between November and December 2022, were part of a broader plan to carry out a coup d’état,” he added.
The developments Tuesday followed statements by two top Brazilian military leaders who declared to
police earlier this year that former President Jair Bolsonaro had presented them with a plan for him to remain in power after the 2022 election, which he lost to Lula.
However, both military officials refused and warned Bolsonaro that they would arrest him if he tried to execute the plan, according to judicial documents released in March.
The statements by the two added to the former president’s legal woes as prosecutors seek to find links between the far-right leader and the Jan. 8, 2023, riots that trashed government buildings in Brasilia, the capital, one week after Lula’s inauguration.
Lula was informed of the warrants early Tuesday, according to media reports in Brazil, but he did not comment on the police operation.
The Brazilian president was hosting the final day of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, and holding bilateral meetings with U.S. President Biden and other leaders.
Lula made no mention of the arrests during his speech at the summit.
Pessoa writes for the Associated Press.
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