Brazil’s former defense minister arrested in connection with alleged coup plot

Walter Braga Netto is charged with meddling in an investigation into an alleged plot to seize power after the 2022 election

Brazil’s former Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto was arrested on Saturday and charged with interference in an investigation into a planned military coup that he stands accused of organizing and financing.

The arrest follows allegations linking the retired general to efforts to overturn the results of the country’s 2022 election, which was narrowly won by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Braga Netto served as chief of staff under former President Jair Bolsonaro and was also his running mate during Bolsonaro’s unsuccessful reelection campaign against Lula.

Braga Netto has consistently denied any involvement in the alleged conspiracy. His legal team stated on Saturday that they plan to demonstrate that their client hadn’t attempted to hinder the investigation, as reported by Reuters.

The allegations against Braga Netto emerged last month when federal police accused him, along with Bolsonaro, senior aides, and former military leaders, of conspiring to prevent Lula from taking office. A statement by police suggested that the group even considered a scheme to assassinate the current president shortly after his election.

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The arrest follows new evidence indicating that Braga Netto played a more substantial role in the alleged coup plot than previously understood, prompting Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to issue the arrest order.  Investigators claim that the former minister had also attempted to interfere with the police investigation by seeking information about statements made by Mauro Cid, a Bolsonaro aide who is cooperating with authorities.

One of the suspects in the coup plot is retired General Mario Fernandes, who served as a senior advisor to then-President Jair Bolsonaro during his tenure. Lula da Silva returned as Brazil’s president for a third, non-consecutive term in January 2023 after narrowly defeating Bolsonaro in the October 2022 election.

Following the voting results, Bolsonaro claimed that the race had been stolen from him due to a “malfunction” affecting thousands of electronic voting machines. His supporters protested, blocking highways and storming the presidential palace in Brasília on January 8, 2023, just one week after Lula’s inauguration. 

At the time, Bolsonaro was in the United States but later urged an end to the unrest and approved the transition process to Lula’s government. Bolsonaro has since been barred from holding public office in Brazil until 2030. His lawyer, Paulo Cunha Bueno, claimed that the former president had no involvement in or knowledge of the alleged coup plot.