In the final report of the investigation into the preparation of a coup d’état to keep former president Jair Bolsonaro in power after his electoral defeat in 2022, the Federal Police (PF) found a document that describes the formation and functioning of an “Institutional Office of Crisis Management”. The purpose, according to the document itself, would be to “establish strategic, security and administrative guidelines for the management of the institutional crisis”. For the PF, it would be the body that would command the country after a coup d’état.
In the document, it is recorded that the activation of the cabinet would be on December 16, 2022, in the Supreme Meeting Room of Palácio do Planalto, and with a “24/7” working regime. The PF investigation showed that the plan was to be implemented the day before, December 15th.
On that date, Bolsonaro would sign a decree providing for the installation of a state of defense in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to hold new elections. The text also provided for the arrest of minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court and then president of the TSE.
The investigation also showed that there was a plan to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin. According to the PF, the coup did not materialize because Bolsonaro did not receive support from the commanders of the Army and Air Force, and the Army High Command, to sign the state of defense decree in the TSE.
“The analysis of the structure that would be created and the content of the actions, demonstrates that the document refers to an act of the Executive power, after the consummation of the coup d’état, which would be consummated on 15/12/2022, for the institution of a Crisis Management Office, to advise the then President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro in managing the events arising from the institutional rupture”, describes the PF in the report.
A PF investigation discovered that the document was created and modified by General Mario Fernandes. The military man is one of the main suspects of encouraging and plotting the coup d’état and at the time held the position of executive secretary of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic .
If the coup were carried out, the crisis cabinet would have as its chief of staff General Augusto Heleno, then chief minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI); and as general coordinator, General Walter Braga Netto, former Minister of the Civil House and Defense and at the time special advisor to Jair Bolsonaro. The other members would all be military personnel, with the exception of one, Bolsonaro’s former international advisor Filipe Martins.
The crisis cabinet would have as its “strategic objective” “to provide the President of the Republic with [Jair Bolsonaro] greater situational awareness of ongoing actions in order to support the process and decision-making”. Its mission would be to “monitor the actions established in the Presidential Decree to analyze issues with potential risk with the aim of preventing and mitigating risks in the established actions and articulating crisis management”.
Plan had 18 strategic guidelines
18 “strategic guidelines” are listed, including activities linked to the coordination of government ministries; preparation and execution of a social communication plan; establishment of a parliamentary consultancy; guidance of legal actions; creation of an intelligence network, including at municipal and state level, as well as counterintelligence actions.
In relation to the Executive’s portfolios, the cabinet would “establish links with ministries to supervise, coordinate, monitor and evaluate ministerial actions”.
In the area of social communication, the plan would serve to “influence public opinion, inform and motivate national and international Target Pubs, in order to favor planned and ongoing actions”. “Establish a single discourse, at all levels, in social communication activities to avoid interpretations and conclusions that misinform the population”, says another guideline. A spokesperson “with national and international notoriety” would also be appointed.
The parliamentary consultancy would be responsible for “approximate monitoring and monitoring of the actions and decisions of the Houses of the National Congress”. “Seek maximum parliamentary support for the Presidential Decree”, says another guideline. “Preferably, articulate parliamentary support in order to approve the political measures necessary for the actions foreseen in the Presidential Decree”, is another guideline listed in the document.
The intelligence network, “at state and municipal levels”, would be linked to the GSI and the Armed Forces Intelligence Centers “to act as an information manager, sensor and catalyst of intelligence knowledge with the aim of subsidizing the process of taking decision.”
The “organizational structure” would be formed almost entirely by military personnel. In addition to Augusto Heleno and Braga Netto, General Mario Fernandes and Colonel Élcio (possibly Elcio Franco, a trusted employee of the Bolsonaro government, and former executive secretary of the Ministry of Health during the pandemic) would be appointed to the “Strategic Advisory Board”. ).
The Social Communication Office would be formed by at least six military personnel, including colonels and lieutenants. The Legal Advisory would be composed of “Dr. Lacava”, “Dr. Melgasso”, and also by “SAJ” and “AGU”, likely references to the Secretariat of Legal Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic and the Attorney General’s Office of the Union.
There would be an Intelligence Advisory, made up of colonels “Azevedo”, “Vieira de Abreu” and “Kormann”; a Parliamentary Advisory, with colonels “Moura Alves”, “Saraiva” and “Boelhouver”; an IT consultancy, in charge of general “Oliveira Freitas”; an Installation Security Advisory, headed by General “Carlos Feitosa”.
There was also the provision of a “Psychological Operations Advisory”, but without defined names for its composition. The only civilian in the cabinet would be Filipe Martins, Bolsonaro’s former International Relations advisor, who would take care of an advisory department dedicated to the area.
There would also be “special functions”, to establish links with Defense and Army bodies, as well as Executive departments or bodies (Secretariat of Social Communication, AGU, Ministry of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Mines and Energy, Health, Home Civil, General Secretariat and Government Secretariat), in addition to the Superior Military Court (STM).
In the final part of the document, other possible actions are listed, such as “minimizing media narratives” and “ctto” (possible reference to contact) with indigenous peoples, “Agro”, “protesters”, “class of truck drivers”, “PM and Civilians of the states”. There is also a part dedicated to the “Idt” (possibly identification) of “political leaders in favor of actions”, “journalists in favor of actions”, “mayors and governors in favor of actions”. And finally, “Mdd” (possibly measure) for “protection of the civilian population against attacks by opponents, infiltrated or not”.
