()’s defense has started to work in recent days with the “coup coup” thesis, according to which they would use it to overthrow the former president and take power — and not to keep him in office.
The strategy to free Bolsonaro from the coup plot involves the generals as the main beneficiaries of a possible institutional rupture.
Allies of the two soldiers told the Sheetsubject to reservation, that the disclosure of this line of defense caused a breach of trust. The movement is seen as opportunism by the former president in an attempt to free himself from accusations that he knew about the coup plans.
The basis for this thesis is a document prepared by , one of the main suspects of masterminding the coup plot revealed by . This text provided for the creation of an Institutional Crisis Management Office, commanded by the military, shortly after the coup d’état.
The military’s reactions intensified this Friday (29) after Paulo Amador da Cunha Bueno, one of Bolsonaro’s lawyers, said in an interview with GloboNews that the former president would not benefit from a possible coup.
“Who would be the biggest beneficiary? According to General Mario Fernandes’ plan, it would be a junta that would be created after the action of the ‘Green and Yellow Punhal Plan’, and this junta did not include President Bolsonaro”, said Bueno.
The lawyer once again said that Bolsonaro was not aware of the plan that defined strategies to kill the elected president (PT), the vice president (PSB), and the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court).
“He doesn’t have his name [Bolsonaro] there, he would not benefit from it. It’s not an illusion on my part. This is textualized there. Who would take over the government if this terrible plan, which would not even happen in Venezuela, would come to fruition, would not be Bolsonaro, it would be that group”, he reinforced.
In a statement released after the indictment, Braga Netto criticized the “fanciful and absurd thesis of a ‘coup within a coup'”.
“[O general] also remembers that during the last government, he was one of the few, among civilians and military, who maintained loyalty to President Bolsonaro until the end of the government, in December 2022, and maintains it to this day, out of belief in the same non-negotiable values and principles”, says the text signed by the military’s defense.
A Sheet sought Bolsonaro’s defense, but received no response.
Despite the disappointment, Heleno and Braga Netto’s interlocutors say that the military holds lawyers more responsible than the former president.
The draft creation of the Institutional Crisis Management Office provided that General Augusto Heleno would be the head of the group. Braga Netto appears as general coordinator, while General Mario Fernandes and Colonel Elcio Franco would be strategic advisors.
The text also provided for other structures in the crisis office, such as social communications and intelligence offices. In total, there would be 18 soldiers in the group, with the majority of members from the Army reserves.
Military allies of Braga Netto and Heleno highlighted that the line of defense shows that the former president’s political project was placed above friendships with those in uniform who demonstrated loyalty during the government.
Former minister of the (Institutional Security Office), Heleno had a routine that started around 5am. He made a point of receiving the then president every day at the Palácio do Planalto garage to pass on the first information of the day.
He was one of the people closest to Bolsonaro, considered his main advisor. Before the end of his government, he was also one of the most respected generals in the Army. In the history of the Force, only he and one other soldier came first in the three officer training courses.
Braga Netto was Minister of the Civil House and Defense during the Bolsonaro administration. He only left the government to join the PL and form, as vice-president, the presidential ticket in the re-election campaign.
The general was part of Bolsonaro’s closest circle. He was the one who took the former president to , at the end of 2022, to seek advice.
