Brazil: Lawmakers Accuse Bolsonaro of Encouraging Coup Attempt

On Tuesday, a Brazilian parliamentary commission investigating the attempted coup on January 8 presented its final report, accusing former President Jair Bolsonaro of having encouraged the movement that assaulted the headquarters of all three branches.

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Senator Eliziane Gama, the rapporteur of the commision, stated that Bolsonaro "never showed sympathy for democratic principles" and "from day one of his presidency, he undermined state institutions."

Scheduled for a vote on Wednesday, the report accuses Bolsonaro of being the "intellectual and moral mastermind" behind the coup attempt and calls for his prosecution for criminal association, political violence, violent disruption of the rule of law, and attempted coup. 

It also recommends charging 55 other individuals, including five former ministers, former naval and army commanders, as well as several military personnel. Among them is also Carla Zambelli, a prominent Bolsonaro supporter.

The text says: "Former President Bolsonaro denied 60 requests for help to the Yanomami people. The miners burned down the village health post. His plan was to let people die and kill for gold. When will we see justice and Bolsonaro in jail?"

Bolsonaro's lawmakers have rejected Gama's report and announced their intention to present a parallel document, which will accuse Lula da Silva of "omissions" in the security realm that allegedly "facilitated" the actions of the vandals.

The report spans over 1,100 pages and provides a detailed account of events in the country since Oct. 30 of 2022, when Lula defeated Bolsonaro in the elections.

It references road blockades by truckers, encampments outside army barracks demanding military intervention, thwarted attacks in Brasilia, and discussions within the government to prevent Lula's inauguration, including the discovery of a draft "coup decree" by the police.

According to Gama, all of these events lead to the conclusion that the assault on the three branches of government on January 8 was merely the culmination of a coup plot that began "before" Lula was declared the election winner in October and gained momentum from that moment to "prevent an alleged communist takeover of the country."

The report also links this far-right movement to the "widespread spread of falsehoods" and "hateful speeches" on social media.

Gama's report will be voted on this Wednesday by the commission, which is controlled by the ruling party. If approved, it will then be sent to the Attorney General's Office and the courts.

However, the parliamentary commission's work lags behind the judicial investigation, which has accepted charges against 1,390 individuals involved in the uprising, with six already sentenced to prison terms of up to 17 years.

The judicial investigation is ongoing, aiming to identify those who financed the movement and its "intellectual instigators," including former President Jair Bolsonaro as a suspect.