Federal Accounts Court member takes medical leave after putschist audio leaks

Augusto Nardes, of the Brazilian Federal Accounts Court. Photo: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr

Augusto Nardes, a member of Brazil’s Federal Accounts Court, went on medical leave on Tuesday, two days after Brazilian press leaked an audio message of him telling friends of “a very strong movement in the barracks” against the election won last month by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The Federal Accounts Court told The Brazilian Report that the leave of absence is due to “health problems” and will last for five days. The court did not comment on the audio message.

On Sunday, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo broke the story that Mr. Nardes told a group of “friends in agribusiness” that movements within the military would lead to “quite a strong outcome in the nation, [with] unpredictable, unpredictable [sic] consequences.”

In the October 30 presidential runoff, President Jair Bolsonaro won the majority of votes in all Center-Western states, an agricultural powerhouse region. He also won in all southern states and in São Paulo, where Big Agro is also strong.

In a separate audio message, Mr. Nardes said he had talked extensively with the president’s “team.” He added that Mr. Bolsonaro “will certainly be able to face what will happen in the country.”

President-elect Lula is to take office on January 1. Although a transition team was already officially set up by the outgoing administration, Mr. Bolsonaro himself has not explicitly acknowledged his defeat.

A House committee will vote tomorrow on whether to invite Mr. Nardes to explain his audio messages in a public hearing. Left-wing congressman Ivan Valente, the motion’s author, wrote that the audio message is “putschist” and is motivated by dissatisfaction with the result of the election.

On Monday, in a statement to the press, Mr. Nardes said he “regrets the interpretation given to an unpretentious audio message hastily recorded and directed to a group of friends.” He added that he “repudiates demonstrations of an anti-democratic nature and coup plotters.”

Since Mr. Bolsonaro’s defeat on October 30, putschist pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators have been blocking roads and picketing around military installations, calling for a coup and against Lula taking office as president. Demonstrations are still ongoing.