A bodyguard working for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was found to be a participant in a WhatsApp chat group with Army members supportive of a coup to oust the current head of state, according to investigations by the Federal Police and confirmed by The Brazilian Report.
News website G1 unveiled that the existence of the group was discovered while searching the phone of a former presidential aide arrested in May due to accusations of falsifying Covid vaccine cards for far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro and members of his family.
Besides defending a coup by way of military intervention that would reinstate Mr. Bolsonaro as president, the group also included messages insulting Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing several inquiries involving the former president.
The bodyguard in question, Lieutenant Colonel André Luis Cruz Correia, was fired on August 11 reportedly due to information provided by the Federal Police. He was a member of the government’s Institutional Security Office (GSI) and provided security for Lula on at least five international trips.
Even before being inaugurated, Lula and his team treated the GSI with caution, with the department having been filled with pro-Bolsonaro military men. Concern turned to pure mistrust after the Brasília riots on January 8, in which putschist pro-Bolsonaro radicals stormed government buildings in the capital.
A debate on whether the Army or the Federal Police should be in charge of Lula’s personal security has been a topic of discussion. The Defense Ministry has been given reassurances from the Army that it will follow democratic standards and cooperate in investigations against officials.
The current model of presidential security is a hybrid system including members of both the Federal Police and the Army, as a means to ease tension. Even so, the Army still gives the final word on such matters.
Search
