New information corroborates our reporting on Bolsonaro’s putschist meetings

Former President Jair Bolsonaro held a secret meeting on December 18, 2022, with Filipe Martins, an assistant who handed him a draft of a decree that purported to call new elections (although such a decree would be outrightly illegal). The then-president used the document to discuss a military coup with the heads of the Armed Forces. 

The December 18 meeting didn’t appear in the official logs of the presidency’s schedule. However, it was registered in e-mails of Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp and right-hand man, according to news website Metrópoles. The messages were sent to investigators following his plea bargain. 

The Brazilian Report showed that the meeting was not recorded in the logs of Alvorada Palace, Brazil’s presidential residence. In fact, none of the meetings with people involved in putschist acts that followed the election were registered, although experts pointed out that they should have been. 

On December 18, a Sunday, Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters posted on social media that an “important meeting” would occur in Alvorada. They speculated that it had to do with a possible coup. Lt.-Col. Cid noted that Mr. Martins met with Mr. Bolsonaro at 11 am, alongside a lawyer and a priest who were not identified. 

Mr. Bolsonaro’s top security official, retired Army General Augusto Heleno, also visited the former president late that morning. He was captured on video speaking to supporters as he left the palace, and suggested to them that Lula would not take power. 

According to Lt.-Col. Cid, Mr. Bolsonaro brought the document to a meeting with military heads. Former Navy commander Admiral Almir Garnier was allegedly in favor of military intervention, while the chiefs of the Air Force and the Army were against such plans.

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