Testimonials of former commanders Freire Gomes, from the Army, and Baptista Junior, from the Air Force, released today revealed details of the alleged institutional rupture plan set up by Jair Bolsonaro. The new information revealed point to the role of ministers such as Paulo Sergio Nogueira and the former Mandanician's advisors and ministers, such as Filipe Martins and Anderson Torres. The statements were released after a breach of confidentiality by the Supreme Court Minister, Alexandre de Moraes.
Freire Gomes's version
The then army commander Marco Antonio Freire Gomes detailed meetings he had with Bolsonaro and how the then president presented the plan to consummate the military coup.
Gomes admitted that he attended a meeting at the Dawn Palace on December 7, 2022. The trip was at the invitation of the then Minister of Defense, Paulo Sergio Nogueira. According to Gomes, the presidency advisor, Filipe Martins, read at the meeting "the" considerations "that would be the 'legal grounds' of the said draft of the coup."
The general also admitted that Bolsonaro presented different hypotheses for carrying out a coup, which would be consummated from the "use of legal institutes" such as the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO), State of Defense or State of Siege. The execution of the plan would be a reaction to the result of the 2022 election.
In another meeting, on December 14, in which the three commanders participated again, General Paulo Sergio Nogueira resubmitted the draft. It contained plans for a State of Defense decree and the creation of an Electoral Regularity Commission.
In cited excerpts, the statement collected by the Federal Police states that Freire Gomes “replied that he recalls meetings at the Alvorada Palace, after the second round of the elections, in which the then President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro presented hypotheses of use of legal institutes such as GLO, state of defense and state of siege in relation to the electoral process ”.
Implications
The testimony of Freire Gomes implies a series of figures. Among them is former Justice Minister Anderson Torres. According to Gomes, the decree found in the house of the former head of the ministry had the same content as the one debated with Bolsonaro and, later, with Nogueira. For Gomes, Torres' role was to provide legal advice on the coup decree so that it would be viable.
Paulo Sérgio Nogueira was also one of those implicated, and he was on worse ground than before, since Freire Gomes' testimony is the first to reveal the participation of the minister general in meetings with members of the military leadership to discuss the draft of the coup.
The general also pointed to the then commander of the Navy, Almir Garnier. According to Gomes, he remembers the admiral putting his troops at Bolsonaro's disposal.
Finally, the former Army commander again gave versions that contradict the testimonials of the former commander of land operations, Estevam Theophilo. Theophilo was one of the participants of the Bolsonarist nucleus, and would have the function of coordinating the troops, especially the "special force" during the culmination of the coup. In his statement, Gomes said he was "uncomfortable" when he learned that Estevam met with Bolsonaro. However, Estevam told the PF that he only met Bolsonaro by determination of his own commander, which was contradicted by Gomes.
Baptista Junior's testimony
The former commander of the Air Force, Air Force Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior, also gave more details about the rupture plan moved by the extreme right, as well as the reaction of the commanders at the time.
The brigadier also confirmed that Admiral Garnier Santos made the troops available to the then-president so that he could remain in office through a military coup. According to Baptista, Almir was the only commander who placed himself in this way.
Baptista Júnior also made statements that corroborate the role of Anderson Torres as a kind of legal advisor to the rupture, to assist Bolsonaro "in relation to the legal measures that the Executive branch could adopt in the scenario discussed." According to him, the former Minister of Justice participated in a meeting with the commanders of the Forces and sought to "point out legal aspects that would support the exceptional measures (GLO and State of Defense)."
Unlike Gomes, who detailed two meetings, Baptista said he had participated, in “more than five or six times”, in meetings with the former Mandant. Some of the meetings were summoned and occurred "without minutes and immediately." The invitation was always made by the then Minister of Defense, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira.
In one of these meetings, the then Attorney General of the Union, Bruno Bianco, participated. According to the report, Bianco was asked by Bolsonaro "if there would be any act that could be done against the result of the elections." The answer was that the election would have taken place "legally, within the legal aspects".
In the same vein, the military stated that Bolsonaro knew that the Election Transparency Commission did not identify any fraud in the 2022 election, but still maintained his criticism of the electoral system.
It is now known, with evidence, that these criticisms were part of Bolsonaro's plan to, through the demoralization of the ballot box, advance the agitation of the extreme right to put the election in check and move its rupture. References to this plan were made in meetings with ministers and military personnel in July 2022, recorded by Mauro Cid and released in the press last month.
In addition, Baptista Junior insisted on the version that Gomes tried to "convince the then president not to use the aforementioned institutes [legal, the GLO, State of Defense or State of Siege]." The brigadier stated that he also informed Bolsonaro that none of the instruments chosen would serve to keep him in office after the beginning of 2023, with the inauguration of Luiz Inácio. Bolsonaro's reaction was "scared."
In one of the discussions, Freire Gomes would also have threatened to arrest Bolsonaro in case of rupture, according to Baptista.
"In one of the meetings of the Commanders of the Forces with the then President of the Republic, after the second round of the elections, after the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, raised the hypothesis of attacking the democratic regime, through some institutes provided for in the Constitution (GLO or State of Defense or State of Siege), the then commander of the Army, General Freire Gomes, stated that if he attempted such an act, he would have to arrest the President of the Republic," Baptista Júnior reported.
Bolsonaro was not the only one who was frightened by the unfolding situation. In his testimony, the soldier stated that Augusto Heleno was "astonished" when he heard from Baptista that the Air Force would not participate in the rupture. After the scare, Heleno would have "talked about it".
Garnier Santos supported camps to 'support Freire Gomes'
Although he chose to be silent during the testimony to the PF, the words of Admiral Garnier Santos have surfaced in recent days.
According to the CNN communication monopoly, Garnier Santos has reported nearby figures who signed the November 11th grade in 2022 in support of the camps in front of the barracks to support Freire Gomes, as part of a "agreed" between the commanders.
The admiral's justifications would be that Freire Gomes was under pressure to demobilize the camps, and then commanders Garnier Santos and Baptista Junior would have signed the document. In Garnier's words, the movement was to "support" and "prestige" Gomes.
The document called the camps "popular demonstrations" and criticized "eventual restrictions on rights by public agents." The note also described the Armed Forces as "moderators" at critical times.