Brazil police arrest five over alleged plot to assassinate President Lula

Brazilian police have arrested five people, including a former adviser to ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, over an alleged plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022, authorities said.

The coup plot was conceived in late 2022, before Lula took office, according to Federal Police. In addition to killing the then-president-elect, the plot also included plans to capture or kill Lula’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court said in its arrest order.

The order, signed by Moraes on Sunday, authorizes the preventative detention of the five suspects, including retired general Mário Fernandes.

The alleged plot also involved other military personnel with training in special forces, the Federal Police said.

“The planning drawn up by those under investigation detailed the human and military resources needed to carry out the actions, using advanced military operational techniques,” police said.

The plan envisioned the eventual creation of an “Institutional Crisis Management Office” in Brazil’s government that the coup plotters would control, according to the police.

According to the court order, the alleged plotters also considered several methods to carry out the political assassinations, including the use of poison or explosive devices.

“For the execution of President Lula, the document describes, considering his health vulnerability and frequent visits to hospitals, the possibility of using poisoning or chemicals to cause an organic collapse,” reads Moraes’ order, citing an investigation into the plot.

In addition to the five arrests, police said the suspects would be prohibited from leaving the country or contacting other people suspected of involvement in the plot, documents show.

In February of this year, Bolsonaro was placed under investigation over the alleged plot. The investigation is expected to be finished later this month, Reuters reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the probe.

According to a police warrant carried out on Tuesday, Bolsonaro allegedly met with officials from the army and navy as well as the minister of defense in December 2022 to present a document detailing the legal framework that would keep him in power.

The former president has repeatedly denied allegations of attempting a coup. His son, Flavio Bolsonaro, who is a senator in the Brazilian Congress, suggested in a post on X that the five suspects had not committed a crime.

“As disgusting as it may be to think about killing someone, it is not a crime. And for there to be an attempt, the execution must be interrupted by some situation beyond the control of the perpetrators. Which does not appear to have happened,” he wrote.

In October 2022, Lula narrowly beat Bolsonaro in the presidential election. Bolsonaro’s supporters rejected the results and rioted in the capital Brasilia, storming government buildings on January 8, 2023.