Reserve general Walter Braga Netto had a concrete participation in the acts related to the attempted coup d’état and the abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, including the attempt to obstruct the investigation. The conclusion comes from the Federal Police (PF) in the report that indicts the soldier and 36 other defendants.
THE secrecy was overturned this Tuesday (26) by Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the so-called coup investigation.
Braga Netto ran in the 2022 presidential elections as vice president on Jair Bolsonaro’s ticket. He was also Chief Minister of the Civil House, from 2020 to 2021, and Minister of Defense, from 2021 to 2022.
The investigation identified that, after preparing the operational plan to arrest and kill Minister Alexandre de Moraes, the then elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, the nucleus of soldiers from the Army’s special forces, the so-called “ FE”, held a meeting on November 12, 2022, at Braga Netto’s residence “to present the planning of clandestine actions with the aim of supporting the necessary measures to try to prevent the elected government from taking office and restrict the exercise of Judiciary Power”, says the PF report.
The meeting was attended by Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, Major Rafael de Oliveira and Lieutenant Colonel Ferreira Lima. At the meeting, the plan was presented and approved by General Braga Netto.
Collaboration Agreement
According to the PF, a search carried out at the headquarters of the Liberal Party (PL) found a document that describes questions and answers related to the award-winning collaboration agreement signed by Mauro Cid with the Federal Police. The content indicates that they are answers given by Cid to questions made by someone, “possibly related to General Braga Netto, who appears to be concerned about topics identified by the Federal Police related to the attempted coup d’état”.
Other evidence demonstrates that Braga Netto sought, through Cid’s parents, information about the collaboration agreement.
Operation 142
In the material seized at the PL headquarters, more specifically on the desk of General Braga Netto’s advisor, Colonel Peregrino, a sketch of planned actions for the so-called “Operation 142” was found. The name given to the document alludes to article 142 of the Federal Constitution, which deals with the Armed Forces.
The document proposes actions that include “interruption of the transition process”, “mobilization of jurists and opinion makers” and “legal framework of Decree 142 (AGU and MJ)”.
The report ends with the text “Lula does not climb the ramp”. According to the PF, in a clear allusion to the impediment of the winner of the 2022 elections from assuming the role of president.
“The document demonstrates that Braga Netto and its surroundings, contrary to what was explained in the previous document, had a clear coup intention, with the objective of subverting the Democratic Rule of Law, using an anomalous interpretation of art. 142 of the Federal Constitution, in order to try to legitimize the coup d’état”, says the report.
Cabinet
The evidence obtained by the PF also demonstrates that the group investigated was already working to foresee the scenario following the consummation of the coup d’état and planned the creation of a Cabinet linked to the Presidency of the Republic, which would be composed mostly of military personnel and some civilians, led by the General Augusto Heleno and General Braga Netto.
The Cabinet’s role would be to advise then-president Bolsonaro in the implementation of the actions foreseen in the coup decree, creating an intelligence and counterintelligence network to monitor the post-coup scenario and also act in the information field to obtain the support of domestic and international public opinion.
“Strong and robust evidence” was also identified that demonstrates the active participation of Braga Netto, in December 2022, in the coordinated attempt by those investigated to pressure the commanders of the Air Force and the Army to adhere to the plan that aimed at the abolition of the Democratic State of Law.
Other side
THE Brazil Agency awaits General Walter Braga Neto’s position on the Federal Police report.
Last Saturday, his defense released a note saying that the general maintains loyalty to former president Bolsonaro. “General Braga Netto’s defense believes that compliance with the rites of due legal process will elucidate the truth of the facts and the responsibilities of each entity involved in the aforementioned investigations, for their actions and omissions.”
