“The facts were very serious and were not just at the level of speeches and political tension against democracy, but they invested and worked for social chaos and the return of the dictatorship.” The assessment of the facts recently revealed by the Federal Police regarding the attempted coup against the country’s democracy is by historian Marcos Napolitano, professor of the History course at the University of São Paulo (USP), researcher at the State Research Support Foundation from São Paulo (Fapesp) and a specialist in the Brazilian republic, with an emphasis on the military period.
For Napolitano, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Federal Police did what they should, “which is already an advance”, and now it is necessary to wait for the position of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which will decide whether to open or no investigation to determine the responsibilities of those involved in the coup attempt, launched under the government of then president Jair Bolsonaro.
The historian also said that one of the reasons the coup did not prosper was the existence of more liberal-democratic consensus in political and legal institutions than in the past. But, for him, the main reason for the coup’s failure was the lack of organization and institutional support, mainly from liberal sectors and the middle class, “who this time did not embark on the adventure, unlike in 2016” – when the President Dilma Rousseff was deposed by the National Congress in a controversial impeachment process.
“The coup plotters of 2022 even had reasonable support in society, but without institutional support in the Armed Forces, in organized political groups (parties, civil associations), in the press and in parliament, coups are unlikely to prosper. But this does not lessen the seriousness of the crime committed against democracy by civil and military leaders between 2022 and the beginning of 2023”, explained Napolitano.
The researcher also said that the recent coup attempt is “a child, albeit unwanted, of the political crisis of 2015 and 2016 and laundering”. According to Napolitano, “the leaders and supporters of the extreme right were encouraged by the 2016 coup, which was basically a parliamentary coup with social and legal support”. But, for him, “they were left with the feeling that that work was not done well, since Lula could still return to power through electoral life”
Napolitano recalled that there were several coups d’état between 1950 and 1964, “some of them very bizarre and crazy”. “After making so many mistakes, the coup plotters learned and organized themselves better for 1964”, he commented. Therefore, the researcher believes that it is necessary to “stay alert, punish attempted coups and not remain optimistic that ‘our institutions are strong’ or ‘society no longer accepts coups’”.
To provide more solid foundations for Brazilian democracy and inhibit new coup attempts, he believes that it is necessary to “strengthen the belief in democracy and in negotiated forms of conflict resolution in the daily lives of ordinary citizens of all classes and social groups, in schools, churches, families and neighborhoods.” But, he emphasizes: “this is very difficult in an extremely unequal, violent country with a resilient authoritarian political culture among the institutional actors themselves, including”.
Also, according to Napolitano, it is necessary that “political elites of all ideologies know how to isolate adventurers and coup plotters who emerge from time to time within the political system itself and who are serious about managing the country in a minimally decent and republican manner”. And he concludes: “And, finally, punish the civilian and military coup plotters in an exemplary manner and within the framework of the law.”
