Jair Bolsonaro is finally testifying before Brazil’s Supreme Court. Brazil’s former president is responding to charges of trying to stage a coup in 2022.
Bolsonaro served as Brazil’s president from January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2023. He narrowly lost the October 2022 election to the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. But apparently, Bolsonaro wasn’t keen on handing over the reins. Jair Bolsonaro, nicknamed the “Tropical Trump”, apparently tried to overturn the 2022 election result.
Days after he handed power over to Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Three Powers Plaza in the capital, Brasília. That’s the location of Brazil’s Presidential Palace, the country’s National Congress, or parliament, and the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro’s supporters invaded the Plaza and wreaked havoc on January 8, 2023. Almost two years to the day that Trump supporters rioted at the US Capitol.
Bolsonaro’s backers had attempted to provoke a military intervention, and disrupt the transition of power to Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro was in the US while the riots took place. Nonetheless, he has been charged with trying to orchestrate a coup against Lula da Silva. This is for his actions before the riots.
In November 2022, months before the riots, Bolsonaro reportedly had multiple conversations with his military chiefs. According to the former Army and Air Force heads, Bolsonaro apparently “raised the hypothetical possibility” of trying to annul the 2022 elections and stage a military intervention. The plot allegedly involved the assassination of Lula da Silva as well. The former army chief apparently threatened to have Bolsonaro arrested if he proceeded with the coup plot. That’s how the coup apparently fizzled out. Even though Bolsonaro's supporters tried to instigate a military takeover anyway.
A few months after the insurrection, Bolsonaro was handed an 8-year election ban. This was for falsely claiming that Brazil’s voting machines were vulnerable to hacking, thereby sowing distrust in the election results. Bolsonaro however claims that he’s the victim of a political witch hunt. Bolsonaro still has a massive supporter base. They keep taking to the streets by the thousands to show their support. Bolsonaro believes that his testimony before Brazil’s Supreme Court will help further energise his base, and set the stage for the 2026 presidential election. Will Bolsonaro manage to defeat the coup charges? Will he find a way around the election ban? Can the “Trump of the Tropics” really manage a Trumpian return to power?
