Ex-commander reveals warning to Bolsonaro against coup, book says

In the tense final days of 2022, as President Jair Bolsonaro and some palace generals plotted a coup, fears for the nation's institutions loomed. It later emerged that the armed forces largely resisted the coup plotters. The commanders, with the exception of the Navy's, refused to join the movement.

Brigadeiro Carlos Baptista Junior, of the Air Force, recently published his book, "Eu Disse Não - Uma Trincheira Antigolpista" (I Said No - An Anti-Coup Trench). In an interview with reporter Bela Megale, the brigadier recounted warning Bolsonaro: "President, look at what is happening. After all this, it will be the Armed Forces who bear all this burden."

Baptista Júnior acknowledged that this uncertainty came at a cost, stating, "The Forces lost credibility, perhaps that's the word." The author argues that "trust" is a more accurate term. Fortunately, this distrust was short-lived. Thanks to actions like Baptista Júnior's, Lula now occupies the presidential palace, and 23 individuals involved in the plot are imprisoned, including Bolsonaro.

While some may argue that Lula's government lacks a distinct identity, the article posits that successfully removing the armed forces from political entanglements was his most significant accomplishment, a feat not to be underestimated.