Jair Bolsonaro Has Been Implicated in a Plot to Murder Lula
Brazil’s federal police are investigating a plot by far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro and his allies to prevent Lula from taking office in 2023. They’ve now charged the conspirators with scheming to murder Lula, his vice president, and a senior judge.
Last week, two major events dominated Brazilian public discourse: the G20 summit, and the exposure of an assassination plot that targeted the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Taking place from November 18 to 19 in Rio de Janeiro, the latest summit of the G20 nations posed a challenge for Lula and his cabinet. They sought to balance Brazilian diplomatic goals of combating global poverty and climate change with the pressing geopolitical demands of the Global North concerning the escalating wars in Europe and the Middle East.
For all practical purposes, the outcome of the summit was a success for Lula’s diplomatic ambitions. Parties as varied as Argentina’s self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” president Javier Milei and Chinese leader Xi Jinping reached an agreement over a “Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.”
At the same time, news broke about the investigation into Jair Bolsonaro’s possible coup attempt during the period leading up to Lula’s assumption of office in 2023. The report of the investigation not only established the planning of a coup, but also identified an assassination plot by Bolsonaro’s government against Lula, his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, and Alexandre de Moraes, president of the Superior Electoral Court at the time.
These revelations came in the middle of a congressional discussion concerning amnesty for those involved in the January 8 insurrection. They might prove to be the last straw that results in Bolsonaro’s arrest. Coming on the last day of a G20 Summit where dictators and strongmen were amply represented, the report will have major consequences for the struggle of Brazil’s democratic institutions against a return to authoritarianism.
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