Police arrest ex-Bolsonaro aide, four others, in alleged plot to kill Brazil's Lula in coup

Record ID: 1857118

  • Title: Police arrest ex-Bolsonaro aide, four others, in alleged plot to kill Brazil's Lula in coup
  • Date: 19th November 2024
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (NOVEMBER 19, 2024) (REUTERS) VEHICLE CARRYING ARMY OFFICIALS ARRIVING AT FEDERAL POLICE BUILDING ARMY OFFICIALS ENTERING FEDERAL POLICE BUILDING VARIOUS OF FEDERAL POLICE HEADQUARTERS ARMY VEHICLE PASSING BY EASTERN MILITARY COMMAND EASTERN MILITARY COMMAND BUILDING ARMY OFFICIALS GUARDING EASTERN MILITARY COMMAND BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) B
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2024 15:01
  • Keywords: Brazil Jair Bolsonaro Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva coup crime police
  • Location: RIO DE JANEIRO & BRASILIA, BRAZIL
  • City: RIO DE JANEIRO & BRASILIA, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001089719112024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Brazilian police on Tuesday (November 19) arrested five people, including a member of former President Jair Bolsonaro's government, suspected of involvement in an alleged plan to kill then president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his vice-president in 2022 days before they took office, police said.
    The arrests were the first time in the investigation that federal police have mentioned a plot to kill Lula and Geraldo Alckmin, his choice as vice-president, and stage a coup to stop him returning to power.
    Most of those investigated are military personnel with Special Forces training, the police said in a statement.
    Two sources close to the case told Reuters that one of those arrested was retired Brigadier General Mario Fernandes, who previously worked as former rightist president Bolsonaro's executive secretary.
    He was in possession of the plan to kill Lula, one of the sources said.
    "A detailed operational plan called 'Green and Yellow Dagger' was identified, which would be executed on December 15, 2022, aimed at the murder of the elected candidates for president and vice-president," the police said in a statement.
    Federal police officers carried out five arrest warrants on Tuesday, the police said without providing any names, as well as three search and seizure warrants and other 15 precautionary measures.
    These included banning suspects from contacting the others and forbidding them from leaving the country.
    Lula won the presidential election in October 2022, defeating rightist incumbent Bolsonaro, and took office in January 2023.
    The police said that the suspects under investigation had planned for an "Institutional Crisis Management Office" to be installed in order to manage problems arising from the coup.
    They also planned to seize and kill a Supreme Court justice if they succeeded, police said, without naming the judge.
    According to the sources, the justice is Alexandre de Moraes, responsible for inquiries investigating Bolsonaro over the Jan. 8, 2023, riot against Brazilian institutions.
    About 2,000 people were arrested over the unrest in the capital Brasilia, although most were later released. Others have been convicted by the Supreme Court on charges of an attempted coup, among other crimes.
    (Production: Renato Spyrro, Leandra Camera, Liamar Ramos)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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