Four Brazilian military officers and one federal cop are under arrest and accused of having plotted to assassinate President Luiz Lula following his defeat of corrupt dictator Jair Bolsonaro in the heated aftermath of the closely-contested 2022 national election, the Associated Press reports.
“The objective was to prevent the inauguration of the legitimately elected government and undermine the free exercise of democracy and the authority of Brazil’s judiciary,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes in the order approving the arrest warrant. “These actions, peaking between November and December 2022, were part of a broader plan to carry out a coup d’état,” he added. Bolsonaro had tried to enlist other military officials in the plot, some of whom warned him they would arrest him immediately if he kept moving forward with it.