There was an attempt to blackmail military leaders into carrying out a coup

He also highlighted that the indictment is the first of high-ranking generals and military personnel in the history of Brazil, insisting that such acts are classified as crimes of high treason. For him, Bolsonaro’s political situation today is “very serious” and he believes that, in part, what prevented the coup was the lack of international support.

Read the main excerpts from the interview with Dirceu below:

What does the existence of a process of indictment of so many military personnel, including generals, mean for the history of Brazil?

This is happening for the first time in the country’s history. The coup plotters of 1937 did not go to court, nor did the coup plotters of 1955, nor of 1961, nor those of 1964, who were amnestied. Therefore, it is the first time that an attack on the Constitution, which in this case is a crime of high treason for the military, is the target of a case like this. The military’s mandate is to defend the Constitution. This, therefore, is an unprecedented fact.

Even more unprecedented because we are seeing this occur from the Judiciary, together with the Federal Police. And not from Parliament.

This shows that Brazil has instruments for self-defense of the democratic rule of law.

Do you fear any type of reaction from other military personnel?