In the waning days of Jair Bolsonaro's presidency, six weeks after losing the election and still refusing to accept reality, the far-right populist summoned Brazil's military brass to a meeting. The defence minister, Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, produced a draft decree from a plastic folder - because nothing says 'democracy' like a coup proposal in office supplies - and handed it to the navy, army, and air force commanders. The document proposed to invalidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's October 2022 election victory and keep Bolsonaro in power.
The then-head of the air force, Lt Brig Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, writes in his new book, 'I Said No! - An Anti-Coup Bulwark' (translated from Portuguese), that the draft decree 'was there, awaiting approval or rejection; consensus or a majority' - a claim some still deny ever existed, despite, you know, the book and the trial. Baptista Júnior refused to even accept the document, telling the defence minister, 'The air force will not take part in this,' before standing up and leaving the room. A bold move that cost him 'many friendships,' as he told the Guardian.
The plot ultimately failed largely because Baptista Júnior and army commander Gen Marco Antônio Freire Gomes refused to participate. The navy commander, Adm Almir Garnier Santos, and Nogueira were convicted and are serving sentences at military facilities, while Bolsonaro is under house arrest. Freire Gomes has kept a low profile, but Baptista Júnior decided to write a book to prevent history from repeating itself, motivated by polls showing about a third of Brazilians still don't believe a coup was attempted. As he put it, 'Keeping in power someone who lost an election is a coup d'état.' Profound.
The 65-year-old former fighter pilot, now retired and dressed in civilian clothes at his home in Brasília, recounts over a dozen meetings where Bolsonaro pushed to stay in power. He describes Bolsonaro as someone with 'significant limitations in political, institutional and administrative experience' and 'almost total imperviousness to outside opinions' - like, say, science on Covid-19 vaccines. During the election, Bolsonaro became 'entirely consumed by his own efforts to remain in office,' ordering the armed forces to investigate the electronic voting system, then ignoring their findings of no irregularities.
The book touches on, without detail, the shocking plan by army special forces to kidnap or assassinate Lula, the vice-president, and a Supreme Court justice - meetings Baptista Júnior wasn't invited to, learning about them via press. But he does recall a moment when the army chief told Bolsonaro, after a proposal for institutional rupture, 'If you do that, I'll have to arrest you.' Both Freire Gomes and Bolsonaro denied this during the trial, but Baptista Júnior insists it's not something anyone present would forget.
Saying no cost him friendships, with some military personnel calling him a 'traitor' or a 'watermelon' - green on the outside, red within, a slur for soldiers suspected of communist sympathies. The attacks began when army general Walter Souza Braga Netto, Bolsonaro's running mate and also convicted, ordered officers to attack him on social media and 'make his life and his family's hell.'
Juliano da Silva Cortinhas, a security researcher at the University of Brasília who worked at the defence ministry from 2013 to 2016, says it's positive that Baptista Júnior and the army chief said no, but they should have reported it to police immediately. 'It was the commanders who allowed active-duty officers to take part in politics,' he notes, pointing to the Bolsonaro administration's record number of military personnel in civilian posts since the 1964 - 85 dictatorship. Cortinhas sees hope in high-ranking officers being convicted for attempted coup, but warns, 'The risk of a new coup is even greater today,' citing Donald Trump's influence in Latin America and the possibility that if Lula is re-elected and Trump refuses to recognize the result, coup-supporting groups within the military could feel emboldened.
Baptista Júnior confirms there remain active-duty personnel who believe a coup could be justified under certain circumstances. His prescription? 'Eternal vigilance is the best path.' The book is published on 15 September, two weeks before the election's first round, where Lula faces Bolsonaro's son, Flávio Bolsonaro. Baptista Júnior clarifies he'll vote for neither, criticizing both, and insists the timing is just how the writing and editing worked out. Sure, buddy.