Former army chief threatens to arrest Bolsonaro if he pushes for coup

Former army chief General Freire Gomes threatened to arrest Jair Bolsonaro when he pushed for a proposed coup d’état after losing the 2022 presidential election. The episode was described in a statement made in February to the Federal Police, former air force commander Batista Junior said on Friday.

According to the official, at a meeting Bolsonaro convened with the heads of three branches of the armed forces to insist on a coup plan to stay in power, the then army chief told the still head of state that if he insisted on a break in democracy, he would have to sentence him to prison. However, according to Batista Junior, Jair Bolsonaro was frightened by the threat from Freire Gomes.

Bolsonaro has made no secret of his fear of being arrested. When he was still President of the Republic, but already the target of several charges that in extreme cases could land him in prison, Bolsonaro declared that he would never allow anyone to arrest him and that if they tried, he would shoot his way out.

Batista Junior, who refused to participate in the plan being prepared by Bolsonaro, told the federal police that the coup, which received the support of extremist circles and several high-ranking officers, did not take place only because of the strong position taken by the former army commander.

Following the rejection of the coup expressed by army and air force commanders, Navy chief Admiral Almir Garnier informed Bolsonaro that the troops he commanded were at the president’s disposal in the coup attempt. According to the ruler, without two other defensive forces, mainly the army, the coup would have been doomed to failure.