Bolsonaro coup probe weakens Brazil's right-wing opposition
BY ANTHONY BOADLE
REUTERS
BRASILIA – Police raids on former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his associates for allegedly plotting a coup after the 2022 election has weakened right-wing opposition to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of October's local elections, analysts say.
Bolsonaro, a far-right firebrand who modeled himself on former U.S. President Donald Trump, surrendered his passport to police last Thursday and four of his ex-aides have been arrested. Search warrants were served against four of his former ministers, three of them retired army generals.
That, analysts say, has dealt a serious blow to Bolsonaro's right-wing Liberal Party (PL), the largest opposition party. PL President Valdemar Costa Neto was also arrested on Thursday on an unrelated gun charge and set free provisionally on Saturday.
"The Bolsonaro opposition has been badly hurt by this," said Andre Cesar, an analyst at Hold Assessoria Legislativa, a public policy consultancy. "The PL will lose political muscle and have to rethink plans to triple its mayors in the October elections."
Brazilian police accused Bolsonaro of editing a decree to overturn the result of the 2022 election that he lost to Lula, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt, and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice.
More:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/02/13/world/politics/bolsonaro-coup-probe-brazil-opposition/