Brazilian authorities have arrested four soldiers and a police officer in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022, in a bid to derail his return to power, according to a federal police source.
The arrests were made on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, where the suspects had been participating in the security operation for the ongoing G20 summit.
However, Brazil's federal police did not specify whether the suspects were directly involved in the summit's security detail.
The arrested individuals were described as soldiers, mostly trained in special forces, with one police officer also taken into custody.
The arrests occurred on the second day of the G20 summit, where leaders of the world's largest economies, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, were meeting in the coastal city.
Tight security measures are in place during the event, with troops and armoured vehicles stationed around Rio's streets.
The suspects are accused of planning a violent coup to prevent Lula from assuming the presidency after his election victory in October 2022.
Federal police revealed that the plot was to take place on December 15, 2022, just weeks before Lula's inauguration in January 2023.
According to the police statement, the conspirators intended to assassinate both Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, as well as a prominent Supreme Court justice.
Brazilian media reports indicated that the justice targeted in the plot was Alexandre de Moraes, a leading figure in the Supreme Court who has become a target for the far-right due to his investigations into extremist groups and his controversial decision to temporarily suspend the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) over disinformation concerns.
The coup plotters also planned to establish a “crisis cabinet” consisting of themselves, should the assassination attempt succeed.
The group, which operated under the codename “Green and Yellow Dagger” — referencing the colours of the Brazilian flag — is believed to have had military expertise and advanced operational knowledge.
They are now facing serious charges, including attempting to violently overthrow the government, participating in a criminal organization, and plotting a coup d'état.
The alleged plot follows a tumultuous period in Brazil's political history. In the months leading up to Lula’s victory, thousands of supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, expressed their discontent with the election results. On January 8, 2023, just days after Lula’s inauguration, Bolsonaro supporters stormed key government buildings in Brasilia in a violent insurrection that mirrored the January 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.
Federal authorities have since opened multiple investigations into the Brasilia riots and other alleged conspiracies to prevent Lula from assuming office.
The man responsible for a failed bomb attack on the Supreme Court last week, which ended in his death, is also suspected of being linked to the 2023 riots and broader far-right extremist activities.
The latest arrests further underline the political tensions that have plagued Brazil since the 2022 election, with law enforcement intensifying efforts to dismantle extremist groups plotting to disrupt the country's democratic processes.
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