Operation Tempus Veritatis (Latin for "time of truth") [1] was a Federal Police operation in Brazil that led to the preventive arrest of military officers and aides of former president Jair Bolsonaro. [2] The operation also executed search and seizure warrants against several targets, including four former ministers. Launched on February 8, the operation followed a plea bargain signed by Mauro Cid with a Federal Police researcher. The operation was based on a video seized from a computer belonging to Mauro Cid, documenting a meeting held on July 5, 2022, between former president Jair Bolsonaro and his ministers. [3]
The name of the operation references the alleged attempt to undermine the Democratic Rule of Law to gain political advantage by keeping Bolsonaro, then President of the Republic, in power. [2]
Investigations revealed that the group had drafted a plan outlining a series of measures against the judiciary. This group also held meetings to promote the dissemination of fake news against the Brazilian electoral system and monitored Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who authorized the operation. The draft also called for the arrests of two Supreme Court justices and the president of the Senate. [4]
The operation is part of a broader investigation into an alleged coup plot involving former president Jair Bolsonaro and his close advisors. The plot aimed to subvert the transition of power to newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by arresting Supreme Court justices and shutting down government institutions. The investigation has revealed evidence of fake news dissemination and attempts to discredit the electoral system. [5]
Those being investigated for the possible coup attempt are: [6] On February 8, 2024, the Federal Police carried out thirty-three search and seizure warrants and four preventive detention warrants. Among those arrested were former special advisor to Bolsonaro, Filipe G. Martins, retired colonel Marcelo Câmara, and major Rafael Martins. The targets of the search and seizure measures included the president of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, generals Braga Netto, Augusto Heleno, and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, admiral Almir Garnier Santos, former minister Anderson Torres, and Bolsonaro himself, who had his passport seized. [7]
On February 9, 2024, a video from a meeting held on July 5, 2022, was made public. In this video, then-President Jair Bolsonaro was recorded instructing ministers on the need to act before the elections to avoid a possible "guerrilla" in Brazil. The video, found on Mauro Cid's computer, was released by journalist Bela Megale of the newspaper O Globo. Bolsonaro allegedly ordered the dissemination of fraudulent information to try to reverse the situation in the electoral dispute, alleging supposed electoral frauds that were never proven. The meeting also involved other ministers, including the then-Minister of Defense, who reportedly stated that the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) was an "enemy" of the Bolsonarist group. [8] The recording is part of an investigation into an attempted coup involving military personnel and former ministers. During the meeting, the then minister of the Institutional Security Bureau (GSI), General Augusto Heleno, expressed the intention to infiltrate agents from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) into both Jair Bolsonaro's and his main opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's electoral campaigns. Heleno mentioned the importance of acting before the elections to avoid possible upheavals, using terms such as "turning the table" and highlighting the need for decisive action before the ballot. President Bolsonaro interrupted Heleno, expressing concern about leaks and suggesting that such matters be discussed in a private meeting. [9]
The Federal Police carried out thirty-three search and seizure warrants and four preventive detention warrants. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized the operation and issued precautionary measures, including a ban on maintaining contact with other individuals under investigation and a suspension from exercising public duties. President Lula expressed hope that the full force of the law would be applied against those who attacked democracy. [10]
Sergio Fernando Moro is a Brazilian jurist, former federal judge, college professor, and politician. He was elected as a member of the Federal Senate for Paraná in October 2022. In 2015, he gained national attention as one of the lead judges in Operation Car Wash, a criminal investigation into a high-profile corruption and bribery scandal involving government officials and business executives. Moro was also Minister of Justice and Public Security under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro from 2019 to 2020.
Alexandre de Moraes is a Brazilian jurist, former politician, former president of the Superior Electoral Court and currently justice of the Supreme Federal Court. Moraes was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Michel Temer in 2017 when serving as Minister of Justice and Public Security. Previously, Moraes had acted as Secretary for Public Security in the State of São Paulo and had been a member of the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office.
Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira is a Brazilian politician retired general of the Brazilian Army. He was military commander of the Amazon and Chief of the Department of Science and Technology of the Army. Heleno has declared positions against official politics, particularly about the attitude of the international community in regards to Haiti and the indigenous politics of the Brazilian government.
General elections were held in Brazil on 2 October 2022 to elect the president, vice president, the National Congress, the governors, vice governors, and legislative assemblies of all federative units, and the district council of Fernando de Noronha. As no candidate for president received more than half of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election for these offices was held on 30 October. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received the majority of the votes in the second round and was elected President of Brazil for a third, non-consecutive term.
Vaza Jato, roughly meaning Car Wash Leaks, is the term used by the Brazilian press for leaked conversations in the Telegram app about the actions, decisions and positions of officials conducting investigations for Operation Car Wash. These officials include former judge Sergio Moro and prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol. The conversations were reported by the journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept Brasil and by Brazilian conservative magazine Veja in June 2019.
Walter Souza Braga Netto is a retired Brazilian army general and former Minister of Defence. Braga was Commander of the Eastern Military Command and, until 31 December 2018, Federal Interventor in the Public Security of the state of Rio de Janeiro. He unsuccessfully ran for Vice President of Brazil as running mate of Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, narrowly losing to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Geraldo Alckmin.
Moro x Bolsonaro Case, also known as Moro Case or Inquiry (INQ) 4831, refers to a police investigation in which statements made by former minister Sergio Moro about President Jair Bolsonaro's alleged attempt to interfere politically in Federal Police of Brazil and in investigations related to his family members.
The 2021 Brazilian protests were popular demonstrations that took place in different regions of Brazil in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests both supporting and opposing the government happened.
Almir Garnier Santos is a Brazilian Admiral of the fleet, former Commander of the Brazilian Navy from 2021 to 2023. Garnier has been accused by generals Mauro Cid and Carlos Baptista Júnior of plotting a coup with former president Jair Bolsonaro to overthrow Brazilian democracy in 2022, and he is being formally investigated for his involvement since 2024.
The Brazil Union is a liberal-conservative political party in Brazil. The party was founded on 6 October 2021 through the merger of the Democrats (DEM) and the Social Liberal Party (PSL). The merger resulted in the biggest party in Brazil, and was approved by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court on 8 February 2022.
Events in the year 2022 in Brazil.
The 2022–2023 Brazilian election protests began shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 Brazilian general election's second round on 30 October, in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president, which led to mass protests and roadblocks nationwide. Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, who are frequently referred to in media accounts as Bolsonaristas, alleging election fraud, began blocking roads and highways in the country. At least 23 Brazilian states, plus the Federal District, recorded roadblocks as of 1 November, adding up to at least 267 roadblocks according to data from Federal Highway Police (PRF).
Police operations in the 2022 Brazilian general election were coordinated actions carried out by the Federal Police of Brazil and the Federal Highway Police, mainly during the second round of the 2022 Brazilian presidential election. They targeted public transportation vehicles, mainly in the Northeast Region, Brazil, allegedly with the aim of ensuring transportation safety according to their supporters, or delaying the arrival of these vehicles at polling places according to critics.
On 8 January 2023, following the defeat of then-president Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 Brazilian general election and the inauguration of his successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a mob of Bolsonaro's supporters attacked Brazil's federal government buildings in the capital, Brasília. The mob invaded and caused deliberate damage to the Supreme Federal Court, the National Congress Palace and the Planalto Presidential Palace in the Praça dos Três Poderes, seeking to violently overthrow the democratically elected president Lula, who had been inaugurated on 1 January. Many rioters said their purpose was to spur military leaders to launch a "military intervention" and disrupt the democratic transition of power.
The National Congress Palace is a building in Brasilia, Brazil that serves as the meeting place of the Brazilian national legislature, the National Congress of Brazil. It was built in 1960.
Operation Lesa Pátria is a set of ongoing investigations led by the Federal Police of Brazil investigating financiers, participants, and organizers of coup d'état attempts in Brazil, particularly related to the attacks on the headquarters of the Three Powers on 8 January 2023, in Brasilia. The task force is considered permanent by the Federal Police, with "periodic updates on the number of warrants issued, people captured and fugitives". Operation Lesa Pátria is the largest police operation launched in Brazil since Operation Lava Jato (2014-2021).
Mauro Cesar Barbosa Cid is an active-duty lieutenant colonel in the Brazilian Army. He was an aide-de-camp to the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and is currently being investigated by the Federal Police of Brazil for several crimes in which he is accused of having participated during the Bolsonaro government.
During and after the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, a network of members of former president Jair Bolsonaro's government and of the Brazilian Armed Forces planned to subvert the transition of power to newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrest Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes and President of the Federal Senate Rodrigo Pacheco, as well as shut down several government institutions, such as the National Congress, the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court, in an attempt to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power and possibly consolidate his control over the federal government. The plans, evidence, and individuals involved in planning a coup d'état were gradually revealed in investigations conducted by public agencies and the press in 2023 and 2024.
Between the days June 22 and 30, 2023, Brazil 's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) tried a lawsuit to determine the annulment of the Bolsonaro-Braga Netto ticket, accused of abuse of political power and misuse of the media, following a meeting with foreign ambassadors on July 18, 2022, broadcast on TV Brasil, brazilian state television broadcaster, in which then-president Jair Bolsonaro attacked the brazilian electoral system. The lawsuit was filed by the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) on August 19, 2022. Bolsonaro was declared ineligible until 2030 by 5 votes to 2 on June 30. On October 31, 2023, former vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto also became ineligible, for abuse of political and economic power in the celebrations of the Bicentenary of Independence.
The Operation Counter-coup is an investigation started by the Federal Police of Brazil on 19 November 2024, authorized by the Supreme Federal Court, to investigate crimes related to the 2022 Brazilian coup plot which aimed to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Geraldo Alckmin, president and vice president-elect of Brazil in 2022, respectively. The group under investigation, consisting of Brazilian Army Special Forces personnel and a federal police officer, allegedly planned to carry out assassinations and kidnappings of high-ranking officials using military and terrorist tactics. The operation was authorized by the Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who emphasized the "extreme danger" posed by the individuals involved.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Federal |  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State |
| ||||
| Local Municipal Guards (list by state) | |||||
| See also | |||||