Bolsonaro, dubbed “Trump of the tropics,” faces coup trial verdict in Brazil : NPR
Former President Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the press after testifying to the federal police in an investigation involving his son, the former member of the Congress Eduardo Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo / Eraldo Peres)
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The last stage of the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro is underway in Brazil – a historic first, with the former leader accused of having tried to overthrow democracy after his electoral defeat in 2022.
Bolsonaro, 70, is accused of having directed a radical criminal plot to stay in power after his defeat against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, returned to democracy just over 40 years ago after a brutal military dictatorship.
Prosecutors stressed the role of military commanders who refused to support the alleged intrigue of Bolsonaro, helping to preserve the constitutional order. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Brazil is under intense control for its widened powers and its aggressive manipulation of the case.
Adding to the drama, American president Donald Trump – encouraged by Bolsonaro’s son, now living in the United States – publicly condemned the trial. Trump described it as a “witch hunt”, slapped 50% of prices on Brazilian exports and imposed sanctions on several of the judges of the Supreme Court supervising the case.
What are the costs?
Bolsonaro faces five accusations brought by prosecutors and heard by a panel of five judges from the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil. The accusations include attempt to violently end the law of democratic law, to plot a coup d’etat and to be part of an armed criminal organization. There are two other costs linked to the damage of property and historical articles during the Riot of January 8, 2023 by supporters of Bolsonaro on government buildings in the capital of Brasília.
The prosecutor general of Brazil has built a case against Bolsonaro for more than 18 months to draw evidence of more than half a dozen investigations. Prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro not only urged supporters to emerate the capital, but also led a group of at least four officials to stay in office. The alleged plot included plans to assassinate key political rivals, including current president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva and Judge of the Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes, who now supervises the case.
Protesters, supporters of the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed the National Congress Building in Brasilia, Brazil, on January 8, 2023.
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The trial is also tried, seven of the allies closest to Bolsonaro, including his former teammate vice-president, Minister of Defense and Minister of Justice. His former former assistant, Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, concluded a advocacy with the accusation and his lawyers will be the first to speak, followed by the others listed in alphabetical order according to the names of their customers.
What is the proof?
Prosecutors say they have volumes of evidence involving Bolsonaro and other defendants through seized documents, emails, communications on social networks and telephone calls.
The main prosecutor of Brazil, Paulo Gonet, argues that Bolsonaro was not only a passive observer, but that the former president made “a conscious effort to create an environment conducive to violence and a coup”. And he noted that the criminal organization led by Bolsonaro had left an in -depth trace of documents through “records, handwritten notes, digital files, calculation sheets and exchanges of electronic messages”.
According to the most prejudicial prosecutors, come from the former confidence assistant of Bolsonaro, Mauro Cid, who concluded an agreement with the Attorney General for a lighter sentence in exchange for his testimony.
Cid told investigators that Bolsonaro had personally published a project decree – widely called a “coup d’etat” – which established plans to cancel the results of the 2022 elections. The document provided for the arrest of the Senate chief and 3 judges of the Supreme Court in order to create a commission calling for new elections. Bolsonaro would have published the document, so only Alexandre de Moraes – justice which currently oversees the trial – would be arrested.
Moraes has become a lightning rod for many on the right in Brazil and abroad which accuses it of overtaking no court not only in the case of Bolsonaro, but in others involving the dissemination of false news, where he ordered the deletion of social media accounts. He even embarked on a high-level dead end with Elon Musk on what he said was a widespread disinformation on the social media platform of the billionaire X.
What does Bolsonaro say?
Bolsonaro has long denied all the accusations and complaints of disputes he actively participated in a coup. He said on several occasions that he was not even in Brazil when his supporters have made capital letters. He left the country before President Lula was sworn in and lived in Florida at the time.
He also denies that he had a link with an assassination plot. Although he said he had seen the document “draft of the coup”, he denies creating or modifying it.
He says that any discussion about staying in the power in which he could have participated was always right, the discussions and always on the way he could remain legally president and through constitutional ways. He insisted that he did not try to recruit the support of the military for a coup.
Bolsonaro lawyers also claim that the Supreme Court Moraes judge is a supporter of the former president, as well as the federal police. They also say that the advocacy agreement with the ex-leader confidence assistant is not reliable and should be canceled.
Eduardo Bolsonaro talks next to an image of his father, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro during the CPAC Argentina 2024, conservative political action conservative
Tomas Cuesta / Getty Images from South America
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Tomas Cuesta / Getty Images from South America
Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a member of the Brazilian congress, urged US officials to intervene on behalf of his father. Now based in the United States, he has sought the support of conservative Allies, including many in the Mag of Trump to intervene in the name of his father. In an interview with NPR Eduardo Bolsonaro said that his father was the victim of a legal exceeding that transformed Brazil into an authoritarian dictatorship. “The only way we have to win this war against political persecution, censorship is with the help of the Trump administration,” he said.
Why is Trump involved?
Bolsonaro’s presidential mandate (2019 – 2022) rode Trump’s first mandate and the two conservatives experienced good relations. Trump said he was related to the “political persecution” that Bolsonaro is now suffering from the Lula administration on the left.
In July Trump sent a letter To the Brazilian authorities referring to the case against Bolsonaro as justification to impose steep prices of 50% on Brazilian exports to the United States – one of the highest rates ever perceived against a country. On social networks, Trump described the accusation of “witch hunt” against a “good man” and promised to watch the trial closely.
Then, in a dramatic decision, the Department of the US Treasury imposed one of the most serious sanctions of the Moraes judge, under the Magnitsky law, a measure generally used to punish foreign dictators and war criminals. The State Department then revoked the American visas of several judges on the High Court of Brazil. The ban also extends to the immediate members of their family. Only 3 of the 11 judges were spared by the revocation of the visa.
The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, listens while the American president Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the Rose Garden of the White House on March 19, 2019, in Washington, DC DC
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What happens if Bolsonaro is found guilty?
If he is found guilty of the five accusations, Bolsonaro and the other seven accused are incurred in prison. The most serious accusations – plotting a coup and trying to violently abolish the democratic reign – each has sentences up to 12 years. The lower accusations of ownership and the damage of the historic heritage do not bear as little as 6 months to 3 years in prison. All total, Bolsonaro could be sentenced to more than 40 years in prison.
If it is condemned, Bolsonaro and the other defendants can appeal and make their business heard before the Complete Supreme Court. It is already crossed out In the presidential election next year, on previous accusations of disinformation spread.
But Bolsonaro still has substantial political support in the country. We are talking about one of his sons or even his wife in his place. And there is a lot of hope on the part of the supporters that a strong victory for a successor Oint next year could make him forgive and seek to dismiss the judges of the Supreme Court involved in the case, in particular the main lawyer Alexandre de Moraes.
What is the next step?
The trial begins Tuesday,, With procedures that should last until September 12. The world – and especially the United States – will watch closely. A guilt verdict could trigger new American sanctions and deepen international tensions. Whatever the result, the trial has the potential to reshape the Brazil’s political landscape and send shock waves far beyond Latin America.
