Brazil has seen more than a dozen coup attempts of varying success since becoming a republic in 1889, but no coup conspirators have ever been prosecuted… until now.
What happened: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison after four out of five Supreme Court justices found him guilty of plotting a military coup meant to overturn the 2022 election that saw his rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, take office.
Catch-up: The plot, detailed in documents obtained by police, involved the military sending troops to take power and arrest opposing political and judicial leaders. Democracy would have then been abolished, Bolsonaro’s right to rule enshrined, and the military designated as a “moderating power.” However, Bolsonaro nixed the plan after failing to amass proper support.
- The assassinations of Lula and powerful Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes were also plotted, but never carried out.
Why it matters: That the court resisted internal pressures from Bolsonaro loyalists and external pressures from the U.S. — which hit Brazil with 50% tariffs in retaliation for hassling Donald Trump’s buddy — to deliver this verdict is a heartening sign for Brazil’s democracy.
Zoom out: In a period of increased global democratic erosion, with nations as disparate as South Korea and Turkey backsliding, Brazil could prove to be an example of how a flawed democracy can emerge from the brink of autocracy and push to reform itself.—QH