Army dismisses two officers cited in investigation involving Bolsonaro and allies

The Brazilian Army dismissed this Wednesday (14) two soldiers from command posts targeted in the recent Federal Police operation investigating an alleged coup d’état. The dismissals were authorized by the army commander, General Tomás Paiva, and published in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU).

According to the publication (see in full), Lieutenant Colonel Guilherme Marques de Almeida, who was in command of the 1st Psychological Operations Battalion in Goiânia, and Lieutenant Colonel Hélio Ferreira Lima, previously commander of the 3rd Company of Special Forces in Manaus.

According to investigations by the Federal Police, the group targeted by the operation planned to carry out a coup d’état to keep former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in power. The authority’s investigation indicates that close military and political figures were part of the group.

The PF identified two “axes” of action for this group. The first aimed to disseminate alleged false information about fraud in electronic voting machines, a discourse that had been propagated since 2019 and persisted after the 2022 elections, according to the police agency.

The second “axis” carried out actions to support the abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, seeking to carry out the coup. This phase had the support of military personnel linked to tactics and special forces, according to investigations.