Book Reveals Army Commander Threatened to Arrest Jair Bolsonaro to Halt 2022 Coup Attempt

The fragility of Brazil's democratic transition after the 2022 election has been laid bare with the revelation from a former military chief that the then-Army Commander threatened to arrest President Jair Bolsonaro if he attempted to nullify the election result. Lieutenant-Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, who served as Air Force Commander, details the high-stakes confrontation in his forthcoming book, where he asserts that General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes warned the sitting president he would be taken into custody if he followed through on coup-related draft decrees. The direct threat, which Bolsonaro and Freire Gomes have denied under oath during subsequent investigations, underscores the extent to which Brazil’s military command held the line against an institutional rupture in late 2022.

The account describes a series of emergency meetings that took place in Brasília between the October 2022 election and the January 2023 inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Baptista Júnior records that the commanders of the three armed forces were called to the Ministry of Defense on more than a dozen occasions to discuss the election outcome and Bolsonaro’s growing efforts to remain in power. The former Air Force chief, who was a witness in the subsequent coup investigation, states that he and General Freire Gomes consistently opposed the plans, with the Army commander’s refusal to mobilize troops serving as the decisive factor in preventing a constitutional crisis. In contrast to the Army and Air Force, the then-Navy Commander, Admiral Almir Garnier, reportedly offered to make his troops available for the former president’s plans.

This institutional resistance by top generals proved crucial to the peaceful transfer of power, but the revelations highlight the deep political risk associated with the far-right's attempt to subvert the democratic process. Following extensive investigations by the Federal Police, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) accepted charges in March 2025, ordering Bolsonaro and other senior officials, including former running-mate General Walter Braga Netto, to stand trial for their alleged roles in the attempted coup. The former president faces five counts, including attempted coup d'état and abolition of the democratic rule of law, with a conviction carrying a potential sentence of decades in prison.

The consequences of the attempted coup continue to unfold within the military establishment itself. The Superior Military Court (STM) is currently engaged in an unprecedented process to determine whether to strip Bolsonaro, a former Army Captain, and other military officers now facing trial of their ranks and benefits. The court proceedings, which are focused on declaring the officers "unworthy" of retaining their military status, represent a critical, long-overdue step in holding the armed forces’ highest ranks accountable for violations of their constitutional duties.

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What it touches The revelation of the military’s internal resistance to a coup attempt, followed by the formal indictment and ongoing prosecution of the former president and senior generals, reinforces the resilience and independence of Brazil's core legal and political institutions. This sustained institutional stability works to reduce the perception of tail-end political risk associated with future democratic processes and governmental transitions in Brazil.