Former Air Force Commander Details Standoff Over Alleged 2022 Brazil Coup Plot in New Book

Lt. Brig. Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, the former commander of Brazil's air force, has released a first-hand account detailing how military leadership split over efforts to overturn the country's October 2022 presidential election results. In his forthcoming book, set for release on September 15, the retired officer outlines his refusal to support a proposed decree aimed at preventing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office.

The core development centers on a meeting held six weeks after the 2022 election. According to Baptista Júnior, former Defence Minister Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira presented commanders of the navy, army, and air force with a draft decree intended to invalidate the election outcome and maintain outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro in power. Baptista Júnior writes that he immediately rejected the document, telling the defence minister that the air force would not participate before walking out of the room.

Military Division and Legal Consequences

Subsequent investigations and trials concluded that the plan to overturn the election failed primarily because Baptista Júnior and army commander Gen. Marco Antônio Freire Gomes refused to back the move. Other officials faced legal convictions for their involvement: former navy commander Adm. Almir Garnier Santos and Nogueira were convicted and are serving sentences in military facilities, while Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest. Gen. Walter Souza Braga Netto, Bolsonaro's 2022 running mate, was also convicted.

In his book, Baptista Júnior describes more than a dozen meetings where Bolsonaro assembled military chiefs to discuss strategies to remain in office. During one encounter, Baptista Júnior states he heard the army commander warn Bolsonaro that an attempt at an institutional rupture would result in the president's arrest. Both Freire Gomes and Bolsonaro denied that specific exchange occurred during trial proceedings, though Baptista Júnior maintains the accuracy of his account.

Personal Toll and Timing of Disclosures

The former air force chief noted that opposing the decree caused him to lose numerous friendships and made him the target of social media attacks from military figures. He acknowledged voting for Bolsonaro in 2018 and 2022, but criticized the former leader's administrative experience and resistance to external facts, including scientific evidence regarding Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although Baptista Júnior first detailed these events during a federal police interrogation in 2024, critics point out the delay in reporting. Juliano da Silva Cortinhas, a security researcher at the University of Brasília and former defence ministry official, stated that while the refusal to join the plot was positive, the military commanders had a duty to report the illegal proposals to law enforcement immediately when they occurred.

The release of the book comes shortly before Brazil's upcoming presidential election, where Lula faces Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president's son. Baptista Júnior stated he will not vote for either candidate, explaining that his primary motivation for publishing was to document the historical record for a public that remains divided over the coup attempt.