The far-right leader has posted a rebuttal on social media, accusing Brazil’s government of being an ‘authoritarian regime’.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed what he called “vague accusations” against him after he was indicted over an attempted coup to stay in office following his 2022 election defeat.
On Wednesday, in a lengthy post on the social media platform X, Bolsonaro said that the criminal charges against him and 33 other people were the result of an “authoritarian regime” that needs to “manufacture internal enemies”.
“The trick of accusing democratic opposition leaders of plotting coups is nothing new,” Bolsonaro wrote.
He compared his indictment to efforts in Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua, all countries led by leftist governments, where he said leaders have accused opposition members of being “coup plotters”.
“It’s like that all over the world,” Bolsonaro added. “The playbook is well-known: They fabricate vague accusations, claim to be concerned about democracy or sovereignty, and persecute opponents, silence dissenting voices and concentrate power.”
– O mundo está atento ao que se passa no Brasil. O truque de acusar líderes da oposição democrática de tramar golpes não é algo novo: todo regime autoritário, em sua ânsia pelo poder, precisa fabricar inimigos internos para justificar perseguições, censuras e prisões arbitrárias.… pic.twitter.com/VGM7hcAj2v
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) February 19, 2025
Bolsonaro’s comments come a day after Brazilian authorities charged the former president with devising a multipronged scheme to remain in power following his 2022 electoral loss to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Among other charges, prosecutors accused Bolsonaro and dozens of his supporters of plotting to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a foe of the former president.
Other defendants in the indictment include former ministers and an ex-navy chief.
“The responsibility for acts harmful to the democratic order falls upon a criminal organisation led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro, based on an authoritarian project of power,” the charging document stated.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain who served as president from 2019 to 2022, is unlikely to be arrested before his trial unless de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, deems him a flight risk.
The indictment marks the first time Brazilian authorities have charged the right-wing populist leader with a crime.
It represents a new blow to the 69-year-old, who had been planning an increasingly unlikely political comeback. He is currently barred from holding public office until 2030.
This week’s charges follow a two-year Brazilian federal police investigation that concluded in November.
It probed Bolsonaro’s alleged role in leading an election-denying movement that culminated in thousands of his supporters rioting in the country’s capital, Brasilia, in January 2023.
During the riot, Bolsonaro supporters clashed with police and broke into buildings for the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court, looting and causing damage.
Observers compared the events to the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, when supporters of US President Donald Trump attempted to disrupt the certification of his 2020 defeat.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied involvement in the riot, pointing out he was in Florida at the time.
Responding to journalists’ questions about the charges on Wednesday, Lula said that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
“If they prove that they did not attempt a coup, and if they prove that they did not attempt to kill the president, the vice president and the president of the Supreme Electoral Court, they will be free,” Lula said. “If when judges trial they come to the conclusion that they are guilty, they will have to pay for the crime they committed.”