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Bolsonaro’s strong man and Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, revealed that he disarticulated an ongoing coup that was being promoted by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia; the Federal Supreme Court and the Governor of São Paulo, João Doria, along with other regional leaders.
In an interview with Veja magazine, Minister Guedes explained that there was a movement to destabilize the government of Jair Bolsonaro. “It was scheduled. In sixty days, they would carry out the impeachment.” In the conspiracy, continues Guedes, were involved the president of the Chamber of Deputies Rodrigo Maia, “people of Justice” and several governors.
One of Bolsonaro’s greatest enemies, the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, of the Social Democratic Party, called Minister Guedes trying to detonate the government with his departure. “Paulo, this is the opportunity to save your biography. That government will not last more than sixty days. Can you do yourself a favor? Save yourself.”
In another call, Doria repeated to Guedes to leave the government and save his biography. “The president is going to fall. In two months he will be on the floor. The Supreme Court will do it,” insisted the governor who wants to impose the Chinese vaccine in the state, to which Guedes responded: “João, are you crazy? Go and govern São Paulo, boy. Stop being harmful.”
To calm the waters, Minister Guedes decided to call all the Supreme Court judges to “try to understand what was happening. The head of the Ministry of the Economy assured that he managed to dismantle the conflict by listening to each one of them.” Judge Gilmar Mendes, for example, suggested that the government should give a show of good faith, in case it was really interested in pacifying relations. Abraham Weintraub’s resignation was the example. I also called Judge Barroso and Judge Fux.
Tensions between the Bolsonaro government and the Federal Supreme Court began to grow when the judicial branch wanted to seize the phones of the President of the Republic. Guedes acknowledged that Brazilian democracy became at risk when this impasse occurred.
The economist remembers that during a meeting of ministers the former head of Education, Abraham Weintraub, wanted to go ahead with the conflict, receiving support from the president. After a controversial speech by Weintraub, who was being persecuted by the Supreme Court – after insinuating in a tweet that the coronavirus pandemic was the fault of the Chinese regime -, Guedes interfered to avoid an escalation. “I told them that we were falling into a trap, that the script was already prepared, that it was inappropriate. The generals present supported me.”
Allan Dos Santos denounced before Paulo Guedes
Back in August, journalist Allan Dos Santos denounced that members of the Federal Supreme Court and Superior Electoral Court, Judge Luis Barroso, Judge Edson Fachin and Judge Alexandre de Moraes were preparing a coup against President Bolsonaro.
The journalist’s denunciation came after Igor Tobias, an employee of the TSE, hired the German company Rohde & Schwarz to scan phone calls in Brasilia.
The company reportedly identified three interceptor boxes in different locations. The first, at the residence of the lawyer for the Workers’ Party (PT), Antônio Carlos de Almeida Castro (better known as Kakay), who has free movement through the STF. The second was at the Chinese Embassy. The third, at the North Korean Embassy.
According to a Terça Livre report, Allan Dos Santos accused Barroso and Moraes of prevarication. “They have information about phone calls coming from two embassies. That is against any and all national security laws. They did not warn the President of the Republic. They prevaricated.”
“President Bolsonaro is probably being heard by these suitcases that are in possession of the North Korean embassy, the Chinese embassy and the house of Kakay, a lawyer for the PT (Lula da Silva’s party),” said Allan Dos Santos
Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017