Brazil Army Colonel Arrested in Military Coup Investigation Upon Return from U.S.

By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA – A Brazilian army colonel has been apprehended by police in connection with an investigation into an attempted coup involving associates of the country’s former far-right president. The arrest took place on Sunday when Colonel Bernardo Correa Neto returned from the United States.

His detention occurred at Brasilia’s airport, following a custody hearing at an army garrison. The colonel had been dispatched to the United States on a mission at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington in December 2022, shortly after former President Jair Bolsonaro traveled to Florida prior to the inauguration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro has yet to acknowledge his electoral defeat to Lula in the October 2022 election. He has been barred from holding public office until 2030 due to abuse of authority during his presidency and unfounded allegations that Brazil’s voting system was susceptible to fraud.

Recently, federal police carried out raids at Bolsonaro’s beach house and political party office, confiscating his passport. He has been accused of modifying a draft decree to disrupt the election results, which is part of a purported military coup plot.

The former president, known for his far-right populism and often compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump, denies the existence of a conspiracy and claims that the investigation is a politically motivated attack on him.

The police operation on Thursday targeted four former ministers, including three retired army generals, and resulted in the arrest of four former aides, including Colonel Correa Neto.

Additionally, the president of Bolsonaro’s right-wing political party, Valdemar Costa Neto, was detained during a search of his home in Brasilia, where authorities discovered an unregistered firearm. While he was provisionally released on Saturday, he has been instructed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to refrain from communicating with others involved in the coup investigation.