Brazil ex-President Bolsonaro will stand trial over an alleged coup plan. Here's what happens next

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA
Updated 12:18 AM CDT, March 27, 2025

SAO PAULO (AP) — A panel of Brazil Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven of his associates will stand trial on five counts, including attempting to stage a coup after the far-right leader lost the 2022 election.

The panel will review existing evidence, potentially gather new evidence and hear testimonies. Legal experts estimate that Bolsonaro could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison, though his actual jail time — if convicted — would be less than that due to procedural considerations.

Here’s what to know about what will happen after Wednesday’s ruling:

What charges does Bolsonaro face?

Bolsonaro will stand trial on the counts of attempting to stage a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage characterized by violence and a serious threat against the state’s assets, and deterioration of listed heritage.

The five-justices panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled based on the indictment by Prosecutor-General, Paulo Gonet. His formal accusation came from a federal police investigation that placed Bolsonaro on the top of a criminal organization that had been active since at least 2021.

Gonet also accused Bolsonaro of supporting a plan that allegedly included poisoning his successor, current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and killing Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

More:
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-supreme-court-trial-80e98eba0b7868580f78916850200c8d






Is Bolsonaro the Trump of the Tropics or is Trump the Bolsonaro of the States?

https://grist.org/article/is-bolsonaro-the-trump-of-the-tropics-or-is-trump-the-bolsonaro-of-the-states/






sons of racist fascist Presidents




Inspired by Trump, Bolsonaro is far worse

By Maxine L. Margolis
Post date
April 20, 2021

U.S. anthropologist Maxine L. Margolis looks at the similarities between the far right leaders Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, and how the Brazilian has gone beyond the chaos wrought by his North American idol.

By Maxine L. Margolis

—Naomi Klein, 2019

Jair Bolsonaro, elected President of Brazil in January 2019, has often been called “the Tropical Trump,” an apt depiction of the authoritarian leader of the world’s sixth most populace nation. As a long-time student of Brazil and a politically engaged American I have been struck by the remarkable parallels between President Bolsonaro and former U.S. President Donald Trump in their policies, personalities, and ideology. Their mutual incompetence in dealing with the Covid pandemic is just one glaring example of this.

The backgrounds of the two men are markedly different. Bolsonaro is the son of an itinerant dentist in rural Brazil, a retired captain in the Brazilian military, and a multi-year member of Brazil’s National Chamber of Deputies. Trump? We all know that Trump is what Brazilians call a “filho de papai,” a spoiled rich kid.

Bolsonaro and Trump have promoted similar policies towards the natural environment. In this Trump is to coal mining and offshore oil exploration, what Bolsonaro is to gold mining and cattle ranching in the Amazon. Bolsonaro supports the miners regardless of the environmental damage their exploits may cause, just as Trump supported his embattled coal miners despite the costs to the natural world.

Both loosened environmental regulations and partially gutted agencies charged with environmental oversight, leading to drastic reductions in enforcement. In the Amazon, raids by wildcat loggers and miners who no longer fear government fines or retribution have resulted in the murder of several indigenous leaders attempting to defend their lands. In Bolsonaro’s first year as president, killings of indigenous Brazilians reached their highest levels in more than two decades.

More:
https://www.brasilwire.com/inspired-by-trump-bolsonaro-is-far-worse/

As you can see, too much has happened since the 2nd article was written, and all of it is hideous.