Down and Out in Brazil: Former Brazilian Leader Goes On Trial For Attempted Coup
NEED TO KNOW
Down and Out in Brazil: Former Brazilian Leader Goes On Trial For Attempted Coup
BRAZIL
Former Brazilian Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio de Freitas recently testified on behalf of his one-time boss, Jair Bolsonaro, the ex-president of Brazil, who is currently on trial for allegedly organizing an attempted coup to remain in office and plotting to murder the current president and a supreme court justice.
“During the period I was with the president during the final stretch (of his term)…he never touched on that subject, never mentioned any attempt at constitutional disruption,” said Freitas, who is the current governor of the state of São Paulo.
A conservative and populist, Bolsonaro faces 40 years in prison if he’s found guilty of seeking to seize control of the government after he lost his reelection bid to current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, a leftist, in late 2022, reported Agence France-Presse. He would also be banned permanently from holding office.
Soon after the election, his supporters stormed the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace in the capital of Brasília, the Buenos Aires Herald explained.
Bolsonaro claims the prosecution is politically motivated and aims to prevent him from running for office again in 2026, the BBC noted. The case against him, meanwhile, appears strong, analysts add, pointing to a mountain of evidence, including testimony by some of his own supporters.
In mid-May, Gen. Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, a former army commander under Bolsonaro, took the stand in a pre-trial hearing and told the court that he met with Bolsonaro ahead of the inauguration of Lula in early 2023 to discuss a “state of siege” as a possible way to overturn Bolsonaro’s election defeat, according to Agence France-Presse.
Another military official under Bolsonaro, Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, told the court he also took part in meetings in which Bolsonaro discussed “the hypothetical possibility of using legal instruments” to overturn the election results and justify military intervention.
Both Gomes and Júnior said they refused to comply. Gomes said that he warned Bolsonaro of the judicial implications of declaring a state of siege and even threatened to have him arrested if he followed through with the plan.
More than 80 witnesses, including senior military officers, former government ministers, and officials from the police and intelligence services, are testifying in this preliminary trial phase. Among them is Bolsonaro’s former personal assistant, Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, who has made a plea deal.
Still, British-Canadian writer Gwynne Dyer saw holes in the prosecution’s case. Writing in the Bangkok Post, he argued that the civilians who vandalized government buildings were incompetent and half-hearted in their attempt at regime change. Soldiers never left their barracks. And Bolsonaro was “on vacation” in Florida.
Meanwhile, it’s not clear a judge would imprison the former president if he is found guilty. Bolsonaro, 70, is recovering from his sixth operation for intestinal damage related to a 2018 assassination attempt. Pain and discomfort have impeded his campaign efforts for his party in next year’s presidential election, the Associated Press wrote.
Bolsonaro’s downfall represents an especially remarkable reversal of fortunes in contrast to the comeback of his arch-nemesis, Lula.
Lula left office in 2010 after serving two terms as a popular president. His handpicked successor, former President Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and ousted in 2016. Then, a year later, prosecutors convicted Lula in a bribery and corruption scandal, imprisoning him for almost two years. In 2021, the country’s Supreme Court annulled his conviction, letting him run for office again.
Holding on to power is a long game in Brazilian politics, analysts say. Bolsonaro is already banned from holding office until 2030 for abuse of power and for making unfounded claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud. Despite the ban, he said he plans to run again in the 2026 presidential election.
After all, Lula became president again in spite of his conviction, observers add.
“One of the strange paradoxes in politics is that populists gain from anger at the political system no matter how much they contributed to the system’s failures,” wrote World Politics Review. “Brazil’s prosecution (of) Bolsonaro for the attempted coup he plotted is salutary. But that does not guarantee the country won’t fall into this same trap.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Anger, Dismay, After US Vetoes UN Ceasefire Resolution on Gaza
ISRAEL/ WEST BANK AND GAZA
The United States this week vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and the unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid, prompting sharp rebukes from allies and adversaries alike as the war continues to devastate the enclave and isolate Israel diplomatically, the Associated Press reported.
On Wednesday, the US cast its fifth veto since the war began 20 months ago, opposing a resolution that received the support of all 14 other council members.
The resolution, which described Gaza’s humanitarian conditions as “catastrophic,” did not make the release of hostages a prerequisite for a ceasefire, nor did it explicitly condemn Hamas, or call for its disarmament – conditions for which the US and Israel had advocated.
US diplomats and officials insisted that the proposal would undermine Israel’s security and ongoing diplomatic efforts, as well as empower Hamas.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon welcomed the veto, saying that the resolution would have granted Hamas political cover.
However, other council members condemned the move. China’s UN ambassador Fu Cong accused the US of shielding Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law. Ambassador Barbara Woodward of the United Kingdom – which typically aligns with Washington – called Israel’s expansion of military operations and aid restrictions “unjustifiable, disproportionate, and counterproductive.”
Meanwhile, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israel-backed aid group involving private contractors that began distributing food last month, reopened two sites in Gaza’s Rafah on Thursday after suspending operations due to shootings near its locations, Reuters added.
The GHF has distributed more than seven million meals in the Palestinian enclave but has been widely criticized by UN agencies for a lack of neutrality and for facilitating the displacement of Palestinians by limiting aid to Israel-controlled zones.
Aid groups have warned that 2.3 million people remain at risk of famine.
The reconfiguration of aid delivery comes amid reports that Israel is arming local Arab militias in southern Gaza to counter Hamas, according to the Times of Israel.
On Thursday, opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman alleged that the government provided weapons to a militia faction led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a controversial figure linked to criminal activity and, allegedly, Salafi jihadism. Defense sources confirmed that Israel handed Abu Shabab’s group Kalashnikov rifles, some captured from Hamas during the ongoing war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office initially did not confirm the allegations, but later admitted to arming the groups, saying the move “saves the lives of Israeli soldiers,” the Wall Street Journal noted.
Abu Shabab’s militia – known as the Popular Force – has claimed to be securing the aid convoys entering Israel through the southern border crossings. However, others, including Hamas, have accused his group of looting aid convoys.
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies launched an assault in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken into Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign has since killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health authorities.
Also on Thursday, Israel recovered the bodies of Gadi Hagi and Judy Weinstein-Hagi. Dual citizens of America and Israel, the couple were killed during Hamas’s October attack, and their bodies were taken into Gaza.
According to Israeli estimates, 56 hostages remain in captivity, although fewer than half are believed to be alive.
New Zealand Bans Māori Lawmakers Over ‘Intimidating’ Haka Dance
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand’s Parliament voted Thursday to suspend three Māori lawmakers over a traditional dance of challenge they performed during a session last year to protest a bill that aimed to redefine the country’s founding treaty with the Māori, the BBC reported.
Opposition politician Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke began to do the dance, known as haka, when asked if the Te Pāti Māori party favored the bill. She was suspended for seven days. Her party’s co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, were suspended for 21 days, the longest suspensions any New Zealand lawmaker has received.
The Treaty Principles Bill that they opposed did not pass in the end but still sparked nationwide outrage as the Māori party said the law would reverse Indigenous rights, according to the Associated Press. More than 40,000 people marched outside parliament last November to protest the bill during the first reading.
A parliamentary committee had suggested suspending the Māori lawmakers, not for the haka per se but for marching across their opponents while performing the traditional dance. Committee chair Judith Collins noted that the behavior could have come across as intimidating for their opponents.
Tensions ran high on Thursday as the parliament debated penalties. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Winston Peters was asked to apologize for calling Te Pāti Māori a “bunch of extremists” and saying that the country “has had enough of them.”
Māori representatives, on the other hand, argued that they are being punished and silenced “for being Māori” and said they need to prioritize their people’s needs. They also said they are being sanctioned more harshly because they are of Indigenous background, as there have been times when other lawmakers approached opponents without repercussions.
While New Zealand has long been praised for upholding Indigenous rights, relations with the Māori people have soured under the current conservative leadership. Among other measures, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s administration has come under scrutiny for cutting funding beneficial to Māori.
Across most social and economic metrics, Māori remain at a disadvantage compared with non-Māori New Zealanders.
Italy Targets Protesters, Increases Protections for Law Enforcement
ITALY
The Italian Senate this week approved a controversial security measure to crack down on demonstrations while increasing the power of, and protection for, intelligence and law enforcement officers, even when they break the law, Politico reported.
The bill, sponsored by the far-right government, was approved in the lower house last week, and Wednesday in the Senate, passing by a vote of 109 to 69 with one abstention. Center-left opposition lawmakers sat on the floor during the vote and chanted “shame” in protest.
The bill introduces harsher penalties for protest-related offenses, such as property damage and disruptive sit-ins. The legislation also gives broader power to law enforcement and allows intelligence agents to break the law if national security needs call for it.
It also makes injuring a police officer who is on duty a crime and allocates more than $11,000 to cover legal costs for those under investigation for their behavior while on duty.
By criminalizing the blocking of roads and the vandalism of public property, it essentially targets climate change protesters, for example, who have often disrupted traffic or damaged monuments in the country, noted Reuters.
Other parts of the bill extend jail time for inmates who riot or disobey orders in prisons and migrant detention centers, even if they do so through acts of passive resistance.
While Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promoted the bill as part of a plan to make Italy safer, saying it “strengthens the protection of citizens, the most vulnerable groups and our men and women in uniform,” it has triggered protests across the country in recent months.
Human rights groups have accused the government of criminalizing dissent, limiting civil liberties, and curtailing the right to protest.
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty had also warned that the legislation may violate European human rights standards in a letter sent to the president of the Italian Senate in December.
Other international observers have expressed serious concerns about this bill, saying it could undermine the rule of law.
DISCOVERIES
Singing Alone
The impulse to sing and dance and croon soothing songs to babies is so common across cultures that scientists have long believed it is ingrained in the human psyche.
New research focused on the Northern Aché, an Indigenous people in Paraguay, however, is challenging this notion, illustrating that these behaviors are learned rather than hardwired into humans.
With the exception of singing in church, a practice introduced by missionaries, Northern Aché adults rarely sing, and when they do, they do it alone, the new research showed. They never dance or sing lullabies to children.
“It’s not that the Northern Aché don’t have any need for lullabies,” lead study author Manvir Singh said in a statement. “Aché parents still calm fussy infants. They use playful speech, funny faces, smiling, and giggling. Given that lullabies have been shown to soothe infants, Aché parents would presumably find them useful.”
“Dance and infant-related song are widely considered universal, a view that has been supported by cross-cultural research, including my own,” Singh added. In contrast, his study shows that those behaviors are learned, unlike other, innate behaviors, such as smiling.
According to the researchers, the Northern Aché lost cultural practices like dance, lullabies, shamanism, horticulture, and the ability to make a fire at the same time that their population went into decline.
Another theory is that certain cultural practices disappeared when the Northern Aché were settled on reservations: After this, they lost other traditional behaviors such as ceremonies celebrating puberty and hunting magic, researchers said.
This project, which drew on decades of research on the Northern Aché, provides insight into the different roles that biology and cultural transmission play in the creation and preservation of dance and lullabies in human societies, they added.
“This doesn’t refute the possibility that humans have genetically evolved adaptations for dancing and responding to lullabies,” Singh said. “It does mean, however, that cultural transmission matters much more for maintaining those behaviors than many researchers, including myself, have suspected.”