Brazil’s Ex-Air Force Chief Details Inside Struggle to Stop Bolsonaro’s Coup

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The 2022 Presidential Transition and the Coup Decree

In the final weeks of 2022, following his election defeat, then-President Jair Bolsonaro summoned the heads of the armed forces to a meeting, according to reporting by Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro for The Guardian. During the gathering, then-Defense Minister Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira pulled a document from a plastic folder and distributed copies to the commanders of the navy, army, and air force. The draft decree proposed blocking Lula da Silva from taking office and maintaining Bolsonaro’s administration.

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Writing in his upcoming book translated as I Said No! – An Anti-Coup Bulwark, Baptista Júnior recalled that after recognizing the document’s intent, he told the defense minister he refused to even accept a copy, stating that the air force would not participate, before standing up and leaving the room. The book is scheduled for publication on September 15, 2026.

Military Divisions and Subsequent Legal Proceedings

According to The Guardian, subsequent judicial investigations and trials concluded that the coup plot ultimately stalled primarily because the heads of two military branches—Baptista Júnior and army commander Gen. Marco Antônio Freire Gomes—refused to support it. Almir Garnier Santos and Defense Minister Nogueira backed the plan and were subsequently convicted. Both men are serving prison sentences in military facilities, while Bolsonaro remains under house arrest.

While Freire Gomes has maintained a low public profile since the events, Baptista Júnior decided to publish his account to help deter future attempts to overturn democratic elections. He noted that despite comprehensive evidence presented during legal proceedings, approximately one-third of the Brazilian public still doubts that a coup was attempted.

“Keeping in power someone who lost an election is a coup d’état,” Baptista Júnior told The Guardian during a video call from his home in Brasília.

Political Context and Memoir Publication Timing

The release of I Said No! – An Anti-Coup Bulwark arrives roughly two weeks prior to the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, a race in which incumbent President Lula da Silva faces Flávio Bolsonaro, a far-right senator and son of the former president. Some supporters of the Bolsonaro family have accused Baptista Júnior of attempting to sway the upcoming vote.

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In response to those criticisms, Baptista Júnior stated that he intends to vote for neither candidate and offers critiques of both political figures within his memoir. He explained that the publication date was determined strictly by the writing and editing schedule rather than electoral calendars. Throughout the book, the retired 65-year-old former fighter pilot—who acknowledges voting for the populist leader in 2018 and 2022—characterizes Bolsonaro as possessing severe administrative and political limitations, alongside an unwillingness to accept outside information that contradicted his established views.

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