Democratic Accountability or a Witch Hunt? Bolsonaro Convicted for Attempted Coup
On September 11, 1973, the United States helped usher in the authoritarian, right-wing administration of Chilean General Augusto Pinochet. Under Pinochet’s regime, it is estimated that over 3,000 people were killed or considered missing, with an additional 38,000 people becoming political prisoners. This notorious date evokes remembrance of totalitarianism, autocracy, and an abrupt destabilization of a democratic nation for many across Latin America. Over 50 years later, on Thursday, September 11, 2025, Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for orchestrating an unsuccessful conspiracy to overturn Brazil’s 2022 presidential election. Following the conviction, the date gains a new layer of political relevance for not only Brazil but democracy itself.
Bolsonaro’s conviction was built on evidence proving his involvement in subverting voter confidence in the 2022 election, and following his loss, his planned attempts to remain in power. The strategy proposed within his inner circle involved declaring a state of emergency, which would have dissolved the Supreme Court and effectively annulled the election results. The plan even included a plot to assassinate Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice who oversaw the case. Announcing the sentence, Justice Moraes stated, “[He tried to] annihilate the essential pillars of the democratic rule-of-law state … the greatest consequence [of which] … would have been the return of dictatorship to Brazil.”
A substantial portion of evidence supporting the conviction was derived from public discourse and turmoil surrounding Bolsonaro’s actions. He openly spread misinformation about voter fraud, and one week after the inauguration of President Lula, Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Brazil’s capital in an attempt to induce a military takeover. Between the coup d’état that abolished the Brazilian monarchy in 1889 and the insurrection in 2022, the country has experienced 14 military coups, half of which were unsuccessful. In every failed attempt, those responsible were granted amnesty and never prosecuted. The recent sentencing breaks this pattern, signifying to many Brazilians a victory for democracy. Carlos Fico, Brazilian historian and author, calls the occasion “totally unprecedented… There has never been punishment for the plotters of a military coup.”
The country’s political division runs deep, as those in support celebrate while the opposition mourns, both without inhibition. Trumpeter Fabiano Letão, who has spent years taunting Bolsonaro by playing renditions of the anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao, celebrated the sentencing by playing Chopin’s Funeral March. The melancholic piece was followed by a samba, reflecting the joy of many left-leaning Brazilians. According to Leitão, “The extreme right is a mechanism of destruction of countries. It destroys everything: healthcare, science, technology, education, culture. It destroys it all. So this is a historic moment for this country.” In Brasília, patrons of the bar Pardim cheered when the guilty verdict appeared on TV screens. Sofía Araujo, a student, said that she burst into tears. “This is a very important moment for which we’ve been waiting a long time,” she explained, adding that “Today we can celebrate because justice has been served.”
A different mood prevailed, however, near Bolsonaro’s home in Brasília, where he remained under house arrest. Supporters gathered here, in vigilistic prayer, waving U.S., Brazilian, and Israeli flags. One banner read “Come back, Bolsonaro,” in a reference to hopes of the former president’s return in the 2026 elections. Right-wing figures on social media, including senator Flavio Bolsonaro, circulated slogans such as “They want to kill Bolsonaro” and “Supreme persecution.”
Oppositional sentiment towards Bolsonaro’s fate extends beyond Brazil’s territory, with many United States officials and Republican party members expressing regret and threatening retaliatory tariffs. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to Justice Moraes’ decisions as “political persecutions” that “have unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro.” President Donald Trump and Mr. Bolsonaro shared similar approaches to politics, and Mr. Trump said he was “very unhappy” with the conviction. In July, during Bolsonaro’s trial, Trump referred to the period as a witch hunt, announcing a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imported goods, explicitly linking the import tax to Bolsonaro’s case. Weeks later, the U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on Justice Moraes and on his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes. These sanctions are typically used against figures accused of human rights abuses. This action underlines President Trump’s willingness to utilize financial penalties to reach political ends, including penalties applied in unconventional contexts with little precedent. Bolsonaro’s son, congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, has spent months lobbying Trump officials over his father’s circumstances. Each action President Trump takes against Brazil’s economy and institutions is celebrated by Eduardo, who made his motive to move to the United States clear from the beginning. In a video posted on social media, he announced that from the U.S., he would “be able to seek just punishments for [Judge] Alexandre de Moraes and his Gestapo,” and clarified that his goal “in life” would be to make those responsible for his father’s sentence “pay for all the cruelty” they had inflicted.
In response to the statements of the U.S. State Department, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called Rubio’s comment a threat that “attacks Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and the compelling evidence in the records.” The ministry took a firm stance, promising that Brazilian democracy would not be intimidated. At the 80th United Nations General Assembly, President Lula warned that the world is “witnessing the consolidation of an international order marked by repeated concessions to power play, attacks on sovereignty, arbitrary sanctions, and unilateral interventions,” He emphasized that, in regard to Brazil’s response, “Before the eyes of the world, Brazil sent a message to all aspiring autocrats and those who support them: our democracy, our sovereignty, are non-negotiable.”