In a statement on Monday (28), at the Supreme Court (STF), Hélio Ferreira Lima, Lieutenant Colonel of the Army, confirmed that he prepared a strategic document with guidelines to hold the pre-trial detention of court ministers, including Alexandre de Moraes. The military made the statements during the interrogations of the defendants of core 3 of the criminal action, which investigates the attempted coup d’état organized after the 2022 elections.
The Federal Police found the material, called “Drawing Op Penesta”, in a functional flash drive seized during the investigations. According to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), this document details a plan structured in five phases, with the objective of preventing the president-elect Lula from taking office.
Document Docules Plan to Neutralize Ministers
Helio admitted to producing the document, but stated that it was a “prospective scenario study”, that is, a simulation based on intelligence techniques provided for in the Ministry of Defense, with no intention of practical execution. Still, the Federal Police and PGR interpret content as evidence of a real coup planning.
The document indicates that STF ministers were seen as factors of political insecurity, with Alexandre de Moraes standing out as a key piece in the post-election scenario. Ferreira Lima stated that, despite considering him a “critical factor”, Moraes was not the “center of gravity” of the plan.
In the spreadsheet, the plan begins with the evaluation of the current situation, identifying elements considered threats to the legal order. The following phases describe the neutralization of these factors, increased state control, total domain over the executive, legislative and judiciary powers, and finally, the resumption of “institutional normality” according to the authors’ view.
Five phases of the plan
1. Current state: Survey of problems and risks perceived in the Supreme Court and other institutions, considered generators of political and institutional instability.
2. Desired final state (EFD): moment when the “destabilizing factors” would be neutralized to ensure “legalistic strength”, that is, control by the coup group.
3. Natural trend: phase in which the group would seek to broaden state control over these elements considered threatening, strengthening their position.
4. Total control: Step in which the group intended to achieve absolute domain over the three powers of the Republic, thus ensuring the success of institutional rupture.
5. Institutional Normality: Finally, the plan provided for the definitive elimination of the elements that caused illegality and instability, establishing the “order” for the group.
Helium argued that the plan was only hypothetical and stressed that the army’s special forces have no staff or structure to perform a blow of this magnitude. “Even all the special forces together would be defeated by any state police,” he explained.
Meeting with General Braga Netto
Lieutenant Colonel confirmed that he had participated in a meeting at the house of General Walter Braga Netto, former Minister of Defense and the Civil House, accompanied by the then order assistant of Jair Bolsonaro, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid. According to Ferreira Lima, the meeting lasted less than 20 minutes and did not involve discussion about the coup plan. “It was a quick meeting, with heavy weather, like a wake, no water we took,” he said.
However, the Attorney General’s Office understands that this meeting is part of the clandestine attempts to neutralize Minister Alexandre de Moraes, named as one of the main obstacles to the group.
Messages exchanged between Helio and Mauro Cid also indicate that the group evaluated the use of hackers to find false evidence that would doubt the smoothness of the 2022 elections.
Monitoring of Lula Negado
The officer denied that he had directly monitored by President -elect Lula. According to his defense, he was in Brasilia to visit his son and the proximity to the hotel where Lula was hosted was casual.
Even so, the complaint points out that the group sought information to create unfounded suspicions about the electoral process, in an attempt to justify democratic rupture.
Laura Basilio under supervision of Thiago San.
