The former head of Brazil's air force, Lt Brig Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, has revealed in a new book details about an attempt by former President Jair Bolsonaro to overturn the results of the 2022 election and stay in power. According to Baptista Júnior, Bolsonaro, who lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called together the leaders of the country’s three military branches—army, navy, and air force—six weeks after the election. During the meeting, Bolsonaro reportedly presented a draft decree aimed at invalidating the election. Baptista Júnior refused to support the plan, stating that the air force would not be involved. The investigation into the attempted coup concluded that the plot failed mainly because two of the three military leaders declined to participate. At the time, Brazil’s defense minister, General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, and the navy commander, Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, were found guilty of their roles in the coup attempt and are currently serving sentences in military prisons. Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, was also implicated in the case. The army commander, General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, was convicted as well, but he has largely avoided public attention since then. Baptista Júnior, who plans to publish his book on 15 September, said he wrote it to ensure such events do not happen again. He noted that despite evidence presented during Bolsonaro’s trial, a large segment of the population still doubts that an attempted coup occurred. He criticized Bolsonaro for lacking sufficient political, institutional, and administrative experience and for being nearly impervious to opinions or information that contradicted his own beliefs. The book also discusses a plan by army special forces to kidnap or assassinate Lula, although Baptista Júnior was not involved in those discussions and learned of the plan through media reports. He recalls more than a dozen meetings where Bolsonaro discussed strategies to maintain power, including one in which the army chief reportedly warned Bolsonaro that attempting an institutional rupture would result in his arrest. Baptista Júnior’s refusal to support the coup led to personal attacks from some military personnel, who labeled him a “traitor” or a “watermelon,” a derogatory term for soldiers perceived as outwardly loyal but secretly sympathetic to leftist causes. These attacks included criticism from Walter Souza Braga Netto, Bolsonaro’s running mate, who was also convicted for his role in the coup attempt. Juliano da Silva Cortinhas, a security researcher, noted that while it is positive that high-ranking military officials were convicted, the risk of a new coup remains, especially given the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump on Latin American elections. Cortinhas mentioned that some active-duty military personnel still believe a coup could be justified in certain situations. Baptista Júnior emphasized the need for “eternal vigilance” to prevent such scenarios from happening again.