Former Brazil military chiefs implicate Bolsonaro in coup conspiracy

FILE PHOTO: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gestures while standing in front of his house before testifying to the Federal Police in Brasilia, Brazil, February 22, 2024. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The former commanders of Brazil's Army and Air Force told police investigators that President Jair Bolsonaro summoned them twice to meetings to discuss a possible coup d'état after his election defeat in 2022, according to their testimonies released on Friday by the Supreme Court.

Their accounts place Bolsonaro at the center of a plot to declare martial law and stop leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva coming to power after he won the election that year.