MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Datafloha: About 55% of Brazilians think Bolsonaro tried to stage a coup d'état

Bolsonaro was denied his passport by De Moraes to travel to Israel in May

According to a Datafolha survey released Friday by Folha de S.Paulo, 55% of Brazilians believe former President Jair Bolsonaro wanted to stage a coup d'état whereas 39% of those interviewed thought the retired Army captain never had such intentions. In addition, 7% of respondents were unable to answer that question.

The study also noted that 73% of Bolsonaro supporters did not believe the rightwing leader tried to prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's inauguration, which would indicate that around a quarter of his parishioners still harbored some doubts.

A total of 2,002 people were interviewed in 147 Brazilian cities between March 19 and 20. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus two points, it was explained.

Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for those charges as well as others, had a request to have his passport back denied Friday by Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes. The travel document was seized in February during a Federal Police operation investigating irregularities in the 2022 presidential elections. Bolsonaro intended to go to Israel between May 12 and 18 at the invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

De Moraes argued that “the precautionary measure remains necessary and appropriate,” amid an ongoing investigation ”as the Attorney General's Office (PGR) rightly observed when it expressed its opinion that the request should be rejected.“ The magistrate found that it would be ”absolutely premature to remove the restriction imposed on the investigated, as I have previously decided in absolutely analogous situations.“

The PGR also pointed out that withholding Bolsonaro's passport sought to prevent him from leaving the country, which could jeopardize the progress of criminal investigations and the application of criminal law.

Per Attorney General Paulo Gonet's opinion, ”there is no news of an event that would make the decision that ordered the retention of the passport surpassable.”

Another Datafolha survey showed that Lula's disapproval amounted to 33% and his approval to 35% after barely over a year in office. The PT's work was found excellent or good by 35%, compared to 33% who considered it either bad or very bad while 30% of respondents said it was regular.