No more coups!

This is a story we must always tell. January 8, 2023, was a day of shame and warning. It was not an isolated episode nor the result of "emotional excesses," as some tried to justify it. It was a deliberate attempt at democratic rupture, organized, financed, and encouraged by sectors dissatisfied with the election results. The invasion and destruction of the headquarters of the Three Branches of Government revealed to the country and the world that Brazilian democracy was still very fragile and needed to be firmly defended.

The state's initial response was swift and necessary. On the same day, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva decreed federal intervention in the public security of the nation's capital, correctly classifying the attacks as barbaric. This was not mere rhetoric. It was about restoring democratic order in the face of a coordinated action that included serious omissions by authorities responsible precisely for preventing that type of crime.

From that point on, a process began that Brazil had never experienced in its republican history. In-depth investigations, thousands of arrests, hundreds of indictments and convictions. For the first time, financiers, orchestrators, executors, and negligent authorities began to be held concretely accountable for their actions. More than that, a former president of the Republic and high-ranking officers of the Armed Forces were convicted of attempted coup d'état. This is not revenge. This is justice!

The numbers help dismantle the narrative of persecution. Most of those involved were entitled to a full defense, many were released on bail, hundreds made plea bargains, and only a small percentage are serving prison sentences. The severity of the punishment was proportional to the gravity of the crimes. A coup d'état is not a political opinion. It is a crime against popular sovereignty.

Nevertheless, as the accountability process progressed, a clear attempt emerged in the National Congress to rewrite the outcome of this story. The so-called "Dosimetry Bill" sought to soften sentences, reduce convictions, and create legal loopholes that would directly benefit those responsible for the attempted coup. Disguised as "national pacification," the project carried the evident objective of producing a shameful amnesty.

Pacification without justice is not peace. It is imposed forgetfulness. And forgetfulness, when it comes to democracy, is always a risk. Reviewing sentences for crimes committed against the Democratic Rule of Law does not strengthen institutions. On the contrary, it signals that attacking democracy can be cheap, as long as there is sufficient political power in the National Congress.

It was at this point that President Lula's role became, once again, decisive. By vetoing the Sentencing Bill in its entirety, Lula reaffirmed a historic commitment to Brazilian democracy. He respected Congress's right to legislate, but courageously exercised his constitutional duty to veto a law that would weaken the justice system and affront the country's democratic memory.

The veto was not an isolated gesture. It was accompanied by popular mobilization, by unions, labor federations, and social movements that, three years after January 8th, took to the streets to reaffirm "no amnesty for coup plotters." Brazilian democracy does not survive on institutions alone. It is sustained by the participation and constant vigilance of society.

Lula was right to remind us that those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. Brazil has already experienced dictatorships, censorship, persecution, and imposed silence. January 8th was an attempt to push us back into that abyss. The veto of the Sentencing Bill is an affirmation that we will not accept this regression.

Defending democracy is not radicalism. What is radical is trying to destroy it, downplaying an attempted coup, and using Congress as an instrument to free criminals from the weight of the law. The presidential veto reaffirms a basic principle of any democratic state, according to which those who act against the will of the people must be held accountable for their actions.

January 8th needs to be remembered not as a page turned hastily and by force, but as a permanent lesson. Memory, justice, and popular participation are the true pillars of democracy. And, at this decisive moment, Brazil chose not to erase its history, but to confront it head-on, strengthening itself as a nation.