SAO PAULO, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian police on Sunday arrested Army Col. Bernardo Romao Correa Netto, who is accused of plotting to prevent Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in 2022 after he won the general elections.
The colonel was arrested as he arrived at the international airport in the capital Brasilia on a flight from the United States, local media reported, citing information from the Federal Police.
Correa Netto, who was in the United States to take a course at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, is one of the high-profile suspects charged with conspiring to obstruct the peaceful transition of power to keep ex-President Jair Bolsonaro in power.
Authorities said the suspects first attempted to steal the elections and then plotted to overthrow the newly-elected government of Lula da Silva by instigating a violent attack on the capital. ■
