Brazil's Lula vows to veto bill cutting Bolsonaro's sentence
Reuters1 day
Brazil's Lula Set to Veto Bill Reducing Sentences for Coup Convicts
Is this bill a step toward national healing, a political theater rubber-stamping abuses, or a constitutional betrayal that must be vetoed?
Above: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks with journalists in Brasilia on Dec. 18, 2025. Image credit: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
This bill offers a path to turn the page on a toxic polarization that has drained national energy and allows reconsideration of excessive sentences for those who played minor roles in the events. The measure provides judicial flexibility to reduce penalties for individuals who received disproportionate punishment — enabling families to reunite while Brazil moves forward without forgetting its democratic values.
Left narrative
Lula is right — and street mobilizations across the country show public support for the veto. It's outrageous that lawmakers have approved a bill that grants disguised amnesty to coup plotters who sought to overthrow the government and abolish the democratic rule of law in the country in a backroom deal that betrays democratic values enshrined in the constitution.
Right narrative
This bill creates nothing new and merely returns power to the same Supreme Court that committed the abuses in the first place. Existing mechanisms for sentence reduction were deliberately ignored — making this legislation a facade that legitimizes political persecution and abandons thousands of families destroyed by the system.