Campaigns can bring out the worst in politicians. The latest revelation from Brazil suggests that what was once thought to be a botched homicide attempt on José Aprígio da Silva last October may have been a ploy to drum up sympathy for the candidate in his pursuit for re-election as mayor of Taboão da Serra.
Police uncovered the inner workings of Operation Hidden Fact, the code name they believe for the plan. They discovered that supporters of Silva were behind the assassination attempt that saw the politician struck in the left shoulder the night before the election, which he later lost.
Mayor Shot in ‘Fake’ Assassination Attempt for Election Boost Still Lost
The man he lost to, Daniel Plana Bogalho, was convinced all along it was a ploy. The Guardian shared a quote from him that he was the least bit surprised to learn of what police had found, insinuating that this reaffirms this being a set-up all along. He said that he hopes “justice is truly done.” For what it’s worth, Boghalo won the election with nearly 67 percent votes his way.
Investigators learned that the equivalent of $88,000 U.S. dollars was transferred from Silvia’s allies to the two assailants for what they believe was a well-thought-out plan to gain crucial voters on the eve of the election. They felt the image of seeing a 72-year-old man shot would be enough to flip voters to their side. Apparently, they sensed that the polls were not going their way despite winning the vote in 2020 over incumbent Engenheiro Daniel.
The Guardian cited an unnamed witness who specially said Silva asked these two shooters to set their sights on his car for the attack. It’s unclear, though, if Silva truly was in on the plan or if it was just the people around him who set this whole plot up.
There are still more details police are working out, such as whether or not Silva knew about the plan. But what is understood is that Brazil’s politics are just as wild as they are in every other country. To go as far as to stage a murder attempt is about as brazen as one can get in a campaign.
The man took a bullet, knowingly or unknowingly, only to still lose the election less than 24 hours later. All of that sympathy the plotters had hoped for failed to come through, and all that was left was a bullet-sized in Silvia’s shoulder.
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