The quiet gated community, in an upscale part of Brazil’s capital, Brasília, doesn’t see much crime. But these days, plainclothes police are standing guard here, tasked with an unusual mission: keeping close watch over former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Inside one of the luxury homes, Mr. Bolsonaro, wearing an ankle monitor, has been under house arrest for weeks. He is awaiting a trial that is to start on Tuesday, in which he is accused of plotting to stage a coup after losing the 2022 presidential elections. He denies the charges.
Now the Brazilian authorities have moved to further tighten the leash on the former leader, amid growing concerns that he may attempt to flee, according to a high-level police official who spoke anonymously about sensitive discussions.
Last week, plainclothes police officers were stationed just outside the gated community, monitoring entry into the complex. Then on Saturday, Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice overseeing the case, decided to allow the police to set up around Mr. Bolsonaro’s house, although he refused to let them inside it.
In his ruling, Justice Moraes said the measure was intended to address the risk of escape through “adjacent properties on both sides and at the back, which causes the existence of blind spots.” Ankle monitors like Mr. Bolsonaro’s do not provide the wearer’s movements in real time, a shortcoming that, the police say, could give him time to flee to a neighboring house and out the back of the complex.
The police officials said that there was is no intelligence suggesting an imminent escape plan, but that the extra measures were deemed necessary because Mr. Bolsonaro has, on more than one occasion, signaled that he has considered fleeing. The authorities are especially concerned by recent efforts by one of his sons to lobby the White House to intervene in his father’s case, which President Trump did this summer.
One concern, the police official said, is that Mr. Bolsonaro could sneak into a neighbor’s car and seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy, which is only a 15-minute drive from his home.
Mr. Bolsonaro’s legal team declined to comment on the additional security measures or the police’s rationale for them.
On Sunday, a handful of police officers stood outside the gated community as a small group of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters marched nearby, demanding amnesty for him and calling for the jailing of Justice Moraes.
Some of the protesters, draped in Brazilian and American flags, dropped to their knees and joined hands in prayer under the scorching midday sun. With their eyes shuttered, they asked for a miracle to save Mr. Bolsonaro.
To many there, that miracle is the United States, said Ana Vasconcelos, a 63-year-old retired government worker. “If Trump really does help us, things are going to turn out OK,” she said. “Many people have a lot of hope.”
Mr. Bolsonaro was first placed under strict security measures over a month ago: ordered to wear an ankle monitor, remain at home most hours, stay away from foreign embassies and keep off social media platforms. When he violated some of these terms, Justice Moraes put him under house arrest and barred him from using a cellphone.
Last week,the police opened a separate investigation into allegations that Mr. Bolsonaro and the son currently in the United States had lobbied foreign authorities with the aim of undermining Brazil’s judiciary and thwarting the case against him.
In July, Mr. Trump suddenly became involved in Mr. Bolsonaro’s case, threatening Brazil with tariffs and demanding it end what he called a “witch hunt” targeting his political ally. He followed through, imposing 50 percent levies on Brazil and applying sanctions on Justice Moraes.
There have been signs suggesting that Mr. Bolsonaro planned to seek help from other right-wing leaders, too. The police said earlier this month that they had found a 33-page draft asylum request addressed to Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, on Mr. Bolsonaro’s phone.
The document was not dated, but the authorities said it had been saved on the phone in February 2024, two days after they had carried out a sweeping operation that targeted the former president and about two dozen of his political allies.
Days later, Mr. Bolsonaro spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil in an apparent bid for asylum from yet another right-wing ally, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, reporting by The New York Times revealed.
Mr. Bolsonaro is accused of overseeing a vast plot to cling onto power after narrowly losing the 2022 election to his leftist rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Prosecutors say Mr. Bolsonaro sought to sow doubt about the vote, dismantle courts and hand special powers to the military. The police say the conspiracy also included a plot to assassinate Mr. Lula and Justice Moraes.
In pretrial testimony, Mr. Bolsonaro has denied knowledge of any assassination plan and has said he did not plot a coup, saying he considered only “ways within the Constitution” to remain in office after his defeat. He and his allies have claimed, without evidence, that the election was stolen from him.
Jack Nicas and Janaína Camelo contributed reporting.
Ana Ionova is a contributor to The Times based in Rio de Janeiro, covering Brazil and neighboring countries.
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