9 de enero 2023
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The windows of the headquarters of the Judiciary and the National Congress were broken by the protesters, who already occupy the buildings of the three powers in the country.
Lula, who is visiting the interior of the state of Sao Paulo, was not in Brasilia this Sunday.
Patrols of the Legislative Police, which ensures security in Congress, were attacked and the barriers that cordoned off the headquarters of the three powers were destroyed by the protesters.
The rioters are demanding a “military intervention” by the Armed Forces to overthrow Lula and return former president Bolsonaro, who is in the United States, to power.
The Bolsonaristas do not recognize the victory at the polls of Lula, who in the second round of October 30 won with 50.9% of the valid votes compared to 49.1% for Bolsonaro, who refused to recognize his losing the elections.
Lula: “We are going to discover who financed” the attack
Lula da Silva affirmed in a statement that the “fascist vandals” will be “found” and “punished” and described the serious riots in the Brazilian capital as “barbaric”.
He added that the radicals have been “stimulated” by Bolsonaro and that they will “pay with the force of the law” for the disturbances caused.
“We are going to discover the financiers” of these violent and coup-style protests, which “destroyed everything they found in their path,” said Lula, who denounced security failures on the part of the Government of the Federal District of Brasilia.
“Democracy guarantees the right to freedom of expression,” but “requires that people respect the institutions,” Lula said.
Camped out for two months
The police from the Legislature and the National Security Force, an elite group of agents from the different states, fired tear gas to disperse, without success, the protesters, who carried the country’s flags and some were armed with sticks.
The Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino, who since Saturday had authorized the action of the National Security Force before the arrival in the Brazilian capital of dozens of buses of Bolsonaro supporters, said that the will of the radicals “will not prevail.”
Hundreds of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the headquarters of three branches of the State of Brazil. Photo: EFE / Marcelo Camargo
Immediately after the defeat at the polls on October 30, Bolsonaro fanatics set up camps in front of the military barracks in several Brazilian cities and in many they have remained concentrated for two months. They called on the military to stage a coup to keep Bolsonaro in power.
The acts in Brasilia sparked others in the country, including in Sao Paulo, where Avenida 23 de Maio, one of Sao Paulo’s main urban highways, was blocked by Bolsonaro supporters, preventing the movement of cars near the Congonhas airport.
The Secretary of Security of Brasilia is dismissed
Shortly before Lula’s announcement, the Secretary of Security of Brasilia, Anderson Torres, who was Minister of Justice in the Bolsonaro government, was removed from his post.
Lula’s government, through the State Attorney General’s Office, also requested the Supreme Court to arrest Torres.
The episode today in Brasilia recalled the invasion of the United States Capitol that occurred on January 6, 2021 by supporters of former President Donald Trump, who has a friendly relationship with Bolsonaro.
The former Brazilian president is currently in the United States, where he traveled two days before Lula’s inauguration without a return ticket. He visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home. At the moment, he has not spoken on the serious incidents.
This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times
