President Lula denounces ‘fanatical fascists’ and announces a federal security intervention after Bolsonaro supporters stormed political buildings in the capital
Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro flooded the country’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday, in a grim echo of the invasion of the U. S. Capitol two years ago by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Around 6:30 p. m. local time, 3 hours after initial reports of the invasion, security forces attempted to retake the 3 buildings, Brazilian media reported. Television footage showed dozens of rioters being taken away in handcuffs. Police said another 300 people were arrested during the attacks.
Leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced a federal security intervention in Brasilia — beating central government police — until January 31 after the capital’s security forces were first defeated by the invaders. He said law enforcement had shown “incompetence, bad religion or malice” and promised swift action. Lula, as the president is widely known, defeated Bolsonaro in the second round of last year’s election.
Bolsonaro responded to Sunday’s attacks with social media posts protecting his record in government and claiming the invasion of public buildings had crossed the line. “Peaceful protests, within the framework of the law, are part of democracy,” he wrote on Twitter. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings like those of today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, are exceptions to the rule. “He refrained from openly condemning the crowd and instead denounced Lula’s claims that he was responsible.
At a news conference, Lula blamed Bolsonaro and complained about the lack of security in the capital, saying the government had allowed “fascists” and “fanatics” to wreak havoc. it has never been done in the history of this country,” said Lula, who was on an official trip to the state of São Paulo. “All those other people who did this will be discovered and punished. “The president then visited the remains of his presidential palace.
The sight of thousands of yellow and green protesters sweeping through the capital ended months of tension after the Oct. 30 vote. Bolsonaro, a Trump colleague who has yet to concede defeat, spread the false claim that Brazil’s e-voting formula was prone to fraud, sparking a violent movement of Holocaust deniers. Bolsonaro flew to Florida 48 hours before the end of his term and was absent from Lula’s inauguration. The violence in Brasilia could magnify the legal dangers facing Bolsonaro. It also represents a headache for the U. S. government. They debate how to take care of their time in Florida.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that Ibaneis Rocha, the pro-Bolsonaro governor of the Federal District, where Brasilia is located, be expelled from the workplace for 90 days amid outrage that the government failed to prevent the attack. De Moraes wrote that the attacks “could only have occurred with the acquiescence, or even direct involvement, of the government for intelligence and public security. “
Two Democrats in the US Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joaquin Castro, have called for Bolsonaro’s extradition from the US. U. S. Storming of the U. S. Capitolon January 6. ” Nearly two years after the day, the U. S. Capitol”The U. S. has been attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements seeking to do the same in Brazil. “
U. S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called “the attack on democracy and the nonviolent force movement in Brazil,” adding that Brazil’s democratic institutions “have all our control and the will of other Brazilians must not be undermined. “
The Supreme Court, whose crusade to pass sentence on Alexandre de Moraes has been a thorn in the side of Bolsonaro and his supporters, has been looted by the occupiers, according to social media footage showing protesters banging on security cameras and breaking windows of the modernist building.
Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha wrote on Twitter that he had fired his most sensible security official, Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro’s former justice minister. The attorney general said he had filed a request to arrest Torres.