Never in the history of Brazilian democracy has the inauguration of a President of the Republic required as much care with security as that of Lula da Silva this Sunday, January 1.
In one of the most recent measures, Alexandre de Moraes, judge of the Federal Supreme Court, prohibited the possession of firearms from 28 to 2 in the entire territory of the Federal District, where the country’s capital, Brasilia, is located.
The move came after George Washington Oliveira Souza, a supporter of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, was arrested on Christmas Eve with a bomb attached to a fuel truck. According to him, the objective was to make it explode at the Brasilia airport to generate chaos and the promulgation of a state of siege, which would limit the action of the legislative and judicial powers and would give full powers to the still head of state, Bolsonaro.
George Souza, who is facing trial for terrorism, has spent the last few weeks, like thousands of other Bolsonaristas, in front of the headquarters in Brasilia, calling for military intervention to prevent Lula from taking the Planalto Palace. However, images of him in a recent official session in the Senate indicate that he has good traffic with congressmen.
For this reason, and not only that, Lula can, at the request of his security team, parade in an armored car and not at the wheel of the Rolls Royce that, since Getúlio Vargas, in 1951, transports elected officials to the symbolic Rampa del Planalto . On the other hand, the traditional passing of the sash, from one president to another, will not take place because Bolsonaro intends to leave the country, supposedly heading to Florida, in the United States, to avoid this act.
However, it is not only Lula, other Brazilian authorities and dozens of international delegations, including the Portuguese one, that are at risk: the approximately 300,000 supporters of the elected official who are expected on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, almost double the number who celebrated Bolsonaro’s election four years ago as well. Therefore, the police deployment in Brasilia will be a record.
Source: TSF
