Police evacuated the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in Brasilia, more than four hours after an assault on Sunday by hundreds of supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro. Hundreds of people entered these three places of power in the Brazilian capital, reminiscent of the scenes in Washington, United States, during the capture of the Capitol in 2021.
The situation seemed under control, although a large part of these protesters who refused to recognize Lula’s election remained around the places of power in the Brazilian capital. “It’s an attempted coup,” Silvia Capanema, a historian specializing in Brazil, reacted at the beginning of the evening on BFMTV.
• “We will find them and they will all be punished”
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the invasion of places of power in the capital by “vandals, fascist fanatics.”
“We will find them all and they will all be punished,” he said from Araraquara, in the state of Sao Paulo, where he had gone after the floods, lamenting incidents “unprecedented in the history of Brazil.” “Those who financed (these protests) will pay for these irresponsible and undemocratic acts,” he warned.
• Bolsonaro condemns, but denies any responsibility
According to several Brazilian media, at least 200 Bolsonaristas, dressed in yellow and green, have been detained. In the evacuated buildings, various officials were able to observe numerous degradations: certain offices were ransacked, works of art damaged.
Several allies of the outgoing president have distanced themselves from this violence, including Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL, Bolsonaro’s party, who lamented “a sad day for the Brazilian nation.”
Former ultra-right president Jair Bolsonaro estimated on Twitter that “the looting and invasions of public buildings (…) are contrary to the rule” that governs “peaceful demonstrations.”
In another tweet, however, he “dismissed the accusations, without evidence” of his successor Lula, who said his far-right predecessor’s “speech” had “encouraged” the protesters.
• What response from the Brazilian government?
In office for just a week and already facing a major crisis, leftist President Lula has placed local law enforcement under the command of federal forces to take over security in Brasilia, where the police have been totally overwhelmed. by the assaults of the bolsonaristas.
“They will not be able to destroy democracy,” launched its Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flavio Dino, describing the invasions as “coup terrorism.”
If Lula and his ministers promise that the violent demonstrators will be tried, the Brazilian president intends to work hard to calm the crisis, explains the Métropoles media.
According to Brazilian media, Lula will convene an emergency meeting on Monday with the governors of all the states of the country. The goal: to find “an institutional response to defend democracy.”
Source: BFM TV
