The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) condemned on Monday the invasion on Sunday by thousands of ‘Bolsonaristas’ of the headquarters of the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court of Justice of Brazil, and called for the protection of democracy “with the weight of the law.”
“The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), perplexed by the serious and violent events in Brasilia, calls for serenity, peace and the immediate cessation of criminal attacks on the democratic rule of law”, say the Catholic bishops of the country through social networks.
“These attacks must be stopped immediately and their organizers and participants held to account to the fullest extent of the law. Citizens and democracy must be protected,” they added.
The Archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Odilo Scherer, also condemned the events, considering that what happened on Sunday afternoon in Brasilia “is unacceptable.”
“This has no place in democratic coexistence. We have to calm down. Those who want to be respected must respect ”, said the cardinal on his account on the social network Twitter.
Thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invaded and destroyed this Sunday the headquarters of the National Congress and successively the Palácio do Planalto, seat of government, and the Federal Supreme Court building, in the Brazilian capital.
The demonstrators advanced and broke the barriers installed by the police, and the images of the invaders inside the green hall of Congress, inside and outside the Planalto Palace and the STF, were disseminated on social networks.
The radicals, who do not recognize the result of the October 30 presidential election, in which Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro, have called for military intervention to oust the Brazilian president.
The Brazilian police initially used tear gas to unsuccessfully try to stop the protesters, but later the Military Police managed to recover the three institutions and completely evacuate Praça dos Três Poderes, in an operation that resulted in at least 300 arrests.
The invasion, immediately condemned by the international community, began after militants from the Brazilian extreme right – supporters of the former president – called a protest on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in Brasilia.
Source: TSF
