Brazil: Lula returns 40 soldiers who were assigned to the presidential residence

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has fired 40 military personnel assigned to his official residence, after promising a “thorough” review of personnel following the January 8 insurgency attempt in Brasilia.

The measure, published Tuesday in official diaryrefers to soldiers stationed in the Alvorada Palace, the official residence of the Head of State, located about four kilometers from the headquarters of the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court, looted by Bolsonarists a week after Lula’s inauguration.

The latter had announced last Thursday a “thorough” examination of the personnel assigned to the presidency, saying it was convinced that rioters who had broken into the Planalto presidential palace had benefited from help from within.

“Someone facilitated your entry here”

Several thousand supporters of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who reject his electoral loss to Lula in late October, wreaked havoc in the capital on January 8, invading all three centers of power.

Infrastructure, priceless works of art and furniture that are part of the national heritage were destroyed by the rioters, who left behind graffiti calling for a military coup.

“I am convinced that the door of the Planalto palace was opened so that people could enter, because no door was broken,” the leftist leader had said. “It means that someone facilitated their entry here,” Lula insisted.

The 77-year-old leader will try to meet on Friday with the commanders of the armed forces, the Ministry of the Civil House announced on Tuesday, halfway between a chief of staff and a prime minister.

It would be the first time they meet after suspicions by the government about an alleged “collusion” between the armed forces and the rioters. However, according to Casa Civil, the exchanges will focus on the “modernization” of the armed forces.

Brazilian authorities tightened security around centers of power in Brasilia on Monday. The number of military police stationed near the Planalto presidential palace, the Congress and the Supreme Court increased from 248 to 500. More than 2,000 people were detained after the attempted insurrection, which the government described as a terrorist act.