Gonçalves Dias, Minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), is the first victim in Lula da Silva’s government and for a surprising reason: he appears in images released by CNN Brasil, participating in the invasion of vandals on 8 January at the headquarters of the Three Powers, in Brasilia. After a meeting with the President of the Republic and other ministers, Dias resigned, which was immediately accepted.
According to the images, during the attacks, the vandals receive water from agents of the GSI, a body very close to former president Jair Bolsonaro. And Gonçalves Dias, GSI minister since Lula took office and very close to the president since his first two governments, is seen walking around the third floor of the Planalto Palace, in the antechamber of the office of the President of the Republic, while the most serious acts took place on the floor below.
The agency released a note shortly afterwards stating that it is conducting an internal investigation into the conduct of its agents during the invasion of the Planalto Palace. “The Office of Institutional Security of the Presidency of the Republic clarifies that the images show the actions of security agents (…) to evacuate the third and fourth floors of the Planalto Palace, with the demonstrators concentrated on the second floor, where, after waiting for the reinforcement of the riot squad, it was possible to arrest them”.
with irregular behavior [de agentes do órgão] proven, the respective authors will be held responsible,” the note adds.
Politically, both the government and the opposition are trying to capitalize on the fallout from the case: the former argues that Bolsonaro pushed the GSI to its limits, led by General Augusto Heleno, one of the most staunch supporters of Lula, the outgoing president , and the second argues that the current minister’s apparent participation in the acts confirms the suspicion that the January 8 actions were a conspiracy by Lula’s supporters and not an attack by Bolsonaristas.
The establishment of a joint parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate the matter therefore seems inevitable.
Gleisi Hoffmann, president of Lula’s PT, rejects that conclusion. “Filmed agents working with Planalto invaders were from the Bolsonaro government, from General Heleno’s GSI, which had not yet been replaced. General Gonçalves Dias is leaving, but the investigation continues. There is no point in coming up with a list: invaders , terrorists and coup plotters were all of Bolsonaro’s class. They will pay for their crimes”.
Source: DN
