APU.UY. Exactly one week after President Lula Da Silva began his third term in office against the Brazilian government, this Sunday, January 8, protesters besieged, invaded, vandalized, and stole weapons and documents from offices in government buildings in Brasilia.
The facts
A still undefined number of demonstrators who demand a military intervention from before the inauguration of Lula da Silva as president, besieged, invaded and vandalized government buildings of the Judiciary, Legislative and Executive Branch in Brasilia, in an act that was widely nationally, regionally and internationally repudiated.
For weeks now, groups of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro have been camped out in front of military barracks in different cities, demanding that the Armed Forces adopt a coup position and intervene in Brazilian democratic life, thus ignoring the pronouncement of the polls.
Since last Friday and also last Saturday, about 150 buses with protesters from different parts of the country arrived in Brasilia.
It could be seen how columns of protesters moved through the streets and avenues of the capital being escorted by police forces and once in what is known as the Plaza de los Tres Poderes a still undetermined number of protesters began to enter, vandalize and even steal weapons and documents from government offices.
Under the slogan “we are going to do a general cleanup,” men and women wrapped in the Brazilian flag and many of them dressed in the traditional yellow T-shirt set fire to police vehicles, attacked security forces who were trying to restore order and literally smashed windows, furniture, technological equipment, works of art, among other damages that began to be surveyed on the night of this Sunday, January 8.
The Chief Minister of the Social Communication Secretariat of the Brazilian Presidency (SECOM), Paulo Pimenta, together with Valdir Damus, a former federal deputy, showed evidence that lethal and non-lethal weapons were stolen, as well as ammunition from the security room of the Planalto.
Arms and ammunition stolen from Brasilia
The consequences
While clashes were still taking place in the buildings of the three main Brazilian powers, the governor of Brasilia Ibaneis Rocha dismissed the Secretary of Security of Brasilia, Anderson Torres (former Minister of Bolsonaro).
Governor Rocha even went so far as to publicly apologize to President Lula da Silva at a press conference for what he considered “failures in security”, but his apologies were not enough for justice, since minutes after midnight Alexandre de Moraes, Minister do Supremo Tribunal Federal ruled the removal from office for 90 days of Governor Ibaneis Rocha.
De Moraes was emphatic in also pointing out that “the despicable terrorist attacks on democracy and republican institutions will be held accountable, as well as the financiers, instigators, former and current public agents who continue to unlawfully conduct anti-democratic acts. The Judiciary will not fail Brazil”
A little earlier, also at a press conference, Justice Minister Flavio Dino described the attacks this Sunday in Brasilia as “terrorism and coup”; while he assured that “there are ideological preferences in the institutions, interfering in the actions of functional duties” in allusion to the attitudes of elements of the police, military and different levels of government that have openly shown supporters of former President Bolsonaro.
After the attack on government buildings in Brasilia, senators, led by Renan Calheiros, are analyzing the installation of a Parliamentary Investigative Commission to establish responsibility for the events of this Sunday.
Previously, President Lula da Silva from the state of Sao Paulo; where he was attending an emergency due to heavy rains, he stated in dialogue with the press that “the extreme right-wing protesters who broke into Congress will be found and punished.”
To rebuild security, the President signed a federal intervention decree in Brasilia until January 31, strictly related to public security, placing Ricardo García Capelli as the inspector in charge, who will answer directly to the president.
Lula even emphasized personally visiting the attacked buildings to verify first-hand what happened, which actually took place late at night and after the security forces retook control of the facilities.
The press attacked
In this context of violence, several journalists and press teams were attacked by protesters who were calling for military intervention. According to Brazilian press organizations, at least 5 journalists were attacked, adding to a long list of attacks suffered by the press since the start of the protests, still in 2022.
The journalist from El Tiempo in Belo Horizonte, Pedro Nascimento, recounted on his social networks that “today our team, as well as other colleagues from the press, were cowardly attacked when they covered the withdrawal from the camps of the protesters who were at doors of the army barracks on Av. Gabaglia, in Belo Horizonte”
the repercussions
At the internal level of Brazil, as well as at the regional and international level, the voices of repudiation did not wait and, in solidarity with the people, democracy and the government of Brazil, political leaders from almost the entire Brazilian spectrum demonstrated; including a note of repudiation made public by the National Forum of Governors.
governors letter
The Uruguayan Foreign Ministry expressed its “condemnation” of “the episodes of violence against institutions in Brazil and calls for respect for the rule of law, democracy and its government”
In the same way, governments and rulers of different countries in South, Central and North America, Europe, Africa and Asia expressed their solidarity with the government of President Lula da Silva and condemned the anti-democratic acts of violence experienced this Sunday in Brasilia.
The reactions
Various political, social, union and student organizations, among others; they quickly mobilized to offer a response in defense of democracy. Thus, for this Monday, January 9, multiple demonstrations of support will be held in various capitals, cities, and states throughout Brazil under the slogan “in defense of democracy.”
The Forum of the Central Unions, the Popular Brazil Front, the People Without Fear Front, the Black Coalition for Rights, as well as the Black Convergence issued a statement directing “all the union and popular organizations, as well as all the social militancy of the democratic and progressive field to demonstrate in the streets of the entire country at the end of the afternoon of this Monday, January 9 in defense of democracy, institutions and the sovereignty of the popular vote”
In the same way, they urged to “consolidate a political act to be held in Brasilia this Wednesday, January 11, placing the focus on the defense of democracy and the repudiation of the attacks on the institutions of the Republic practiced by fascists this Sunday.”
