The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, said today (10) that the reaction of Brazilian institutions to the action of vandals and coup plotters who, last Sunday (8), invaded and destroyed the headquarters of the Three Powers “qualitatively superior” to the of Organs North American organs when the Capitol, seat of the Legislative Power of the United States, was hacked in January 2021.
“The phenomenon is the same”, said Dino, comparing the two episodes, which he associated with “strange times”. “But God blessed Brazil. Because despite the fact that the Brazilian Capitol has been verified [ocorrido], there were no deaths here. And here, thanks to the action of the authorities, more people were arrested [do que nos EUA]. So, to those who have an inferiority complex, I say without fear of being wrong: the Brazilian response to the coup was qualitatively superior to that seen in other parts of the world”, added Dino. He spoke during the inauguration ceremony of the new general director of the Federal Police (PF), Andrei Rodrigues, held this Tuesday morning, in Brasília.
The minister was asked whether the consequences of the attack on Brazilian institutions could not have been as serious as in the United States – where five people died – if the vandals and coup plotters had acted during the week, and not on a Sunday. Dino insisted on the comparison, citing the large number of people detained in Brazil and the quick identification of some of the financiers of anti-democratic acts.
“I make a point of pointing out that, despite obvious specificities, both in the United States and here, there were these extreme, aggressive, violent events. In the Brazilian case, thank God, there were no deaths. And we got a firm response. When someone, in a few years from now, analyzes these facts before the court of History, he will see that, from the first moment, accountability took place. So much so that, right now, we have thousands of people in prison. And other arrests will take place later today,” said the minister.
New general director of the Federal Police, Andrei Passos – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Yesterday, the Army and the Military Police of the Federal District vacated the area in front of the Army Headquarters, in Brasília. Hundreds of people had been camped there since the first days of November 2022. They reject the victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the last presidential election and propose a series of anti-democratic measures – such as military intervention.
According to Acting Governor of the Federal District Celina Leão, around 1,500 people were detained at the site for involvement in acts of vandalism. The Minister of Justice, however, said that the number of prisoners is not yet definitive.
“We will complete the judicial police procedures today, throughout the day. We are talking about the largest judicial police operation in the history of Brazil, which involves complexities. We are talking about thousands of people arrested simultaneously. We have teams working there, carrying out the hearings, drawing up arrest and arrest records in the act, and there were some humanitarian situations that were resolved yesterday. Our expectation is that, even today, we will have a definitive number”, concluded Dino.
