The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the heads of the Legislative and Judicial powers, called on Monday to maintain serenity and defend democracy in peace after the attempted coup led by thousands of Bolsonaro radicals this Sunday.
The country needs normality, respect and work to achieve progress and social justice, says a joint note signed by Lula, the heads of Congress and the president of the Supreme Court, Rosa Weber.
Joint demonstration between the two presidents of the Republic, assassinated in the manhã de hoje, in repudiation of the coup leaders of ontem in Brasília. #TeamLula pic.twitter.com/p6dOtuh8S6
– Lula (@LulaOficial) January 9, 2023
The statement, shared by Lula on his social networks, was released on the same day that the police of the Federal District of Brasilia dismantled the camp that the Bolsonarists had set up in front of the Army headquarters after the October elections.
The attacks on Sunday against the headquarters of the three powers in Brazil were launched from said camp.
Agents of the Brasilia Military Police, reinforced by Army troops, blocked the access to the camp early this Monday to prevent the arrival of more protesters and ordered the peaceful eviction of those who remained in the place.
The siege quickly took effect and, without the need for the use of force by the authorities, the hundreds of followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro began to collect their belongings and leave the place.
In just half an hour, the camp was left with only the tents and some abandoned infrastructure, as well as a handful of protesters rushing to collect mattresses and other utensils.
The peaceful eviction occurred after Magistrate Alexandre de Moraes, one of the eleven members of the Supreme Court, ordered the dismantling of all the camps set up by Bolsonaristas in front of military barracks throughout the country and from which the followers of the leader far-right advocated a coup in Brazil to prevent the investiture of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office eight days ago.
The camp of the radicals in Brasilia, set up since the progressive leader prevailed in the second round of the presidential elections, served as the base for the protesters who invaded the headquarters of the three Brazilian powers on Sunday and was the place to which they returned after his failed attempt to force a coup.
Moraes, responsible for several of the investigations against Bolsonaro and his followers for attacks on democracy, also ordered that the occupants of the camps that participated in the attacks “be detained in flagrante for the practice of different crimes.”
The number of radicals in the camp in front of the Army headquarters had been falling since Lula’s inauguration, on January 1, and until Thursday the authorities counted some 200 people.
But on Saturday the number had jumped to around 3,000, after the Bolsonaristas called for Sunday’s demonstration in Brasilia, which ended in chaos and attacks on institutions.
Faced with the chaos generated by the assault on public buildings, Lula decreed federal intervention in the security area of Brasilia until January 31, with which the regional police will be under federal government control.
The assault on Congress, the Presidency and the Supreme Court was only resolved after four and a half hours of confusion, when riot agents charged and fired tear gas against the exalted who were inside and outside the buildings of the three powers.
According to the latest information, at least 300 people were arrested for anti-democratic attacks, which were widely condemned by all Brazilian institutions and by the international community.
Presidents and regional groups sent their messages to the Brazilian people as soon as the seriousness of the events became known.
Bolsonarists invade Brasilia and call for military intervention
This Monday the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, said he was shocked by the incidents.
“I am in ‘shock’, but I trust Brazil and its institutions”, he stressed on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva for humanitarian aid to Pakistan, stressing that “Brazilians will go ahead and rise to the situation”.
With information from Efe.
