Lula da Silva announces federal security intervention in the face of protests in Brasilia

The president of BrazilLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva, announced on Sunday a federal intervention in public security in Brasilia until January 31 of this year, after extremist supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the headquarters of the three State Powers in Brasilia.

Lula, who is in Araraquara, in the state of Sao Paulo, said that those involved, whom he described as “fascists and fanatics”, will be identified and punished.

“We believe there was a lack of security and I want to tell you that all the people who did this will be found and they will be punished,” he said.

Democracy demands that people respect the institutions that were created for democracy,” said the Brazilian president.

This Sunday, supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro they invaded the Congress, the presidential palace of Planalto and the seat of the Supreme Court in Brasilia, after surpassing the security fences and the police barriers.

The spectacle of thousands of yellow and green-clad protesters wreaking havoc in the capital capped months of tension following a disputed election and recalled incidents two years ago when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol.

Bolsonarowho lost the October 30 elections to the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvaspread the false claim that Brazil’s electronic voting system was prone to fraud, sparking a violent movement of election deniers.

The invasion poses an immediate problem for Lula, who was sworn in on January 1 and has vowed to unite a nation torn apart by Bolsonaro’s nationalist populism.

Television footage showed protesters storming the Supreme Court and Congress, where they vandalized furniture. Local media estimate that some 3,000 people participated in the riots.

The violent scenes in Brasilia could amplify the legal risks for Bolsonaro, who has so far not commented on the assaults. The Bolsonaro family’s lawyer, Frederick Wassef, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The supreme court was looted by protesters, according to social media footage showing them breaking the windows of the modernist building conceived by the late architect Oscar Niemeyer.

A policeman on horseback was surrounded by protesters armed with sticks who knocked him off his mount.

Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha told Reuters that all security forces had been deployed to deal with the rioters.

supporters of Bolsonaro They had been camping for weeks in front of the Army Headquarters in Brasilia, as well as in other cities, in a mobilization against the results of the elections in which Lula was elected President of the Republic.

Fearing a worsening of the situation, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, signed a decree on Saturday authorizing the use of the National Public Security Force.

Several Ibero-American leaders immediately condemned the events, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Argentine President Alberto Fernández.

kg