By Iara Vidal
In a historic act, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, led a journey through Praça dos Três Poderes on Monday night (9) accompanied by the heads of the Legislative and Judiciary and the 27 governors
A walk of one kilometer and 800 meters, which took about four minutes through Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília, the Brazilian national capital, led this Monday (9) by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, symbolizes a new stage of reconstruction of democracy in Brazil.
The same place was the scene of terrorist acts perpetrated by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro last Sunday (8). The vandals dressed in green and yellow, the Brazilian national colors, destroyed the property of the offices of the Presidency of the Republic, the Planalto Palace; of the Legislative, the National Congress; and the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
Over the course of four short minutes, Lula traveled between the Planalto Palace and the STF alongside the presidents of the Legislative and Judiciary powers and the 27 governors of the Federation units, in addition to ministers and parliamentarians.
Despite the will of this anti-democratic minority, the attack to the heart of the institutions of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Brazilian democracy emerges strengthened from the hours of terror.
Before the walk, in a demonstration of institutional support for the Lula government and repudiation of the coup attempts by terrorists supporting Bolsonaro who do not accept the election results, the governors of the 27 units of the Federation or their representatives met with the Brazilian president.
Intervention in the government of the Federal District
During the meeting, President Lula justified the decision to enact intervention in the Federal District on Sunday. “I was forced to talk to my Minister of Justice [Flávio Dino] and take a strong stand. The DF police neglected. It’s easy for us to see the police talking to the aggressors in the invasions”, he observed.
Lula also recalled the riot on December 12 in Brasilia, the date on which he was elected president of the Republic by the Superior Electoral Court and that at the time the police followed up on the vandalism and did nothing.
The Brazilian president also denounced that Army soldiers, in addition to military police from the Federal District, were colluding with the coup plotters who invaded the Planalto Palace, Congress and the STF on Sunday.
In addition to the intervention, STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes removed Governor Ibaneis Rocha from office for 90 days. DF deputy governor Celina Leão (PP) took over the government and participated in the meeting.
Follow the money
At the meeting, Lula also defended the investigation into the financing of the coup camps.
“People will remain in prison until the inquiries are completed [almost 1,500 people]. It is important for people to know that we are not going to stop because these are possibly victims, they are the mass of manoeuvres. Those possibly received lunch, food to come here to protest,” said Lula, saying that the government intends to reach out to the financiers of the coup acts.
“The bosses certainly didn’t come here. We will want to know who financed, who paid, for these people to stay here for so long”, he highlighted. “You know that I am an expert in camps, in strikes, in a lot of things. It is not possible for a movement to last outside the barracks without funding, without people guaranteeing their daily bread, coffee. We will not be lukewarm with anyone. Let’s get to whoever financed it”.
Closing the siege
In line with Lula’s guidance, the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) has already identified more than 100 companies suspected of having financed the terrorist acts in Brasília.
The money from these private companies was used to pay for the buses that transported the terrorists and to keep them camped in front of the Army Headquarters in the articulation of the attempted coup d’état.
The AGU’s next step was taken this Tuesday (10th), when it presented the first batch of lawsuits against these private groups. They are precautionary measures with the Justice in the Federal District so that the assets in the name of the companies are blocked.
One of the goals of the agency’s actions is to use these private resources to cover the damage to property caused by scammers in Brasilia. The more than 100 companies identified operate in several states, the majority based in Mato Grosso and Santa Catarina.
The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, declared on Monday (9th), that the Federal Police had already identified the financiers of the acts in ten different states. Dino stated that many companies are linked to agribusiness.
Defense of democracy continues
This Tuesday (10) Brazilian authorities continue to apply the law against terrorists who support Bolsonaro and in defense of democracy. Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, set the tone for how he will deal with the bandits that destroyed Brasília last Sunday.
Morais’ speech took place during the inauguration ceremony of the new general director of the Federal Police, delegate Andrei Augusto Passos Rodrigues, this Tuesday morning. With a very tough speech, the magistrate left no doubt that institutions such as the Judiciary, the Public Ministry and the Federal Police will find each of the extreme right-wing criminals and that they will be punished within the absolute rigor of the law. He went on to say that Bolsonaristas should not wait for “holiday camps” when faced with jails.
“Do not think these terrorists, who until Sunday committed riots and crimes and now complain that they are in prison wanting the prison to be a summer camp, that institutions will weaken. Institutions are not only made of marble, chairs, tables, but people, courage, and compliance with the law. These people are not civilized. Just look at what they did in the Planalto Palace, in the National Congress and, with much more anger and hatred, in the Federal Supreme Court. The Judiciary Power, the STF, I am absolutely sure, with the legal support, within the Constitution, of the Federal Police, the institutions will punish all those responsible, all! Those who carried out the acts, those who planned, those who financed and those who encouraged, by action or omission, because democracy will prevail”, shot the minister, who was applauded by the audience.
On another front for the reconstruction of democracy, the deputy attorney general of the Public Ministry at the Federal Court of Accounts (MPTCU), Lucas Rocha Furtado, asked Minister Bruno Dantas, president of the Court of Accounts of Brazil, to block the assets of the former President Jair Bolsonaro, the retired governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha, and the former Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, who was appointed – and dismissed on Sunday (8) – Secretary of Public Security for the Federal District. The sub-prosecutor’s objective is to guarantee public compensation for the damage caused by Bolsonaro supporter terrorists, who destroyed public buildings in Brasília.
Conditions of detained terrorists
After devastating the headquarters of the Three Powers, Bolsonaro supporter terrorists were finally arrested on Monday morning (9). Shock troops from the Army Police and the Military Police of the DF accompanied the dismantling of the coup plotters’ camp at the door of the Army Headquarters, in Brasília.
In total, 1,200 terrorists were arrested and taken by bus to various public security units, including the Federal Police Academy, where they were screened, identified and sent to detention units.
The measure complied with the determination of STF Minister Alexandre de Morais issued early on Monday to dismount from the criminal gang’s tents and charge all participants.
Parliamentarians who day and night strike a blow against Brazilian democracy and whose hallmark is the disregard for human rights came out in defense of the terrorists. Federal deputies Carla Zambelli and Bia Kicis and federal deputy Carlos Jordy, who support Bolsonaro and the coup plotters, posted on social media a request for better treatment conditions for arrested terrorists.
“We received information that they lack water and food. We will activate the DPU and the Ministry of Human Rights. Among those detained are demonstrators who acted peacefully and vandals. In any case, everyone needs basic conditions”, said Zambelli, one of the greatest critics of Human Rights.
Zambelli became famous for chasing a black journalist, gun in hand, through the streets of São Paulo (SP), on the eve of the second round of the general elections, on October 29, 2022, in broad daylight. She didn’t like what the press professional said and even shot him, without success. She later had her weapons license canceled and her weapons confiscated by the Federal Police.
In response, the Minister of Human Rights, Silvio Almeida, responded to right-wing extremists this Tuesday (10) but, before revealing the decision, he gave a lesson on the subject to Human Rights denialists who support Bolsonaro.
“Initially, it should be clarified that the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship fully aligns with the position adopted by the President and by the Heads of the other powers in the sense of giving the coup acts and the frustrated attempt to abolish the Democratic State of Law the most rigorous treatment , under the terms of the law and the Federal Constitution. As history has shown, scammers are, invariably, violators of human rights and detractors of citizenship”, wrote the minister on social networks.
“The true defense of human rights, therefore, requires the repudiation of the coup d’état and the violence promoted by anti-democratic groups guided by fascism”, added Almeida. He complied with the request “so that legality may always be observed”.
With information from Revista Fórum and from Congresso em Foco
Iara Vidal is a Brazilian journalist and works in Brasília (DF)
