Tuesday, December 13, 2022

BOLSONARO COUP ATTEMPT
Riots in Brazil following arrest of Bolsonaro supporter

A group of demonstrators sympathetic to Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro have staged riots in Brasilia on Monday night by setting fire to vehicles and attempting to invade the Federal Police headquarters, following the arrest of a Bolsonaro supporter hours after the accreditation of Lula da Silva's electoral victory.


File - Brazilian Federal Police during an operation in Rio de Janeiro.
 - JOSE LUCENA / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

The police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who responded by throwing sticks and stones at the officers.

At least one person has been injured in the confrontation, in which several buses have been set on fire and dozens of cars have been destroyed, reports the Brazilian newspaper 'O Globo'.

The District Public Security Secretariat has blocked several streets in the city as a "preventive measure" and to "control disturbances, traffic and possible fires", in response to the vandalism carried out by the demonstrators, reports the Brazilian media UOL.

In addition, the authorities have reinforced security in the vicinity of the hotel where President-elect Lula da Silva was staying.

The protests have started after Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the detention of José Acácio Serere Xavante, known as 'Tserere', for ten days for allegedly organizing protests against the election results.

The PF has indicated that "the defendant is accompanied by lawyers and all the formalities related to the detention are being adopted in accordance with the legislation, safeguarding the physical and moral integrity of the detainee".

It also reported that the disturbances in the vicinity of its headquarters "are being contained with the support of other security forces".

The future Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, condemned the attacks: "The depredation and attempted invasion of the Federal Police building in Brasília is unacceptable", he said.

"Court orders must be complied with by the Federal Police. Those who consider themselves harmed must offer the appropriate remedies, never to practice political violence", Dino assured.

For his part, the current head of this portfolio, Anderson Torres, said tonight that "everything will be investigated and clarified", in the context of the protests in which the Federal Police has tried to contain the violence and restore order together with local and national authorities.

"Nothing justifies the regrettable scenes we saw in downtown Brasilia. The federal capital is traditionally the scene of peaceful and orderly demonstrations - and it will continue to be!" he added, while showing his support for the police officers.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received this Monday the credentials as future president of the country, thus certifying that the elections of last October were legal and that the inauguration will be held on January 1.

Moraes, at the ceremony held at the organization's headquarters in the Brazilian capital, stressed that those responsible for the attacks on democracy will be identified and held accountable.

Supporters of Brazil's defeated Bolsonaro attack police headquarters

Story by By REUTERS • Yesterday

Supporters of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday attempted to invade the federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, in a flash of post-election violence on the day the president's electoral defeat was certified.




A supporter of Bolsonaro© (photo credit: UESLEI MARCELINO/REUTERS)

Reuters witnesses saw Bolsonaro supporters, many in their trademark yellow national soccer jerseys or draped in Brazilian flags, confronting security forces at police headquarters. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Nearby buses and cars were set on fire.

Federal police said "disturbances" near the headquarters were being handled with support from capital security forces.

The violence unfolded after a Bolsonaro supporter was detained for allegedly organizing violent "anti-democratic acts," according to the judge who ordered his arrest.

Earlier on Monday, the federal electoral court (TSE) certified the Oct. 30 election victory of Bolsonaro's leftist rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as president. After months of baseless suggestions that Brazil's voting system is vulnerable to fraud, Bolsonaro has neither conceded defeat to Lula nor has he formally blocked the handover of power.


People attend a protest over Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro's defeat in the presidential run-off election, in Anapolis, Goias state, Brazil, November 2, 2022. 
(credit: REUTERS/UESLEI MARCELINO)

But some of the president's most diehard supporters have blocked highways in protest and camped out in front of army barracks, calling for a military coup to bar Lula from office.

Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters gathered outside the presidential residence on Monday afternoon with banners calling for "military intervention." The president joined them for a public prayer but did not address the crowd.

"There's not going to be an inauguration," said Jose Trindade, 58, one of the Bolsonaro supporters in the crowd. "Bolsonaro was re-elected, but they stole it. So only the army can put things in order."

Related video: Brazil: Bolsonaro breaks post-election silence, calls for 'military coup' (WION)
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Supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro clash with police in Brasilia


The conspiracy theories and subsequent violence have rekindled memories of the January 2021 invasion of the US Capitol by supporters of former US President Donald Trump. It also raises security concerns about Jan. 1, when Lula takes office in a public ceremony in Brasilia.

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, a key Lula aide, said there were concerns about the physical safety of Lula and Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, as protesters had surrounded the hotel where he is staying in Brasilia. Lula's team denied reports that Lula would be removed from the hotel by helicopter.

"There's not going to be an inauguration, Bolsonaro was re-elected, but they stole it. So only the army can put things in order."Jose Trindade, 58, riot participant

Brasilia's public security officials said they had secured the area around Lula's hotel, and urged motorists to avoid the center of the city where many roads had been closed.

Sparked by arrest

The violence in Brasilia came after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has led probes into Bolsonaro and his allies, on Monday ordered the temporary arrest of José Acácio Serere Xavante for allegedly carrying out anti-democratic acts.

Xavante, an indigenous leader, is among the Bolsonaro supporters who have protested in defiance of the Oct. 30 election result.

"I cannot accept criminals reigning in Brasil," Xavante tweeted last month. "Lula cannot be certified."

Last week, Bolsonaro broke weeks of post-election silence to say that his situation "hurts my soul."

"Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you," Bolsonaro told his supporters at the gates of the presidential residence on Friday.

In a statement, the Supreme Court said Moraes "decreed the temporary arrest, for 10 days, of the indigenous José Acácio Serere Xavante, due to evidence of the commission of crimes of threat, persecution and violent abolition of the Democratic State of Law."

It said Xavante had led protests across Brasilia and had used "his position as chief of the Xavante people to enlist indigenous and non-indigenous people to commit crimes," threatening Lula and Supreme Court justices.

Xavante had "expressly summoned armed people to prevent the certification of elected" politicians, the statement added.

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